News from the top of the mountain (posted by Lani)

Back here on top of the mountain, here's what's going on:

Yep, our first snow of the season, or at least the first snow that stuck. We've had more since then, but the first one is Special. And isn't the stellar jay gorgeous in the pines? They're noisy, greedy, bad-tempered birds but I'm fond of them anyway.

We've had a gracious plenty of wildlife this week; deer and foxes and bears, oh my! These are my favorite pictures; I had put Pip's bed outside to air, and when I looked up from work a bit later there was one of our foxes, reclining in majestic splendor on his new bed.


He got up when I moved to snap a picture, sadly; I really wanted the curled-up-cozy-fox shot! The deer have been wandering through the yard on a regular basis, the chipmunks are frantically gathering every last bit of food they can find in preparation for the winter, and the bear has dropped a couple of times to prowl up on our back deck, checking to see whether we had left hummingbird feeders or any other bear treats around. I still haven't managed to get a picture of him, damnit; whenever we see him the camera is at the other end of the house.

I'm working again, and enjoying my new work-from-home job doing email support for a large electronics retailer. Let me tell you, it's a treat to be sitting at "work" and get to take pictures like the one above of the fox. I have to say, though, I never had quite the same challenges when I was working in an office ... for instance, somehow my monitor keeps getting readjusted. I can't imagine how, can you?

Oh yeah, and by the way, Annie? Nyaaah nyaaah! I told ya my Dishrag Tag team would beat yours! Rematch next year, for sure, it was a lot of fun.