Cardinals for 2sDay

The bridfeeders have been extremely busy the past couple of days.   And just when I posted yesterday that the male cardinals rarely visit the flat feeder, along came not one but two of them at the same time just to prove me wrong.

It looks like they are chatting to each other, perhaps plotting to prove me wrong about visiting the flat feeder.  At the same time there were two female cardinals flitting around but they never all landed on the feeder at the same time.

They are the perfect lens friends for 2sDay.

Cardinals

It's time for sharing some Lens Friends ... those birds and animals that I spend a lot of time photographing.

All eyes are at the window when we see the brilliant red cardinal in the garden.  Cardinals visit all year round but of course are much more visible in the winter months.
At times we have up to 4 pair of cardinals visiting the garden.  The male is such a vivid colour he is easy to spot in the trees on feeding on the ground. He usually stays to the back of the garden so it makes capturing him through my lens a bit more challenging.
The female, a duller brown colour with the odd bit of red, is a more adventuresome and will visit the flat feeder and even come onto the deck.

Thanks for visiting today.

Double Reflections

How many trees do you see?

While sitting in the living room and looking out the front window I could see the reflection of the Christmas tree and part of the dining room.  I thought I would just take a chance photo and see if I could capture the tree.  But when I uploaded it to the computer and had a look I noticed that I had also captured the reflection of the dining room window and low and behold there was another reflection of the tree.  Also visible are the hydro wires outside and the street light across the road.  The wires are not that close to the window so perhaps the magic of the street light is reflecting them against the window.
Stop by Weekend Reflections and see some more wonderful reflection photos.

Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone a safe, happy and fun loving holiday.
Enjoy time with your family and friends.

Solstice Moon

On December 21, 2010 the world had its

for the lunar eclipse.  I wasn't one of the people that stayed up till the early hours of Tuesday morning, however I was up about 6 am and was able to capture some images of the full moon.

It looks like the moon is balancing on the hydro standard.

If you love sky photos as much as I do be sure to check out the other participants in Sky Watch Friday.  I'm sure other bloggers will have some eclipse photos to share with you.

Merry "Knit"mas and a "Hook"y New Year

Crocheters'/Knitters' Night Before Christmas
`Twas the night before Christmas and all around me
There was unfinished crocheting/knitting not under the tree,
The stockings weren´t hung by the chimney with care
`Cause the heels and the toes had not a stitch there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
But I had not finished the caps for their heads.
Dad was asleep-he was no help at all.
And the sweater for him was 6´´ too small.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I put down my hook to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash.
Tripped over my yarn and fell down in my stash.

The tangle of yarn that lay deep as the snow
Reminded me how far I still had to go.
When out on the lawn I heard such a noise,
I was sure it would wake up both Dad and the boys.

And although I was tired-my brain a bit thick,
I knew in a moment that it must be St Nick.
Yet what I heard left me very perplex-ed
For nothing I heard was what I expect-ed.

"Move Rowan! Move Patons! Move Koigu and Clover!
Move Shelridge! Move Starmore! Move Spinrite! Move over!
Lopi, don´t circle around, just stand there in line.
Pay attention you sheep and you´ll work out just fine!

I know this is hard as it´s just your first year
But I´d hate to go back to 8 tiny reindeer."
I peered over the sill. What I saw was amazing:
Eight wooly sheep on my lawn all a-grazing!

And then in a twinkle, I heard at the door
Santa´s big boots stomping on the porch floor.
I rose from my knees and got back on my feet.
As I turned around, St Nick I did meet.

He was dressed all in wool from his heat to his toe
And his clothes were hand crochet/ knit from above to below.
A bright Fair Isle sweater he wore on his back.
And his toys were all stuffed in an Aran crochet/ knit sack.

His hat was a wonder of bobbles and lace
A beautiful frame for his rosy red face.
The scarf on his neck could have stretched for a mile,
And the socks peeking over his boots were Argyle.

On the back of his mitts was an intricate cable.
And suddenly on one I spotted a small label:
"S.C." in duplicate on the cuff.
So I asked, "Hey, Nick, did YOU crochet/knit all this stuff?"

He proudly replied, "Ho, ho, ho, yes I did.
I learned how to crochet/knit when I was just a kid."
He was chubby and plump, a well dressed old man,
And I laughed to myself, for I´d thought up a plan.

I flashed him a grin and jumped up in the air,
And the next thing he knew, he was tied to a chair.
He spoke not a word, but looked down in his lap
Where I had laid my crochet hook and yarn for a cap.

He began then to crochet/knit, first one cap then 2-
For the first time I thought I might really get through.
He put heels in the stockings and toes in some socks,
While I sat back drinking a scotch on the rocks.

Quickly like magic his hooks they flew,
Good Grief! He was finished by two!
He sprang for his sleigh when I let him go free,
And over his shoulder he looked back at me.
I heard him explain as he sailed past the moon,
"Next year, start your crocheting/knitting sometime around JUNE!"
knit version by Nancy Massaroni, 2003, crochet version by Dee Stanziano, 2006
I just took the liberty of adding crochet/knit instead of posting the poem twice
 Merry 'Knit'mas and a 'Hook'y New Year everyone!

Christmas Village

The Christmas village was set up a week or so ago.  These are little ceramic houses that I have collected over many years. Though I must admit I have not added to the collection for a couple of years now.

I try to group them according to the type of house.  Some of them are little candles, some are decorated like houses made of candy, while others are snow covered chalet houses.

Each year I display them in a different place ... on the mantle, the china hutch, on top of the hutch or just on various tables around the room.

I like to use my collection of doilies to place underneath the houses, just to give the effect of snow.

I'm linking to Mosaic Monday today.I hope you have time to do a blog hop over there and see some other wonderful mosaic photos.
Thanks for taking time to visit today.

Winter Solstice

On December 21, 2010 something amazing is going to happen.  It is the Winter Solstice and a Lunar eclipse, something that hasn't happened for many, many years.  A lunar eclipse is when a full moon passes through the Earth's shadow.  The moon should appear coppery red, as long as the weather permits you to view it. From reading on various sites those of us in North and South America will have to be up very early Tuesday morning to capture this through your lens.Winter Solstice is the day with the shortest daylight and the longest nighttime of the year and the official start of winter in the northern hemisphere.Image created at Wordle.

A Gardener's Night Before Christmas

A Gardener's Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the yard,
Not a vegetable was growing, not even Swiss chard.
The hoses were stored in the cellar with care
And I, rest assured, knew they wouldn't freeze there.
The perennials were mulched, all snug in their beds,
While vision of springtime danced in their heads.
The new planted shrubs had been soaked by the hose,
To settle their roots for the long, winter's doze.
And out on the lawn, the new fallen snow
Protected the roots of the grasses below.
When out in the drive there arose such a clatter,
I ran with my hoe to see what was the matter.
And what to my wondering eyes should appear
But a truck full of useful gardening gear.
Saint Nick, the driver, so plump and so jolly
Jumped out of his truck with a sackful of holly.
"I've bought trimmers and clippers and tubers and seeds
And landscape fabric to eliminate weeds,
Well aged manure, strained finely for spreading,
Just what you need for your annual flower bedding,
And for birds and bird watchers, a feeder and bath.
I've an insect pest guide to help you to know
Which of the bugs will cause plants to grow slow,
A new sprayer to fill with safe soap and oil,
A floating row cover, there are insects to foil!
For gardening with ease, I've a new rototiller,
Pads for your knees and organic bug killer.
for pH detecting, here's a soil testing kit
For soil preparation that's sure to be a hit,
A new mulching mower for grass blade clipping,
And a long soaker hose that saves water by dripping."
With jolly Saint Nick's gift-giving complete,
He started his truck and took off down the street.
And I heard him exclaim through the motor's loud hum,
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a green thumb!"

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When-sday Memories of Christmas Tea

When-sday is a way to showcase some of my previous posts.
When were they previously posted ...  way back when.

Today the When-sday revisit is a craf-tea idea originally posted in December 2008.
Have you mailed out your Christmas cards yet? If not, why not include a cup of Christmas tea to share with your family and friends that are far away.
Take one of your favourite tea bags. My favourite is Stash tea as it comes individually wrapped and fits so nicely into my tea chest.
Make a little bag of Christmas material, tuck the tea bag inside, tie with ribbon and add a tag. Tuck it inside your Christmas card and mail.

Then at 3 o'clock on Christmas Day you can make your cup of tea and your friend can make one too, and you can both sit down at the same time and enjoy your tea and some lovely memories of when you were together.
Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can take a moment to leave a comment and say hi.

Snowpeople Mosaic

This has been one of the easiest and quickest Mosaic Mondays that I have participated in.  I didn't have to create the mosaic as the item itself is a mosaic.  I guess that is kind of cheating and not the purpose of the theme, but it just seemed the perfect thing to share.

This wonderful quilted wall hanging, given to me by a friend, hangs happily in our hallway each holiday season. The whimsical snowpeople are doing lots of fun things.

I'm linking to Mosaic Monday today. I hope you have time to do a blog hop over there and see some other wonderful mosaic photos.Thanks for taking time to visit today.

Snowflakes for Inside

On my mantle this year I made an arrangement of some red dogwood branches in a green vase and I added some snowflakes made from plastic canvas.

These snowflakes are easy to make and I was given my first one in an ornament swap several years ago.  Of course I had to take it apart and see how it was made so that I could have lots of snowflakes.

You need white plastic canvas and some white yarn. I used some Christmas white yarn that had some gold and silver threads running through it.  Here is the pattern I made. I don't take credit for designing this pattern, I just drew it out by copying.  If you happen to know where this pattern was originally posted I would be happy to give credit to the designer.

The plastic canvas piece has to be 13 holes by 13 holes and then you carefully snip out the pieces to match the pattern above.

You need to cut out 2 identical pieces.  The stitching is done from the center out in long fan stitches to fill in the corners.  I have even stitched around the edges of both pieces just to make them each look different.  A little star bead or similar is glued to the center of each piece.

 Turn one piece upside down and place the other piece on top of it so that the corner pieces cover the spaces.  Then carefully lift the back corners through the spaces of the front piece.  Is that as clear as driving in a snowstorm?  I hope the above image will help you to figure it out.  They will gently snap into place. Add a bit of thread or a tree hook to hang from the tree or greenery arrangements or any place else you think of.This is a quick and easy craft and you will soon have your own inside snowstorm. And judging by the weather forecast for tomorrow there may just be a snowstorm outside as well.

Around the Corner Borders

I borrow a lot of pattern books from our local library and  recently I borrowed the book Around the Corner Crochet Borders by Edie Eckman.  I enjoyed it so much as there were so many patterns and helpful hints that I decided to purchase this book.

There are 150 different edgings to add to your crochet work.  I usually just add a fringe or a shell stitch edging.  Now I'll be adding all sorts of edgings.I recently finished a scarf out of some left over yarn from another project.  And instead of the usual edging I added a corkscrew fringe.

What a fun way to finish off a project.

As well as all the different edgings the book explains how to turn corners when you are adding these edgings to afghans, blankets or granny squares.  I just may find myself taking off some of those boring fringes and adding fun borders to some of the scarves and afghans I've already made.
Happy Hooking!

The Winter Flag

I was so looking forward to having this flag put up over the front door.  As soon as that first snow came down I got it out ready for my husband to put up.  I have lots of seasonal flags to change during the year.  This was one I bought on sale at the beginning of last summer for a bargain price.  These flags can cost $30 and up for a really good quality one.  This one cost me well under $10.  Shopping out of season is so worth it, even if you have to wait several months to use it.

I love it because it has my favourite winter birds on it and the birdhouses look so inviting.Birdhouse Thursday is the time to share photos of birdhouses you have seen. Stop by for a visit to Cheep Rooms and maybe you will be tempted to join in.

Fabric Trees

Here are some cute, little, "tree"mendous decorations.  You can use them to hang on the tree, or hang on handles or door knobs.  You could even stitch them onto a long ribbon and make bunting or a garland.  I made these a few years ago and have used them to decorate in different ways.  This year I pinned them onto the back of a window topper curtain in the kitchen.

They are very simple to make out of some fabric, a bit of batting, some trim and ribbon. You cut three square - one 3 inch, one 2.5 inch and one 2 inch from the fabric.  Vary the pattern on the fabric so each part of the tree has a different pattern, or cut them all from the same material.  The choice is up to you.Fold each square to form a triangle.Cut a tirangle piece of quilt batting slightly smaller than each of the fabric triangles and pin it inside each triangle.Sew each  triangle shape closed.Place the biggest triangle on the bottom add the second and overlap the base onto the point just a bit, and then the smallest triangle on the top.Glue coloured bead ribbon along each edge and a sequin star at the top.Make a loop out of gold ribbon and it is ready to hang.  Are you making any decorations for the holidays?

The Decorating Begins

Now that December is here I begin to decorate for the Holiday season.
I've been working on the fireplace mantle and this year decided to display my collection of snowpeople up there.  I have also put up the Christmas village and will share that in another post.

This is how it looks after the first attempt.Hm-m-m not quite right yet.
 
This is the second attempt. It's getting better.I took out the vase with the coloured ornaments and found another place to display that. It just didn't fit in with the snow theme.  I also removed the carriage clock and moved the birdhouse.  I added some branches from the dogwood bush in a green vase and hung some snowflakes made from plastic canvas on them.  I'll share how to make them in a later post.  I tucked a few doilies under the snow people, just to give it a bit more of a wintery look.   I already did a bit of tweaking since taking the photo.  I'm sure I'll do some more arranging in the upcoming days.
Here is a mosaic of some of the snowpeople I have collected over the years.I don't go overboard with decorating, just the mantle, the Christmas village (photos later), the tree and a few odds and ends here and there. I'm linking to Mosaic Monday today.  I hope you have time to do a blog hop over there and see some other wonderful mosaic photos. 

I'm also  linking in with Blue Monday today with the blue in my birdhouse and snowman scarves and pants..  Stop by and see some other posts that feature the colour blue.

How is your decorating going?

"Soup"er Sunday

It's time for Souper Sunday.

Did you guess at the Monday mystery photo for this week?

If you guessed leeks you were correct and I used this bunch to make some leek and potato soup.

I've tried several different recipes which can be found in various recipe books or on the internet.  This year I tried a recipe that was in the milk calendar for this year.

Ingredients3 leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced2 celery stalks, thinly sliced3 large potatoes, peeled and diced, about 4 cups2 cups of vegetable or chicken broth2 cups milksalt and pepper for seasoning to your tasteMelt some butter in a pan and add leeks and celery and seasoning if you are adding it.   Stir often until leeks are tender.  Add broth and 1 cup of water.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Cook until potatoes are soft.  Remove from heat.  Take half of the soup mixture out and puree in a blender.  Leave the other half chunky.  Add puree part back to pot, add milk and heat over medium heat.  Stir often.  Do not boil.  Makes 4 to 6 servings.Serve this delicious soup with some crusty bread. Have you enjoyed a delicious bowl of soup lately?

Down, But Not Out

A couple of weeks ago we had some extremely windy weather and one of our birdhouses got blown over.

 This birdhouse sat on the top of an old tree trunk for many years.  But on that windy day the trunk gave in and fell down.  Luckily the birdhouse didn't get broken on the fall.

This house has been lived in by various birds including sparrows, wrens and swallows.  You can see remnants of a nest through the hole.  One winter a downy woodpecker made it his home.  I think he chose it because it had a direct view and flight to the peanut feeder.  You can see where it pecked at the opening and on one side.
The birdhouse has now been rescued from the top of the trunk and is sitting on my workbench, ready to be checked over and repaired.   Then we will be finding a new location for it and hopefully new residents will move in for the winter.  Stop by for a visit  Cheep Rooms and maybe you will be tempted to join in for Birdhouse Thursday.

This Season ...

December is upon us.A time for all sorts of things ... shopping, gift giving, visiting, parties, over indulging.Wouldn't it be nice to do some of these things this season?mend a quarrelseek out a forgotten friendwrite a love lettershare some treasuregive a soft answerencourage youthkeep a promisefind the timeforgive an enemylistenapologize if you were wrongthink first of someone elsebe kind and gentlelaugh a littlelaugh a little moreexpress your gratitudegladden the heart of a childtake pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earthspeak your lovespeak it againspeak it still once againEnjoy the holiday season.