turkey flap and sock wrap (up)

Ack!  I'm falling further and further behind with my photos.  I've taken hundreds since last week.  It's easy to do, since it's so beautiful outside.

Mornings are delightfully cool - usually in the 40s - and the afternoon sun is warm.  The cats love to take advantage of that bit of heat!

I'm doing my best to bring a little of the outdoors inside.  Last week, I gathered up leaves from the yard and made some leaf garlands to hang around the house.  Nothing fancy, but it adds a nice splash of color over the sink, windows, and fireplace.

It is officially candle season, too.  I have about a thousand IKEA tealights to run through, so we have candlelit suppers nightly.  I've got them in little glass holders, sitting on a pottery dish.  Simple fall tablecloth over the middle of the table, and 2 taper candles.  It's light enough to read by, but doesn't feel "cluttered" like it has in the past.

We bought our Christmas tree...

...but we're going to try to hold off on decorating until after Thursday's feast!

Meanwhile, I've been crafting like crazy.  I wanted to make some Christmas-themed quilted pillows, but so much of the fabric lines feature maniacal Santas or scampering elves.  I was really pleased to find a Nordic-themed line:

I used it to make a nice throw pillow. 

It measures, I think, 18" x 18". 

I also finished piecing together the blocks for my quilt.  Without sashing, it looks too bright and busy...

...but the sashing adds just enough "calm space."

It's not done.  I have to make over 200 tiny gingham triangles for the border, then sew on another 2.5" border, then the edge binding, THEN the actual quilting.  But my goal is to complete it - or at least everything but the final quilting - before 2018.

Speaking of gingham, I finally finished knitting these socks!

I didn't think I'd ever finish them, and I'm taking a serious knitting break now.  I'm still struggling with the proper finger positioning and on these, switched around between 3 different styles (resulting in 3 different tensions) before finally slogging through the last toe.  The fact is, I've damaged my hands through improper holding of the yarn over the years, and have never given them a chance to really rest.  I'm going to take a multi-month knitting break and then start off slow again!

Meanwhile, I'm going to work on other projects and enjoy the leaves...

...turkeys...

...and the ornamental kale I'm starting to see everywhere!

Have a great week!

Bogs, Ponds, & Dog Yawns

It may be cooling off, but we still have a few insects around!  This cluster of Niesthrea louisianica (or the scentless plant bug) cluster on a hibiscus pod. 

A leaf-footed bug heads for safer territory.

We're still seeing lots of geese...

...and ducks.

Birds are really out and about lately!

We haven't seen any herons for a while, but their shaggy nests are pretty obvious.

This weekend, when it was blustery and 40 degrees, I couldn't wait to get outside and hike.  It's been so hot for so long, and it feels like I just can't soak up enough of these cooler temperatures. 

Beautiful bogs...

...and berries.

Borga likes to hike...

...but she is pretty worn out on the way home.

Back at our house, the leaves!  The leaves!!

Our turks are back, too.  Every morning, they scurry out of the way as I'm pulling out of the driveway. I see them at night, too, picking around in the meadow.

Our kittens love the colder weather and react by moving into full hibernation mode. Unless a certain someone, annoyingly, wakes them up for a photo op.  ;) 

Have a great week! 

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!