guess who's coming to dinner

 We aren't having as many days like this as the season progresses!

turkey vulture pair

It's overcast and chilly.  There are a few seed heads still hanging on in the garden...

milkweed

...a few bits of color still to be seen...

...still a few really late insect eggs, now devoid of hatchlings, decorating the screens...

leaf-footed bug eggs

...but after the leaves fall and before the snow starts, it's a pretty drab landscape, and we're staying cozy indoors.  Thankfully, there's plenty to do during this busy season, and speaking of thanks...

...we had our usual turkey feast this year with so much food that Todd has had Thanksgiving twice a day for 4 days now and still has another day or two to go!  

Claudia was concerned that we wouldn't have enough food, so she wanted to contribute...

She was so busy bragging about her big score, though, that she didn't notice that this mouse was playing possum.  While she was preening, it popped up and streaked off the porch.  Oh, well!  Claudia should be very familiar with possums and their ways...one visited her 'house' one night this week for a friendly visit, but she chased him off.

Drama!  

Other than Thanksgiving, recent bakes include some delicious pumpkin muffins...

...and a confetti layer cake with a lot of sprinkles.

I've had some time to deal with a few cat dramas, like cat-proofing their favorite cuisine, my house plants (with some bitter apple spray).  They had to inspect it...

...and then ignore it.  Maybe I'll be able to have house plants after all!  I've also tried working on the kittens vs. Calliope dynamic...

...but she remains defiant and grouchy.  They'll work it out, I guess!

Lots of sleepy kittens during these dark days.

Well, inside.  Outside, Claudia is still busy, busy, busy!

We, too, will be pretty busy over the next few weeks.  We've got Christmas prep to do with cards and decorating, birthday stuff, holiday orders increasing for our business, and then holiday travel...the New Year...a week of rest, and then a big multi-day toy show in mid-January to prep for.  I struggle mightily with the hustle-bustle of Halloween through New Years and I am always exhausted by January 1st, but at least it's a good month to be quiet and cozy by the fire to recharge.  

Bosewichte 2018

Cats get it.  ;)  

Have a great week!

...stag-gering genius

 It's the time of the rut!  We have a few stags around the property and they're in a fightin' mood.

having a snack between bouts

You don't see them fighting during the day, but we've definitely caught them on our trail cams. 

 

Ack, I hope I'm loading these correctly!

Listen with the sound on to hear the off-camera jousting!  

We've just gone through the last phase of fall leaves.  First, great color...

Then, cooler weather moves in and we have the "rust" season.  Look at the same walking path, just two weeks apart!

November 6th

November 16th

The "rust" season is still beautiful...

...but short-lived.  The leaves have all fallen now and the trees are bare.  But we had some really atmospheric fog in that interim time!  It's one of my favorite things about fall.  

Claudia caught the last of the leaves too!

I'm loving our trail cams.  We're seeing a lot more activity as things cool off.

Coyote

so many deer!

And raccoons, possums, stray cats, rabbits...even foxes!

still shot from trail cam

I'm excited to see who else is ambling around the property at night.  These boys ought to be grateful that we're keeping them inside!

Have a great week!  

a blur of missour(i)

 Welcome to Missouri!   

And other states.  :)  Todd and I took a multi-state road trip last week to visit my brother in central Missouri.  We had so much fun and saw some amazing things.  We took a day trip to Johnny Morris's Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium...nearly 2 miles of exhibits!  A lot to see.

I got to feed a ray!

Too much fun...

...and so pretty.

Another day, we rented bicycles at Dogwood Canyon.

Lots of nice paths for those of us who haven't ridden in a while!

Missouri has some beautiful rock formations...

...and so many waterfalls!

We saw a lot of wildlife, even though it's late in the season.  

muskrat

groundhog

Todd nearly stepped on this cottonmouth snake...Missouri's only venomous water snake. Thankfully, it slithered off into the rocks instead of defending its territory.

We saw a ton of rainbow trout.

The water is so blue because the stream is fed by an underwater aquifer.  

We saw golden trout too, a type of rainbow trout.

The trip was a great success, in part, because there were no "medical" complications!  Not only is it really difficult for me to sleep away from home, the medicine that I'm on for my outsized perimenopause symptoms gives me strange headaches...stabbing pain behind the eye.  They're not migraines (I actually haven't had a migraine since starting the medicine, which is great), but they're  unpredictable and can last for days, which completely saps my strength.  No issues on this trip...hooray!

That means we can try another trip soon.

Have a great week!