Blossom vs. the possum

A possum proved that our chicken run was not completely varmint-proof the other night. I went out on Monday afternoon to find a possum "playing dead". We found a board that was broken off at the bottom of the wooden fence. Apparently, the possum slipped through that hole and squeezed under the chicken wire where I had been meaning to buy more stakes to keep it down. Once inside, he couldn't get back out.

Poor Blossom must have gotten into a tussle with it! She was missing lots of feathers that day and has lost more since then. Luckily, fall is mild in South Texas!

She doesn't act as though anything is amiss!

I'm pretty sure it is more drafty than usual for her!

Y'all Come Back!

Lorilee

Broody Hen

This is my broody hen, Buffy! I haven't left her any eggs, just the golf ball that stays in the laying box to remind the girls where they are supposed to lay.

This is how she looks if I touch her! She also makes a gurgling cackling noise to let me know she is displeased!

Y'all come back,

Lorilee

Dressed for Halloween!

I always feel better when my house is appropriately dressed for the season! I am thinking I need to bring the bird cage in from the patio for the Raven!

The battery candle was already on the table, but I really like it in the black dish with the black stones.

Black and white garland and a black beaded spider grace the entryway.

A little ceramic ghost on the curio in the entryway.

Graphics printed out from The Graphics Fairy, also in the entryway!

My witch's broom!

A ghost from Wal-Mart, I believe.

Fall leaves and wheat in the kitchen. I also have fall leaves on the transom over the front door, but they are hard to photograph against the light. I bought purple LED lights to put on my front porch with the grapevine swag. I also put orange lights in a grapevine sphere and hung it on the porch.

Y'all Come Back,

Lorilee

Lost cat!

This cat might look as though he is seriously contemplating something.

Those eyes do have the look of intense intelligence.

He does appear to have the haughty demeanor of many a cat!

BUT truth be told, he still chases his tail. A few weeks ago he "went missing" as the media puts it! He wasn't hanging around in the bathroom during my bath, snagging my washcloth with his claws and swatting at my razor as I attempted to shave my legs! All was not right in our world. We called out the front door, called out the back door, and looked in the garage. Finally we gave up for the night and went to bed without his furriness alongside us. The next morning, while getting ready for work, I again called out the back door, called out the front door, and looked in the garage. I also looked in the garden shed. Still no cat. Feeling quite worried, I went to get a sweater from the hall closet before leaving for work. I opened the door and the cat blinked at me, got up, stretched and walked out of the closet! I guess he never heard me calling out the front door just a few feet from the closet! On my way to work, I called my husband to tell him where I finally found the cat. THEN he remembered going to the closet for some batteries and the cat nosing around inside.

I guess this shouldn't surprise us from a cat that tears through the house jumping over the dogs and skidding into walls.

My husband named him Beasty, but I usually just call him Cat. Most often screeched across a room, "CAT".

Y'all come back,

Lorilee

Party!

I can't resist sharing Bug clowning around....

or looking just plain adorable!

My 90 year-old grandmother and my Dad.

Grandma with 5 out of 6 of her grandchildren...

and 10 of her 14 great-grandchildren. We had a great time!

Y'all come back,

Lorilee

15 hours in the kitchen!

My sweet SIL, Marie, joined me on Friday for 15 hours of baking and decorating! She helped me mix the colors into the fondant, and she made all of the leaves. I used the homemade fondant recipe from Bake at 350 here.

I had baked and frozen one batch of cookies the weekend before to give the recipe a try. I mixed the dough for 2 more batches midweek, and Marie rolled, cut out and baked them while I worked on the cake. I used the Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookies recipe from Bake at 350 here.

I am so thankful for her help. We make a good team!

This was my first attempt at making a stacked cake without columns. I had never driven a dowel through layers to stabilize them, but it worked like a charm!

This "canelli lace" is pretty easy to do, but it sure made my hand tired! My grandma likes pink, so of course, her cake had to be pink.

This was our first attempt at using royal icing for outlining and flooding cookies.
Finally, around midnight, we had flooded the last cookie and straightened up the kitchen.
The cake made the 1 hour trip to the party site! I used the recipe for the "Mount Vernon Cake" from The Cake Mix Doctor. The cake is frosted with buttercream frosting and the flowers and leaves are marshmallow fondant.
The cookies are all arranged on the plates.
All our hard work on display! I also made the "Happy Birthday" banner-another first. Party photos to come later!

Y'all come back,

Lorilee