Peeping raccoon?

Oh my gosh. This raccoon just tried to get in my house! I was lounging on the couch when I noticed Pistol standing on the arm of the chair looking up at the window. He sorta looked like he'd come to a dead stop in the middle of bounding up to the windowsill. When I looked up I saw why. This little guy was standing right up against the window staring in at us. This picture was taken later, after he'd backed off a bit and the cat got brave enough to jump up on the windowsill and growl. I know I live close enough to the river to have lots of wildlife around, but somehow you just don't expect to have a raccoon watching you eat dinner and watch tv.

So, um, my hair turned curly.

Nope, not a perm. Totally. Natural. Ringlets. You must understand that I'm a stick-straight hair girl from a family of stick-straight hair girls. Oh sure, I've developed some annoying cowlicks the past few years, but it was a shock when I didn't bother to style it one Saturday a few months ago and discovered this. It's weird, but in a nice way.

Dress #3

This is my kind of bag...

For making at least. Just decorate a square (in this case quilted with perle cotton), fold up the corners and sew them together, and tack some ribbons on for a handle. This is my take on the Kemshall's bag project in Quilting Arts Gifts. It's a gift for a friend and I'm just delighted with how it turned out. In fact, I accidentally told her I wanted to keep it for myself. Oops. OK, what I really meant was "I want to make another one just like it for myself." She took this one home at noon to keep it safe.

Merry and Bright

So, as it turned out, I actually cleaned up a bit and put up the Christmas tree. Shocking. I haven't put up the tree since I've had Pistol (full disclosure: I've been pretty grinchy the past few years). But I decided since this is a Year of Change, I'll try to change my attitude about Christmas. Now we just have to wait and see about Pistol's attitude.

So far he's just watched. And then he got bored and passed out on the clean laundry pile. But I've added lots of shiny toys while he's been sleeping...


This is really a win-win for me. I'll either have the pretty tree to enjoy or I'll have a good story of kitten hijinks to tell. Maybe both?

Lovely

Look at this gorgeous scarf! My excellent friend Shadan made it and wore it on Thursday.


Also on Thursday, mom and I drove out to the home of Elise Bozzo (hope I spelled that right!). Elise is a doll artist who has been crafting and collecting for years and years. She has 9 Christmas trees decorated with handmade ornaments. This is the Santa tree:

She also has angels, snowmen, Raggedy Anns, teddy bears and more. Elise's home is completely and beautifully decorated for the season and each piece has a story.

All this loveliness is inspiring me. Will I work on things in progress? Will I start something new? Will I clean the house so I can put up my little Charlie Brown Christmas tree?

Perhaps a bit of each...

Royal Quilt Tester

Thanks for the help Pistol, but this quilt is for the Divine Miss Mina, not for you!

Yep, definitely crazy...

This is the view from my closet. It's pretty here even when it's cold and snowy. The crazy part? I've been jogging. 5 miles this week. In the snow. With a Marine. Definitely crazy.

My friend Thomas started a 2100 club at work. The idea is to run 100 miles and do 2000 calisthenics (pushups, situps, squats, jumping jacks, etc.). There's a chart in the lunchroom to mark your progress. It felt REALLY good to mark off that first 5 mile box. And it turns out you don't get cold when you're running.