Wednesday's Wet Walk

Snow in the mountains, rain in the valley.

Grab an umbrella and come with me! 

This is the smallest of our three seasons creeks - look at it roar!

Wet weather is perfect for licorice ferns. 

Red, red rosehips.

Quiet beauty.

An oak leaf and acorn.

I stumbled across Catherine Woodall Jewelry on Facebook.

She has some amazing oak leaf and acorn necklaces in her Etsy shop.

Lungwort Lichen (Lobaria pulmonaria) doesn't that sound like something out of a Harry Potter book?

A spot of color - most of the leaves have fallen.

Sweet little mushroom.

Carpet moss on the side of a tree.

The Big Creek.

As we've not yet had a hard frost, there are still blackberries. 

Snowberries.  Apparently these don't taste very good so they are a 'last resort' food for the birds in deep winter.

Willows along the bank of the Big Creek.

Blackberry leaf.

Bracken ferns.

Catkins on the Hazelbrush.  You'd think spring was just around the corner.

Dorothy's Creek is rush along.

A crunchy carpet of pine needles.

Okay, time to go back inside to dry off and enjoy a hot drink.

Plodding Along

Design - "Happy Gobble Gobble Day"

Designer - The Trilogy

Fabric - 32 count Lambswool linen

Fibers - WDW & GAST - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 29 November 2012

Completed - 27 November 2012 

Wow!  It took my over a month to complete this back in 2012.  Now I don't feel so bad about my 2016 plodding efforts. 

What's up in Birdland you ask?

Lots of Golden-crowned Sparrows. I also saw a White-throated Sparrow Monday morning.

Lots of Black-capped Chickadees.  I'm still waiting to see my first Chestnut-backed Chickadee of the winter.

My faithful Anna's Hummingbirds.

Oergon Junco

Rufous Towhee

Lots and lots and lots of California Quail.

I counted over 60 birds Monday morning.

No wonder things get crowded in the backyard!

Thank goodness there are blackberry vines to perch on.

Plugging Along

Design - "Thankful Kiss" (freebie)

Designer - The Cricket Collection

Fabric - 32 count white linen

Fibers - DMC & Kreinik braid - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 20 November 2012

Completed - 3 December 2012

As you can see, I still do not have a new finish to share.  I do well remember stitching this turkey as the silver Kreinik braid was a real challenge. 

Oh well, Padma says I'll get my stitching mojo back sooner or later.

In the meantime I'll enjoy the outdoors...

...and the raindrops sparkle in the sunlight.

Here's a California Scrub Jay... 

and a Steller's Jay.

Last winter a neighbor had two Gray Jays at her feeders. Maybe a couple of these Canadian birds will head my direction this year.

I did see two Turkey Vulture on an extremely windy morning.

Honestly it looked like they were playing - using the gusts and updrafts to show off their aerobatic skills.

Saturday my sister and I heard a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

A tiny, flittering bird- so hard to photograph.

It was working away gleaning small insects from this pine tree. If we have a hard, cold winter these birds will come and eat suet.

Flashback to 2001

First off thanks so much to everyone who took the time to comment on my memorial post for Tom-Cat and Solomon.  You are all too kind.

I thought I'd share a flashback with you.  Padma, Parvati, and Solomon were born at the end of May 2001.  In these photos they are 6-7 months old and still experiencing with 'firsts' in their young lives.  

Solomon, Padma, and Parvati.

The night before Thanksgiving.  I was baking chocolate chip cookies using our Kitchen Aid Mix Master.  They'd never seen or heard it in use before and found it fascinating.

Solomon and Padma

Decorating for Christmas. 

Parvati and Padma

Once upon a time the twins were close and affectionate littermates!

Parvati and Solomon

Atop the Tower of Trouble

Solomon and Padma

Brothers

Padma and Parvati

Now they will begrudgingly share our couch, but they each need their own cushion.

Saturday's Critters

Sleeping in today - still recovering from the abundance that is Thanksgiving. 

This past week I only managed a photo of my female Anna's.

She has yellow pollen on her beak, so she's still supplementing my feeders with 'natural' food. 

Humming along.

Here's a bunny.

And another one!

As large as the backyard is, there are traffic jams.

No sign of the buck this week.

Several does...

and a fawn.