Coyote (Canus Lupens)

This one was standing next door attracting my attention with its signature yipping bark as I drank my coffee. It sounded very close and preferring looking out the window to reading the news, I watched to see what would happen. He stood poised like a statue for quite awhile and then moved off down the driveway toward the street. A second one emerged from the top field and she followed the first one down the hill. These particular ones are very healthy  looking, handsome beasts. They will eat most anything from carrion to berries and are capable of taking down a deer, but if more substantial fare isn't available they become quite thin and scrawny looking on a diet of berries. They are usually nocturnal so it was unusual to see them so active in broad daylight.

Many thanks to all of you who favorited Will and Chloe's quilt yesterday. I will get around to thanking each of you individually, but we've been busy with Thanksgiving preparations today. Pedro and his helper came for the second day to finish quite a long list of garden chores ranging from planting two largish agaves on the hill and some bamboo next to the fence to mending the fence a tree fell on. They brought a large load of compost and dumped it in the field next to the top fence.

I did some major kitchen cleaning chores and got a start on one of my Thanksgiving food contributions, a stuffing recipe with farro and squash, kale, dried cherries, pecans and sausage. It will never see the inside of a turkey and some of fit will be made without the sausage but it will make a filling side dish. I even washed our bedroom curtains which serve mainly as a trap for spider webs and dog hair that blows up from the heating vent because we never draw them. 

I had a nice conversation with daughter-in-law Joni . We decided we should have a good catch-up before Thanksgiving because it is often difficult to have any kind of sustained conversation with anyone once everyone has assembled. It will be a scene of controlled chaos as we all range backwards and forwards between our house and Dana and Jim's.
The main attraction here will be lunch, cornhole, and darts, while Dana and Jim's will offer the main feast, croquet and board games. I wonder what they did with the ping pong table?

Spike will probably wind up at home by himself or in the back of the car for a time out as he turns into a wild man when there are a lot of people around but we'll give him a chance. Will is due back from San Diego with two cats bringing the pet total to six. Tim and Joni are still trying to decide what to do with their dog, Olive, who doesn't really like to share space with rival pets. They will probably opt to leave her home to bark and disturb the neighbors....

I'm hearing the coyotes again as I write this. So does Spike....