Tuesday Trivia

 I dropped in at the Dollar Store yesterday and couldn't resist this cute tea towel. I warned my guys not to dry their hands on it. haha

Here's some information that I found on the 'net about birds that mate for life, in this case it was mostly about Eagles.  With Valentine's Day and Love in the air even birds are affected. We think. 

 Spring marks the beginning of mating season for many wildlife species with many seeking their mate – and for some bird species, it’s a lifelong choice. Birds like the bald eagle, barn owl, Canada goose and trumpeter swan all seek a partner for the long haul.   


Bald eagles, which live up to 20 years, grow old together – returning to the same nest site year after year – building impressive, massive nests deep and wide enough to fit the large adult birds and growing eaglets. The ever-growing nest is a symbol of their strong partnership. 


Watching an eagle courtship display is equal parts awe-inspiring and nerve-wracking. To impress each other, the male and female soar high into the air, then engage in a stunning display of locking talons and spiraling dramatically toward the ground. Sometimes, this can even result in injury. 
“This may have been the case for one bald eagle that was admitted to Wild ARC. We’re not sure if they were in a territory dispute with a rival, or a courtship display with a potential mate, but their injuries were consistent with a crash landing,” the agency said.

 

Thanks for coming by. Thanks also to those who leave a comment. IF you are kind enough to do so could you please somehow identify yourself? Even an initial or a nickname makes it more meaningful. 

Monday Chit Chat

 

 

 Good Morning on this damp February day.  Valentine's Day is coming up and although we hardly make any fuss about it it also happens to be #2 son's birthday. We will celebrate that.

A recent trip to the thrift store yielded a few small treasures.  A set of home made mug rugs which I soon found had lumpy filling that kept my cup from sitting solidly. I carefully opened one side and shook out whatever was in there. No doubt it used to be scented and the heat from any cup would activate it.  Now that they are flat I'll use them all year 'round since they are reversible ( Christmas/winter and plain check).

 

It was a sunny day on Saturday and Kitty found a lovely spot to absorb the warmth of the roof. This is one of her favourite spots....near the kitchen window where she can watch me as I putter about.

 By now the washer has finished the load of sheets so I'll see if I can manage to untangle them enough so I can take them out. The washer does do a good job of winding them together :(

I hope your week is off to a good start.    Thanks for coming by.

 

 

Answering Some Questions

 

 

 I started this post much earlier but life has a way of happening and now it's past 11 o'clock. 
It's a beautiful sunny morning, unfortunately the last of a short stretch of mostly sunny days. I have been able to putter happily in the garden. Crocus are blooming as are my few snowdrops. The latter don't do so well in my garden. Maybe it's the soil, I don't really know.
I was careful not to overdo the bending and have so far escaped any back issues :)

 

I thought I'd answer some questions that I received after my post about The Comfort of Crows.

Karen wondered if I enjoyed the book.... I did. It really would be better to read the pertinent chapter as the year unfolded.  ( The book is written as 52 chapters that follow the seasons).

Dianna wondered if the book expounded on different birds. .. To some extent the author did write about the birds she observed in her garden as well as all the changes that each week brought.  It definitely was not boring but neither was it exciting. I know that's not very helpful, is it!!

Gretchen Joanna asked if I would change anything in my garden after reading the book. Actually I feel much better about the messy areas especially in the very back because  they give protection to some  birds and even mice. The problem is Kitty who patrols the area.

Lastly Faith wanted to know if I made my suet or bought it. I don't like the idea of  rendering the animal fat. And, the truth is that  I'm too lazy to bother. So I buy it.

If you're still here I thank you for coming by.  I hope your Friday is ( or was, if that's the case) a very pleasant day.   GM

 

 

My Day

 

 It was a pleasant day with mostly sunny skies. I puttered outside in the garden, pulling out chickweed that was already in bloom. I must keep the blooms from developing into seeds. I always have so much chickweed. 

Later, sitting in the sunroom we watched the Bushtits at the suet. It hangs close to the window and we have a birds eye view. 

 I read my library book which is due tomorrow. I've enjoyed this book and I'm sorry to have to rush a bit to finish it.  I suppose I could renew it but there are at least 4 more books that I requested waiting for me.

 

 

I baked a cake . I forgot the half cup of oil that the recipe called for,  and the cake is rather dry but still very edible.  When I took the glass pan out of the oven and set it on the cooling rack it suddenly and very noisily exploded into many pieces. Fortunately they flew far and wide and NOT onto the cake!!  I've had that pan for a very long time and never expected this but I suppose eventually they break. 

 

That was my day. Thanks for coming by!

 

Full Moon, Candlemas, and some small changes

 

 

 

 I believe the February full moon ( Snow moon) was at its best the night  before last but we had clouds. Last night I was able to see it during a rather brief time when the clouds cleared. Now it is raining again but according to the forecast we will have better weather as the week progresses.

Today is Candlemas , the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. It is also the feast day commemorating the presentation of Jesus in the temple. Known as the "Feast of Light" it features the blessing of candles symbolizing Christ as the light of the world.

Since the winter solstice on December 21 we here in  British Columbia have gained approximately

30 to 40 minutes of total  daylight each day.  Daylight increases by roughly 1–2 minutes daily, with the rate accelerating to over 2 minutes per day by early February, making mornings noticeably lighter. 
( Both the image and information are from the internet) 

 

I put away the winter decor from the sideboard and put out a few Spring things. The tulip painting is one Eldest Daughter did a couple of years ago. Now I must get some tulips to fill the empty spot in the front :)   (That's a good excuse, right?)
 

 

Today is my laundry day and when I saw this on Pinterest I took my chances and copied it. I know there is supposedly a way to neatly fold  fitted sheets but so far I have not mastered it. 

I hope your week is off to a good start. Thanks for coming by!!

Chit Chat

 Did you know that today is International Zebra Day?  That's okay, I didn't know that either. Apparently it's always some designated special day.  

 

We've had very hard rain this past week. That may have had something to do with the added traffic at our bird feeders. Besides the usual visitors we've had a pair of Towhees...pictures from the internet

...and this little Nuthatch

When we last walked at Willband we saw this immature Eagle sitting maybe 20' from us. He seemed to ignore us completely and only flew away when some people with dogs came by.

 

 As I mentioned in my last post I'm confused about what right I have to different images on line especially from Pinterest where I find the best ones. I feel confident that bird ID websites would be okay with my using their pictures, also the weather network and such. I'm just not sure about other sites.  I  read the following statements  and they seem to be saying 2 different things. 

 Pinterest allows you to post content, including photos, videos, comments, links, and other materials. For the purpose of these Terms, anything that you post or otherwise make available on Pinterest is referred to as "User Content."

 Pinterest is great for inspiration, but in order to use those photos for your marketing you need to have written permission from the original owner of the photo.

What do you think? 

Thanks for visiting

 

 

 

Baking and Flowers

 

 

Happy penultimate day of January.  I had a really cute graphic for the day but I have found out that I may be using other people's graphics  without their permission. I wasn't aware of this so until I've sorted out what is and what isn't permissible my posts will be much plainer. *big sigh*.

It's raining today. So far I haven't done much except I did make an apple pie,  I'm so glad I used a cookie sheet and parchment under the pie because it bubbled over.

 Yesterday I baked Banana/ Chocolate chip muffins.  Four of my grown children came by at some point and each took some muffins when they left. DH and I each had one and they were gone.  I'm not very fond of banana muffins but I had some bananas that were very ripe and rather than throw them out I made muffins.   There's always someone who will want them 😋😋😋😋.

 When Eldest daughter came she brought me pretty flowers. I'm truly spoiled.

Did you know that it snowed in the Sahara Desert for the first time in 37 years?  That's amazing!!
( I believe the pictures on the weather network are okay to repost. If you know otherwise please let me know).

 That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting💖.

 

 

Tuesday Trivia

 After another night with temperatures dipping into the minuses I think we've moved into our more normal winter weather. We had 11 dry days in a row which is a rare winter streak for our area. However, the next week is forecast to bring 30 to 50 mm of rain along with milder temperatures.
Because the porch got so cold even though it's closed in I was bringing my store-bought Primroses in for the nights.  Now they'll be okay staying out and in a few weeks I'll transplant them into the dirt.

 

 I made a simple banner for the front door. Because it get used a lot and tape wasn't enough to hold it I used my powerful little magnets ( those black blobs)
.On the outside I hung a wreath that I've used for many years.

This is the latest puzzle that we finished.

 I hope you're having a lovely day. Thanks for taking the time to visit.

 

 

A Cat, Flowers, Food, and a Book

 Hello my friends on this wintery Sunday. We went over to GD Kate's to meet her new cat, Peaches, who is quite adorable. Although she looks like a kitten she's actually a full grown cat.

Another lovely bouquet of flowers.

 My Saturday baking....lemon scones and Carrot muffins

 I requested this book from the library but it isn't quite what I had hoped it would be. The recipes are far too fancy for my kitchen even though the author's story of how she left New York to live with her husband in rural Ireland are interesting.

 That's it for today. I hope you're safe and warm wherever you are. Thanks for visiting.

 

 

Cold Weather and Small Changes

 

 All of Canada is experiencing colder than normal temperatures as a Polar Vortex has descended from the North Pole.  Of course here on the west coast our cold is nothing compared to the prairies and East coast where frigid temperatures are bone-chilling ( think wind chills of  minus 40 C which is the same as -40F ).

 The sun is shining again today.  In spite of the cold Youngest Son came to wash some of the outside windows as well as the sky lights. The sunshine is lovely but one can certainly see how dirty the windows are when the sun shines.

When I opened the back door to give Kitty her breakfast I was greeted not by Kitty but by a raccoon. I chased him off and fed her but barely had gone back in when he was there again. I suppose he was very hungry but to feed one raccoon would soon have every raccoon in the area in our yard wanting food.

I decided to change the things on the old sewing machine.  This is the 'before' picture.....

...and this is what it looks like now.  Small changes. Next I'll get out some Valentine decor. It's not that long any more.

Thanks for visiting

 

 

 

 

Finding Room for a Table

 

 When I saw this picture on Pinterest I had to think back to a similar experience when I was about 4 or 5. A cantankerous turkey gobbler took after me and I ran screaming blue murder trying to get away from him. Fortunately my Dad rescued me but I remember how scared I was.

Our cold mostly clear weather continues. On our walk we just saw all the regulars at the lake. 

I decided to rearrange things in the sunroom. After Christmas we had to find room for a table that my DH built a number of years ago and which was being used by M for a desk. Now he has a proper desk and since we were not going to part with the table we had to put it in the sunroom.( Where I've already run into the corner no doubt this will give me quite a bruise.) It's very close to the door which we don't use in winter. We'll see if it has to be moved in spring.

 . I have bread dough in the breadmaker now.   With such small projects my day gets filled.

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my new doll's name. Last night before I turned off the lamp I said Good Night, Mary Ellen and grinned as I thought about adding Good night Jim-Bob, Good Night John-Boy......

 

 

 

 

Monday Chit Chat

 

 Monday mornings I get an e mail from the plant shop with this week's specials one of which are hellebores in 15 cm pots 2 for 19.99. They list the regular price at $14.99 each.  There must surely be a mistake because the pot shown is not a 15 cm pot in my opinion and if the sale is on that size that is outrageous.  I paid $3.99 each at this exact shop a few weeks ago.  
Pardon my little rant. I wasn't going to buy any more hellebores in any case.

I have decided to call my new doll Mary Ellen, a name quite similar to mine. I think of her as myself some 65 years ago. I had a woolen pleated skirt and although I don't remember if I had a pink sweater it is possible. My skirt was blue plaid and was reversible.  Maybe like one of these...

 
We're still enjoying clear skies and although it froze overnight the high for this afternoon is 10C ( 50F).
My task today is, of course, laundry also cleaning the sunroom.  The sheets are already in the dryer so I'm well on my way to being done.
I hope your week is off to a good start.  Thanks for coming by.

Taming her Wild Hair

 

 Here is the transformation of my doll's hair as Eldest Daughter did her best to tame it.

 

Good Morning, It's a clear and chilly morning with the promise of a quite lovely winter day.  I have a list of small chores I want to accomplish before my DH comes home from Gleaners at lunch time.  He has been home for the past 2 days and we've done a variety of things, none of which was housework :)   so today I need to get things done.  In order to do that I need to get off my computer!!!

 

Whatever your day holds I hope it's a good one.  Thanks for taking the time to visit.