now we are seven

It's hard to believe, but I double-checked:

the 6-month-old tykes in these pictures just had their 7th birthday.

Moxie on the 28th and Della today.

If you remember their arrival, 

we have known each other for a long time!

I remember it like it was last week.

Sometimes good things stay good.

~~~~~

winter cheer

I think Della speaks for the entire household today.

Outside it's very cold and murkily grey, and everything is covered in a sheet of ice. Doing chores last night, I had to punch my boot heel into the ice crust every time I took a step, in order to stay on my feet. The cleated boots came out this morning for the first time all Winter.

There's been a lot of this lately:

For a person who has enjoyed - well, let's say "reluctantly swallowed" - coffee about once every two years over a long lifetime, I am making up for it now with a taste for Turkish coffee. I started out making an occasional traditional serving, in a traditional cezve, and drinking it in a tiny cup, unfiltered. A bit of a pleasant ritual. Only one "local" shop carries this coffee. It's in the same town as Faraway Feedstore, so an 8-ounce can of Mehmet Efendi has been on the list for that every-few-months trip.

Well. There's been a gradual uptick in indulgence over a couple of years, and this Winter I've been brewing an entire quart, filtering it, then refrigerating and doling out daily for iced coffee with lots of milk. I recently made the feedstore trip and now the cupboard holds two cans of coffee. 16-ounce cans. Felt very much like getting in a load of hay.

It's so refreshing to the eye to see green, isn't it? I'm trying to keep a few little spearmint plants alive until they can go forth and multiply in the Spring. There hasn't been spearmint growing here in many years, but I am going to try very hard to reintroduce it in 2023.

And speaking of refreshing colors and reintroductions:

Several years ago, I saw the first bluebird here. It was tremendously exciting, and a couple of years later when I saw a pair, I hoped they would decide to stay nearby and visit the feeders often. Then there seemed to be a lull. Well, it's taken a while, but this Winter there have been five or six bluebirds visiting every day! I've added daily mealworms - the very nicest mealworms! - to my hulled sunflower seed and suet buffet. I've been trying and trying to get nice photographs to post for you, but this is the best so far. Stay tuned: someday the sun will be shining and the windows will be washed and the birds will be sitting still, all at the same time.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend, with the companions and activities and beverages you most enjoy!

~~~~~

looking back at november

November was a lovely month, and quickly gone.

There was a lot of rain, but also many clear, bright days.

I loved the clear mornings, often very cold, usually with frost or a dusting of snow.

More than once when I began morning chores I didn't even get as far as the barn before turning around and going right back to the house for a camera. 

Because when rays of the rising sun make it through openings in the trees,

the frost disappears in a matter of moments.

So much color everywhere.

This was new: multicolored leaves of the blueberry bought from a nursery in October:

Not all the November colors are bright, but just look at this:

in early light, the Chelona leaves glow like polished bronze.

November was a time for seeing the "first" of some things...

...and seeing the "last" of other things.

And we had to put a little more effort into being comfortable.

Piper will not allow a blanket on her couch -

I put one on every day, and every night she digs at it until it falls off.

So I experimentally made her a nightgown by cutting the sleeves off my lambswool zip-neck sweater.

She holds very still while I put it on her,

so I think she must enjoy the extra coziness.

She wears it when we go for walks on very cold days, also,

and looks Very Smart.

Moxie and Della divide their time between outdoors and inside,

and both enjoy sleeping in wooly beds by the woodstove,

which has been going non-stop all month.

But when I need to flatten out my back for a while, any time, night or day,

one or both cats will keep me company, which I appreciate very much.

Cats have taught me everything I know about how to be "in the moment."

 Last night I did the Daily Markmaking by painting this fern:

Painted with my left hand, because Moxie was sleeping on my right hand.

It was fun dabbing away with my non-dominant hand. I'll certainly do it again.

And now it's time to do tonight's markmaking before I fall asleep,

which will be very soon.

Goodnight, readers.

Here comes December.

Keep your fires fed.

~~~~~

sunday snaps

We've had two days of genuinely pleasant weather.

Not too hot.

Not too steamy.

Not as many mosquitoes and biting flies.

I turned off the fans in the barns!

For the first time in months I was able to enjoy staying outside after chores,

instead of heading inside to peel off soaking wet clothes and dry my hair with a towel.

Today, Della helped me photograph the bees in the perennial gardens:

"There's one!"

And Moxie helped me work in the big vegetable garden:

"That's enough work for a while. Let's sit in the shade."

But Piper said,

"Honestly? Gardening has never really been my thing.

And Those Goats are EVERYWHERE!

I'm going back inside for a nap now."

Okay, Pip. I'll open the door for you, and put a treat on your pillow.

Then it's time to check on Those Goats.

Moxie spends a lot of time in the goat paddocks.

It looks like she's outside the fence here, but not really - 

she's in another paddock with other goats.

It must have been a huge relief for the goats to have fewer biting bugs.

This Spring and Summer has been, in a word, terrible.

This weekend all the goats have been quietly browsing or resting in the sun.

Not kicking at flies or flapping their ears to get rid of mosquitoes every few seconds.

I hope these gentler conditions will continue...
right into Winter would be nice!

Everyone relaxed.

Not a squabble, not a row.

Just the way I like it!

~~~~~

anniversary

Two years ago today, Moxie and Della were coaxed into this carrier - can you see tiny Della in the back? - while I waited for their paperwork from the good folks at the Pat Brody Shelter.

They bonded pretty quickly. Immediately, I would say.

These were taken the following morning:

As they've grown, they've developed many interests.

Both enjoy knitting.

And of course, there is hunting.

Anytime, any season.

Hunting is important, but so is plenty of proper rest.

And not too much time on the computer!

Happy anniversary, kittens.

You certainly keep things interesting!

~~~~~

squirrel

Looked out the sliding glass door today and saw this:

There was no sunflower seed on the ground today.

I thought he'd nose around in the greenery a bit,

then move on toward the bird feeder or the barn.

But instead, he came a little closer, and hung out for a while.

And then he moved over to the exact spot where Della had been yesterday.

He just waited and waited, looking through the door.

He did everything but tap on the glass, and call,

"Will Della come out and play?"

He's on tippy-toes in this one:

And where was Della?

Asleep on the porch.

She had already been outside for a long time,

and had come back in for a snack and a snooze.

Maybe tomorrow, Squirrel!

~~~~~

friday frolics

 

Note on these snaps: not a compressed telephoto illusion - the squirrel was about 14 inches from Della the whole time, munching on sunflower seeds and saying, "Chase me! Come on, chase me!"

Which Della resisted for a few minutes, knowing that the anticipation of chasing was much more exciting than the actual chase would be. This was not Della's first Squirrel Rodeo.

I often see Moxie playing tag with a squirrel - spiraling up and down the big oak trunks. But Della is playing the ground game.

~~~~~