The colors, the colors!

We're in the middle of that intoxicating two week period where all the trees around our house are changing and the leaves look like they're lit from within by some slow-smoldering fire.  Too dramatic?  I can't help it.  Just walking through the house is an exercise in focus, because I'm continually distracted by the view.  The leaves are just gorgeous and I've taken hundreds of photos, trying to capture the colors.

Those red leaves, especially.  So many different shades!

The dramatic limb that hung right outside of our sunroom died, but we still have some beautiful yellows.

I don't have a wide angle lens for my good camera, so I've been using the point-and-shoot one for those types of shots.  Lousy pictures, but it gives you an idea about why I'm so distracted! 

We went hiking this weekend.  Yes, more leaves!

Wonderful, just wonderful!  It doesn't exactly feel like fall since it's still hovering near 80 degrees,  but I'm still really enjoying the view, and looking forward to many Scrabble games down by the pond, with a hearty fire for warmth.

Meanwhile, more pleasant distractions!  A neighbor's cat, Clover, has been spending a lot of time on our back deck.  FYI, to our cats, this is the feline equivalent to a home invasion.  Can you see Bosewichte's intimidating glare?

First comes one, and then comes his little friend, peeking around the corner.

It's infuriating to our cats to watch them play...

...or clean themselves, supremely indifferent to the vicious attack cats that are only separated from them by a screen door.

Tabitha, especially, is miffed.  I have a feeling that she isn't going to take it well when we add another cat to the family someday!

Meanwhile, speaking of cats...

I was making a batch of cookies for Todd's office (incidentally, the cookies that were supposed to be mailed out to friends/family, until I found out that they're only shelf-stable for two days), using my Halloween linzer cookie cutter.  I love it, and just discovered an Easter one in my stash.  Hooray!  These cookies were shortbread and filled with homemade chocolate ganache.

EXTRA ganache filling!

When you use the cutter to stamp out a shape, you have to use a skewer to pop out the bit of dough that remains in the tiny cookie cutter.  I realized midway through that I had stacks of tiny cats, ghosts, hats, and bats.  They all went back into the main dough ball, but I couldn't resist baking some teeny tiny cats for fun.  I actually preferred them to the filled cookies, because I'm not a huge chocolate ganache fan...too overpowering.  The tiny cat cookies were just perfect.

Have a great week!