Thanksgiving Done, Christmas On It's Way~

Those silly girls, what are they doing with Santi Hoho hats on anyway ;)  Their mommy was having too much fun using Pic Monkey again.  That is our Silveit who will turn 3 next month on the left and our Meaka turned 8 on this past Tuesday.  We love them so much~

I wanted to introduce you to my friend Peter Jones blog.  He works so hard to make such beautiful and interesting post shares and I think he deserves a few look-sees and then you decide.

http://spanishnature.blogspot.com/

Remember to double click on the first image, to view a larger slideshow presentation after you have read the narratives~

I will be linking up with Judith for:

www.lavendercottagegardening.com

Mosaic Monday

&

Stewart for:

   http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/

Wild Bird Wednesday

&

Sylvia for:

Skywatch Friday

We had the tree on the left for a good decade and it had begun to lose way too many of it's little greenery and so last year, I pitched it and began the quest 2 months ago for a new one.  Oh My Goodness...sticker price wake up call!  The old tree was 7' and cost under $100.00 brand new.  The new one on the right is 9' and the sticker price was $596.00.  Ah but I got it at Belk for $219.00 including shipping and handling.  I had a couple of things that I had to work on once it arrived, such as section three had none working lights even after changing out bulbs.  Hence I had to un-wire a pre-lit and then use lights I had already and rework them in.  Then the lower branches just did not seem full enough.  You could see through the tree too much for my liking.  I purchased 24 of those long twigs and all was perfect after that~

Above a Red-tailed Hawk and below during the Thanksgiving Day holidays, my older daughter Hillary, her twin boys and my youngest daughter Ashleigh and her husby who were visiting from Florida, all went ice skating.  No I did not, do not, will not ever ;)

Oh and yes, that is a goat, she lives in the yard behind the ice skating rink~

An American Kestrel enjoying a tasty treat of a Grasshopper~

I had to go out early a couple of mornings and I became a sunrise chaser along with my two dogs.  Yes that is sunrise, not sunset, and it was glorious~

The image below, I tried placing on a different setting, but the truest colour was what you see above~

I have seen a bunch of Wild Turkeys in my life, but never had I seen one preening before, at least that I remember.  I could hear the strangest noise like someone raking leaves.  It turned out to be their tail feathers dragging the ground and making crispy leaf noises~

Part of the family and friends that came to our Thanksgiving Day brunch.  My daughter Ashleigh's husby, in-laws and sister-in-law, as well as Ashleigh and her friend Limor~

That kit-cat is my adorable Survhee Pipka, always fun to be around.  She has the most pleasant disposition, and Meaka with Silveit below~

Before Thanksgiving, we also had the pleasure of treating Miss Maci to a third birthday celebration.  That is my middle daughter Brittany and her family having a great time with our youngest grandchild~

Another American Kestrel posing for the camera as well as another sunrise, this time at Crystal Lake down the lane~