Varmints!

Last fall we noticed that something was rummaging in our little backyard fountain nearly every night, often completely dismantling the pump in the process. Darrin decided to set up a web cam with a motion sensor and it wasn't long before we caught the responsible parties in the act:


We decided to leave the camera running to see what else came by and were a little surprised by the number and variety of critters who visit, considering we live in a dense, urban area. I can only assume its every body's overgrown yards that support these creatures. We've accumulated hundreds of these little snapshots.



We've had kitties (3 individuals),



possums,

skunks,

and, of course, squirrels. I like the fact the camera caught this guy in mid-leap. This image also shows the interesting look you get when you remove the IR filter from your webcam. The plants around the base of the fountain are really a rich dark green.




We've caught many pictures of birds, and though most are too small and blurry to be identifiable, we have seen hermit thrushes, crows, and...



Coopers Hawks.




We sometimes have the computer rigged up to make a sound when the camera goes off, so we can run over and see whats there, which is how we got this somewhat better picture of the Coopers Hawk.



But, uh, what's that walking right in front of the camera?




Well, as it turns out, we now have a resident coyote. He's been showing up on the webcam every few days for the past month, and we see him in person (or hear him) pretty frequently. I am not entirely sure where he sleeps, but there are plenty of good places in the neighbors yard. Or our yard, for that matter.



One evening Darrin snapped some shots with the video camera of him hunting little things in the leaves next door.



This past weekend we were sitting in the backyard eating our lunch when the coyote wandered by, coming within 10 feet of us, as he snuffled around. He wasn't particularly interested in us, other than the fact that we were sitting between him and where he wanted to go. He eventually gave up and headed back the way he came. I have to say, he is beautiful, very robust and well-fed, not scrawny and mangy like some of those Griffith Park coyotes. I suspect someone in the neighborhood may be feeding him (perhaps inadvertently, by leaving pet food out). On the other hand, I haven't seen any of those three kitties lately...

Meet the Robinsons

Here we are at the Meet the Robinsons wrap party on March 17th, posing with the vaguely menacing Lewis and Wilbur walk-arounds. The sign behind us, in front of the Space Mountain-like building, says "Todayland."




This will make more sense if you, um, see the movie. They had a green screen set up at the party and a couple of people sitting at Macs furiously comping us in our bubbles. Darrin's foot appears to be suffering from matte rot.

Vintage Time Waster Number 1

I am a die-hard multi-tasker. I find it nearly impossible to, for example, sit and watch TV without doing something else at the same time, unless what I'm watching is really good. In the past I have collected and done vintage paint-by-number sets, and a few weeks ago it occurred to me that I could probably find cool vintage needlework kits that were new-in-package as well. A bit of searching turned up tons of cool stuff, including this one. From the picture above, which is all that was shown on the ebay auction, I imagined something Christmasy in whites and golds and silvers. Little did I know what I would actually get was angels at a fiesta:



All I can say is the colors are even more random and saturated than they appear.

Darrin wanted me to add that, yes, I sewed on each little sequin and bead, and embroidered their little faces, and attached the appliques, and stuffed them, and assembled everything, and it took hours and hours and hours.