Thursday, December 23, 2021

The new girl...

 Look who travelled all the way from England at the coldest time of the year!

Two of us bloggy buddies decided to do a personal ornament swap... Shashi hasn't received mine yet...but, here is mine from her! 

Yesterday I didn't have a name for her...but, today ...she is called Fiona.  I tried a few different names on her and nothing sounded right .... but, then... Mr. BumbleVee said ... what about Fiona? ... and, I like it.  She looks like a little Fiona to me.... a name that one elvin couple called their baby....

I sat her in various spots in the Christmas tree ...but, she had trouble getting comfy.  I tried her on top of some ornaments ...but, she couldn't quite find a way to sit on them properly and/or in a very ladylike fashion.   We tried several greenery arrangements and tables ..etc... but, it was a no go.












Finally, we decided upon the pony wall around the stairwell... and, a little reindeer came over to check her out ... and, stayed.  She proclaimed her favourite spot...and is still sitting there...

I especially love her cute little "slippers"...  golden seed beads stitched around her dainty feet on a line that suggests she is wearing ballerina flats.. .. just an illusion of slippers really, but you'd swear that's what they are... such a great idea Shashi!  Perfect for such a tiny doll.












As tiny as she is ..her face is needle sculpted... that must have been tricky.... 

Thanks so much Shashi for my lovely little girl... 



    


Friday, October 22, 2021

I got an eagle on the 12th hole at Mapleridge Golf Course~!!

I can't say it enough times.  Being a golfer and rarely getting a birdie never mind ever having had an 'eagle'...   I just have to say it.  I think it's funny. 

It is always good though if people know golf…. an eagle is even better than a birdie in golf for you non golfers. Two strokes less than the par on the hole. However …. it was not a golfing eagle…but, it was definitely on the golf course…. definitely on the 12th hole.  I had to race over there and sneak through a neighbour's back gate to get onto the course… 

I noticed a guy walking on the street… and, then..he seemed to be taking a picture of a rental house a few down from us...  ..but, why would he do that I thought?   So I watched him and then..on he went…but, I kept looking over there and all of a sudden noticed a big bird in the trees above and behind the house.  And, I saw some stark white on it.  I knew right away what it was!  I dashed out with my camera and yelled at Greg that I saw an eagle.

Went into Luisa’s back yard (directly across from us) and all I saw was a thousand branches..so sprinted down to Cathy’s…rang the doorbell and nobody answered..so 'round the back I trotted and out onto the course…nobody was on the holes… so down three houses I went… and, he was still sitting in the tree!.  Oh, man…I was so excited I could hardly focus..and, forgot that the Expressive Colour setting was still on so it interferes with the shutter speed.  But, even though he was high up in the tree I managed to get some decent shots.  He stayed put.  The wind was blowing pretty hard so it was tricky to stand still and I was cursing under my breath hoping I got enough shots that a few were focused and clear ..I can’t see the viewfinder very well now.. and, certainly can’t tell if things are blurry or not  ….  I took enough shots by the time some golfers showed up and they probably wouldn’t have cared anyway if they knew I was taking photos of something ..especially that… 

But, it was cold .. and I had enough so I left.  At one point he looked directly at me … and, I did wonder if I was making him a bit annoyed… and, hoped he wouldn’t fly by and bop me on the head when he left….  but, he stayed put for ages.  I quickly went home..and uploaded the photos to the computer so that I could see if they were good enough…because I could have gone back to try again.  He was still there.  The river is close by..so he could have been hunting I suppose…or ..he could be a migrating one…. just resting or just having found some food at the river…who knows… but, I have never seen one.  This was a lifetime opportunity…. so lucky.

Here he is … he was about 60 feet up in the tree…. so almost too far for my little 300 lens… but, I cropped them…and made him closer.



He looks pretty fierce in this one… and, the last rays of sun behind him are nice in this shot… 

    Then, he looked right at me…. 


But, in the close up….awww..he doesn’t look fierce at all…just almost …a bit sad or something..  ….. maybe he was wishing I would go away…. 



Anyway…just wanted to show you my eagle….. and tell you the story…..what an amazing creature….and, so BIG…. unbelievable … I couldn't talk about anything else for the rest of the week!



Saturday, April 3, 2021

Happy Easter Weekend ...

I like to make Hot Cross Buns once a year and sometimes try out a few different recipes in the weeks leading up to Easter.  Here they are ..... my second batch.  I love them with lots of spices and some peel, as well as several types of raisins ... oh, and... with watered down warm apricot jam brushed on the tops.  

One of the baking blogs I look at is Geoff's ... he is on the sidebar at the bottom.  This year he went all out with crosses on everything ...so that if you are afraid of yeast... you could try some other goodies with the signature crosses on them.  He even had some cookies...which I haven't tried yet...but, definitely will have to give those a go... 

I made his recipe first... hmmm.... did I even manage to get a photo before we ate them all?...I must check back...  

This batch is from Merry Boosters... but, honestly, they were not nearly as soft and pale as hers ..so as usual... who knows what happens between the recipe and our own version.  I followed it exactly using a digital scale and everything.... but, still.... ovens.. shelf rack positions.... who knows?   However, that is not to say they don't taste amazing.... because they do. 

I found a spring tea towel too for some colour.... believe me we need some of that at this time of year.  The lawn looks dry and crispy... with still a small patch of icy snow in a shaded area....the lilacs are just dead looking dry old twigs..... the trees.. well, you get the picture.  Much better just to stay in the house and look for some pretty things... and, bake. 

That does it...I'm off for a cup of tea and one of the last two buns....



Thursday, March 11, 2021

White Winged Crossbills...

 Hi everybody....It's been ages since I last posted.... definitely haven't been doing any crafting or anything artsy...

Just been worrying and waiting like a lot of people... going about the home stuff as usual in winter around here too....it is mostly too cold to bother going outside anyway.  We just got over two weeks of -28C --30C  horrible cold... with plenty of snow around as well.  Have been doing plenty of baking too...so need to keep up with exercising ... or I will roll out of here in spring as a round ball....

One day I did go out in the -28C ..just to try to capture some pretty snow pictures at the nearby golf course.  As I walked over to a small bridge ... little cones began to fall out of the big spruce trees..... fine snow was sifting down all around me as I tried to decide just what to photograph.  I had to move out from under the trees and I did look up for a second... just in time to see little birds flitting about overhead.

That got my attention...as I do love birds and taking photos of them.  But, by then, my fingers were so cold I had to sprint back to the car to warm them up ...and ..to change lenses so I could get a closer look at the birds so high in the big trees.  They were way up there about 40 to 60 feet in the air.  But, I thought I detected some white wing bars... got pretty excited and after warming a bit, back I went.

Sure enough.... White Winged Crossbills!!  I've never seen one up close..and, never photographed one.  I took many shots and stayed until my fingers were practically frozen... I can't wear a glove on the right hand to use the camera...so they got numb!  It was a brilliant, sun filled day so it was hard to see anything on the screen and I really had no clue what I would see when I uploaded them onto the computer.

Imagine my surprise when I got several good photos of the Crossbills.  I was ecstatic.  I've been putting photos on my Flickr site and enjoying that during the months of lockdown... but, here I am to put some on here as well today.

Here is what I was attempting to photograph when the little cones began to pelt me...











Here are some photos of the White Winged Crossbills... these are all males.

















They have amazing beaks that are crossed and long and pointed so they can get at the tiny seeds inside the cones.  Apparently they can eat up to 3,000 seeds per day!  They must knock off many cones in the attempts and that's why they were falling out of the trees...  The cones, not the birds..!




It is so strange to see them in the photos looking like I am straight out from them because as I mentioned...they were very high in the air.  I had to seriously crop any photo in order to tell what they were at all. 










Hope you enjoy seeing my little birds as much as I do...