No Elf, No Shelf

 Why are winter sunrises so much prettier than other times of year?

Even after the flamboyance of early sunrise has flamed out, the beautiful pastels that remain are views that I look forward to every morning.

We've had our first snow!  It wasn't much...a brief spitting, then sun...but it was enough to muck up the roads for several hours.  Claudia makes an appearance at the end to remind me that any type of snow = a wet food treat!

We're still hiking most days.

It's peaceful.

Winter is a great time to turn an eye to things that get overshadowed by their more appealing summer cousins.  Fungus, for one.  Not only is it nice to see a bit of color, but amazing to see things thriving in the cold.

ganoderma resinaceum, taken earlier this fall but still around

chicken of the wood, so named for their "meaty" taste

mycena inclinata, maybe?

Pretty patterns in wood...

...and interesting land formations are other things that just get overlooked in other seasons.

Even a nice blue sky, so common in summer, is appreciated more now during the grey days of winter.

The kittens really appreciate it when the sun peeks through!

photo taken in late October

It's almost Christmas!!  I will admit...I dropped the ball this year.  I missed my early November Christmas planning when we were in Missouri, and I never quite got back to it.  I meant to put the Christmas decorations up on December 1st, but we got sidetracked...then it was my birthday, and now a really busy time for work.  Since we'll be gone on Christmas day, I decided not to do my usual whole-hog routine. So we didn't...

Obtain a Christmas tree...

...and decorate it.

No advent gifts, no daily Christmas cookie...

No Elf on the Shelf.

No Christmas choirs, no decorations, no Christmas movies, no nothing.  Zip!  It suits me, though.  I like to absolutely burn myself out on something, take a break, and then go crazy again.  I'm such an all-or-nothing personality type that I truly prefer it this way.  I do the same thing with music, books, and movies/T.V. shows.  I'm taking a break this year, and next year it will be a Christmas bonanza again.  Hooray!!  

The kittens are feeling pretty festive, though.

Happy holidays!!

A confetti storm, plus a real one

We had another one of those crazy, 5-minute micro storms last week.  Another storm, another 100-foot tree down!

Thankfully, Todd is pretty handy with a chain saw.

We carved out a little time to go hiking this weekend.  We love to hike, but hate humidity. Thankfully, we've had a little cool snap here, so we were able to stretch our legs in comfort.  I'm annoying to hike with because I'm always stopping to examine things on the trail.  I can't help it...there are so many wonderful things to see!

The beautiful loose lace of this insect-eaten leaf.

The repeating curves and points of this lovely brown pine cone.

The unusual tips and colors of this young leaf.

The steady unfurl of this fern frond.

Can't you imagine this to be the setting for a tiny village?

The chaos of an old spider web, like some sort of woodland constellation.

A mushroom, pushing up through the leaves.

The splintering of some shaggy-bark tree.

The iridescence of this tiny fly's wings, sitting in a small patch of sunlight:

The unusual twist and hook of an old piece of grape vine:

The steady progress of this tropical buckeye caterpillar:

Check out those spines!

And we can't forget the beauty of woodland flowers:

It's so pleasurable to be catch a little glimpse of this hidden world!

In other news, I've definitely been in a sprinkles mood lately.

I made Smitten Kitchen's Confetti Cookies this week.  The addition of cream cheese to a standard sugar cookie dough gives a real richness and softness to the resulting cookie, and rolling the dough balls in sprinkles before baking adds a very satisfying crunch.  These cookies don't need a bit of frosting!  And they're so cheerful.  I highly recommend them.

Have a great week!