The Holidays are Here!

And with them, holiday decor! We went with the small artificial tree [that i love], for the usual reasons...we won't be home over the holidays, we aren't home most of the day, and frankly, its spectacularly less work. This year I went with just the antiquey pale pink bulbs [I schlepped to the mainland from Hawaii, oh so many years ago] and a few accessorizing ornaments. With a small tree one has to really edit their choice of ornaments.

This fellow made the cut tho! I love his toothy grin and his tiny gold crown.

In our 19 years together, we have somehow never acquired a proper tree-topper. We've always used one of a hodge podge of tops we've invented, including, for a while, a Pooh bear puppet. This year I asked my husband to pick a topper from a silver snowman, last year's Jack-in-the-Box antenna ball (the burger joint, not the xmas toy), or the soft ornament we call "Sister Angel" because she has an expression that's just like you know who..tho I wish she had yellow hair. He said "Well...I think we should probably put your sister up there..." Hee hee!

This year I'd like to showcase this shiny ornament. It was made by my mother-in-law and given to us a few years ago. It's a glass bell and it is filled with feathers...gathered from a nest or some other such sustainable feather repository. We always thought it was quite a unique piece...

Until I was flipping through my latest episode of O! The Oprah Magazine. Fifty-eight bucks?!? You were ahead of your time, Carolyn! :)

I love our festive little tree in our festive little living room. I think that sleepy old hound dog does too.

Tiny Bear Stairs

The glorious snow turned to ice...and then to water. But it was such a lovely treat, so early in the cold season!

Once upon a time, raccoons were classified in the bear family. Later they were classified as procyonidae, along with kinkajous and other animals I couldn't identify if they showed up at my front door.

But 'round the Chicken Ranch, we still call 'em Tiny Bears. And we have long suspected a gang of Tiny Bears were living under our staircase back by the rock wall. With their creepy Tiny Bear hands. But now, I think we can say with some certainty that we have residents under the stairs...the Tiny Bear Stairs.

And then then, no more snow. It rarely rains enough that it streams down the windows, but it has been doing so lately! The Tiny Bears are again free to move about the property without leaving a trail.

BIG snow!

Uhhhh....big snow has arrived, people! Like lose-your-wiener-dog snow!

Dang-near lose-your-Cooper snow!

Luckily I didn't have to drive in myself. I caught a ride with a cute guy who has a truck. ;)

So much balancing snow!

I love it love it love it!!!!

Good luck building the perfect man, sweetie. :)

Happy Birthday my Husband!

Thanksgiving was also my husband's birthday...on the VERY SAME DAY! We are very holiday-birthday prone in our family. He took the holiday opportunity to have the river to himself and went and did a little fishing.

Despite the biting cold, Miss G thought she might be able to go. I think she doesn't know she's 16 years old and 8 inches tall.

Biting cold.

There was gift-opening before our pheasant/duck/ham dinner!

Then over to an awesome thanksgiving/birthday/dominoes party! Hooray for birthday bones!

Hee-hee! Purple and green ice cream cake birthday treat!

Happy thanksgiving birthday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, we were going to host the in-laws for Thanksgiving, but icy weather and a pile-up on I-84 had them on the road for hours but making no progress. So they turned back and we celebrated the holidy with just the three of us.

A friend at work gave me this book she though was ridiculous. As I LOVE setting a good table, it didn't seem ridiculous to me at all!!

But I learned that you really need rigid cotton napkins to do anything interesting.

I attempted a couple of slow cooker dishes this year: honey ham and stuffing. The ham was rock-n-roll. The stuffing would have worked OK, but you really need a full 8 hours to get it to "bake" right.

In addition to the ham we also served a pheasant and two ducks. Thus the two bottles of wine. Red for your duck, white for your pheasant. Take a sip of each for your ham. ;)

Hope your Thanksgiving was just lovely!

First Snows of 2010!

The weather has been fantastic lately!

We've had a bit of snow!

And then a bit of rain.

I've even had to get out my clever BPA ice scraper! Hahahahahaha!

I love when the sun brings out the sparklies!

The Chicken Chalet.

So lovely!

Natural Born Killer

In addition to all of his other killing adventures, my husband has recently been hunting a variety of fowl...

...In the freezing cold. Which sounds miserable to me, but he rather likes. I think assistant Louis is not so into it either, and much prefers a sunbeam.
Peasants. Despite its harsh subject matter, i love this pic. Sorry Carolyn.

Feathers are both beautiful and also creepy.

So much ducks in the garage.

If you are familiar with Ren & Stimpy's Dance of a 1000 Chickens, you will recognize the Dance of Seven Ducks.

Like a duck hunting ninja. Almost exactly.

My Retirement Must Come to an End....

But alas, my peaceful, retired touring life with the parents had to come to an end eventually. I had such fun seeing them, seeing Idaho's sights, and in generally enjoying the good life. On one of our lovely, relaxed meals out, I noted that I sometimes feel like that Syrah. ;)

On our last day's adventure we went to the historical museum. This is a picture of a logging camp mess hall circa 1920. I LOVE that its so civilized...tablecloths! I do so love a good tablecloth.

Note to self: head back saddle shot, not my most flattering angle. Mom and I messin' around on the museum's saddle exhibit! Hee hee!

Sooooo nice to see ya! Au revoir, parents! Thanks for the fun visit!

Touring Idaho City

It was another lovely day, so we decided to head up to Idaho City and other assorted mining communities of yore.

Framed by the city hall building!

I love a good log/timeline display! The center-most arrow indicates the signing of the Declaration of Independence (1776). The outer-most arrow indicates Idaho becoming a state (1890). This was 31 years after Oregon had!

I just love this picture of the parents. Going all sorts of directions at once!

Here's me and Dad...and this large brown thingy. I didn't realize until getting the camera home that I'm the same color as the big brown thingy.

The whole town had a lovely bright carpet! :)