See, I knew I could count on some help.

Not to be outdone by the orchestra at the opera the other night, Bella decided she could play an instrument too. It’s her own composition.

It’s nice to have a nanny in the house that helps to keep Bella occupied. When Bella first arrived Hailey wasn’t quite sure what to make of her. She would sit and watch her but didn’t initiate any play.

It wasn’t long before the nature of dogs took its course and the fun began.

The “jump on Auntie Hailey” move.

The “chase me” game.

The “oh boy are we having fun in the leaves” game.

I haven’t seen Hailey play, I mean really play, in years. I think it’s been good for her and she’s certainly getting more exercise than she normally does on her own. I monitor their play and make sure Hailey doesn’t get too rough with Bella. Hailey usually tires out before Bella does. That little puppy is a powerhouse of energy!

She makes a great nanny but sometimes I think she wonders why she got the job.

Above are the shadows of my house and my favorite tree this morning. Yesterday was an interesting mix of weather. We had snow, sleet, freezing rain and mostly just plain rain. All day long. Rick made a batch of Caraway Swiss (cheese) and I made broth for turkey soup by boiling down the turkey carcass. Not much else to do. Bella was a bit stir crazy not being able to go out in her yard and play, but otherwise we all managed to stay snug and cozy with a fire going all day in the wood stove to keep off the damp chill emanating from the windows.

We had a good Thanksgiving. How about you? We had more than enough food (we’ll be eating turkey for the next week) and it was good to see friend Carolyn again.

We relaxed and took it easy.

And, best of all, Carolyn got to see bears! Can you believe they made a grand appearance just for her? Friday we were watching movies in the living room just before dark, TV turned up for surround sound and had a fire burning pretty merrily in the fireplace. I happened to see something black out of the corner of my eye through the sliding glass door and thought that Rick must have let Alex outside on the deck. Wait a minute, that’s not Alex, it’s a BEAR. On the deck. Not four feet away from where we were sitting! I kept a calm voice so the dogs wouldn’t be alerted and start barking and said to Carolyn “Quick, look, there’s a bear on the deck.” Rick was in the other room and came to see. Myrtle was up on the deck too but not quite where the cub was. He was standing up on his hind legs trying to reach the bird feeder. They heard us talking and started leisurely back down the stairs to the yard. We stood on the deck outside and watched Myrtle and the cub for a few minutes until they left the yard. Myrtle and the one cub got to the edge of the grass and the cub climbed up the big oak, showing off, as Myrtle decided whether to give up the bird feeder idea or not. We could see other black-ish moving things in the woods—the other cubs. It was hard to see them in the dusky gloom, but they were there.

They came back again on Saturday night around the same time (4:30 or so). I was sitting in the sun room reading when Rick walked in. He glanced out the sliding glass door and said, “Every time I see that old tree stump in the woods I think it’s a bear.” Two seconds later he said, “Wait a minute—that is a bear!” Sure enough, Myrtle and the cubs were roaming around just outside our fence, foraging for food. They were pretty far apart and we could only account for four of the five cubs. They are not staying as close to momma as they used to. They are really getting big.

So we are going to have to keep a closer eye on the yard now. I assume they are getting ready to hibernate (or as much as they ever do here; more like a mini-hibernation.) and trying to fatten up for Winter. It’s nice with all the leaves on the trees gone that we can now see them.

While the weather was nice on Friday, Rick got some slow motion footage of Bella running. I love the second vid of her and what her ears are doing! Check them out below. She continues to grow and amaze us with her intelligence. She’s a very good puppy.

With the yard all cleaned of leaves, our chimneys finally swept, the canoe inside for the winter and a roof leak fixed we feel almost ready for Winter. This Friday John Deere is coming out to service Johnny and swap out his grass cutting apparatus for the snow blower. Then we will truly be ready. Bring it on!

Not much else happening around here. I just haven’t felt like blogging much lately and I’m not sure why. Hopefully that will pass. As always this time of year, I wish we could add another month between now and Christmas. There just doesn’t seem like much time to plan for Christmas once Thanksgiving is out of the way. And I never seem to give Christmas much thought until after Thanksgiving. Every year I think I’m going to do things differently, and every year it’s the same. Oh well. I guess we’ll get a tree this coming weekend and decorate the outside of the house ... yikes ... and before you know it, Christmas will be here. When do you put your tree up?

what do you mean i look like “cujo”? who’s that? honestly, i’m very sweet.

Note from Bella’s mommy: This is what happens when you lay flat on the ground to take photos.