Critter Shadows

One of the days we were visiting Vancouver Island we visited Fisherman's Wharf.  This is a delightful place to visit.  The last time we visited was in the summer of 2008 and the Wharf was bustling with tourists.  This time it was a very sunny, but chilly day in November 2011. You can walk the docks and view the float homes and see the seals and ducks.

Here is my shadow trying to capture some photos of these lens friends.

We came across this sord of ducks.  A sord is a group of ducks on the ground.  A flock is a group of ducks in the air.  I think the water was too cold for them and they were enjoying the warmth in the sun on the dock. The male mallards have gorgeous colouring.

The female has lovely markings and patterns on her feathers.


These lens friends are perfect to share with Camera Critters and Shadow Shot Sunday.

It isn't very sunny here today and it is rather chilly.  The temperatures are supposed to rise to +5 Celsius which will help melt the ice rain we had overnight.  Christmas is being packed away in boxes for another year so that everything will be clean, fresh and tidy for 2012. We are not revellers for New Years but enjoy a quiet, peaceful evening at home.
Have a great weekend.

Freezy Friday

Today we are getting our first taste of a snowy winter day.  We've had sprinkles of snow since just before Christmas, but overnight the white fluffy stuff arrived and it is supposed to continue coming down most of the day.  There is a bit of freezing drizzle coming down right now with freezing rain in the forecast for this evening.

It looks like it will be time to get out the snow shovels and clear off the driveway, walks and deck.  Well, not right now, but maybe later on.   One of the wonderful advantages of being retired is that we can do things when we want to, not because the clock says it is almost time to be at work.

It's a perfect day for watching the world through the windows, relaxing, some reading and some crafting.

I recently checked out some gardening books just for a day like today - Get Growing by Frankie Flowers and Grow Great Grub by Gayla Trail. So the gardener side of me is going to curl up with a cozy afghan and dream about gardening.   It's time to get some ideas for gardening season.  I'm looking forward to getting more done in the garden this year as I was curtailed by knee surgery last spring.

Today is also the perfect day to get some hooky time in.  The crafty side of me is working on an afghan trying to use up some of my stash yarn.  That is why the stripes are all different sizes, it just depends how much yarn I have of each colour.

It's a simple pattern of one row of double crochet, followed by one row of 2 double crochet, chain one, skip one dc and repeat.  I already made a stash busting afghan out of the blues left over from little boy knitting and crochet.  This one is pinks and co-ordinating colours from little girl knitting and crochet.

Let's see, what else can I do on a freezy Friday?  I will go for a walk, but not outside, but on the treadmill.  I can watch the world through the window while I walk in comfort. And I think a mug of hot chocolate after that walk will be perfect. Who knows, perhaps even a nap might be taken.

What do you do on a snowy day?

The 12 Birds of Christmas

The 12 Days of Christmas - my rendition with birds.

On the first day of Christmas my camera snapped for me ... a cardinal in a bare tree and then continuing on ...

2 swans a swimming

3 robins feeding

4 ducks a swimming

5 cowbirds snacking

6 turkeys gobbling

7 geese a lined up

8 sparrows feeding

9 doves a resting

10 geese a flying

11 ducks a sitting

and
On the twelfth day of Christmas my camera snapped for me ... 12 geese a honking

I'm looking forward to taking more photos of feathered lens friends next year.

The Night Before Christmas - Gardening Style

I've been posting this fun verse for many years now on my blog.
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!"

unknown source

From My Home to Your Home

The Christmas village is all set up on the china cupboard.
This is a collection that I started quite a few years ago and added a house or two each year.

It all started with these little houses that are actually candles that have never been lit.

Along came the candy land houses.

One year I found some lighthouses decked out for winter.

The mountain chalets sit high above the lighthouses

There are 2 little houses that I stitched on 14 count plastic canvas using embroidery thread.

And here are 2 more and a little garage all stitched the same way.

There is even a village with a station, a grocer and an inn.
There are multi story houses and apartment buildings.

From my home to your home I wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

An Unexpected Sprinkle of Snow

We woke up to a very heavy frost on Sunday morning and it was certainly a lot colder than it had been. Then it started to cloud over and an unexpected sprinkle of snow started falling.

I had been doing laundry and dusting the cube shelf unit in the kitchen. That is a job I tend to put off and put off, but I decided it was time to tackle it yesterday. During a break in dusting and moving items I went out onto the deck and then out onto the front path to snap a few pictures to create into a mosaic/collage to share with Mosaic Monday.

The snow didn't last long and with temperatures reaching +5 Celsius today what tiny traces are left will quickly disappear.  There is also rain in the forecast for today.  It doesn't look like it will be a white Christmas in my part of Ontario.
How about where you are? What sort of weather is anticipated for Christmas?

Pink Mittens

It was pink flowers yesterday and now it's pink mittens today.

I finished off these mittens in a couple of days.  I usually knit in the evenings when I'm watching my favourite British soap, Coronation Street.  I used the same pattern as I did for our grandson's mittens but with a couple of changes.  I used 3.5 mm needles instead of 4.5 mm and I used a Bernat Softee Baby yarn instead of worsted weight.   I wanted the mittens to be smaller as our granddaughter is only 2 while our grandson is 4.5

Look at the size difference and the best thing of all is both pairs fit perfectly.  I'm going to do them another pair each.  Thank goodness Coronation Street is on for an hour now, that means more knitting time.
It was a rainy day yesterday with temperatures about 11 Celsius.  I'm glad it wasn't colder else all the rain would of been ice and snow.  It's getting closer to the first day of winter, but so far it doesn't feel like it.  I also spent some time online entering all my seed stash at Folia.  The job is only about a third done but I know there will be more days like today when the weather keeps me inside.

What do you do on days when you just don't want to go outside?

GBBD December

There certainly isn't anything blooming outside in December in my part of Ontario.  But thank goodness for indoor plants that bloom and let me participate in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.
The Christmas cactus has been putting on a wonderful show since we arrived home from our month long trip out west at the end of November.   Then there were just buds.But now the buds are fully open.

Here are a few of the blooms, and you can just see lots more little pink buds appearing at the end of the stems.

I just can't resist taking photos of the blooms, first in clumps of 3 or more ...
... then in pairs ...

... and finally one all by itself.

I'm looking forward to viewing the other posts for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day  from participants around the globe as I know there will be some wonderful blooms both inside and outside.

Do you have any houseplants in bloom?
Thanks for visiting. Have a great day.

Seeds for Spring

Awhile back I mentioned a seed swap that was going on with a group of people from Folia.   I received my package in the mail at the end of November and I'm finally getting around to sorting through the seeds.

The seeds include yellow calendula, 4 o'clocks, orange cosmos, blue morning glories, french marigolds, purple lupines, yellow hollyhocks, false sunflower, malva, red spider zinnias, peony poppy, dames rocket and pink cleome.

Folia is an online site where you can enter info about your gardens, keep track of your seed stash, track your plants, keep track of your harvests, trade seeds with others,  and meet lots of wonderful gardeners in numerous groups.   I'll be entering all the seeds I just received over the next little while and then come spring can track when I planted them, when they sprouted, and hopefully when they bloom.

 I was also really lucky to get some scarlet runner bean seeds from our daughter's neighbour in British Columbia.   I love growing these beans, not only because they attract hummingbirds but because the beans remind me of England.   My uncle always grew these beans in his garden and I have wonderful memories of picking the beans with my girls when they were little.

How long is it till spring?
I can't wait to get busy planting all these seeds.

Oh wait a minute, winter hasn't even started yet!!!

Are you thinking spring already?

Busy Hands

I've been keeping my hands busy with some crochet and some knitting.I made a little crochet blanket and pillow for our granddaughter to use with her doll which she calls Baby.

This isn't her doll but belonged to her aunt.   It lives at our house and granddaughter plays with it when she visits.   It was just a simple pattern I created out of some left over yarn. 

Then I made a pair of mittens out of some stash yarn for our grandson.   I did the ribbing a bit longer so that it can stayed tucked inside the coat sleeves.  I'll probably be making more of these in the next few weeks as we all know how little boys can go through mittens.  The pattern is from Bev's Country Cottage and it's called 2 needle knit mittens for kids.

Both projects were simple do do and were finished in a couple of days.  I've added them to my Ravelry site.   I've also got a pair of socks on the go, in fact I started them on the train ride home from out west.
I'm sharing the collage/mosaic image with Mosaic Monday.What are you doing to keep busy now that the colder weather is setting in?

Steller Jays

We were fasciated to see many different varieties of birds on our recent trip to British Columbia.


The Steller Jay was a new siting for us, as we don't get them here in Ontario.

The noisy lens friends were captured from the balcony of the cottage where we stayed in Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island. It was a bit of a rainy day and you can see a few water droplets on the feathers.

These inquisitive birds came right to the balcony, perhaps hoping we would leave them a morsel of food.

This was another bird we were able to check off our list, along with the Black Oystercatcher. It is also a great bird to share with Camera Critters and a new link party I discovered called, Tuesday Tweets.
Do you maintain a list of birds you have spotted?

December Blooms

The Christmas cactus has started to bloom.
At the end of November, when we got home from out trip out west, the buds were all formed.

Since taking these photos the buds have started to open.  I'll be posting some more photos soon.
I've got lots of posts about this plant, and if you wish to view them just click the label Christmas Cactus at the bottom of this post.Even though this is a plant that I rarely fertilize I'm still sharing it with Fertilizer Friday.

It is a dull and dreary Friday here in my part of Ontario.  The bright blooms on the Christmas cactus are the bright spot of the day. There is a wet snow and rain mix coming down.  It really isn't settling on the ground yet. But who knows when that will change.
Hope you are enjoying Friday.

Learning Something New

I'm learning how to add video footage to my blog posts.  If I had figured this out yesterday I would of added it to the post about the wild Pacific Ocean. Oh well, better late than never.
You can hear the pouring of the rain in this video, taken under the protection of my umbrella.

I've had video/movie options on my camera but don't use it to the fullest.  Watch out, as now I've learned how to do this, it could become my latest obsession.

Here is how I did it.
Go to YouTube and set up an account if you don't already have one.Click the upload button to upload a video from your computer.  Of course, first you have to take the video/movie on your camera and upload it to your computer Once uploaded, your video had to be processed on YouTube.  When it is ready, click the share button that is underneath it.  You get a couple of choices, choose embeded.Copy the code and add it to your blog post, and presto there it is.

Have you learned how to do something new lately?

The Wild Pacific Ocean

On a windy, wet and stormy day we visited Long Beach by Tofino, British Columbia.  The wild Pacific Ocean was at its best during the storm.

The waves were crashing onto the beach.

Along with lots of driftwood there was a huge tree that had washed up on shore.

This is the type of weather the surfers love and there were lots of them in the ocean braving the weather to get that perfect ride.

These photos look like they were taken in black and white but they weren't.   It was such and overcast day.  I'll share some other photos in another post where the colour is evident.

I'm sharing these wild Pacific Ocean photos with Watery Wednesday.

Thanks for visiting. Enjoy the day.