Winter Stitching Followed by Winter Walk

I am amassing quite the collection of "Starts"...

The border of "Wonderland" is kind of fussy - Smyrna followed by four cross stitches in a different color, followed by Smyrna, followed by...

This Wednesday Walk begins in my sister's Dahlia Garden.

The Dahlia Garden has several natural Springs around the perimeter. 

And a Rambling Rose near her Garden Gate.

She is also the 'owner' of our monstrously large Pussy Willow.  It's feet are near one of the Springs - nice and damp - which the Pussy Willow enjoys.

This Oak marks the right side entrance to our driveway.  I like the structure of the Oak as it is defined against a blue Winter sky. 

Osoberry, Osoberry, Osoberry!

Methuselah's Beard - a lichen - this long draping bunch reminded me of the cobwebs in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion.

We've had rain on and off, and the Big Creek is running briskly along.

The mosses and ferns have responded to the rain.  If you look closely you can see the small moss seed heads popping up. 

The mushrooms too are happy - This is Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor).

I don't know what this is though it has similar characteristics to Turkey Tail.

A lovely blue-sky day - the last one for a while as the next several days are to be gray and rainy.  See you next week!

Another Mitten And A Nursery Tour

 Design - Pearls "Cozy Mittens"

Designer - SamSarah Design Studio

Fabric - 32 count Pearl Gray Zweigart linen

Fibers - Crescent Colors - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 18 February 2012 

Completed - 20 February 2012

Another mitten - I've noticed several of my recent mitten stitches feature only one mitten.  I wonder if that is a commentary on lost mittens.  Here in Western Oregon I confess to having only two pairs of gloves - one pair is wool and I bought them in London.  The other is wool/cotton and I bought them at Disneyland.  I don't wear them very often and have managed to keep the pairs intact for several years now.

An Oregon Cottage is going to start up her Tuesday Garden Party once again in March.  But I decided to begin, on my own, a little earlier.  On Saturday my sister, a gardening friend, and I tootled out to NW Garden Nursery for their Hellebore Open House. 

They are a specialty nursery with an emphasis on hellebores.

As an added bonus, their garden was open too.

And though the weather was awful - rain, cold, hail, wind - the garden was an inspiration - even in mid-February.

Lots of primroses on the up-and-up.

Beautiful seeds from Arisaema consanguineum.

This is a Cornus mas.  It had a very open habit, and lovely small yellow blossoms.  How wonderful to have something like that blooming this time of year.

A small Pulmonaria in full bloom. 

Cyclamen...

...and Iris.

Snowdrops...

...and still more Cyclamen.

What I found most interesting, is that the garden was about 1 to 11/2 weeks behind where it was in February 2011.  Given how mild this Winter has seemed, I'd have expect the garden to be ahead of last year - but is was not.  Maybe we've had colder nights this year than last year. 

Monday Musings

Design - "Polka Dot Scissor Companion"

Designer - Ewe & Eye & Friends

Fabric - 28 count Carnation linen

Fibers - Anchor - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 14 February 2012

Completed - 17 February 2012

 

I messed a bit with the use of colors.  Decided to Symra cross the inside of the heart in light pink rather than green.  The border called for green long stitches, and I decided to omit that for a cleaner look.

 

Tom-Cat helped me prepare for Sunday's count.

 

We started off with a Song Sparrow or two.

 

Pine Siskins at the feeder.

 

And we finished the evening with a Big Leaf Maple full of Mourning Doves. 

 

We counted something like 35 in this tree.

 

Here's the Bird Count for Sunday.  It was a bright sunny day - the biggest change - LOTS of Mourning Doves - and almost no Robins.

 

    Count    Species

--------------------------------------

• 09 California Quail            
• 02 Turkey Vultures                  
• 01 Red-tailed Hawk               
• 40 Mourning Doves                 
• 01 Great Horned Owl             
• 02 Anna's Hummingbirds         
• 02 Northern Flickers                
• 08 Steller's Jay s                    
• 01 Western Scrub-Jay            
• 10 Black-capped Chickadees    
• 01 Red-breasted Nuthatch     
• 01 American Robin                  
• 02 European Starlings               
• 03 Spotted Towhees                 
• 02 White-crowned Sparrows       
• 02 Golden-crowned Sparrows      
• 10 Dark-eyed Juncos (Oregon)    
• 10 House Finchs                     
• 04 Pine Siskins                       
• 03 Song Sparrows                   

Yet More Mittens Yet More Birds

Suddenly, I'm out of control!  I'm stitching the "Pearls - Cozy Mitten" and the Trilogy's "Winter Wonderland" - and I'm awaiting floss for the top chart (the pair of mittens on the right).  I do think I'll save the Shepherd's Bush for next Winter.

Today was a "Wait a Minute and the Weather Will Change Day".  Sun, rainy, hail, cold.  Something for everyone.

It turned out to be a pretty good Bird Count Day too. Saturday morning Parvati helped me get the Bird List highlighted and ready to mark.

I was more than pleased yesterday afternoon to have my sister call me over to add this female Hairy Woodpecker to our census. 

In between rain showers we were awash in Robins - counting a high of 22.

This Anna's Hummingbird was not pleased to have me 'invade' his territory.

Unfortunately, there was nowhere on the form to account for this group of chickens and the Peacock!

Here's the count we turned in for Saturday:  

 

     Count     Species
----------------------------------------

• 13 California Quail  
• 03 Turkey Vultures
• 01 Red-tailed Hawk     
• 14 Mourning Doves       
• 01 Anna's Hummingbird  
• 01 Hairy Woodpecker     
• 08 Steller's Jay           
• 02 Western Scrub-Jays
• 02 American Crows
• 03 Black-capped Chickadees
• 22 American Robins          
• 08 European Starlings       
• 02 Spotted Towhees         
• 02 Song Sparrows            
• 10 Oregon Dark-eyed Juncos
• 15 House Finchs
• 12 Pine Siskins 

Organizing and Birding

I'm very fortunate to have a large room dedicated to my hobbies.

But even then, things can get really out of control!

Since I'm trying to stitch thematically month-by-month this year, I decided it was time to organize my charts.

Believe it or not, these photos represent the beginning of some semblance of organization - Patriotic, Noah's Ark, Spring/Easter, Chickens, Valentines, Gardening, Crows/Blackbirds, Halloween, Autumn, Thanksgiving, Snowmen, Christmas...

The weather was not wonderful for the first day of the Great Backyard Bird Count.  I enumerated most of my species in the 7-8am hour.

Here's the report I sent in:

      

      Count     Species

------------------------------------------

• 13 California Quail            
• 01 Red-tailed Hawk           
• 25 Mourning Doves              
• 08 Steller's Jays                   
• 02 Western Scrub-Jays          
• 03 Black-capped Chickadee s 
• 02 American Robins              
• 05 European Starlings           
• 02 Spotted Towhees             
• 06 Dark-eyed Juncos (Oregon)
• 08 House Finchs                  
• 06 Pine Siskins                    

 I was disappointed not to see any Hummingbirds or Woodpeckers to add to the report.  I still have Saturday and Sunday.  We'll see what today brings.  I was pleased to read in my comments that a couple of Followers have decided to participate in the Bird Count.  I hope they enjoy it. 

Here's a Sign of Spring - Violets!

An In-Town friend picked this small posy.

Oh, the smell! 

Mittens and Birds

I do not have many WIPs.  If I start something, I usually finish it up (even if I've lost interest).  Recently while flailing about in my Stash, I came across this old Cricket Collection stitch.  I think I stopped because it is 10 count Tula and uses something like 4 strands of floss.  But since I've been a bit of a Mitten Maniac lately, I pulled it out with the intention of finishing it up.

Today is the first day of the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Our Team is raring to go sound asleep.  I'll have to do the best I can on my own this morning.

I do have a pretty big rooting section.

I just need to get out a couple of bird identification guides...

...and print off my "Watch List"... 

...and start counting!

It will be interesting to see how many different types of Winter birds are hanging out right now. 

I expect to count Juncos, Chickadees, Jays, Mourning Doves, California Quail, Red Tail Hawks, Hairy Woodpeckers, Anna's Hummingbirds, Flickers, Robins, Starling, Finches, Wrens and Sparrows.