In the Shadow of the Lamp

We have been having some amazing weather for the end of October with temperatures close to 20 Celsius.  The sun has been casting some wonderful shadows.  Here is one that I captured though my lens of our neighbours lamp over his garage.

This is the perfect photo for linking to Shadow Shot Sunday

 Be sure and stop by and see more amazing shadow shots. Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can take a moment to leave a comment and say hi.

Lens Friends

It's time for sharing some Lens Friends ... those birds and animals that I spend a lot of time photographing.
The winter birds are returning to the garden.  We recently had a large flock of juncos visit the feeders.

The slate coloured juncos are regular year round visitors to the garden but we seem to see more of them in the winter months.

 These birds are about 15 cm. long

 Their underneaths are white and the white tail feathers are visible in flight.

These are the perfect lens friends for linking with Camera Critters.

 Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can take a moment to leave a comment and say hi.

The Last Blooms of 2010

Here are the last blooms for Friday's Flowers for 2010.I haven't forgot the gardening side of my blog, but there really isn't much going on right now with winter approaching. The cosmos that are grown from seed every year are giving off their last blooms of the season.  However there are lots of seed heads which is enticing the goldfinches in to snack on the seeds.  Lots of the seed will also self sow for next year.  I just love it when Nature helps me along with my planting.

The last blooms on the roses.   When they open they aren't lasting very long now, but the last bud is just opening.

The black eyed susans, or rudbekia, are hanging in there.  There are lots of seed heads to drop seeds for next years plants.  The plants are beginning to look at bit worn out now and will soon be cut down for the winter.

The last blooms of the coreopsis are still nodding in the wind.  This has to be one of my favourite perennials as the blooms start early in the season and continue right till the very end.

These might be the last blooms in the garden but I can enjoy them all year round just by viewing all the photographs I took during gardening season.

 Even though these are the last blooms, there are seeds waiting to start a new beginning. Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can take a moment to leave a comment and say hi.

Hallowe'en Groaners

It's time for some Thursday Thoughts about Hallowe'en that will make you groan. What do goblins and ghosts drink when they're hot and thirsty on Halloween?Ghoul-aid!
Why do demons and ghouls hang out together?Because demons are a ghouls best friend! What do you call a witch who lives at the beach?A sand-wich
 Why did the ghost go into the bar?For the Boos  What tops off a ghost's ice cream sundae?Whipped scream What is a vampires favorite holiday?Fangsgiving What do you call two spiders that just got married?Newlywebbed       Have a Happy and Safe Hallowe'en.

A Blanket for Little Pumpkin

Sunday was a wet and chilly day so it was the perfect day to finish up some craft projects.I posted about the "boo"tiful towels yesterday and today I'm showing the no sew blanket I made for Little Pumpkin. Little Pumpkin, our granddaughter, was born on Hallowe'en last year.  She just loves cats and squeals when she sees them.  She is lucky to have three cats to play with at her house.

I chose some kitty cat fleece and a contrasting plain fleece to make her a blanket.

These blankets are so quick and easy to make.  You can make them any size you want to from a small lap blanket to one that will cover a full sized bed.  There is absolutely no sewing involved, trim off the selvege edge, line up the fabric, cut out a 10 cm. (4 inch) square from each corner, and adding 10 cm. cuts around the blanket to make the fringe.  You then take the top stip and make a little snip in it and then pull the underneath part through. I then make another slit on the top piece and pull through the bottom piece, just for extra stability and so that it is harder for little hands to pull it apart.

I have also seen the blankets made by knotting each part of the fringe.  If you Google no sew fleece blanket you will find videos and sites with explanations on how to make these.   Here is the original pattern I used to make my first no sew blanket for my grandson about 3 years ago.

This is his blanket and I don't think I ever blogged about making this one.

 How do you keep busy on those rainy Sundays?
I just realized after publishing this that I have a small mosaic so that I can link in with Mosaic Monday .  Please stop by The Little Red house and see what other bloggers have created.

"Boo"tiful Towels

With just a week to go till Hallowe'en I came across this really cute idea at one of the blogs I read, The Long Thread.
I just happened to have some white hand towels and some black material to make these cute, "boo"tiful towels for my grandchildren.  So on a wet Sunday morning I am being creative with the sewing machine.

The material is appliqued onto the towels.  Such a quick and easy gift to make.

I can just picture my granddaughter, who will be 1 year old on Hallowe'en, playing peek a boo with this towel.

Edited to show two "boo"tiful towels for two "spook"tackular grandchildren.

 Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can take a moment to leave a comment and say hi.

A Thought for Thursday

 Just a thought ...No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.  Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can take a moment to leave a comment and say hi.

On the Gift List

I'm working on my gift list for the upcoming holiday season.  I love to give homemade gifts to family and friends.  You know that if you are a crafter you work on this list all year long as leaving it to the last minute either means friends don't get homemade gifts or you are working all hours of the day and night to complete the items. I've completed a pattern by Knit Picks using 3.25 mm needles and some Patons sock yarn in a self striping colour.

 These fingerless gloves are knitted in one piece and seamed at the side.

This is the third pair I've done using this same pattern and I've already cast on one more pair.  This pattern was a free download when I got it, but I now notice on Ravely that there is a charge for it. Are you working on your gift list?  Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can take a moment to leave a comment and say hi.

Round Shadows

On our drive on Thanksgiving weekend we stopped at a wonderful store called The Unconventional Moose and I was able to capture these wonderful shadows.  If you are travelling along Hwy 7, near Hwy 37 be sure to stop in for a visit to this store where you will find all sorts of treasures.

The front of the store has a lovely deck just chock-o-block full of interesting items.

  But going around and up onto the deck gave me this great photo opportunity.

The sun was casting shadows of the railing and the round decorations that were on it ... perfect photos for linking to Shadow Shot Sunday

 Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can take a moment to leave a comment and say hi.

Mastering the DPNs

The garden has all been put to bed for the winter ... canna dug and stored, some plants trimmed downs, all garden furniture and ornaments stored away in garage, and a few trees and shrubs trimmed of dead branches.  So I have had more time to do some knitting. One of the things I'm working on is my very first pair of socks.  Now I have been knitting for a very long time but have never attempted socks.  The reason ... I don't like knitting on dpns.  For those that aren't knitters dpn's are double pointed needles.  It has been suggested to me to use the circular needles but I am determined to master those dpns.
I cheated a bit on the socks and chose a free pattern by Patons that is is a tube sock - no turning at the heel this time.  I used a blue stretch sock yarn by Patons on a 3.25 mm needle.

 I'm doing quite well as one sock is finished and the other is about half done.   The joy of dpns is you don't have to knit any type of row except knit rows.   For some magic reason it creates the stocking stitch effect without doing the purl rows.  I need to get busy on and finish the second sock as that cool weather is approaching fast.Have you mastered something lately that you have never done before  I'm linking in with Blue Monday today.  Stop by and see some other posts that feature the colour blue. 

Autumn 2010

The Fall colours have been spectacular this year, and with the glorious weather over the Thanksgiving weekend it has been perfect to enjoy the outside.  Look what I captured through my lens.You don't have to drive far to see the wonderful show the trees are putting on for us. Did you know this is the time of year that trees can show off their true colours?  Photosynthesis is the process that generates the green chlorophyll colour when there is enough sunlight in late spring and summer.  Trees begin to shut down that process in Fall, and the leaves return to their natural colour and then drop off. Some of that natural colour is always there during the summer but is covered up by green.  But enough of the big words and science lesson, just go out and enjoy the Fall colours before they are all gone.
I'm linking to Mosaic Monday, please stop by there and see mosaics that other bloggers have created.  Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can take a moment to leave a comment and say hi.

Gulls on a Gorgeous Fall Day

We have been having some absolutely gorgeous Fall days and it is supposed to continue into the long Thanksgiving weekend.  I was lucky enough to have two extra vacation days on Thursday and Friday to extend the long weekend even longer. We took a drive on Friday afternoon to check out the Fall colours and stop by the lake for a quiet picnic.  We didn't head south and go to our favourite spot down by the bay, but instead went north to Stocco Lake.It appears the gulls had the same idea of enjoying this gorgeous day.

The water was calm.  Some gulls were sunning themselves on the beach, others were wading into the water.

One decided to wander up to the parking area, find a sunny spot, perch on one leg and enjoy the warmth.  Its shadow was reflected on the ground

It was a lovely sunny morning and the shadows and reflections were very interesting.  The still water had just enough movement to slightly distort the reflections.

These are the perfect photos for linking with Camera Critters, Shadow Shot Sunday, and Weekend Reflections. Thanks for visiting today. I hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend too.Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian visitors.

2 Pair for 2sDay

There was an absolutely gorgeous sunset last night which was just calling me through the window to pop out and photograph it.So here on 2sDay I'm showing the 2 pair of hydro towers captured in the night sky.

The temperatures are cooling off as we head further into Autumn, but the sun is still giving us spectacular skies, if only for a few brief minutes. Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can take a moment to leave a comment and say hi.

Coral Dawn

It's time once again for Friday's Flower.

About a week ago I shared some photos of roses that were gifted to me from a friend.  Today I'm showing a coral dawn climbing rose that I received.

This rose has already sent off a couple of good climbing shoots and produced some gorgeous blooms.  This is listed as an everblooming climbing rose with large coral to rose-pink double flowers.

These photos were taken about a week ago.  Since then we have had lots of heavy rain which has caused the blooms to drop.  I'm already looking forward to seeing masses of blooms on this rose next summer.  Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can take a moment to leave a comment and say hi.