Bizarre Ornament Challenge

Krissy, you win. What sicko dreamed up this nightmarish ornament, anyway? So what's next, a chicken serving a steaming plate of wings? A cow firin' up the grill with a big T-bone on it?

Waste Not, Says Pappy

Just because a box of tissues disentegrates does not mean that it can't be salvaged. Mike has had this box for, well, more years than I can remember. It is such a lovely decorative accent in his office. Apparently, he does not use many tissues. Or maybe he is refilling this box. In the second photo you can see that on the top of the box, the outer layer of the cardboard (the printed layer) is gone, and only the brown cardboard remains. Also notice that early repairs were accomplished using masking tape and blue painter's tape. You can see the blue tape peeking from the edge of a later repair. Obviously, the painter's tape was not a lifetime fix, as subsequent deterioration required a more durable repair. YES--the always reliable, sturdy and non-biodegradble DUCT TAPE! By golly, this box is going to last forever.

Crazed, Snowball-Making Squirrel

This little guy kept the big birds at bay while he ran back and forth, from the porch to the tree, burying his pieces of bread in a secret hiding place. He couldn't have been eating all of it because he was so tiny. Every time he picked up a new piece of bread, he tasted it, rotated it, tasted it, rotated it...and then ran away to hide it.

He is very adept at jumping from the porch to the tree, staying airborn much further than you would imagine that he could. I got a shot of him mid-air. If I could have gotten a picture of him from the front, you would have seen that he had a huge chunk of bread in his mouth.

The birds were able to enjoy a few crumbs, though, while the squirrel was busy hiding his stash.
Here he goes, running back to the pan of bread to protect it from the birds.

How Could I Resist?

Every year I say, "No more Christmas ornaments!" Mike says the tree is going to collapse under its own weight. But how could I walk away from Mr. Potato Head putting his very own nose on the snowman? Just too irresistible!

A Room With A View

I just LOVE having a window over my kitchen sink. The only drawback is that sometimes I just stand there and watch the birds instead of doing something I need to be doing, like washing dishes. There are a couple of feeders near the window, and the birds love to drink from the tiny pond. If I move slowly, I can sneak up to the window with my camera and get some nice photos.

Moss Balls

Krissy gave me the ball 'o moss on the left. Gee, no one every gave me a moss ball before! A couple of days later I found the moss-on-a-stick (hmmm, a new State Fair of Texas delicacy??) as I was walking to the Museum of Science in Houston. This stuff grows like crazy in Houston! I'm pretty sure I don't want it in my own yard, though, and the moss on a stick is spitting out seeds, so I think I'm going to have to throw it away. But for now I'll just enjoy looking at it in my kitchen window.