Raccoon visitors

There is quite the parade of wildlife here in the backyard.  One day I spotted a pair of pileated woodpeckers working on a dead maple trunk.  I have seen a mother and cub raccoon a few times and one morning got some good shots of them at dawn as they were headed back to bed after a night of prowling for food.

Mom and cub raccoon

Raccoons have escaped into the wild in Japan and Germany and caused tremendous damage to crops and buildings.  Japan’s problem started when a children’s cartoon featuring a raccoon caused them to become popular as pets.  Now importing them is banned.  Read more about the problems at this link.

They stand on their hind legs often for a better view, behaving like a miniature bear.  They have learned to avoid cars and keep to their small territories, finding plenty of food in urban settings.  Click on any of the photos for an enlarged view.

Checking for danger

pileated woodpecker on the maple tree

Ocean’s calling

beading in progress

Enjoying blue beads again, I am working on a new wrap in aqua colors.  Here are pictured some seed beads in tubes and the tray, the tiny needle used for the peyote stitch fringe, and two handmade beads on a stainless steel rod.

The royal blue wrap was made earlier and I have the basic strand assembled for the aqua blue necklace.  It has three handmade Aura Sun Arts beads in the seafoam blues that remind me of tropical oceans.

seafoam blues with a bit of fringe

Here it is with the ruffled fringe of smaller seed beads added on.  I may add some fringe to the right side of the strand just to see how that looks.

I have not been to the beach in a long time, but I take a look at Hempstead Beach on Long Island New York, by webcam when I want to pretend.

Click on either photo for a closer view.