Hello Mr. Fox

When I mentioned about the foxes last week I decided I needed a picture too. So when Rusty alerted me mid-morning to their presence I grabbed my camera and took a few photos from our upstairs bedroom window. On this visit I caught the bolder of the two. They're easy to distinguish as one has far more white on his (her?) bib and belly and while you see this fellow has gentle black tipping, the other is strongly marked in black, his legs nearly solid. "Blackie" is far more cautious. I'm not a good judge of distance but it is quite a long way from our house to the fringe of the woods yet it is undeniable that Blackie can see me watching from the window. He doesn't like it much. Later on this same day when he visited I tried to grab my camera but any movement whatsoever on my part will send him scampering. I watched for him to return at which time he stared me down for a few moments but when I raised the camera, he grabbed a cabbage leaf from the scrap pile and dashed off to the safety of wooded cover. That must have satisfied him at least for a while; he certainly wasn't coming back any time soon if I was going to harass him! Another day (maybe Friday?) I watched the two interacting at the scrap pile. I couldn't tell if they were actually challenging each other over the food - it didn't seem like a serious conflict but maybe more of a jostling for position, order-of-the-pack kind of issue.

This is the bolder of the two, I guess we need a name for him too.

I have no doubt he is looking directly at me, although this guy feels less threatened by my presence than his friend does.

Have I mentioned that we spent our summer watching a mama deer raise her twin babies?

Now, on to the indoor business at hand. I didn't get a whole lot done last week, I was only able to sew some on Monday & Tuesday. With the long awaited arrival of deer season, my guys headed to "deer camp". Sounds like I'd have less to do, doesn't it? But I cooked almost non-stop Wed-Thurs-Friday. I can't blame it all on them though, I had friends in on Friday evening, then on Saturday morning headed off to my sister's for a weekend long Thanksgiving gathering. Believe me, we ate well all around. And I feel like I've packed on a couple of extra holiday pounds. Already. Tomorrow I'll start cooking for my husband's family on Thanksgiving day. Over-eating is a holiday tradition for me.

So I do have one little project to show you - here's a tote for Izzy the dog, the same Izzy of last week's Christmas stocking. Yes she is a pampered pooch, isn't she? I totally understand!

The front . . .

The back. . .

And the inside too.

Now it is serious crunch time at my house. I have a December 1 deadline to turn in supply lists for five spring classes at Jackman's. I have to list each and every thing that might possibly be needed to complete the project, along with narratives - supply recommendations, what to do to prepare for class, etc. I've discovered the only way to develop these lists effectively is to make notes while you do the samples. SO . . . I have a lot of sewing and a lot of paperwork to do. And none of it completed. This is not a good feeling. And I have Thanksgiving dinner breathing down my neck, how did that happen so soon!? Someone who knows me well told me once that I wouldn't be happy if I didn't have too much to do. Well said.

I can't sign off without mentioning that I helped Ashley (my future DIL) work on kitchen curtains. Ashley has good taste, picked out some really nice fabrics and had great ideas. She made covered piping and inserted it below the header. It looks gorgeous and professional. She is doing some seriously amazing things for a beginning sewer; some day soon she will be leaving me in the dust! (You know, maybe I could get a picture of those curtains.) Ashley also took a pretty good cut on the finger from the rotary cutter that morning but we won't talk about that . . .

I'm thankful for:

~ our service men and women (including my cousins Chris & Liz) who put themselves in harm's way to protect our freedom and way of life

~ being married to the most amazing man

~ the giggles we share daily with our kids, family and best friends

God Bless you all - Happy Thanksgiving!