Happy Turkey!

November is slowly transitioning back to where it usually is now, but I don't see anyone complaining about having those three good weeks of weather after that rotten September/October stretch! What I'm really confused and frustrated about is how we got here so fast!

But Thanksgiving is a great time around here...the house and studio smell so good...Georgie cooks in the house and we feast out here where we have more room! We can seat around 20 out here (in the studio) with the majority around the same table, and we use the framing counter as the food service area.

It's been raining steady for the past day here and the farmers are stuck waiting till December now to complete harvest. It sounds like snow tonight and maybe tomorrow but we hope it's nothing to deter guests from arriving safely tomorrow and Thursday.

A couple days back when I was walking over to the studio I was noticing quite a ruckus in our north grove. Our year-round resident Red-headed Woodpecker was throwing such a hissy fit that Mudd (our resident farm cat/best buddy) even went over to see what all the fuss was about. She returned to the deck after a few minutes and I decided that maybe something was worth a look.

I saw nothing obvious - sometimes there will be a crow or hawk or owl around and the residents get a little agitated. We have been seeing a gray phase Eastern Screech Owl in the west grove Wood Duck box and I thought maybe it was outside snoozing and was attracting some attention, so I started looking in the conifers for it.

Eastern Screech Owl

The denser trees are good spots for these little guys and I found the "suspect" in one - buried back next to the trunk...don't know what all the fuss was about, he seemed perfectly content to stay tucked in until nightfall. After I went and got my camera it did give me some "looks", kind of like "Don't make me come out there"! type of looks or scowls. I couldn't get any more of the little owl than just a face shot because of the dense cover so I left it alone to nap the rest of the afternoon through.

I'd like to wish everyone out there a nice Thanksgiving with family, friends, or by yourself if it works out that way. Stay warm with good food and Love!