Dreams and Treasure

My two cent bird feeders are working well - I made two new ones yesterday and the chickadees have been dashing back and forth from the huge cedar trees behind my house and the super deluxe feeders.

I am a technician of the highest order. Take two empty toilet paper rolls, slather in peanut butter, roll in birdseed  and stick somewhere that hopefully squirrels won't be able to access. I stuck mine onto a butterfly garden ornament - the antennae to be exact.

They work well for small birds, not so sure about larger birds.

Luna and Lily are thrilled that CAT TV is back and running once again! I mean, this is riveting stuff!

Speaking of larger birds a dove kept them captivated all morning. While I watched, a black squirrel came into the back patio and tried to scare off the dove, but the dove was having none of it. She stood her ground and the squirrel left in a hurry. I assumed the dove would just continue to munch on the seeds that fell to the ground...

 ....but no siree that dove was able to perch on the butterfly and have a lovely lunch - it was a bird's dream come  true!

And the black squirrel?
Relegated to sifting through the dove's droppings! (Note wee kitty ears at the bottom of the photo!) Don'tcha just love free entertainment?

And the treasure?

I thought I'd check my gramma's sewing box for any scraps of ribbon for Luna. She keeps losing (and I keep hunting for)  the Christmas ribbon that she fell in love with. I found some ribbon but even better.........my gramma's crochet hooks! I've been wanting to buy more and have a piece of paper in my purse listing the few sizes I already have so I won't purchase duplicates. I may have enough now after uncovering this treasure trove!

My gramma was a master crocheter - she could look at a picture of a doily or afghan and reproduce it without a pattern. Looks like I have a few crochet hooks to use with crochet cotton if I ever make it to that level of skill.

Ignore my spool knitting - it is sitting on a crocheted table cloth that my gramma made for me using crochet cotton years and years ago (she died in l986 at the ripe old age of 94). This is the sort of work she could do with her eyes closed. They almost were closed as she had cataracts that were removed in her 80's.

I think it's just incredible!

Plus there were a number of needles similar to the plastic one I bought for finishing a crocheted piece, tucking in the last bit of yarn. I'm sure they have other uses as well.  How lucky am I??

I've gotten out for a couple hikes this week, pictures to follow on another day. The temperature continues to rise above 0c most days and today we're getting some drizzle. Seems kinda weird for January. Lots more to tell but his post is already long enough!

A Bit of This and That

Every year at Fanshawe College the students in the Culinary & Events programs put on a shindig to end all shindigs! This year the theme was Mardi Gras and so on Friday night my friends and I ate everything from hushpuppies and catfish to gumbo and blackened beef sirloin ( as I don't eat red meat I gave my piece to the 3rd member of our group for her husband) ....oh, mustn't forget the Oysters Rockefeller and Cajun Shrimp!  There's my friend Troy (she used to work in this program so we get a BIG discount on the ticket price :) There was a Dixieland band playing during the evening. I eat so simply that I found I had stomach cramps for the rest of the night and all the next dayfrom the rich sauces and hot spicy food - at least I THINK that's the reason!! I hope they teach FOOD HYGIENE in this course!!

**Last year at this dinner it was snowing like crazy outside - this year there is narry a flake in sight - well except for me hee hee!

LOOK - I had a giant head!! A pretty good selfie - I managed to get us both in! Kelly hadn't arrived yet.

The students do everything: cook, bake, choose the menu, make the decorations including the beautiful centrepieces,  set up, take down and so on.

Then on Sunday I went to a potluck with my fellow Council of Canadian members and no,  - "duck" was not on the menu. Just Aldous ducking horsing around!

We were celebrating the birthday of the group's chairperson, which is Roberta - red hair on the right side of the table.

It was a really yummy potluck - Roberta and her husband provided 2 big crockpots of homemade soup and then we brought things like salad, rolls, dips, wine and desserts. I took a big round pumpernickel loaf and spinach dip. There were 4 or 5 desserts - I had a thin slice of carrot cake, a piece of apricot tart and some cheesecake that was gluten-free, sugar-free, lactose free and yet was totally scumptious! (Though, if there's no dairy in it how can it be called "cheese" cake?)

Will I never learn? I didn't have stomach cramps this time - I ate very small portions but I have noticed my clothes are shrinking a little. That must soon be dealt with!

Here's my friend Julie staking out a chair for the movie we watched after dinner - "Stranger than Fiction" with Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson. It's one of Roberta's favourites and I highly recommend it!

At home I continue to crochet and rip out, crochet and rip out, cro........!!! Lily is checking out my latest attempt and agrees that it is looking more even down the sides and the tension is pretty good.

This is going to be (in my dreams) a man's hat; this is the brim so far. I'm thrilled I've managed to do this much! I may or may not get it done before Christmas, lol!   Hmmmmm, just had a thought, if I made it for a baby it would almost be done!!

We needed a new tree because when Michael lived here we would go and chop down a real tree but I prefer an artificial tree. This one was on sale at Walmart and it came with lights already on it. I liked it because it is narrow yet tall. I have only put one ornament on it so far just to see if the kitties will acclimate to something new in their environment. Well...

So far it's going great!! The kitties are just not interested in the tree at all! Said with dripping sarcasm!

We haven't had much (NO) interest in our birdfeeders yet, well, just a squirrel or two but so far they are unable to get to the bird seed. I'm sure they'll figure it our eventually! I read about this idea last year and had great success with it - and it's so easy and thrifty! Take empty toilet paper rolls, slather them with peanut butter and roll them in birdseed. Can you say "cheap cheap"! I stuck one on a rake and one on my butterfly ornament. You can't really see but I put a bowl of niger seed over ont the storage unit as I read squirrels don't eat niger seeds.

I assume we've had little activity because there is NO snow. I'm going to go out on a branch.....well, perhaps a small twig (because I think it's a pretty safe bet) and predict a green Christmas in these parts. With temperatures ranging in the 10c range the only precipation in our forecast is rain! I'm not complaining - it means I can still navigate the streets using my feet instead of my truck!

How are your Christmas plans coming along? Have you decorated? (I have that done); written Christmas cards? (NO); done your Christmas baking (NONE); finished shopping? (A BIG NO), wrapped gifts (kinda hard when you haven't bought them yet so that's another BIG NO!)

I've been obsessed with learning how to crochet, plus carving and many other non-Christmas activities. Well, the crocheted hat would be a gift if I could finish it but I'm not counting on it. I think the first few wacky-looking creations should be for me and when I get more profficient I can start gifting them.

Toodles - off to get the makings of a stir fry for dinner.

Doing it Yourself...(or cheaping out!)

Saving $$ - that's what it's all about! So today's post is about just that...

Exhibit One: I call this one "The Millionaire's Bird Feeder" 

  

Yup, that's a toilet paper roll! Covered with peanut butter and rolled in bird seed and stuck on a large, metal butterfly that has so far resisted several squirrel attacks! Not my idea - gleaned from The Globe and Mail newspaper. It works and it's cheep cheep cheep!

Exhibit Two: Standing Desk

It has taken awhile but I finally figured out a combination that is right for my height. I was using the kitchen counter but it was a bit too low and I found myself bent over and  leaning on my elbows trying to find a comfortable position.

What with all the hullabaloo about "too much sitting being worse than smoking ten packs of cigarettes per day" I thought I'd try and find myself an alternative to hours of sitting. So far so good. I like standing while I'm using the computer... right this minute I'm doing waist twisting and bending and listening to all of my vertebrae crack and pop while I type! Can you hear that? AND I just discovered that I can use the brace on the bottom as a foot rest - SCORE!!

Exhibit Three: Art Shelf
I used to have a tonne of shelves...until I decided to move and rid myself of most of them...sigh... However we all know about "creativity" in the face of "diversity" or "necessity being the mother of invention"...

I used a piece of barn board from my dad's barn that no longer exists. The painting is of an area near Otter Creek in the village of Norwich where I grew up and painted by my talented brother. It needs to be framed but in the meantime it has a sentimental spot to hang out.

There's our barn in the background. That's my dad washing his boat rather large car in the neighbour's driveway. It must be spring as there are no leaves on the trees yet. That's the large back yard where my painter brother and I had fun shooting arrows from his bow and arrow set straight up into the sky. Happily we didn't "take anybody's eye out"!!

Sadly when my parents passed away and our home was sold the lots got severed and now a house sits where the barn used to!! Sacrilege!! That barn had initials, including mine, carved into the boards dating back to the mid 1800's!! Attached to the left of our barn you can see the chicken coop where I would gather the eggs daily right out from under the chickens' bums!  Grope grope grope - no wonder they clucked at me! There is also a house now where the walnut trees were (you can see one to the right of my dad - there were several and earned someone a pretty penny when they were CHOPPED DOWN!!)

A couple of weeks ago I became Facebook friends with one of the boys who grew up in the white house that you can see through the trees on the right side of the photo. My house is out of view on the right side - there was a sidewalk that connected the barn to the house.

Finally - the CUTENESS photos!!  My screen addicts!! Lily watching the movie "Tracks" last night - it was full of camels and dogs and she loved every minute of it.

And Luna watching some "kitty porn" this morning - a friend's post on facebook about a cat lounging in front of a heater on a cold day! Hysterical!!

What have you made yourself lately - any great DIY projects we don't know about??