Oh my, these are lovely. And all of it sounds lovely. I would like to curl up by a fire, but it would be totally miserable because it was so humid and hot here today. Supposedly going to cool off in a few days. Don't hate your cold.
I'm going to look into those Japanese maples. I saw them when I was in Europe, but can't say I have here. Probably don't grow here, but I will cross my fingers.
Those puppies didn't destroy the leaf, they loved it to death - two very different things :)
That's worth a vote right there.
I do love Japanese maples. Maybe you could get one to grow in a pot. I don't know how they would do in your climate, but definitely look into it!
I am trying not to hate the cold, but it's 28 degrees right now and it's hard to make myself go outside. The fire is an absolute requirement!
Here are a couple of other things the puppies have loved to death.
They have so much love to give that I will have to take out a loan to recover from it!
Oh the couch! I'll hope that was one of those den couches that was always covered in dog hair and had mystery stains. Well, at least they appear to be proud of their work. That pup above there is taking a nap in it, so clearly it was a job well done.