more little Nuthatchies.....

And....a Downy....   Woodpecker, that is...

Just because they are so cute and I stood out in the cold to try for some closer-ups....

One little guy (or girl)  is pretty feisty and brave.  He just kind of peeps softly and stays right on the nut dispenser all the time I am there.  But, then... when I least expect it... he whizzes past my ear on his way to the Juniper tree.  Or to flit back to get my attention.  It is tough to get focused even with Auto Focus, and get a clear shot of him/her.... they flit back and forth to the lilacs and off to a big spruce across the street.... man, they're fast.

You can see them closer too if you like .. just click on the photo ....

This little guy comes to peck on the suet cage and then...kind of falls asleep or dozes for a bit....leaning further and further back...til almost a backbend... he is very flexible.  But, kind of strange...he stays on there til somebody bigger, like a Norther Flicker manages to get his attention and off he goes.  He even stays there while I shovel snow in the patio.  Weird. 

Nuthatches instead of idiot people

Nuthatches are soooo cute. ...   People in the news lately are not.

In fact they are total idiots and I am so sick of reading about them that I feel like the old buzzard joke.... you know the one..... Two of them sitting on the wires over a deserted road waiting for a car to come along and run over something so they can have lunch ..   Finally one says to his buddy...."I'm tired of this.... let's go kill something."That's about what I want to do.  Kill most of the stupid women who think sexual harassment is a look that to them appears to be a leer or a comment that they take as sexual misconduct..... arrrgghhh!@#$% .

GAG me with a BIG wooden spoon.  What the hell is going on?  Has the whole world gone nuts?  If something offends you women or you can't figure out a way to say 'NO' or 'SHUT UP'  or figure out some way to deal with reality and just carry on with life as the rest of us do  .... stay home babes....   it's actually a real world out here.   Get a grip willya?

'Nuff said... they are making my life hell at the moment... as are the other stupid women who are beating and starving their children....and locking them cages in the basement....   I'm so mad I could spit.  Who even wants to read the news anymore?

So, instead, because I haven't yet figured out a way to get rid of those last two miserable bitches I read about, who've totally ruined and injured some precious little kids .... I give you some cute nuthatches....

Red breasted ones at that.... even the males ..hahahhahah..... actually I am not sure which are males and which are females.  There must be some say to differentiate...but I don't know what it is.  Perhaps just the colouring is a bit more vibrant or something.  In which case these may be little ladies ...they seem a bit paler than some I've seen.  Stewart?  Do you know? ... Kenneth? .... any other birders out there? ..

Here is a Female Downy Woodpecker sharing with a Nuthatch.  They don't mind any bird on the other side except Sparrows.  They hop around and peck those and get rid of them.   The others all peck in harmony for some reason.

Head over to Stewart's blog and check out lots of beautiful birds.. or click on the link below.

Bobcats

One day in late fall, we were cleaning windows when I spied a bobcat strolling along across the street.  Looked like he owned the whole street, and, in particular, a couple of neighbour's yards, the way he was strolling through all of them on his way to who knew where.

Well, next day I saw it again..this time with a full grown bunny in its mouth.  The thing was about the size of the cat... dragging on the ground... 

I watched it go around the back of the neighbour's house and so I emailed her to let her know...in case she came out and was face to face with it eating its prey. 

She wrote back to say.... 'it is a Mommy and she has two babies in the backyard'.  'That is their lunch'.  She asked if I wanted to go over and we could look out a basement window to see them.  YES please!!

Off I trotted with my camera.

Here are some of my photos of that day.... those babies were so darn cute I wanted to go out and pet them.... but, Momma was nearby cleaning herself at the fish pond... not a good idea.

The first glimpse of it carrying something...didn't yet know what.  If you are a bit squeamish, don't look at the second photo.  And, if you want to see closer....click on the photos.

I couldn't believe the size of the rabbit compared to the cat... it was pretty darn big.   Poor bunny.  Neighbourhood cats, BEWARE>

Then, I got some pictures of the babies through the neighbour's basement window....awwwwwwww......... how cute are they?

Honestly, I just wanted to bring one home.  Fairly big babies ... but babies nonetheless... just lazing out after a nice dinner and sort of seeing some movement from us, but not concerned.

Mommy, tidying up after the messiness of feeding the kids.

Miniature Gingerbread Houses

From a Cupcake Jemma Youtube video.

I have no clue about piping and have never made Royal Icing before.

so.... as you may or may not know............ nothing is quite as simple as it looks on Youtube.  Besides, she is a professional baker ..hahahhahah... silly me.

I always just expect to follow along and things surely must just happen as easily as they do for them on there right? .... nope.......

Every square inch of my kitchen was a disaster let me tell you.  Icing sugar is so messy even if a person is careful and I am very careful.   And...it just didn't come together like hers did at all.  She put in 3 tablespoons of water and barely had to add a bit more and it looked great.  Of course... seeing and 'feeling' consistency isn't quite the same.  I had to add about 6 tablespoons of water just to get it to be almost solid glue...and, yes...I measured the icing sugar very carefully... an exact 400 grams... by the scale.  Maybe it is a case of the lack of humidity in our homes compared to those in England.  Basically, we have none.

Anyway... very long story made somewhat shorter ..( many hours long if truth be told!@#)  finally I got some icing in a bag.  By then, I already had 3 spatulas with hard, crusty bits on them so had to keep tossing them and reaching for a new one... good thing I have many, many spatulas. .. (still could not get a tip small enough to do it properly either) and practiced on some parchment paper for a bit and then...onward with biscuits to build some tiny houses.  Tiny being the key word here....they are only 3.5 inches high...and, 2.25 inches across the front...only 2 across an end.

At first I was pretty disappointed with my results...but, on I went... and even if they are a bit more whimsical and not as tidy as Jemma's.... I like them.   she did have 3 colours ...but in the end...all I could manage was my white icing... not trying for 3 colours if I can't even make the icing pipe properly.

Mr. BumbleVee says I was trying to make a two story house look like a bungalow....aha....I didn't notice that really....not a wonder they don't look so great.   Not a wonder he is the designer.  I watched the video a few times...and, then...just went for it.  Some details escaped me I guess.  Next time I may draw out some door and window configurations before I  begin winging it.....

Also...I did watch a few more Julia Usher videos later...WOW !!  and, discovered my icing had to be much softer  ... no wonder my arms and wrists almost gave out after 5 houses and many hours of struggling.  We ate the 6th house and other extra roof and side pieces.  A good thing.  My arms wouldn't take any more ...nor would my back. And, that is the BEST and tastiest gingerbread recipe ever.  I love those biscuits.  She uses Golden Syrup instead of molasses ... which I don't like anyway... so I love the taste of them.

I want to take a cake decorating class now...to learn how to pipe icing properly.  What fun that would be.

Here are my cute little "gb" houses.... as my friend Muriel calls them.... in spite of all the pitfalls and my own limited piping skills....I do like them a lot.

Happy New Year

Cold and snowy and the brilliant sun is shining....

A new year .... so many possibilities .....

It has been so cold the birds are always searching for more seeds and the suet.. it is wild at certain times of the day.  As many as 3 and 4 Flickers hanging out on the wall of the patio and even clinging to the rocks on the side of the house..waiting their turn at the suet.
Sparrows by the hordes... plenty of chickadees and some nuthatches and Downy woodpeckers ...I think we may have a Hairy one too...but, not too sure about him...

This one is so cute.  The big and the small.... Northern Flicker and a tiny nuthatch.... these two don't mind each other on together.  The Downy on the other hand darts around to peck anybody on the other side...this is a bit fuzzy looking because the venetian blind was in the way but I didn't want to scare them off.  Just took the cute photo.




Just look at this cheeky guy.... trying to chase off the sparrow... who does look a bit nervous... he got pecked and just hunkered down for a second or two but, then, decided to get off.

Merry Christmas

to all my bloggy buddies.... I'll have to see if I can get more organized or more enthused about blogging in the new year...

Got the little chicken in the oven...the spuds mashed and put in the 'fridge 'til later.... carrots and sprouts are simmering away... hope you are all having a nice dinner too.

It is a wintery white day out there ... -20C ... the birds are having fun with the suet and seed feeders... quite a lot of action and entertainment today.

best wishes to all...

... a white Christmas..

.  ...   which of course, in Canada, would seem perfectly normal... but, our weather so far this 'winter', has been unseasonably warm and mild really.  It was totally green and crispy dry until a day or so of a skiff of snow happened... and, then, it melted.   But, last night plenty of the white stuff accumulated.  I shovelled for two full hours and still didn't get it all done.  Still the inside of a big patio to do and the sidewalk along the side of the house.  Yikes!! Somebody says we are going to have more today.  I'm not sure whether to cheer or say I'm sorry for hoping for a white Christmas.    Yaaayy..    yes, I know... motorists and people who hate shovelling will not like me much for cheering about that.  Heh, heh....

Somewhere in there is a heated bird bath and drinking bowl.... nowhere for them to perch to have  drink.  I fixed it though.... soon after realizing it.

They were a bit wary of the giant snow cone on top of the feeder too....

I love a white Christmas.  But, if is doesn't really snow til Christmas Eve and then... melts and is all gone about a week later...that's okay too.  I would even be cheerful about that.  But, usually around here we have plenty of snow from end of October til end of April.   Shovelling does become a pain..in the back, the arms, the legs and gut ..etc.  And, it does get piled so high it is tough to toss it on the piles after they are about 4 feet deep.   I'm spoiled this year.... so far.

Origami, some cute little mice and other fun stuff has been happening...so at least it is fun stuff that prevents much in the 'bloggy-sphere'...

I found some great gold and glittery paper this year .. there is glitter all over the floor and tables.  I
splurged on a $9.00 roll... it should last me til I'm at least 205 ....   even if Muriel helps me use it.  Still haven't found any of the perfect weight gold thread I used to be able to buy... I hate when they stop making perfect stuff.  Gold thread is just toooo darn thin.... and so difficult to work with  Plus... even the tiniest seed beads slip off the end...arrgghhh!!!  Good thing I am so patient...hahahahhahahahhahahahhahah  Anybody who knows me is laughing their heads off.... I have absolutely NO patience whatsoever.   Well, with some things... mostly people.

The Donkey Sanctuary

Well, I got all the cards chosen and addressed...it is quite a job really.  Getting just the right card for everybody.  I can't just grab any old card and toss on the address and send it.  Nope.  Doesn't work for me.

Each person is so different... each is perhaps going through something in his or her life and the inside sentiment is pretty important to their frame of mind.   Well, that's how I feel about it anyway.... and, so there is lots of uhm-ing and ahhr-ing while I sort through my selection of cards.  

And, may I offer my tip on how not to feel sick to your stomach when it comes to licking the envelopes? ...   Don't do it !!  Get a moist paper towel and run it over the glue instead  ...forget using your tongue..... some of that stuff tastes horrible !!  ICK....   of course, some of it doesn't stick anything down anyway...so don't forget to have some tape handy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is also my annual plea to anybody who happens by my blog.  Please, if you can afford some small amount....  would you consider a donation to one of my two favourite charities?  The Primrose Donkey Sanctuary in Toronto, Canada.  

Sheila takes in so many donkeys in need... along with all sorts of other poor, unwanted and neglected animals.  She only has a small area and it is totally staffed with volunteers..   All the money goes to feeding and caring for the animals.  The hay, the vets, the farriers... last year they even had to ship hay from the neighbouring province as there was none to be had where they were due to rotten weather that had decimated the usual crops.  It takes a lot of money to keep going, but they do their best regardless of the situation it seems.

I just like to help ever since I learned of her little group and the good works they are doing there.   On my side bar there is a photo of Sheila and two of the wonderful donkeys.  Click on it to go to her site if you want to find out more about her and the sanctuary.   Amazing animals they are.  

I remember to send my cheque each year because I do it with my Christmas cards ...so today.... some hay money is winging its way across the country to Sheila and her amazing team of volunteers.

Maybe you could send a card too.... and thank you so much if you do.

V. 

some of the photos Sheila has sent me over the years...   sometimes they find abused donkeys that are pregnant, and then, all of a sudden, they have two new mouths to feed. 

To see a short video of Sheila and lots of donkeys... click on the link below.  And, why I can't make the link wording change colour I haven't a clue !!  arrgghhh... but, click on it anyway, okay?

The Donkey Sanctuary.

hello......??

I decided it's time to change my header to something Christmas-y... and to pretend I am still alive and kicking.

Definitely the kicking part....

Today is Christmas card day.  If I don't send some today ...they will never arrive on time.  ...  my cousin's card won't get there on time anyway.  Oh, well....he will understand.  The past 6 months of this year have been a bit of a write off.  Suffice to say ...I am looking forward to next year already even though I know full well one should never wish away any part of life.

Have made a few ornaments ..just for the fun of it.  My tree certainly doesn't need any more.  I'll give them all away now.  There are over a hundred origami ornies on it this year.  However, having said that.... you don't really notice that there are too many.  It is a 7 footer and plenty of room for all the ornaments ... it looks great if I do say so myself.  And, I do.

Have you heard of Cupcake Jemma ?  Seen her youtube video of mini gingerbread houses?  I want to make some ... they are soooo cute.   Maybe between Christmas and New Year I can give them a try.  Haven't a clue seeing as I have never attempted a gingerbread anything.... but, I do want to try.  Watch this space, as they say....

Off to have tea and a biscotti.... lots of cookies around...but I must do some that are not chocolate...it is like coffee for me.  Keeps me awake if I have them after noon..

Hedgehogs and hobby rooms....

Finally... beginning to see my desk and can actually get to it without having to leapfrog over rugs, furniture and cushions, etc...

We finished the ceilings in the basement ourselves ..just got the office done two days ago.  Now the computer has gone back down into the office.  Lots of other stuff has moved too.. yaaaayyyy!  Still more stuff and furniture to move yet.... but it's coming along.  Another few days and it should be more or less back to normal in there.  I can hardly wait.

Every so often I get to do a bit of drawing and drop on a bit of watercolour paint ... such fun taking Danielle Donaldson's classes.  Little drawings ... which is perfect ....  seeing as I have no space on the darn table yet...just enough for tiny pieces of watercolour paper and some paint.. oh, and of course, some paint brushes.  All I have is 2 square feet of space right now ...but, it's enough!

Whimsical animals this time around, and I am pretty darn proud of my little hedgehog... which is a totally copied Danielle version of a hedgehog... well, as close to hers as I managed to make him.

Are you ready for soooo cute?  I love my little guy!  What fun it is to see little faces come to life... almost as great as making little bears.

Still workin' .....

A few of the areas downstairs now have new suspended tile ceilings.... we've been busy after tearing off the finished drywall and changing it all over.  Most of it got ruined with the water damage from the burst R/O unit cartridge... along with the walls and baseboards and casings etc...but, we didn't re-do that ourselves this time.   We had just finished it at Christmas and didn't have it in us to do it all over ourselves yet again I guess.

The rest of the insurance claim "re-build" is finished now..  it's just us doing our own work with the ceilings ... Greg wanted to do them himself so he could move some lights and organize cables and wires for electronics on his own timetable.

Just the office left to do now.. and we can start hanging pictures and moving the last of the furniture back down there.   It'll be nice to have my front room back to normal...once again....

The hobby room is still over flowing with "stuff" that doesn't belong... it's hard to figure out where to put some of it now.  We sold our desk and office credenza when the water damage happened and we had to move furniture out of the downstairs.  Now... we have nowhere to put some things... time to purge even more I guess.

We spent Sunday purging and re-arranging the storage area downstairs .... it is kinda roomy in there now... ahahaha...oh, oh...  maybe I can put more stuff in it... I better not even think about it.  Just give some stuff away or send it to good will or something...


Wanna see our handiwork?
The landing before we got the tiles all in position..

Fire alarm and lights all done..tiles all in....

Entryway to exercise room...

Speaker and light together in one tile originally...but we moved and changed things....

Entryway now finished...

has it been THAT long !!@?

Good grief!  I knew I had taken leave...but, maybe I also took leave of my senses.  Oh, alright, no chance of that..... don't have much sense anyway most days.

I've been dealing with chaos since April due to a burst R/O cartridge on our water purifier system which was under the kitchen sink.  It spewed out water for 3 hours while I was not at home.  Ruined our hardwood floor and all the work we did last year in the basement.  Huge $$$ amount involved...

Many of you know I am always in the thick of it with renovations anyway..but, this was different.  We had finally finished the last of the renos at Christmas and were enjoying a totally finished house for those few months...then, April... yeh, well, never say it's over and never say you're finished that's my advice.  Something or somebody heard us and decided we were not finished at all.

So, we have had to deal with insurance, trades people we don't know, and all sorts of hassles for the past few months....it still isn't over, but almost.  I lost the last of the few marbles I ever had I'm sure.

I decided to try some stitching the other day while waiting for the car to be serviced..and, as usual, again, waiting all those hours for the phone call to say when to come back to collect it...

My eyes have gotten much worse and I was totally dismayed to discover I can hardly do tiny stitching even with my glasses on and a big magnifier on the table... but, persevered and did get a few stitches done.

Here are a few pics of the new little pin cushion I am starting.. the large flower is not my stitching, it is a piece of a pretty doily.  The bottom corner is a vintage hankie...

And, we just got home from visiting relatives in Prince George... some pretty roadside shots from the scenic drive home..

My sweet little Northern Flicker

This little gal spent hours hanging onto the rocks on the sunny side of the house.  I was pretty worried by the time 4 hours passed and she had only moved a few rocks over.  Well, actually I was worried long before that ... but it was at least 4 hours til she flew off and went to the suet feeder and also got a drink of water at the heated water bowl.  I felt somewhat better then...

It looked like she was sleepy.. because her eyes kept closing.  There was definitely something not quite right with her though, because usually they fly off if I even move anywhere near the window.  This day, I was even able to remove the screen inside the window to get a better photo of her and she just hung there.  By then, I was not sure if I wanted to take her photo... because I felt it wasn't fair.  If they are injured or sick ... I always feel like that.  It is like having an unfair advantage over them and I feel bad about it.

Silly me I guess.  But, later, at dusk, when she did fly away to the nearby Poplar tree and then...on to the nearby golf course trees....I felt a bit better about her health.  She was back in the morning and only hung out on the house side for about 2 hours and then... hasn't been hanging onto it since.  Maybe she just had a headache from pecking something too hard,  or was sick for a few days or something....  I hope that's all it was.

Anyway....I did take several great photos of her and I wanted to post them today.

Here she is  ...  my beautiful little Northern Flicker girl.  Please do click to 'embiggen' and see her lovely face right up close and personal.  So gentle looking... and, I'm sure she sees me, but doesn't appear too concerned about me at all ..... maybe she knows I'm harmless.

If you'd like to see more birds.... head over to Stewart's blog, Paying Ready Attention.  Or, click on the badge below..

Soft and Downy

Isn't she just?  Look, there are even lots of little feathers all around the base of her beak.  I don't know if those are what they term 'rictal bristles' or just some soft, downy feathers... either way I think they are cute.

This is a little lady Downy Woodpecker that comes to the suet cage for her favourite.  Peanut butter and bugs.  Suet cakes I buy at the bird feed shop.  They, and the Northern Flickers get on there and hang... literally ... sometimes it appears as though they are snoozing...but, sometimes, maybe they just refuse to get off and give anybody else a chance.

There is a "pecking order" too it seems.  If the little Downy is on there and a big ol' Northern Flicker shows up....well, the little one flies off for a bit.   But, she comes back... and so does her boyfriend... I've never seen it the other way around.  No Flickers leave if a little Downy shows up for grub.  Big Meanies.
Don't forget... click to make larger to see details if you like.

Waiting patiently for me to finish shovelling so she can come into the patio for her suet cage.  Not too nervous at all...unlike the big Flickers... who take off the instant I go out there.  They may be big meanies in the bird world...but, they are afraid of me.  Hah....

Here is one of the big Flickers...  all fluffed out so he looks even bigger.  It is -25C these days and they puff out their feathers to keep warm I guess.  And...below...... ...the little lady Downy so you can see the size difference.  Sorry they are a bit soft focus looking... almost fuzzy... they were taken with the venetian in the way...but, didn't want to scare them off so left it.

Linking up with Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday again... check them out by clicking on the photos below.

"A gentle expression"

That's the phrase the bird books uses when describing the look of Northern Flickers.  It's so true.  Look at this guy...or maybe it is two different guys ...I can't say for sure.
All I know is ...they hang out ...literally..on my suet cage.  We buy the 'peanut butter and bugs' one and they seem to love it.

Here he is on a cold day.. perched on top of the feeder pole in the sunlight.  Definitely looks like a gentle expression to me.

Hunkered down and all fluffed out on the top of the patio wall
.. still looking pretty gentle.  I wanted to say 'chill' or 'cool'...but, ..hahahha it is cold and snowy and those words seemed not quite right.  Somebody may have thought I was trying for a pun or something..

This is the type of weather we are having ...   it is still snowing, so I will definitely be out there again this afternoon putting in some more shovelling time.  Did over an hour earlier, so I don't think I'll bother with the treadmill today..or the weights... I have sidewalks, a patio and a double driveway to shovel... that'll be another good hour of exercise, so I can opt out today.  ...  maybe just some good stretches later.  Or.....not..........................

Check out lots of other great birds at this site.  Just click the badge...