Friday, January 30, 2015

1-30, Impromptu Emalie

These last few weeks have been really busy.  The kids are back to school after the holidays, and we're getting used to a new schedule of activities for the kids (new karate days for Nik, violin lessons for Emalie and swim lessons for both kids).  The turn of the new year brings about episodes of House Hunters and Property Brothers and the urge to improve our home.  The realization that Sven retires from the Navy next year brings about a whole list of things to do if we move (save money) and things to do if we don't (fix up the house).  What do I do when faced with situations like these?  Busy hands are happy hands-- I pick up a paint brush and go to town (literally, Home Depot.... repeatedly.....).  Over the years, I have painted most of our house with the exclusion of the main living areas.  So, I got to work painting our kitchen (my neck is still trying to recover from painting the ceiling with the recessed lights), dining area, living room and all the halls.  Thankfully, our neighbor Mark (a painter by trade) hired on to paint our front living room with the 17 foot ceiling!  Now that the front room is void of furniture (and every other room on the main floor is BUSTING with furniture), we decided to revisit the whole "boy this carpet looks terrible" issue (thank you, by the way, previous owner for allowing your dogs to pee their way around this house and so cleverly staging the house to disguise the damage.....).  Our house has looked like this for a week now-- a state of confusion and contemplation.  What, may you ask, does this have to do with "Impromptu Emalie"?  Well, as I was vacuuming the front room (I do this each time hoping that somehow, miraculously, the stains have disappeared.....), Emalie was running around me with her bear enjoying the big, empty space.  It was the opportunity I'd been waiting for:  natural light photos in this room (and with no furniture in the background!).  I love how they turned out.  Hmmm.....maybe this room should be my studio.......

"Bear" is still her best friend.

Note the Spiderman slippers which match the Spiderman outfit.
She's ALL Spiderman!


I don't know what's up with her and her open mouth,
but this is what you get if you tell her to smile.
LOL......


She loved posing bear to match her pose.

This was my favorite moment:  "Mom, I can't stop laughing!"
Emalie and I don't have as much time home alone together as we used to, so I love days like these when it's just us girls!

1-29, Sly Fox... Foxy Lady?!?!

We have a few resident foxes in our neighborhood to accompany the vast array of deer and squirrels.  We had heard stories from our neighbor about how a fox used to sleep on the back door mat of our porch (within the enclosed backyard) when the last homeowners lived here.  Until this year, we had never seen a fox in our backyard.  Now, we have seen him (her?) several times.  My most recent backyard encounter with the fox was just a few days ago.  I was sitting outside our backdoor studying my photography course.  It was a beautiful day (faux spring, if you will); the birds were chirping and the squirrels going crazy.  Amongst all the noises, I heard the faintest of tip-toes on our rocks by Emalie's play area.  Wouldn't you know it!!  The fox had squeezed between our fence and the foundation of our house (4"-5" gap at most....amazing....) and was headed for our little Rascal who was also enjoying some time out in his outside play area.  I didn't know I had it in me to chase a fox, but I guess I do.  I sprung off my chair, yelling and screaming at the fox.  He slithered back from where he came, and when I peeked over the fence he was already two houses up and still running.  That got my heart rate going!  Nobody's eating Rascal on MY watch!!  

So yesterday, I looked out my office window to find, yep... the fox.  Not only the fox, however, but a cat he had corned a mere 10' away from him.  This was all taking place on our neighbor's long, uphill driveway.  The fox was on one side and the cat was on the other.  We watched.  And watched.  And watched.  The cat didn't look too freaked out and the fox didn't seem too eager.  I, however, was worried about the cat.  Our neighbor has lost several cats (foxes? coyotes? mountain lions?) in the 4 years we have lived here. (Sadly, one was scattered from its collar in our front yard to body parts several yards away.  How gross is that?)  Finally, when the fox looked like it was getting ready to make its move, I panicked and told Sven to go protect the cat.  Sven's only compulsion was to stand at the top of our driveway yelling and throwing snowballs at it.  It didn't flinch.  I don't know what happened next because I headed for my camera.  When I came back, only the fox remained (and no, it wasn't licking its chops....).  The cat and fox photos would have been way more interesting, but I think wild fox photos aren't too shabby either.  I really wished I'd had a bigger lens for this series, but after all the gifts (i.e., lenses) I gave myself last year, I'm going to have to just keep on wishing.....or gett closer!  Anyway, meet Sly Fox...or Foxy Lady.... whichever you prefer.  I took so many fast-fire photos in this series, that when I played them back from first to last it almost looked like a video.  I'll spare you the  other 100 and share these select few.  LOL.....


Creepy how it's looking straight at us....and it really was looking straight at us!

Nope, no sense of threat or danger here.  Obviously patience is a virtue of this animal.
It knows the cat will be back.  Hiding in the bushes maybe?
 It's exhausting been sly.  Check out this next 7-photo sequence.
"My grandma, what BIG teeth you have!"
(I think you can double-click on the photo to have it enlarged.)








'Come out, come out, wherever you are!!'

I guess Rascal will be enjoying more sunny days inside rather than out.  How many can he really have left?  He's already NINE years old!!  But as I said before, murder's not taking this little guy out!