Day 265 - Kurious Kitty

That monster grasshopper I shot the other day has decided to hang around and has been making periodic appearances on the screened patio door. This morning it caught Zoey's attention.

hey, you wanna play??

c'mon a little closer...

curses! foiled by glass!

Day 264 - More reading material

As you may have noticed, I'm an avid fan of mystery books. At the moment, I'm following about six different author's series. My latest batch will catch me up on Davidson's culinary series and almost catch me up with Coben's sports-themed series. The others I've been following from the beginning and gobble up each new paperback as it gets published.

Day 263 - Size matters...

There's a dictionary, and then there's a dictionary! I keep the little pocket one on my desk and use it regularly. The big one lives in the bookcase, and I almost need a crane to pick it up, but it's my go-to resource when I really want to find something (or need a really big word!) ;)

Day 262 - Mini measures

Still in my stock-the-freezer mode, a new mini loaf pan will come in right handy for the single portion breads, meat loaf, and other stuff I'm making. My muffin tins have served me well, but little loaves will be more fun. :)

Day 261 - Body Armored

So I'm sitting at the computer, minding my own business, when all of a sudden I hear this "thunk" against the patio door. Thinking it might have been one of my hummers, I went over to take a look-see and saw this laaarge... as in big!... grasshopper. Seriously, the thing was at least 2 inches long, if not more.

Relatively speaking, probably not really all that big, I guess. I'm just used to the little inch-long jumpers hopping out of my way when I walk across the lawn. This dude could've made me seek cover!

Day 260 - Wildlife refuge

Our resident back-yard rodents have been frolicking and chasing one another (and the birds) pretty much all day. At one point, one of the local stray cats slinked (slunk?) ... whatever... snuck over to see what was going on. Too late! The squirrel saw it and scurried up the post to safety while the cat waited and watched from under the Japanese maple below. No dummy he, the squirrel just outwaited it until the cat finally ran off to chase something else.

P.S.
Often Lew and I end up with the same subject matter for our photo of the day. Today, it was a mommy deer and her two little ones but his photos turned out much better than mine. Do check out Lew's Pics for a darling look-see.

Day 259 - Decisions, decisions

So I was messing around with a couple of shells for this week's big theme (the larger shell is about 6" across -- big!) and took them outside for better light. Then, I couldn't decide which photo I wanted to use ...

the one on the the bench showing the insides...

or the one on the deck showing the outsides...

or maybe the one with the leaves and acorns showing... well, I didn't know what it showed, I just stuck the leaves and acorns in there because they were there. Then I thought, whoa! A perfect metaphor for seasonal transition... from summer seashells to autumn leaves and acorns.

I get all artsy fartsy sometimes! ;)

Day 258 - Humming along

I haven't been terribly creative this week so it's a good thing I have cats and visits from my trusty little hummer to fall back on.

The little guy (gal?) showed up 4 times within an hour today! I think it may be getting ready for its flight south.

Day 257 - Her peaceful place

When she's not upstairs on the bed, Zoey's next favorite spot to peacefully snooze is my chair in the family room.

Day 256 - Only 103 more days...

... so I'm getting ready. Somewhat. Instead of wrapping it all, I'm trying the gift bag route this year and took advantage of an early sale at Current. My goodies arrived today.

Day 255 - Peaceful bedtime

Curling up with a book on eyelet bedding that has been spritzed with smell-goods ensures a most peaceful through-the-night sleep.

Day 254 - A cat's a cat, and that's that...

If there is one spot of sun spilling onto the floor,
a cat will find it and soak it up.
~J.A. McIntosh~

Peaceful was created for cats and sunshine ...

Day 253 - Serenity

If there is magic on the planet,
it is contained in the water.
Loren Eisley

A sunny day, the lake, the ducks, and time spent with my guy -- it doesn't get more peaceful than that. :)

Day 252 - Sunny Acorns

Oak trees come out of acorns, no matter how unlikely that seems.
An acorn is just a tree's way back into the ground.
For another try. Another trip through. One life for another.
Shirley Ann Grau