Blue Skies, Cool Weather, and a Lazy Cat Hunt.

Cheryl enjoying the weather

Blue skies!

After the storms earlier this week,  and the mud and flood that followed... it is nice to finally have pleasant weather for a change.   The skies are blue with a few fluffy clouds and the humidity has dropped considerably.    Tomorrow will hopefully be another 20 mile run for Cheryl.  She is leaving the possibility open for alternatives should the weather change its mind. We shall see how things go.

So different from Wednesday!

The cat on the prowl!

Cat vs Squirrel!

Both square each other up.

In the mean time,  We have been spending time outside with the cat.  Hiro has been making friends with the local fauna while Cheryl and I watch from the porch or blanket.  I think the squirrels just mess with him, as he has never caught one ( although he has had more than a few opportunities to do so.) and he normally ignores them unless they are being particularly pushy.  Today was one of those days.

Hiro, for some reason,   decided to focus his attention on this squirrel.   A little round-the-rosy and a brief chase and then they both went separate ways... but not before I finally got some pictures.  Yeah!

Looks like the squirrel is just playing. 

Hiro likes playing with Voles the best.

Hiro mostly is interested in voles, chipmunks, grasshoppers, moths, and occasionally a bird.  The squirrel is one of tree that come and destroy the bird feeder from time to time.  One of them has a distinguishable brown tail.  ( It's a gray squirrel with a brown tail...I know it is NOT a fox squirrel)

Now it is just  teasing Hiro.

Hiro gets bored. 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday today.  The weekend is upon us!  Time to kick back and relax while the weather cooperates!

More Stockings! More Names!

Hiro looks just like I feel right now

Names are done and drying

This is becoming a challenge to keep my energy up enough to blog...and not forget to take pics of the days stocking orders as they come in.  Regardless,  things are going well and stockings sales continue to come in.  It seems that the names are becoming  a big hit lately!   I have been busy putting names on them and that tends to hold up the orders an hour or two.  No worries.   It's a good thing that we id all those stockings this summer ( I should day spring...as we sewed up hardly any while at that job)   Wee are still working on replacing a few of them as we can.

Isn't he CUTE...And very popular

Red Black Bear was Stocking of the day

we received another stash of felt yesterday along with some other much needed supplies.  The only thing now is trying to figure out what design is low and replenishing it.  Well,  best to keep this one short.   Perhaps there will be more tomorrow.   BTW   Some really great Animes I can't wait to mention.  I'll write about them when I have more time. 

Outside Fun with Hiro! And Celebrity Panera

The Cat, that is. He likes to talk ...a lot! And harasses me to take him outside all the time. So, Every now and then, I humor him .( Usually everyday) And we hang out outside where he can chase squirrels, rabbits , and the one chipmunk that hangs out by the side. Usually he just hangs out under the shed or climbs a tree. The animals tend to disappear after he has been outside for a while. The neighbor has a Ginko tree that is rather cool to look at. It is one of the only trees that still have a few leaves that have color. Anyways, I have found out where the Hollywood celebrities hang out when they want to disappear from the world. Iowa! Here in Panera, We see Steven Spielburg just about everyday! He's a regular. IN addition to him, We ocasionally see Meridith Baxter, Jason Robards, and John Belushie! It's funny, But everyday we see familiar faces right here in our little corner of Iowa and some of these people end up famous! Ok not really, Just because Cheryl and I identify them as these people, they are not. In fact some of these famous people are dead so it is impossible. But I'm sure some of you reading this have seen people that are dead ringers for a famous person. Perhaps I'll post pics so I can prove it....but it would be creepy asking total strangers to pose for a picture.

Your dog is smart, but can he do this?

A challenge to Stella bird! Feast your eyes on "the kitten", and be amazed! Can you get your new puppy to do this?

Female tree carving.

Ok, So today I was working on carving another wood nymph out of an old dead Cherry tree. Not the fruit kind, rather the furniture kind ( think choke cherry) I love carving cherry because the smell is awesome while you carve. Also, the wood is a wonderful rich orange/reddish brown color. Oh, and it is much harder than pine so you can add detail without crushing the wood. Anyway, the bugs are now out in full swing and that made carving outside a challenge. I finished up in the dark so the last picture is crappy, even with a flash. You can't see it much, but I tried to youth en her up a bit. She was looking a little too old for me. I'll see how far I get tomorrow, but right now, I have at least one seat to carve. In other news, Hiro, ( the "kitten") caught his first vole tonight. Don't worry, it got away. It did the old "I'm really scary" trick, forcing Hiro to drop it, then it bait and switch with a bunch of leaves. Hiro had nothing more than a mouthful of leaves to show for his time. But he did manage to catch it for a little while. Those little things are crafty! Maybe next time Hiro!

Red and Hiro's Vet visit during snow storm!

Yesterday, was the big vet visit to Grand Rapids and what better day to schedule it than during a huge snow storm. Its only 45 minutes away and yet we had to take 2 hours both ways two times!. ( total of 8 hours on the road!) I must admit that going only 30-45 mph on the highway is better than being pulled out of a ditch. It continues to snow even now and the warning is not set to expire till 1 am! It is now a sloppy wet heavy snow that is even worse than the white out fluffy of yesterday. According to the weatherman, We have gotten over 4.5 FT of snow thus far... and even more by the lake shore ( where we live) We currently have about 24 inches in our front yard, but it is melting a little now. On a brighter note, Red's teeth were just fine! He just needed a good cleaning, No cavities or tooth loss. Hiro was bouncing around so much on his pain medication that you would not even know he had gotten fixed. So both the cats are back to normal or even better.

Since I have been taking a small vacation from carving this week. ( this IS supposed to be a blog about carving after all..) I worked on my stag beetle and I'm actually impressed with how it turned out. First: It started out and ended looking pretty much like I wanted it too, (instead of starting out a grasshopper and ending up a butterfly) Second, It looks pretty good, not sloppy folding. I wanted to show off several angles so you can get the full effect. I still have to master the walking stick. ( my second attempt looks more like a scorpion! ) I'll show that off later. Other than that...MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I hope everyone has a happy and safe Christmas day.