A five pointer 11-30

This morning Larry and I were just talking in the living room after having our breakfast when I noticed this big rack moving down the hill into our front yard.  He was on a mission to get across the street but our fence was in the way...there was a doe across the street and all he was doing was focusing there instead of figuring out how to get around the fence.  Then he became more agitated and I noticed the other buck that I had posted on here a few days ago looking this way.  The 5 pointer eventually made it back around the fence and across the street and I thought we might see a deer rumble, but the younger buck gave his elder a wide berth and took off in the other direction.  Later in the day I saw 5'er again and I'll share those pictures tomorrow.

Giving the buck across the street the stink eye.

Larry told me I have a lot of deer pictures and I imagine this is only the beginning of LOTS of pictures of every kind of bird, animal and reptile I see...you just never know when you are going to get THE greatest picture ever!  I delete a ton of them, but not knowing what I might want to do with them in the future I keep lots.  Yay for digital!

Larry pruned the bottom branches off one of the Chinese Pistache trees that was in the way of putting up the deer fence around the garden area.  We have been waiting for them to go dormant.  I helped Larry get the giant roll of fencing where he wanted it and we got it up and started and then I left Larry to it.  It had gotten really cold and there wasn't really anything I could do to help.

They both seemed stuck.

Here is where they met on the corner and the younger one moved away.

The loser moving away and you can see our roll of fencing that Larry put back up today.

It was a nice relaxing day.

Cleaned up and back to "normal" 11-29

Today I finished up the laundry, washed throw rugs, mopped all the floors and cleaned and sanitized the guest bathroom.  I threw in the sanitized to get Andrea's dander up, this will do it too...I practically had to get the powerwasher on the kitchen floor that had been "Connorized"....ha ha ha.  My kitchen table is all pretty with a new tablecloth and placemats with flowers in the center.

It was sunny but cold, at least warmer than at my friends in the mountains.  I had ordered Barbra Streisand's new book "My Passion for Design" and it arrived today.  It is a beautiful book from just the little I have seen, she is a wonderful photographer and I like the way it has been put together, I am looking forward to reading it.

And here are more pictures of our Thanksgiving weekend gathering.

Andrea and Michelle

Ian (Andrea's oldest)

Seth (Michelle & Darel's son)

Andrea and her goofy boys, Ian & Connor

Michelle and Grandma Carol (Larry's Mom)

Grandma Carol and Andrea

Larry taking a break from carving the 23lbs. of golden yummy-ness

Scott (Andrea's newest man), Andrea & Seth

Darel & Michelle

Larry & Me

The sunny view from the sliding door in the kitchen.

The Cavan's

Playing Zonk

Ian zooming somewhere on the Wii

Seth playing chess with his Dad

Ian & Seth playing Yahtzee

Andrea and one of her MANY pieces of pie (MY blog, MY story), that distant scream was hers...haha.

Ian getting help from Auntie Michelle

I believe this says it all!  Some of Andrea's favorite things all in one picture.

Michelle wondering what her men are up to.

Scott, Andrea and Ian

Great Family Time 11-28

Andrea & Michelle

Ahhh, the return of the quiet is almost loud in its peacefulness. Our house has been thoroughly broken in and has passed the test. My Thanksgiving decorations were soon moved to make room for game playing and laying out of food. Our youngest family member, grandson Connor carted the baby pumpkins around in the candle bowls…he apparently had his own opinion of how the decorations should have been placed. He played in the drapes and fingerprinted and noseprinted the windows he could reach…his Auntie Michelle even lifted him up where he could reach even more windows…woo-hoo. The floors were anointed with everything that Connor ate. Every room that had a couch or a bed was slept in and was deemed comfortable.

The local deer provided entertainment on a daily basis, the big buck and his does grazing on the grasses in the yard. Michelle left for her morning jog only to return very shortly afraid for her Achilles tendons when she spotted a coyote sitting at the corner…she was afraid it would take out after her and nip at her heels, later that night Larry and I were outside and we could hear the coyotes singing to each other. The oak trees played catch with the wiffle balls and football, our son in law Darel even climbed up into the tree to free one of the balls. The boys discovered the deer trails and ran all over the place. They also spent a lot of time playing Wii games.

The turkey turned out golden and tasty, the mashed potatoes creamy and golden, the gravy lumpy and tasty, there were the usual pies and my luscious rum cake. The carcass became the foundation of two pots of wonderful turkey soup and I made yet another rum cake, this one chocolate instead of yellow…double yum! My kitchen makes cooking enjoyable for me instead of a chore. The dishwasher got a work out…at least two loads a day.

Seth

I won a couple of games and was completely skunked in one game of Zonk…I never got on the board…I was the entertainment portion of the game. We played Yahtzee with the boys, they caught on pretty quickly.

Larry’s Mom came up on Friday and stayed until today also which was nice for everyone…

Ian

It was just a crazy, noisy, fun, noisy, messy, fun, yummy, messy holiday weekend.

Michelle soaking up some sun.

Cutie Pie Connor (aka Screecher)

 More pictures tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving 11-24

Happy Thanksgiving all!  Andrea, her two boys and her boyfriend arrived this evening and a couple of hours later Michelle, Darel and Seth arrived from Oregon...so we have a crazy noisy houseful for the next few days.

Hope you all have a happy, safe day of thanks too!  Gobble, Gobble!

Busy day 11-23

Busy, busy day today...cleaned the bathroom, ironed the tablecloths, wrapped all the Christmas and birthday gifts, did laundry....then, after the sun came out we went into Auburn where I returned my library books, we had lunch at Jack in the Box and then we went to Target and then to Safeway to get our last grocery shopping done before the company comes, we barely made it home before dark.

We had heavy rain all night and this morning....near the end of the storm the heavens opened up for about 20 minutes and the rain came down in  buckets.  In one of these pictures you can see our fancy green rain gauge.  About a half hour after the rain stopped the clouds sat down on the ground and we were fogged in for about an hour and then the fog lifted and the sun came out and the waters soaked in and ran away.  The afternoon was sunny but COLD!  As I type this at bedtime it is already below freezing outside...it is supposed to get down into the low 20's tonight...cuddle-time!

For some reason I can't get my photos uploaded...I'll have to edit and add them tomorrow hopefully!

Santa's Done! 11-22

We had a list, checked it twice and then hit the road for the stores!  We hit Costco just before they opened and we had never seen the people lined up to get in like that, it was an organized mob...all with their baskets and carts waiting for the doors to open...we thought there must be a big event or sale, but no, it was just people on a mission for turkeys and the trimmings.  We got in, got what was on the list and got into the check out lines just as they were opening more up and we were out of there. 

Then it was on to the rest of the stores on the list...they were all busy, even the craft stores.  Three hours from the time we parked in the Costco parking lot we were finished with our CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!!!
Eat    your    hearts    out!!!!!  Woo hoo!  We had a lovely dinner/lunch at Mimi's Cafe...we had never been and then back up the hill to home before commute traffic...whew.

Tomorrow we'll get the loot all wrapped and then the elves get to take the gifts home with them when they leave this weekend and we don't have to ship!  We learned our lesson on that shipping piracy the first year we were away on the road for the holidays, we could have bought a few more nice gifts for what the shipping costs ran.  It is wonderful giving but it still is always a relief when the shopping is complete and especially when we've beat the crowds.

Stay warm!  A BIG cold front is moving into our neck of the woods for a couple of days....BRRRRR.

More of the same 11-21

Cold, windy and occasional rain here today.  It broke long enough that I got out and took a walk.  The buck was back this morning and I got a few pictures of him through the window before I realized he was on the scent of a doe by the house that I didn't see....he was hot on her tail...she was playing hard to get. 

Looks like a beautiful watercolor!

Cold, Blustery Day 11-20

It was a cold blustery day today, but we did see a ray of sun a couple of times.  It didn't rain all day like expected, but we have gotten over an inch of rain already.  This big husky guy traipsed through the yard looking for the girls more than likely.  He stopped and looked at me for a second and then kept on moving, he sure is pretty.

I spent a couple of hours on the computer getting the last months photos all named and shifted around to their respective folders and deleting and then backing everything up.  I also got blankets and towels where they needed to be before our company gets here on Wednesday.  Seven years since we've had a house to have the girls and families visit and the families have grown since our last house :).  We are excited though because this house is larger and laid out better so we'll not be tripping over each other every minute.

We spend some time each day gazing at the front "yard" trying to come up with what we want to do with it and Larry can't wait for a week or two of sunny weather so he can get the outside of the house painted....now that he's gotten it all sealed up and fixed it looks worse than ever, but once painted...it will be great.