All our snow is gone, but when it was thick on the ground, we had some of my favourite visitors.
These little guys are Juncos. They a small type of sparrow, and some people call the snowbirds.
We don’t tend to see them unless there’s snow on the ground.
They are pretty little birds, and one of my favourites. It’s hard to get pictures of them because they are are very flighty.
They eat of the ground (flower seeds etc.) and that means they have to be extra vigiliant. The first winter we lived here, Burton brought in two from the catio yard. Since then I ensure there’s no seed heads left in the catio to tempt them.
But they still like to perch on the fence, and flit in and out through the yard.
Today is my 45th birthday, and I’m a little sad. Not because I’m turning 45. As far as I’m concerned 45 is the new 25.
No… I’m sad because we had a really cool sale planned for the shop, and unfortunately, the postal workers are still on strike, so the shop is still closed. The sale will keep though – we’ll just have to do it another time.
In other birthday news, Mom gave my present from her and Dad when I went to visit at the start of the month.
She made me the cutest project bag and filled it with some of her amazing handspun, and a chicken cross stitch pattern! Apparently there’s another part to the gift, but it’s stuck in the mail. It didn’t make it through before the strike began.
She was also doing a bit of destash, so I came home with a whole pile of goodies
I guess I better get knitting.
Dave bought me a nice big squishy shrimp…
Yes. You read that right – a giant squishy shrimp? Because why not? I’d been eyeing him for weeks everytime we went shopping but always talked myself out of buying him. Dave finally had enough and said he needed to come home.
He’s right at home on my loveseat of squishy things. (and that’s not all of my squishy things – I’ve got others stashed all over the house)
And we went thrifting the other night, so I gifted myself with a few things.
The pair on the left… I almost bought something similar brand new a couple weeks ago. I’d been looking for a comfy ballet-flat style shoe that was better than my cheap Walmart flats. I was on the Skechers site, but decided I had more important things to spend $80 on. So wasn’t I thrilled when I found a very similar pair at Value Village, almost brand new for 1/4 of the the price??
And the pair on the right… also made by Skechers … well they were just too fun. I figure they will be good for bopping around the yard, and quick trips to the post office, etc.
But that’s not all… I also found this pair.
I love a good bootie and these just caught my eye. The have a heel, but nothing crazy and are real leather. And the fit was so comfortable! It seemed like a deal at $10. When I got them home, I looked up the brand (Remonte) and discovered they are made in Germany, and most of the boots retail for upwards of $180 new. It wasn’t a deal, it was a steal!
And there’s one last birthday steal to share…
It’s a clay baker!!! It caught my eye, because of course, it’s a chicken! But I got even more excited when I realized what it was. One of my no-knead bread recipes recommends baking the bread in a clay baker. Of course, you can bake other things in them too.
I had no idea what they were really worth, but the $17 is was priced at seemed reasonable. When I got home and looked them up… well yeah… that’s a pretty big savings over $100-$200 for the ones for sale online (and none of those are in the shape of a chicken!)
All those gifts certainly put me in a better mood for my birthday.
Aside from a kitten-wrangling, and a small bit of stitching, the only thing I completed this weekend was getting my Christmas decorations up.
Normally, I like to get them up right at the start of the month, but I was a little behind this year because of the visit to Mom’s.
There are a couple new additions this year.
I have a couple sets of bows for the front porch, and I change them up each year. I didn’t need any new ones, but these ones caught my eye at the dollar store so they came home with me and have been added to the rotation.
The dollar store also yielded up some beautiful oversized plastic ornaments that were just so pretty.
From the ReStore came this jolly fellow.
He was stupidly cheap, and I bought him to join my Dad’s blow mold collection. Dad already had one just like him, so I decided to keep him. He doesn’t 100% go with my theme (silver/blue) but I decided to give him a trial this year. I can always sell him for a decent profit next year if I decide against him.
And of course, there’s some seasonal greenery
But of course, the real question is …. how does it look all lit up?
Pretty darn good, if I do say so myself! I love the look of all white lights. Sadly, my icicle lights weren’t working this year. Dave was tasked with trying to fix them (he’s handy with electronics and lights) but it was not to be. He suspected it was a transformer issue, but the transformer box was glue shut, and Dave would have to break the box to get to it. So into the bin they went. I didn’t love them – they had a tendency to hang at odd angles – so next year I’ll look for something to replace them.
Santa doesn’t look completely out of place, but he’s still not 100% on theme.
And keen eyes* may notice something else new.
We got some pretty little birch trees to compliment our fancy deer. I do wish I could get all the white lights to match. The trees said they were “warm white” which is what my main lights are, but as you can see the trees have a little bit of a pink tint to them. And of course the deer are VERY bright white.
Still – I’m very happy with how it looks. The snow we had was starting to melt when I was decorating, and Monday brought a day of rain, so there is zero snow now. But I’m sure more is on the way. We might even get a white Christmas (which is never a sure thing here).
* Really keen eyes will also notice something missing. My new gnome isn’t out yet. We still have to give him a clear coat, and just haven’t had a chance to yet!
My poor stitching hasn’t seen much love lately. As you know, the weekend before last I was at Mom’s. I never take my stitching there because I usually have quilt binding to keep me busy in the evenings.
And this weekend… well you all know what happened this weekend…
Stitching with the little marshmallow was challenging. I did manage some though…
I was able to finish up the leaves and get a start on the flowers. Can I finish it this weekend? We’ll see… ’tis the season after all.
I didn’t get much done this weekend. I was kept a little busy…
This is Freyja
Freyja is the new little sister of Loki, the dog who lives behind us.
When I got home from Mom’s the weekend before last, Dave informed me that we’d be kitten-sitting this little munchkin the next weekend. Loki had some dog friends coming over, and unfortunately one of them couldn’t be trusted around cats. So neighbour asked if we’d be willing to give her a safe space for the weekend.
I’m just as surprised as you that Dave agreed. But really I shouldn’t have.
He’s a sucker for a sweet little kitten. And isn’t she just the sweetest?
We brought her over Friday night, and she stayed until Monday. And she just made herself right at home.
She slept on every surface, played with every cat toy, napped some more and woke up and did it all over again.
She even helped me put up my Christmas decorations.
And I’m sure you’re wondering what the boys thought about all of it. Well… Rupert, Relic and Burton just kind of gave us a look that said “Really… again?!?!?” and then they mostly ignored her.
Lemmy however…
Normally… Lemmy is a very vocal cat. And he let us know if no uncertain terms that he was NOT happy with the tiny interloper.
But… by the end of the weekend, he got quieter about it. He didn’t quite play with her, but he showed signs that he was thinking about it.
And he may get a chance to make friends. Loki’s friends were regular visitors before Freyja came along, so I have a feeling this little marshmallow may become a regular visitor to this house.
For years, I’ve been trying to get at least one of the Poinsettias I’ve bought at Christmas through the year. Some have lasted longer than others, but they’ve all died off for one reason or another – too much sun, not enough sun, too much water, not enough water…
But this year… this year I finally cracked the code!
I managed to get them through winter by putting them in a north facing window and letting them dry out just a little before rewatering. Then, when it was warm enough outside, I moved them to the woodland garden. Unlike the orchids, they didn’t get toasted by the late afternoon sun. I left it to nature to keep them watered… and well just look at them now.
They don’t look perfectly shaped like the ones at the grocery store, but they do look healthy and happy.
Now the real question… will they get enough light in the house to colour up?
Both are showing just a bit of colour. I’m hopeful that they will continue and by Christmas, look like this again….
I’ll keep you updated!!!
But in other news… about those orchids. I was lamenting that not one had a bloom stem after their vacation outside all summer.
But I was watering them the other day and look….
That, my friends… is the very beginning of what will become a long tall spike covered in flowers. It’s only one out of something like a dozen orchids…. but I’ll take it!
I’ll keep you updated on this too – but it won’t be often – orchids are very slow growers so I don’t expect to see actual blooms before the end of the year.
What I will see bloom any day now is this…
That’s the Passion Flower I have in a hanging pot. I find they do quite well indoors over winter as long as you can give them enough light and keep them from drying out. This one is hanging in an east-facing window. It has lost a few leaves, but it’s also put on this bud. In fact, it’s put on several buds.
It’s covered in them! The blooms only last as day, but they are so pretty. It’s a joy to see them unfurl.
It was confirmed on my visit to Mom’s that Princess Winnie still hates me. And is still one of the softest, prettiest cats living. I think she exists just to torment me.
(Mom thanks you for all your kind words about Mr. Tibbs)
Wandering Cat Studio 