Motivation

Since shortly into the school year, my Littlest has been asking when SHE gets to start Kindergarten. I expected this question to a certain degree, but what I didn't expect was this:

As soon as she learned that Kindergarteners know how to write their own name, she was ON IT. Previously she was just mildly interested in letters at best, but she is now obsessed, and practices writing her name and forming the other letters almost daily.

Goal-oriented much?

Autumn Birds

Outside my kitchen window they come, every Autumn.

Finished eating the bounty of Summer, they turn to my un-trimmed flower beds and ready store of human-provided seeds.

Junco and Towhee today. Who will it be tomorrow?

Wow

You all knocked my socks off with your response to my Sis-in-Law's candles. She didn't anticipate the positive response, and completely sold out in the first day. She is absolutely thrilled, of course, and is working on filling requests, and hopes to have more listed soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

As a thank-you to ME for telling you about them, she brought a candle out to me, and I am loving it, up there on my mantle. If you have been on the fence, wondering if you should get one or not, stop wondering and get one! You won't regret it.

The other WOW, the one that still has me shaking my head, is what my Farmboy gave to me for my birthday.

I can't tell you just how long I have been wanting a laptop computer, but never felt that my want justified the expense. Well, he has once again delivered, giving me a gift that I am super excited about. I can listen to music in the kitchen! Design samplers under a shade tree in the Summer! Stop hogging the family computer for work so the kids can play on PBS Kids once in a while! Write my blog while sitting in a cozy chair by the woodstove! How many other silly, frivolous things can I think of? Lots. Happy me.

I'll be spending my day trying to get the color balance and lighting just right, loading my design software, simmering one very large turkey carcass down to broth, catching up on housework, and perhaps digging into the Christmas decorations. What will you do today?

Thur-tee-sev-un

How did that happen?

37.

Still young, you say.

I know.

But oh, so close to forty and officially-probably-not-a-kid-anymore.

I don't feel a day over 28.

I hope I can still say the same in another decade.

I'm taking the day off from computer stuff, but don't forget that this is your last day to get in on my birthday sale!

I am Thankful for You

May your day be full of reminders of the blessings you have received in life.

This wallpaper is just a small token of my appreciation for all of your support and friendship.

Left-click the image, then Right-click to save to your computer.

How Many Pecks of Peppers?

Tall, Rugged, and Handsome has been tending his pepper plants all season long out in the greenhouse.

Despite the frost and snow, they continue to grow and thrive.

He came in the door on Sunday with a bucketfull and asked me how to go about canning them.

I chimed in here and there, but otherwise this brave Farmboy did it all himself.

He can now cross "Can a Peck of Pickled Peppers" off of his bucket list.

A Great Idea

My Sis-in-Law Jen has been selling antiques on ebay for a very long time.

She has dabbled in hand-dids now and again,(you may recall the sampler that she designed and released under my business name) but has only just recently opened an etsy shop.

Where she just listed these fabulous battery-operated candles which she embellished with a print from an antique sampler that she owns.

And her price point is just about right, in my opinion. Perfect for holiday giving.

You know you want one! Click here to visit her shop.

Snow

Our snow is under attack.

It is raining cats and dogs outside my window this morning.

All of my brightness is melting away.

It never really amounted to enough to DO anything with, other than make tracks.

The Littles did plenty of stomping, piling up, and eating the snow.
Wishing they could make an igloo or snowman, but it was first too wet, then too frozen.

I am sure that there will be more to come.

There had better be. We love snow.

I'm Having a Birthday Sale!

I'm running a special sale, just for my blog readers!

Check out my groovy little graphic to read the details.(That's a 26% discount, in case you don't care to do the math). My shop is here.

And yes, the sale price will also apply to any item that you wish to purchase from my newly re-opened On Sale blog page. Which may or may not have something to do with the paper cuttings I have been working on.

Which may or may not look a little something like this:

First Snow!

This is the world we awoke to this morning:

Hooray for the first snow of the season!

What I've Been Working On

Stay tuned for a handful of Christmas-y Papercut offerings.

It has been quite awhile since I pulled my scherenschnitte tools out, and I am having fun!

Beaver Believer

We got video! We got video!

The Mister walked down in the dark last night to retrieve the video card. He had placed the camera, pointed directly at the top of the downed tree, where he knew there would be activity. We had a great time watching through the 18 minutes or so of various clips last evening. I hope you enjoy the few I chose for you to watch.

Not exactly creatures of grace on land, eh?

But persistent as can be.

Take a Look, Its in a Book

Jimmy Fallon as The Doors singing the "Reading Rainbow" theme song?

Thank you Colleen, for directing me to this little bit of brilliance.

Since I can't keep my eyelids open past 10:45pm, I rely on people like you to keep me clued in.

For the Record

I much prefer this:

to this:

Just sayin'.

How the Tree Fell

We tried to get some exciting video footage for you of the Beavers at work and/or of the tree falling.

With the camera zoomed in right on the tree, and with a wind storm coming, we were sure that we would get something worth showing.

And we did. Just not one of the somethings we were hoping for...

Here kitty, kitty, kitty!

The sad part of the story is that the tree did indeed fall in that windstorm, and the camera didn't capture it. We noticed first thing yesterday morning that the view was slightly altered. The tree that the Beavers ate through wasn't the one we thought, but was tucked farther off to the side of our view.

A little hard to tell, I know, but perhaps that means we are wrong about my lovely favorite tree being nibbled on. Its pretty hard to get perspective of where you are standing from down below, with how thick the underbrush is in places. Time will tell.

The Boys went down yesterday afternoon with my camera to catch some snapshots of the downed tree. Apparently the Beavers have already started to nibble away at the top branches.

As they hiked in, the Boys first saw the top of the tree...

the middle of the tree...

and the base of the tree...

Did they plan for it to fall that way, getting high-centered on an old-growth log? Will all of that tree trunk simply go to waste, or do they have plans to harvest the bark and moss? I am so curious I can hardly stand it!

We have the trail cam pointed at a place where we think they will be working next. Keep your fingers crossed for some glimpses of our clever critters!

Picture of the Week

Blogging About Beavers

Not exactly the typical post topic found on the web these days, I know! And for readers of a blog about stitching, cooking, gardening and puppies, it is perhaps a bit on the boring side. But I am not going to make any apologies, because I am completely and utterly fascinated by our Beaver family and the amazing work that they continue to do in our creek bottom.

They have been working their way downstream, making it easier and easier for us to walk in and view their dams. The Mister has counted at least 6 separate dam locations, some smaller, some really big.

They are clever creatures, I tell you.

This is the most astonishing sight we found.

I wouldn't be able to touch fingers around this tree.

It is well over 7 feet in diameter, and stands tall enough that it can be seen from our house. Sadly, that other, taller, Cottonwood tree in the photo has some bites taken out of it too... and it is one of my favorites to watch throughout the year.

Most often, the trees the Beavers take down are rather small.

I imagine these trees will be taken eventually, either by the Beavers or by drowning.

It feels like a dream, sometimes, owning this land.

Tending our trails and roads. Finding evidence of people who walked here long before us. Old pump in the creek, a rusty wheelbarrow, fire rings in the soil, logging spikes in old-growth stumps, a stray arrowhead.

Realizing that our time here is a miniscule sliver. We are caretakers in a string of caretakers.

Watching Beavers build dams where perhaps other Beavers built dams that have long since washed away.

Its a dream I want to live in for a very, very long time.