Well, well, well…sports fans…another Friday is here so now we’re just 10 days from Santa Paws’ arrival. Elsa here ready to share a few (and by a few, I do mean few…my editorial staff photographer has been busy with Christmas preparations and hasn’t taken too many pics lately-I dunno know…seems like a lame excuse to me). And those she did take should probably be taken with a grain of salt as “nature” shots. Her idea of nature and mine are clearly different. Anyway for the record Santa, in case you’re listening…I’ve been good. Oh alright, let’s get real here, I tried real hard-that’s gotta count, right? But I can guarantee I was stellar during this year’s Christmas photo shoot as you can see above. Lots of different hats were plunked on my head and I grimaced grinned with a whole lotta grace, if I do say so myself. Course the tasty treats were a nice incentive-thanks Mom. As always we’re joining our pals, Rosy and Sunny. Click on their link to see what others have shared.
The Mom: You’re most welcome, Ninja. I can attest that you were pretty patient while I snapped a bunch of various shots. I was quite shocked that you were as good as you were and for so long. Well done, Elsa.
Elsa: Hey, I’m a professional…I don’t do bad work. Now, let’s get to sharing some of your teensy slices of nature this week, shall we?
The Mom: I know, I know…not enough photos in your opinion. In my defense, I’ve been baking up a storm and making tasty goodies for family and friends. The kitchen resembles a FEMA disaster area and yet I noticed you didn’t mind the hours of preparation of the jerky I made for your Grandpa when you were offered a little slice of meat when I was cutting it up.
Elsa: Yeah, that stuff was the bomb Mom, before you began marinating it and sticking it in the dehydrator. How come you don’t make some of that for me?
The Mom: Au contraire little one…I’ve made you some jerky a number of times. Marinated meat just isn’t good for your system but sweet potatoes are. Did you forget about?
Elsa: Oh yeah…oops. Moving along…so what have you got that says nature, eh?
The Mom: It’s been pretty chilly this week with a bit of snow almost every day but there was one morning when it was clear. I found these ‘critters’ on our walk and I noticed you were kind of inquisitive but then lost interest fairly quickly when a squirrel boogied in front of us.
Elsa: Umm, hate to break it to you but those are not real critters.
The Mom: Technically speaking you’re right, but I still thought they were interesting in the city landscape.
Elsa: Yeah if you’re into inflatables. I prefer real live critters. This is not very ‘nature-y’ by the way.
The Mom: Ok, how about these guys…are they nature-y enough for you?
Elsa: Now we’re talking. But did you notice they just were laying around…looking for handouts. What a bunch of lazy bums.
The Mom: Hey now, that’s not very much in keeping with the Christmas spirit. You can’t fault them for trying to keep warm and have a little rest, now can you? Besides, everyone can use nap after flying around the city while foraging for some food.
Elsa: Erm…I suppose you’re right {looking around to see if Santa was watching}. Sorry ’bout that. I guess I do the same thing when you’re cooking…lay in the middle of the kitchen near you hoping you’ll share a morsel or two. You’ve commented more than once on my “please sir, can I have another,” look.
The Mom: Oh Elsa, you crack me up. Yes, you do a very right pitiful look from the movie, “Oliver!”
Elsa: I guess you have a couple more non-nature-y pics you expect me to share.
The Mom: {sigh} Yes, I do as a matter of fact. It was busy and I only got out for short jaunts to the grocery store. There wasn’t much nature to check out but people are being creative with their holiday decor, you’ve got to admit.
Elsa: Again with the lazy…why couldn’t these people just take their skellie down and pack it away until next year?
The Mom: I dunno…it seemed clever to me. If I had to schlep a 12 ft. skeleton out and set it up, I’d want to make the most of decorating it beyond Halloween too. It’s called maximination of their efforts.
Elsa: Man, you uprights are too weird. And then what’s the deal with this ‘sculpture’ that’s around the corner from us that’s been plastered onto the porch foundation?
The Mom: I’ve scratched my head on that one since I moved here. It’s a weird sculpture but this year they stuck a Santa hat over the extremely bizzare face and called the outside decorations done.
Elsa: First time I saw that, it creeped me out. So odd. But I guess they’re trying to get in the festive mood so props for being creative.
The Mom: That’s very generous of you. What did you think of this gingerbread guy?
Elsa: Meh…I prefer it when the kids are playing in the tree house.
The Mom: It seemed original to me decor-wise…but I can see where one might not make the connection to nature. Well that’s all I got for you.
Elsa: Probably just as well. I’m gonna go with this final thought and leave it to my readers. 
The Mom: Good way to close, Ninja. We hope you have a great weekend and be sure to “question Nature…she’ll provide whatever answers you’re looking for.’ Have a terrific weekend and stay warm.
Live, love, bark! 🐾
Java Bean: “Ayyy, I think I would rather have those inflatable animals looking at me than a giant skeleton with a Santa hat!”
Lulu: “I wouldn’t mind taking a bite out of the Gingerbread Man, if I could catch him.”
Java Bean: “What about those geese? We could chase them.”
Lulu: “Trust me, Bean, you do NOT want a piece of the Canada geese.”
You probably wouldn’t enjoy the fabric taste of that Gingerbread man, Lulu. We all need fiber, but I don’t think that’s probably what would be best. Unless you don’t mind cloth fiber. And yeah, Java Bean…Canadian geese chase back and will bite! Listen to your big sister. I’m a hard pass on the inflatables. They just seem too noisy and too silly. Give me a nice evergreen tree with lights that I can watch any day! 🎄
Your mom takes great photos. As a big fan of Halloween, I love the giant skeleton with the Santa hat. XO
Thanks…that’s very kind of you to say. She was fairly surprised at the number of leftover skellies that have been Christmas-fied this year.
Your fur-iend,
Elsa 🐾
Mew mew emw wee think Peepss inn yore ‘Hood ae purrty creeative with theie deckoratin Elsa an Miss Monika!
Catmess Skellie iss heelareeuss! An GingerBread guy iss funny two.
Those Geesee sure do grate impressionss of statuess…offer them sum sanx an they will coem to Life!!! 😉
Glad yore baking iss goin so well Miss Monika!
An Elsa you look PAWTASTICK inn yore Santa hat!
~~~head rubss~~~BellaDharma~~~ an {{{huggiess}}} BellaSita Mum
Thanks, some are more clever than others. 😉 But skellies for Christmas…we don’t think so.
Yeah mee thinkss yore rite….Skelliess are two theme-atick….. guud point Elsa! 😉
We love geese too, Elsa, that skeleton is creepy, he’s to big for this world *whispurrs: and to nakked🙊 That painting and quote is amazing! Beautiful colors💙 Thank you for your always uplifting tours and conversations, Elsa. A lot of people in our Country have plastic Santa Clauses in their garden, can you imagine how they look with the storms…MOL….Double Pawkisses for a Happy Weekend to the both of you🐾😽💞
Those geese are nothing to trifle with-they’re mean and always looking for a fight. Or a meal handout. 🤣 Plastic Santas seem almost as wrong as skellies with red hats.
Well there’s nothing Christmasy about a skeleton even if it has a Santa hat on and is decorating……same goes for that weird sculpture on the house that has a Santa hat stuck on it. Scary! Oh well – humans do some strange things when told to decorate for anything. We’ve not had a snow here yet – just a “dusting” which was gone in an hour but I’m not complaining because I don’t like getting COLD feet walking in the snow. Mom threatens to get me boots but you know that would turn out badly for her – she bleeds easily! HAHAHA
Hugs, Teddy
We thought the same thing about the skeleton but I guess when you have to haul those giants back into their lair, you sure as heck can’t do it easily on snowy days. Still, the proper time to corral them back into storage was November 1st. Snow boots on cats…hmm, that doesn’t sound pleasant to the parents. At all!
Those inflatables used to freak MJF out…and we have yet to take the pups past a huge yard display of doa=zens of them…sheesh. I had moo laugh the other day when it was windy, their display was l=all shriveled up and flat! BOL!
I am with Elsa…just put up your lights and maybe a tree outside and a door decoration and leave it at that. Peeps are nuts these days! Not much nature here other than dried leaves all over the yard…and tons of little holes where the tree rats have tried to bury/retrieve some nutty prize.
And his pups got to chase off a big fat grey tree rat this afternoon. Whee…he ran through the fence and into the neighbor’s tree…so we gave up. It’s more fun when they go to one of our trees.
We sometimes see interesting bird species at our feeders…and we hear an owl a lot, but no one ever sees it!
Ooh…chasing tree rats…count me in!
Your friend,
Elsa 🐾
Mom has seen an owl in the neighborhood a couple of times, it blew her away since we’re just 3 miles from downtown! It also kinda creeped her out…a little like skellies being outfitted with Santa hats. Come on peeps…what are you, Canadian geese? 😂Sheesh.
Your friend,
Elsa 🐾
Most of those decorations were just creepy. But thanks for the reminder about listening to nature. I had all but forgotten.
Mom needed the reminder too. That other garbage she can do without.
I’m with you Elsa – nothing “nature-y” about the inflatables – gimme some good ole twinkle lights around the roofline and a wreath hanging on the front door.
Amen! Mom always wants to stab them but I have to hold her back. 😉
Different strokes for pets and folks, but in the end you both meet in the middle just fine.
The skeletons are a cool way of merging seasons, and getting the most out of your Halloween setup! These outdoor critters keep getting bigger and bigger, don’t they? And that gingerbread man climbing the treehouse . . how cool is that?
Happy weekend you guys
You’re always too kind, Marc. And I guess if you have to schlep out one of those gigantic things out you’d like to maximize the time it’s displayed. While they’re kind of interesting…what a pain to only have it up for a few weeks in October for as big as they are. We’ve seen a few that are sporting Santa gear. Hope you have a wagnificent weekend!
I get that, smart actually.
Yeah, that would drive me crazy. I would have to put it up in early September just to feel as if I got something out of it. Or . . do like these peeps and add the hat.
Gotta give them an “A” for clever use on a holiday that’s passed months ago 🤣
I’m with you on that.
Inflatables are really in, but with a lot of wind, they are not holding up well around here. We prefer nice lights on houses or buildings. The geese, send them back to Canada where they belong and never let them back here again. They are so mean and nasty, plus they make a horrid mess here. Just because they are pretty, they think they can do what they want. Hope your mom bakes something for you. We are enjoying our homemade cookies around here. Have a fun weekend!
Those Canadian Geese used to come just for the good weather season, now they have become accustomed to the good life pooping all over parks & golf courses here too. Some people like them, we’re not those. You’re right, they are mean and nasty and will chase down even big dogs sometimes. Boogers!
Homemade cookies and treats are showing up around here too. Nothing like those buttery cookies-Mom sure like them. She’s going to make some fudge for her Dad this weekend and will take it to his house on Christmas. Then I hope she’s finished in the kitchen. I need someone to rub my ears. 😆
Your fur-iend,
Elsa 🐾
I wondered what the skellie folks were up to! Hehe.
I prefer natural decor, too, Elsa. Those imported decorations just don’t do it for me. Do folks put up wreaths anymore?
We sure do! And Mom is always looking at doors to see who else has. Natural is so much better. Those inflatables are the worst!
I wonder if the skeleton folks will dress it up for Valentine’s day!
It does beg the question. 🤣
I love your painting! And good for you on all the baking and stuff. I’m into the same… Still haven’t put up any decorations (but that’s usual for me as we took to waiting till the day after Mick’s birthday (18th) to do so so they were separate. I guess nine years later, I’m still minded to do that.
Have a great weekend!
You’re too kind. Thank you. My daughter’s birthday is tomorrow and I always tried to separate her birthday from the hubbub surrounding Christmas-I never wanted her to feel like Christmas was upstaging her. These days I don’t put a tree (unless you count a 18 incher on my dining room table). With big dogs you don’t need a 7 ft. tree taking up space in a small house. Hopefully I can finish up the baking tomorrow and maybe even a small batch of fudge for my Dad. 🤞🏼 Enjoy your weekend!
Good for you on making her day special.
It’s going to be a busy one in the kitchen!
I know just what you’re talking about. Here too, but after a nice long Facetime call. 💙
💞
Thanks for the tour, Elsa and Monika. The photos were great. Loved the geese.
Thanks, John. We’re glad somebody likes geese. They’re pretty nasty creatures and meaner than me! 🤣
Your fur-iend,
Elsa 🐾
Ha ha ha
oooo Milo loves sweet potatoes! I have a big one on the counter right now, maybe I should bake slices for him.
Turning them into jerky chews is a great treat. I’m sure Milo would love ’em. I know I do!
Your fur-iend,
Elsa 🐾
Oh, how the thugs would love those inflatables….
Love to chew them, right? {snicker}
First one to burst one is the winner….
And bravo to the winner. Those things are just stupid. #Psst
Hey gang, our geese are “lazy bums” also…except when they are crossing the town roads. Sometimes we have to wait in our cars for a couple of minutes for all of them to travel from one grazing area to another. The Gingerbread Person in the tree house is…um…interesting. It is in the spirit of the season, so we’ll roll with it. Headed out to ask Nature if it will ever snow here again lol. Have a bark-worthy weekend!!!
Hiya, Bruce. What’s with the passive aggressive nature of geese? If there were Cheetos on the other side of a roadway, they’d move much quicker than when there’s a long line of cars waiting on them! Hope Nature accommodates with some snow. Have a super weekend.
Your friend,
Elsa 🐾