Post Christmas Reflection

Did you get a Christmas gift that sent you into a frenzy?

Padma did!  Here he is in a catnip induced coma.

Even Parvati Pickypants got the gift of her dreams!

A cardboard box!

Some of us were happy with the same old same old!

Sunflower seeds.

The deer got to feast on...

...watermelon of all things!

A little bit of summer at the beginning of winter!

But truthfully, there is nothing, but nothing that can top a brand new book!

The newest member of our extended family is just six months old and already is passionate about reading!

What was you favorite gift this year?

The Final Wednesday Walk of 2015

It's the last week of the year - how on earth did that happen so quickly?

Today is the day we transition from wet and windy to sunny and cold!

Let's take our final walk of the year.

Even the smallest of our creeks is chugging along mightily.

I am so thankful that we do not have flooding or tornadoes or snow and nice like much of the rest of the US and UK. 

Instead I can admire nature's symmetry in a young Douglas fir tree. 

I think this ball of moss and twigs could be the perfect nest of a small song bird come spring. 

With wet come green...

The Licorice ferns always provide a 'pop' of bright green.  

This snag caught my eye for the first time.

The holes are old - not recent, but I wonder who was at work here.  

The sound of rushing water is something I enjoy.

Lots of new mushrooms - mild and wet - perfect weather for them.

A nice new crop of Turkey Tail mushrooms.

This is my favorite Gothic-novel atmospheric lichen.

Methuselah's beard!

Tuesday's Tiny Tidings

Design - "Dash Away"

Chart - "Tiny Tidings XX"

Design - Lizzie Kate

FAbric - 32 count Blue Petite Dot linen

Fibers - WDW - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 18 December 2015

Completed - 22 December 2015

I thought stitching on polka dot linen might prove to be a challenge, but it was very straight-forward.  No frogging involved. 

My stitching was a Lizzie Kate "Tiny Tidying" and the birds I'm showing off today are tiny too.

We are to have another spell of cold weather with lows in the mid-20s.

That always makes me worry about the Anna's Hummingbirds.

They are such tiny delicate things - it is amazing that they can survive sub-freezing temperatures.

I'll bring in the feeders at night...

...then put one out at first light and rotate them until the temperatures warm up for the day so the sugar water does not freeze.

We have at least two other neighbors who are feeding the hummingbirds throughout the winter months.

I wonder how many hummers are in the 1/2 mile area.

Hang in there guys!

Monday Musings

Design - "A-Wassailing" (kit)

Designer - Shakespeare's Peddler

Fabric - 40 count Vintage Meadow Rue Lakeside linen

Fibers - GAST - limited edition colors - 1 strand over 2 threads

Started - 23 December 2011

Completed - 29 December 2011

I loved stitching this - and looking at it again, I think it needs to be framed.

I am late with the last couple of posts.  Somehow I get totally wiped-out between Christmas and New Year's. 

So without further ado, here are some of my Winter Birds. 

An inquisitive Pine Siskin.

A male House Finch.

So pleased to have a group of eight birds after not seeing any since October. 

The Chestnut-backed Chickadee is one of my favorite winter birds. 

They prefer the canopy of a mature forest to raise their young, so I never see them in the spring and summer.

They interact well with the Black-capped Chickadees - no squabbling.

The Golden-crowned Sparrows do squabble!

And so do the Towhees.

I now have more Fox Sparrows than Song Sparrows.

Frosty Morning

The early morning sun turned the distant Douglas fir trees bright green.

But closer to home, everything was rimed with frost.  

If we can't have snow, a good hardy frost will do the trick.

It serves to turn most everything into a winter wonderland.

Even the blackberry vines.

I'm not sure that the deer enjoy a frosty morning.

Their hooves crunch in the cold grass. 

But they are fat and healthy with nice thick coats.

Feeling Squirrely

They gray squirrels jump from the Douglas fir tree on to this feeder.

And this brown squirrel has figured out how to climb the post and gorge at this feeder.

Thank goodness the chipmunks pretty much behave.

And stay on the woodpile where they belong.

That's why they get shelled sunflower seeds...

...and peanuts for for Christmas!

A reward for good behavior.