It's Melting

We went for one of our favourite walks down by the bay on Monday morning.

Even though it was past 9:30 am there was still a bit of a red tinge to the sky.  From the beginning of our walk, and a view out over the bay, it still appears to be frozen over.  Appearances can be deceiving as this ice is not very thick and not safe to be on.

Look at the different colours of the ice with patches of water beginning to appear.  The gulls have found some perching spots. The ice is melting and soon it will all be gone.

We spotted gulls, a fair sized flock of mallard ducks flying overhead, and the robins I shared yesterday.  Soon more feathered lens friends will be arriving down by the bay.   I'll be capturing photos of herons, ducks, geese, cormorants and swans.  The swans and geese have been sighted at the mouth of the Moira River where there is more open water.  Unfortunately for me they weren't there the time we were.

I'm linking up with Watery Wednesday, Nature Notes, and Outdoor Wednesday.

Hello Robins

The robins are back and that is always a good sign that nesting season is on its way.  It is always an exciting time to hear and spot the first robins of the season.

It was a lovely day on Monday so we treated ourselves to breakfast in a new restaurant in town and then we went for a lovely walk down by the bay.

This one is a bit blurry but you can see why the robins are in this tree.  There are red berries to snack on.

We've been hearing the robins around the house for just over a week but have only caught a glimpse of them way up in the top of the trees,too far away for a good photo.  And that wasn't for lack of trying.

On our walk we heard and saw a few robins.  Luckily a couple of them were sitting in a tree close to the path and I was able to snap a few photos.  Well okay, it was more than a few.  It seems we have to take numerous photos just in case one shot didn't turn out.

These are the perfect feathered lens friends to share with Tuesday Tweets and Wild Bird Wednesday.

Shadow in the Sun

Have you met our cat Shadow?  I've featured her in some previous posts.  She loves to find warm, sunny places to sleep.  On a lovely sunlit day she always manages to find the warmest places.

She will usually curl up to sleep, but if it is really warm and sunny she stretches out on her back to soak up as much sun as possible.

Are you taking pictures of me?  Please don't interrupt my sleep.

It isn't just humans that love the sun in winter.  Even Shadow casts shadows.  A good dose of sunshine is good for all of us.

Today I'm sharing my Shadow photos with Camera Critters, Shadow Shot Sunday, Sunlit Sunday, and Mosaic Monday.

It's Winter Today

Winter arrived today.
A snow storm was predicted to move in early Friday morning and last most of the day leaving up to 15 cm. of snow before it left.  At first we thought we might be missing this system as it didn't really start with a vengence till about mid morning.  But since then it has been coming down steadily.

The snow is accumulating especially on the deck fencing.  I opened the back door and took this photo to share with Friday Fences.  Once it stops snowing I will be able to go outside and take some more photos.

Cozy Toes

Finally, I have finished the socks I have been working on since last November.  I actually finished knitting them about a week ago while watching the second last episode of Downton Abbey.  I've just been slow posting about it.

I used Bernat Sox yarn and 3.25 dpn needles.

Now my toes will be nice and warm and cozy.  I'll need that for Friday as a snow storm is predicted to be moving into our area with about 10 cm. of snow.  Guess that means it will be time to shovel the paths and driveway again.  But I can count on my cozy toes the number of times we have had to do that this winter, and I'll only have to use one foot.  We have had hardly any snow this year and what has fallen has been quickly melted away by the sun.

Did you watch Downton Abbey?  What a great series.  Season 2 has just finished and we can hardly wait for season 3.  Maybe I'll knit another pair of socks then.  But for now my sock knitting adventure is over.  I've mastered the dpns which was really the reason I started knitting them.

Projects from The Crafty Side.

I'm sharing with FO Friday, Make Something Mondays and Yarn Along.

Captcha Time

Captcha time is capturing my time.
Time is that valuable commodity that we all seem to want more of.  So why are we wasting time trying to fill out this ridiculous captcha word verification that Blogger has now installed?   So many bloggers are posting about it or commenting about it on posts.  And here is my little rant as well.  I even posted about this well over a year ago.

Captcha is supposed to prove you aren't a bot or spammer.Unfortunately it is stopping a lot of bloggers who aren't bots or spammers from leaving comments on posts.Why?  you might ask ... because it uses up valuable time.  You invariably have to refresh the thing a few times before you think you get the word right and even then it isn't always right.  How can you tell if it is an r then an n or an m as the letters are so close together and of course they are twisted in all directions.

If you are so worried about bots and spammers why don't you just put the moderation option into effect?.  My goodness some of you have word verification and moderation.  Twice the time and twice the effort.

I have favourite blogs that I love to visit, but if that captcha thing comes up I leave without commenting.  I'm sorry but I just don't have the time to go through that ridiculous procedure.

Through a bit of research I found out you can't turn off word verification if you are using Blogger in Draft.  You first have to uncheck that box and go back to the old Blogger format.  Then go into the settings for comments and turn it off.  Once you have done that you can go back and check that little box again to go back to Blogger in Draft.

I have also found that spammers will not usually spam the most recent post but will go back a few posts and leave their nasty links.  If you choose moderation you can choose it for always or sometimes.   You get choose how old the post will be and moderation kicks in.  I think I have mine set to 3 days.  And guess what, if one spam comment gets through, it really isn't that big a deal.  You can just go to the comment section and in one little click you can delete it.

So if your blog is using word verification or captcha won't you please consider turning it off. You might find you get more comments that way. And you will save your visitors a lot of time.


Click the image and grab your own button.

It is Word for Wednesday and the word today is time.

The Bluejays

The Bluejays are regular visitors to the garden.  They noisily announce their arrival as they swoop in towards the feeders.  Is this to warn the other birds to get out of the way?  I'm quite certain it is.

I just love all the varying colours and patterns on these birds.

They love the peanut feeders, especially the mail box peanut feeder.

This is an old mailbox with the flap removed and we put peanuts inside it.

They will swoop into the mailbox to get the peanuts.  It is such fun to watch their antics.

Sometimes they leave me treasures which I keep between the pages of my various birding books.

They come on their own, in a flock of 5 or more and sometimes in 2s for 2sDay, the day when I share a photo with 2 of the same subject.

I'm sharing these photos, some old and some new, with Tuesday Tweets and Wild Bird Wednesday where you can see more amazing bird photogrpahy.

And of course they are perfect for sharing on Blue Monday where all things are blue.

Edit: Tuesday morning ... robin heard and sited across the road.

Enjoying the Sun

We seem to be in the midst of two days of winter once again.  The cycle appears to be 2 cold, snowy days and then some nice sunny, above zero days.  These isn't any sun (so far) this weekend.  Saturday morning we had some of that wet snow with the huge snowflakes.  For awhile it seemed like we were inside a snow globe.  This morning (Sunday) we are getting another bit of snow.  It isn't supposed to last long.  But Friday was a wonderful sunny, bright day.

You could see the sun just rising above the trees

It became a big round orb in the sky  Of course cameras really show up the glare it was giving off.  But we knew it would be a lovely day.

As the sun streamed through the kitchen door it cast wonderful shadows of the garden decorations hanging on the little shelf.  I had recently put away the snowpeople decorations.  Here are those shadows if you missed them.
The above mosaic shows the sun shining through at two different times so that each side of the shelf cast its own shadows.  I love how the star is reflecting the original colour.  That star is actually a candle holder.  I'll have to light it one day and see what sorts of shadows and reflections it casts.

In this photo you can see the reflection in the kitchen door as well.  That was one of those unexpected captures that I saw when I looked at the photos.

How we enjoy those sunny days.  Your spirit gets lifted, you feel like doing more and you know that spring is getting closer.

The photos cover a lot of different criteria to link up with Shadow Shot Sunday, Sunlit Sunday, Mosaic Monday and Weekend Reflections

Edit: It is just a couple of hours after I did this post, the snow has stopped, the sun is out and the snow has all melted away.  Gotta love the sun when it does the job of clearing the paths and driveway for you.

The Chickadees

Chickadees are adorable little birds that visit our garden all year round.  As soon as we head out with food for the feeders they start the chirping.  I'm sure they are calling in their friends and letting them know that the feeders are being filled.  They will visit the black oil feeders, the flat feeders and the suet feeders.

These little birds are very friendly and will stay in the trees very close to us.  I always take the camera with me when it is feeder filling time.

We always have a little chat with our lens friends.

They usually flit very quickly from branch to branch or from feeder to feeder.  I was lucky to capture some photos while he/she was eating at the suet feeder.

If you love looking at bird photos, why not check out these places ... Tuesday Tweets and Wild Bird Wednesday.  Here are all my feathered lens friends.

Blue Mittens

Here is a little pair of blue, thumbless mittens that I quickly knit up for our youngest grandson.  These will go with the blue hat and booties that I also made for him.

The pattern is a simple one.  Cast on 26 stitches using 3.25 mm needles.  Knit 18 rows of k1, p1 to make the ribbing.  I did the ribbing a bit longer than most patterns call for so that the mittens could be tucked right up inside the coat sleeves and not pulled out easily.  You could also turn the ribbing up into a cuff.  Once the ribbing is done, switch to a slightly larger needle of 3.5 mm and knit in stocking stitch (one row knit, one row purl) until the knitting is about 13 cm. long (about 5.25inches).  Then do the decrease rows.  First row is k2, k2tog and repeat till last 2 stitches and k2.  Next row is purl.  Next row is k1, k2tog and repeat, k1 and then another purl row.  Last row is k2tog.  I believe there are 3 left at the end so I knitted all 3 together.

When you are knitting up your own pattern it is easy to get to the end of a row and find an extra stitch ... so you knit them together. If you are missing a stitch you can a an extra one in the middle of the row. I'm much better at knitting the pattern than writing it down. So if you do try my pattern and find a mistake, don't get mad at me, just let me know and I'll see if I can resolve the problem. Or better still, maybe you can resolve the problem for me.
For all my crafting projects visit The Crafty Side.

I'm linking up with Mosaic Monday, Blue Monday, and Make Something Mondays.

The Old Fence

Every day I walk across the road to our rural mailbox and see this old fence. It separates what was once the farmer's house and the farm fields.  One sunny day at the beginning of this week I carried the camera with me and took a couple of photos of the fence and the shadows.

The fence has seen better days, in fact I can remember when it stood straight and tall and kept cows in the field.  But years have passed, the cows are long gone, the barn has been taken down, some top railings are missing and without any maintenance the old fence now looks very rickety. I imagine one of these days it will fall to the ground.  But just look at the wonderful shadow it cast on the lawn beside it.  Who would think we would be seeing green lawns in mid February. Where is the blanket of winter white?  The field to the left is now used to store bales of hay and the fields in the background are where we watch the deer.  This morning the old fence has a sprinkling of snow on it as we had some snow overnight.  There wouldn't be the opportunity for a shadow photo today as it is cloudy and dull.

Without the sun we would have no shadows.
I'm linking with Friday Fences , Shadow Shot Sunday , and Sunlit Sunday. 

Late Night ... Early Morning

It has been an amazing few days to have your eye on the sky.  Late last night the stars were so visible and bright and of course the moon was amazing.

I'm still learning the best settings to take these moon shots, and believe me I took lots before I had one that satisfied me. Early this morning the moon had a glow around it so it didn't lead to the best of photos.

The early morning sky was interesting.

There was a bit of a pink tinge appearing.

I thought there was going to be some gorgeous red skies to photograph, but only this one appeared.  But there will always be another day wont' there, and maybe by then I'll have learned some new tricks with the camera.

Sky Watch shares many, many wonderful sky photos.
Have a great day and remember to keep your eye on the sky.

WIPW

WIPK
What on earth does that mean?
It means Work in Progress Wednesday.  It's a chance to show a crafting project that hasn't been finished yet and is still a WIP or work in progress.
These socks have been a work in progress for a couple of months.  I'm not really a sock knitter and this is my second pair of tube socks. Here is my first pair. I'm doing tube socks, not because I can't do the turn at the heel, but because I don't really know who they are for so I don't know the foot size.  That's my reason and I'm sticking with it!

I actually started them on our train ride across Canada at the very beginning of November.  I chose them to knit then because it is a very simple pattern and I could talk while knitting.  It is amazing how many others were knitting on the train.  And what a great way to start up a conversation and discuss what you were knitting, who it was for, and all sorts of other things.  I met some very interesting passengers and we were all linked by knitting.  I think I got about half of the first sock done on the train and then I hardly did any knitting at all while away as there were just too many things to see and do and of course there was that new grandson to spend time with.  When I got home I found reasons to do all sorts of other projects to do -booties, hats, mittens, shawl, and an afghan (which is still a WIP to share another time).  I even played in the dirt a bit yesterday, but that will be another post.  These socks are knit in the Bernat Sox yarn on 3.25mm dpns. You can see all the projects from The Crafty Side of me, right here.

I'm linking with WIPW , W.I.P. Wednesday and Yarn Along where you can see lots more WIP.

Have you got a work in progress?

Brave Little Downy

During the ice and snow storm towards the end of January the little downy woodpecker braved the feeders.

She tried the peanut feeder which was coated with snow and ice.

She held on and pecked away at the icy suet.  She was very persistent and I think she finally did get something to eat.  Brave little lens friend.


Here is the male woodpecker a few days later when all the snow and ice and melted away.  He is really enjoying pecking away at the suet feeder.

Tuesday Tweets shares photos of feathered lens friends.  If you post bird photos on your blog why not consider joining.  I"m also joining with World Bird Wednesday, where you can see some amazing bird photos.

Little Blue Hat

I recently finished knitting a little blue hat for our grandson in British Columbia.  It was a quick project and has already been mailed out to him.

I used Bernat Softee Baby yarn on 3.25 mm needles. The pattern had a pom pom on the top which I chose not to add as it had to fit in an envelope and mailed.   I saved the pattern from the web ages ago but can't seem to find it now.  It is still available on Ravelry.

I'm linking the FO (finished object) with Blue Monday, Mosaic Monday, and Make Something Mondays.

Thanks for visiting. Have a great day.

Reminiscing the Harbour

Reminiscing on a nice sunny, but cold weekend. On a lovely sunny day last November we went for a visit to the Victoria Harbour.

The Pacific Undersea Gardens are housed on this boat  What a fascinating place to visit and see creatures from under the sea.

The SS Beaver is up for sale. This is a replica of the original paddle wheel boat that sailed from England in 1835.

A big cruiser reflected in the calm waters.

Another view of the SS Beaver and the wonderful reflection in the water.

These photos are of course from our vacation on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.  I'm so glad I took many, many photos as it allows for lots of time for reminiscing over the winter months.   I'm linking up with Weekend Reflections and Sunlit Sunday.

Friday's Fence

We are coming to the end of another week.This week saw the start of February and Groundhog Day.  The local Ontario groundhog, Wiarton Willy predicted it would be an early spring. But have we really had winter yet?  It was very mild at the beginning of the week and any  snow that arrived on the weekend was melted away by Wednesday.Now it is Friday and time to share a fence photo.  I recently discovered FotoFlexer, an online site to add frames, text, and other effects to your images for free.  After trying it out I can recommend it to be easy and fast.

This is a fence that surrounded part of the Tofino Botanical Gardens on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.  We were out that way last November.

Just look at the structure inside, wish I could of explored it but there was a terrific storm going on so I just got lots of glimpses through the fence.  It looks like a wonderful place to stroll through, but not in the pouring rain and wind.  Perhaps next time we are back visiting that area we will go inside.  We did visit Long Beach and see the huge waves during the storm.

Have you checked out Friday Fences?