Cooking and crafting

 

This week I have been working on my new project, but I still have a bit of stitching to do. I also had a few  birds hit my sliding glass doors, so I need something to put on the upper half. I found a fun site that has Halloween cut outs, so I made a few and taped them to the window. So far, no bird strikes, so hopefully that did the trick. 

The ghosts are really simple to do and would be great for kids too. For the witch, I cut out the design from the print out, since it was black ink. You can find the pattern and others here at Love Paper.

I also made some Chalupa. I still have some tweaking to do, to get mine right, but it is not hard to make and it tastes delicious. I use mine as a snack and add homemade blueberry or apple jelly in mine. I also used it to make an egg sandwich, so a great bread to make as a treat. You can find the recipe at Cooking Carnival.

I had a new visitor to my yard this week, an Eastern Phoebe, a first for me.

We were able to spend an afternoon at our favorite beach. Now that summer is over, we can park in the private area and we have the beach to ourselves. Bean was loving being off leash and playing in the water.

It is also nice for birding, I actually had a Belted Kingfisher, stop long enough to snap a shot. 

And a pair of Laughing Gulls. 

We also stopped at the park, and I spotted a group of Great Egrets, of course they flew off, the minute I pulled out the camera.

We found more glass at the private beach but Bill found a large piece of blue glass at the park, so that was a fun find. More colors this time, off season is always better for hunting. 

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. We have more rain tomorrow, so hopefully we can get out on Sunday and find some early foliage. 

Friday Finishes!

 I spent more time at home this week, so more time to finish things. The weekend looks like a washout, so no big outings for me. Today we went for a ride to the beach areas and I was surprised that the private ones, are still keeping people out, so I wasn't able to get to the long point for bird watching. It seems they are keeping parks and beaches open, longer this year. 

My first finish was my Halloween piece. This is another design by Cheri Saffiote for our Facebook group. It had several designs to put into a quilt, but I just wanted this and the other I made, for a set on my wall. As always, it was fun to do and add a few of my own touches. I added a quilted star in the left area, but hard to see in the photo.

The second project I did was a Halloween cat, done with needle felting. I started with a cookie cutter and then added a little more bulk and detail after I got the main shape, felted. I think I do better without a shape, it does limit me, but I wanted it for my wreath, it sits in the middle area.

Over the weekend we got out for a few outings. I am always watching the Semipalmated Plover and wondering what they find in the seaweed. Now I know, there are worms, that come in with the seaweed.

Another day we went to the forts on the island. It was nice to walk around and they cleaned up the area so more open spaces and better pathways to walk on. Beautiful views from the top. I hope everyone had a nice week and have a good week ahead.

Weekly Wanderings!

 

This has been quite the week with activity. Vacations at home, are easier in one way and on the other, I still have to cook, keep the house clean, laundry and all the planning. So, I am exhausted and seem to be sick again, I think I got too much sun this week.

Our first day on the weekend, we went to Jamestown. It was too wavy and cool for swimming, so we did some beach combing and just enjoyed the cool air. I took this photo of the light in the fog and added a saying.

The next day, we went to the farm and picked up some veggies for dinner and checked out the animals.

After we headed to the ocean, to see the kite festival and go for a swim. The fog was heavy, so only a few kites and you couldn't really see them well. The fun was swimming in the ocean. The tide was up, so it was easier to get in and the waves were fun to surf in, I haven't done that in ages.

Monday we went back to the seaport. It was a nice day and we enjoyed seeing exhibits, we missed the last time.

We went into more buildings, but they were all musty, so I didn't stay in them, too long.

This is an exhibit we missed and will have to take the boys in this one, interesting and a bit creepy. These were on the bows of the old ships.

We took a break on Wednesday to get things done around the house and the next day we headed to a river that goes to the ocean. The sky was ominous but it didn't rain and the sun was out enough to keep it warm.

Along the way, we saw a lot of birds, still migrating so we have more than usual. 

Seen as we paddled, along the shores.

And at the end is the ocean. It was low tide and still going out, so we could go in the channel and float out to the end. A great place to rest and have a snack.

Of course the seagulls see people and see food, so we had company.

I enjoyed paddling so much, that we headed to another salt water pond at the southern end. We enjoyed the paddle, bird watching and some time across the dunes, at the ocean. 

Today we are getting winds from the storm, coming up the coast. We went for a ride to the south shore and walked along the beach. The wind was stronger and the sand was blowing on us, so we went to the end with more rocks and views of the breakers. I was able to get some shots of the surf and surfers who were brave enough to venture out. 

Tomorrow will be windy again and some rain, so a good day to rest. I haven't had any time to work on projects or energy, so I can work on finishing my halloween piece and cutting out the appliqués for my Christmas piece.

I hope everyone had a good week and not in the storms path. It has lessened, but it will still pack heavy winds and storm surges.

Friday Finish!

 

This week I was working on my second Halloween piece, but I still need to do the finishing touches and binding. I saw a cute needle felted candle and wanted to try it. Mine didn't come out, quite as well as theirs, but it is still a fun piece. 

Last weekend we went to the apple orchards with the kids, always a fun day out. I got a bag of apples and pears and picked up some nectarines at the shop, always a treat to get fresh fruit.

We also spent time at the beach, this day it was nice and calm and Bean got to enjoy swimming without the waves.

I also caught this juvenile Osprey, practicing his diving skills.

Today we went to the beach and the tide was coming in and the waves were crashing, but I was able to get a little swim in. I caught a few birds at the beach and my resident Hummingbird. She has decided she owns the feeder and chases off any others who come near her sugar water.

It looks like unsettled weather coming in, so hoping we get some nice days, since Bill took the week off. We will probably stay close to home and enjoy time at our favorite places without the crowds. 

Friday Finish!

 I was able to finish one piece, that I started this week. They are designs by Cheri Saffiote in the Facebook group we have in her honor. I wanted to play with fabrics and love how the background on this one came out with the cat.

We have been able to get out more, with the nicer weather. Last weekend we enjoyed a walk at the bird sanctuary and then stopped by a local beach. They had a lot of birds in the area, across the street. One area was full of Snowy and Great egrets, as well as a few Blue herons. Migration is in full force, so more birds are stopping to rest and feed before they move south.

Today we took the boys to Mystic Seaport. In all the years that I have lived here and been in Mystic, we have never gone. We got a grandparent pass, so it includes the boys and special events through the year. The boys had fun exploring the shops and the ships.

Of course Alex wanted a photo with all the anchors. We ate in the pub, but the food wasn't that great and found another place that had more kid friendly food, so they enjoyed a plate of fries. There are a lot of things to do and enjoy, so we can visit the ones we missed this time.

I hope you all had a nice week and enjoy your holiday weekend. The apple orchards open for the season, so we are all going to pick apples tomorrow and I am hoping the pears are good this year, I love those too.