Remember a month or so back when we bought an unfinished cedar bear in ? He looked like this:

Well, the finished bear arrived a week ago, and now he looks like this:

He’s a handsome bear, and we’re very pleased with him. We tried to come up with all sorts of clever names for him, but unfortunately, none of them seemed to fit – so he is simply called The Bear. We decided he was too pretty to leave outside, so he has a place of honor in the living room, where he can greet all our guests.

From the side, he has a rather winsome and winning smile:

Some people have a welcome mat; we have a Welcome Bear.