Fawned Friday

01. Cute costumes for littles.

02. Ain't that the truth.

03. Super neat calculator.

04. Gold skull.

05. Kitty lights! Yes!

06. Love these Fall challenges.

07. A very sweet blog.

08. Bring on the sthnow!

09. These ladies make me smile.

10. A sweet list of recommended reading.

Cabin Porn (And Yes, It's Safe For Work)

New blog addiction, mes amis. Though, I'll admit the name had me thinking Do I really want to open this while I'm at my shop? But I clicked anyhow... and now I've been staring at the most gorgeous images for the last two hours. Hello, Cabin Porn indeed!

I dare you not to scroll through, daydreaming for a woodsy adventure of your own.

Just beautiful.

Any newly discovered blogs you think I might enjoy, mes amis? I'm always excited to see what you're reading. Go ahead, share in the comments.

Merci!

Autumn Days & The Fox

I'm in love with my city right now. We are enjoying one of the most gorgeous Autumns I can remember in years. Our last few days have been sunny and warm, with only a bit of grey to darken the skies. I've been trying to spend as much time outside as possible, since I'm usually in the shop during the prettiest parts of the day.

On Sunday evening, I took Gretchen out to our local zoo and on our way, we drove beside the river (the scenic route, if you will) and midway through the trip, Gretchen asked if I would stop the car so we could look at the beautiful trees. She's got an eye for nature, that one, and it pleases me so. I love that she'll stop and admire leaves, flowers, bugs, trees, puddles... during our walk along the zoo path we took in all of the Autumn colours, out in full force in our town. 

We also had an encounter with a fox!

This fox did not belong to the zoo, but as I learned from a security guard later, just likes to hang around. He walked in front of Gretchen and myself, no more than 10 feet away, then made his way down the path. He stayed in sight a long time, and eventually disappeared past the parking lot. At one point he ducked under the gate to the turkey and Sika deer enclosure, which had me concerned for a moment, but the reaction of the turkeys was so comical, I knew they'd be alright. If you've ever witnesses a rafter of turkeys about to gang up on one fox, you'd giggle a bit too. They all stood with their necks stretched high, huddled in a circle, making all sorts of gobble sounds. (But don't worry, they were unscathed and the fox trotted back out to continue on his merry way.)

It was wonderful to be that close to the fuzzy little guy, who didn't have a care in the world. I can only imagine he know the zoo is full of food to scavenge and so he sticks around. The security guard said he follows him about on his rounds some nights, and hasn't cared to bother anyone. I think he's sweet, and Gretchen was thrilled to see him so close. 

She's just like me at that age, so in love with animals. I mentioned before that she had a blast feeding the goats at the pumpkin patch Thanksgiving weekend, so of course when she spotted the goats at our zoo, she ran right over and tried to hand them fist fulls of leaves -- which they happily accepted. Sure, you're not supposed to feed the animals at the zoo, but since their pen was full of them, I wasn't especially concerned. One particular goat became her little pal by the end of our visit. 

Hope you're all having a beautiful day, mes amis.

At The Pumpkin Patch

A visit to the pumpkin patch is another cherished tradition for my little girl, so, on our Thanksgiving weekend, my partner and I brought Gretchen to Buckhorn to spend a morning at the berry farm.

One of her favourite parts about the trip is feeding the goats. She loves them nibbling at her palms... she giggles the entire time and speaks to them in her tiny, sweet, whisper of a voice that she reserves for speaking to animals and babies. It's adorable.

And of course... the bouncy castle/slide of magical wonderfulness is another favourite stop. She'd have stayed on this all day long.

Tromping through the patch.

Picking the perfect pumpkin with mama. 

See that hat? She knew exactly where we were going when I brought it out. Such a sweetheart. 

Click here and here to see our previous adventures to the patch. Hope you're having a beautiful Autumn day, mes amis. 

Net Kitty

I sincerely hope that Elycia and Kaylah know about this shirt. Internet Cat Ladies of the World... unite!

A View For The Heart & Soul

After dropping G off at daycare this morning, I started down the driveway and immediately stopped the car to take a shot of the view. Can you imagine this view from your front step? Just beautiful.

Hope you're all having an amazing Autumn day.

A Continuing Thanksgiving Tradition

 2008

2011 

2012

I've adored taking these snapshots.... but I nearly forgot to take one this year til G was romping around at the back of my ma's backyard that morning after our Thanksgiving breakfast.

Sadly, this'll be the last time this image will be taken in this exact spot... she's sold it and will be moving come the New Year. Hopefully she'll bring the bench & Mr. Rusty to the new house and I'll be able to continue my tradition there.

If Gretchen would have consented to standing still a moment I'd have snapped her toes in the photo too, but I think she was chasing puppies at the time, and trying to swing "higher! higher!" on her tiny swingset. So sweet.

Hope all my fellow Canucks had a wonderful Thanksgiving long weekend too. Much love!

You Get What You Need

My mom used to sing me this song whenever I'd throw a tantrum.