They Call Him "Drake"

He's a hunter in training.  Start'em young!

If that isn't the cutest little duck hunter I ever saw!  And yup...it runs in the family!  Well the duck hunter part, not so much the 'cute'!     BURN! :o)

My brother sent me these photos and I just had to share them with you.  Drake goes to watch and carry a duck occasionally, but he has accomplished the art of breakfast very well!

Lip Licking!

Breakfast of course is what duck hunters do when the birds aren't flying.  Personally, I think it's an excuse to eat lots of bacon...

Drake and Papa

And BS with good friends (translation: hide from the wives)...

Enjoy your weekend friends!

A Sweet Shot

Over the summer, Pig Pen's buddy, Lloyd, from work went on a vacation and we kept an eye on his pooch.  Now, Pig Pen tells me this the day the dogger is supposed to show up.  Was it a planned sneak attack?  I think so.

Yet Boomer came!  And ya know what?  He was such a good dogger that we were sad to see Missy's best friend go. 

For those of you who have never seen the difference between a Chocolate Lab and a Silver Lab, maybe this will help:

Our silver is on the left, Lloyd's chocolate on the right.  They look guilty as sin!  The nose prints on the door are never ending...

Last night, Lloyd brought one of his two-legged critters over for a visit too.  She's much cuter and drools much less...

Here she is after Dad tucked her in his truck with a 1 oz honey bear:

Yup, she was drinking it! 

A Sweet Shot in more ways then one.  :o)

The Winter Spread

This time of year, some of us put on "the winter spread".  Nothing like sitting in a good chair helps that along.

And by chair, I mean this one:

We did some rearranging of our tiny house.  The small corner I claimed as my sewing area has been moved to the front bedroom and I did a little spreading out of my own.  

I love it!

It's a work in progress.  There are still many bugs to work out as I go.  Part of the process is actually sitting down to sew.

Which I did a little of.  Not much, but it's a start to the winter sporting season!

Mama Pea insisted that she see these photos.  I thought a bright, sunny morning would be great, but seeing as how shades of grey are the norm lately...this is as good as it gets.

My MIL gave me a table from her 'old' sewing room.  I finally have enough space to use my little iron for piecing and my folding Omni mat is perfect for that trick!  It is so handy!

And I still wouldn't trade my SewEZ table for nothin'!

Here is my "Cutting Station".  Above it, I have a now secondary design board.  Also recycled from my MILs house.  As you can see, not much designing, more like...pin some crap here.  :o)

Tucked in the corner is my cabinet where I store a few bigger pieces of fabric and another design/crap board.  Like I said, I will eventually tidy it up with some good use.

And of course...you HAVE to have puppy beds.  Otherwise they stand at your feet and whine. 

Now the "white dog" is the worst perp  (that's what we call her so she doesn't know we are talking about her). 

She even got a throw to lay down on...this other one makes her butt look big or err, ya know...spread out!

So there you have it so far...my spread.

What are you all planning to do for that winter spread?  Any great projects brewing?

Rib Rackin' 2011

It's that time of year again when the hunters hope to fill their freezer for the year.  I have been in touch with Jody and I know he is hoping for the same!  Best of luck, Jody!!  Above all, be safe!  I know you will be.

Around here, the season is pretty narrow for shotgun.  No rifle allowed.  However, if you bow hunt, the season is pretty long.  Luckily, Pig Pen bow hunts too, so we have our first of the year.  Neither of us "caught" a deer as my MIL says during first shotgun season down in Southern IL.

Well, I did shoot...but those dang eyes shut on me!  I could have kicked myself!  That's how we learn though, right?

Here's the part where some of you may want to close your eyes...ooook...I warned you!

As you will see, several others had a great season!

My nephew won the "Big Buck, Big Doe" for his 101 lbs doe.  He was pretty excited about that!  Great Job Kid!

My brother came in second with his buck.  I am pretty darn sure he wont go hungry this year!

We were joined again by a friend who couldn't make it to last years Rib Rackers Deer Camp because he was deployed in Afghanistan with the Army Reserves for a year.  He got a nice buck his first trip back!

Great job, Joe!  Most importantly, thank you for your service!  Glad you made it home safely!

It was a great season and even though 'the girls' are still waiting for their first deer, it's alright!  We sure do enjoy just being out there!

Thanksgiving quickly followed and since we do things a bit different around here, some of you might enjoy this little clip:

She may not have gotten her first deer, but she sure hit that target!

After we got done horsing around, my little brother (ya...the big guy) exclaims "Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!".  Soon thereafter, AL the-neighbor-dude texted Pig Pen asking what the heck we were up to now!?

Ya just never know!

I hope all your Thanksgiving and family visits were wonderful and that Christmas is off to a good season as well!

Been seeing some pretty darn nice aprons coming from that challenge Susan put out there!  You guys are awesome!  And seeing as how Erin did a post on her sewing area deluxe, I am going to have to do a little sharing on my new area as well! 

Eventually ;)