Merry Christmas!

The Australopithecenes' family is growing, and with the arrival of Düssel the Neanderthal, they now have fire!

Presents!

Today Sis and I had lunch at Goldberg's and exchanged handmade, non-Christmas presents.  Sis made me this lovely scarf!

And I made her this cross stitch for next Halloween.  (Design by Laura Rimolo (Little Stitcher.))

The start of Christmas

Losing the cats is sad, but it means I can get out all the things we haven't used in years because the cats would spoil them.  Or dress up in their clothes.  So Muffy and Hoppy have finally emerged from the closet.

What we saw at the zoo yesterday

The fox and my friend Pam

A pool full of feathers from molting penguins.  The penguins looked really ratty.

A dead bear.  Actually, this is Denali, the more laid back of the 23 year old grizzly twins, enjoying a nap and a soak in the pool.

A dead goat.  Or Albert enjoying a snooze. 

Shadows in the forest -- beware of the tiger!

Little David's leaf -- finally big enough

Too much sadness.

Friend Steve has just lost Dreamer, his third cat in less than 6 months.  It's just not fair.  Steve, we will have to get together soon for a kitty wake.

Dreamer (left) with Charlie, the last cat.

Summer

Minkie would have loved this.