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Had a great visit with Gram in Pittsburgh for a few days and have been trying to get our feet back under us since. I'll put up a photo album from the Pittsburgh trip soon, but there are a few other things I wanted to mention too, so when this beautiful creature roamed across our yard this morning and Kodi never made a sound, I was lucky enough to capture a picture for today's post. It's blurry because it was taken through the glass and screen of the window - chilly this morning. We enjoy a good variety of wildlife here on our tiny patch of land in the 'burbs, thanks to the nearby pond and the stream through the woods in the ravine across the street.

Jen at The Woollen Earth asked for proportions in my Beauties and Beasts blog entry about baking soda and peppermint oil toothbrushing powder. I can't be any more specific than to say it's to taste. I use a handful of baking soda and a barely a drizzle of peppermint oil, more if I feel like it. There are many recipes online for various toothbrushing concoctions that can give more details. I've tried some of them over the years and narrowed it down to the simplest as what works best for us. I'm going to use wintergreen oil for flavor the next time I refill the container.

Since a few folks have followed up on the CitizenRe solar power program I mentioned last week, here now is the link to sign up for a site evaluation so I'll get a discount for referring you if you eventually have a free system installed. Even if you sign up now, the only commitment you're making is for one of their people to evaluate your site, so I encourage you to read up on this option if you've ever considered solar power for your home, but been discouraged by the usual up-front costs of having a system installed.

There's been lots of work to catch up on this week, but we took a much-enjoyed break for a thunderstorm Wed. evening. Dinner was already nearly cooked by the campfire outside anyway, so when the power went out, it barely mattered. We ate dinner on the porch by natural light, as we often do, and then all spread out on the wide open floor (furniture currently out for reupholstering) for family games and conversation and playing with the dog. As usual, we talked about how pleasant the evening was without electricity and options for using even less in our home.

Oh, there's been some knitting and glassy goodness too. I don't have pics now, so I'll get them up here soon, but in the meantime, looky what I found, not too far from home: Mocha's Fiber Connection . I don't need anything, but figured I'd share the link anyway.

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Edited to add: Here's a little something that I love: How To Disappear. (Keep clicking on the drawings to move through the pages.) Apparently my family has been in the process of happily disappearing for years. :-)