Friday Finish!

 

This week I wanted to make something new for Valentines. I had seen some ideas on Pinterest and I had wood pieces I could use, so I made a few hanging pieces. I just drew up some hearts and did more of a hit or miss with my scrap floss. 

These two are more my style with a prim look. 

These two are brighter. I messed up with the lettering. The first time I hand drew on the letters, from the back and punched them, then realized they were backwards, lol. So I had to redo them and forgot that the position would change too, so they are a bit wonky. This is a great way to use up excess floss and they work up quickly. You can get the wood pieces from the craft store, or use reclaimed wood pieces.

Last week we did our usual drive around the ocean areas. The bays were frozen and the beaches are still a mess. With each storm, they get more washed out and cluttered, so lots of cleaning, still going on.

This week all the ice has melted, the snow is gone and it has been raining again. We were able to get out this afternoon and found that the cove beach was littered with glass and pottery. It was freezing so I got as much as I could find. Lots of large pieces this time and a few nice colors. 

Tomorrow is the one day with no rain and Sunday is rain and snow, so hopefully we can enjoy more time out before it comes. I hope you all have a nice weekend and can get out to enjoy some time outside.

Friday Finish!

 

This week I wanted something small to work on and I do need some new lavender pillows, as I redo boxes and storage. It really helps to keep the musty scents away. I took two patterns from my Fraktur design booklets, Horses and Rooster. These two make nice stitcheries and fun to color in. 

To color on cloth, I use freezer paper. After coloring, I use a paper stylus to rub the color into the cloth. With these two stitcheries, I used two new threads. The horse was done with cheap black floss, not the best floss and a bit fuzzy. The rooster was done with Anchor cotton floss, that comes on a spool. I like the Anchor on a spool, so much easier to use and no messy skeins to store. It is a bit thinner, but nice if you want more defined lines. On the horse, I used antique ink, spattering it on with a brush.

The cold has settled in and that makes it hard to get out for walks. We do enjoy driving around the beach areas. You never know what you will see and the water views are always nice, especially in a warm car.

The Breachway was a nice spot to see a few birds, but it was so windy and cold, I hate to take a few shots from the window. The gulls across the way, were feasting on something that must have died in the storm. Most beaches still have debris and damage, but slowly rebuilding the beaches and cleaning up.

At home I enjoy watching the birds who come to visit. The Red-bellied Woodpecker is very shy, so he stays in the tree and waits for me to leave. I have also spotted a few hawks this week, this one was checking out the grounds, behind our RV.

A few of the birds who visit the porch. The Sapsucker is making holes in my maple tree, he will have some nice sap, come spring.

And the ground feeders. Since the ground is frozen, I can throw some feed out, so they don't have to find scraps that fall to the ground. They have been coming up to the porch more, with snow on the porch, it is more natural for them, to forage. I noticed the White-throated sparrow is missing a toe.

I hope you all enjoyed your week and can enjoy your weekend. We have bitter cold coming in, so car rides will be all I can handle. 

Friday working on!

 It seems I haven't had as much time to work on projects lately. I spend more time cleaning and reorganizing and figuring out what to get rid of, I have too much stuff. I work on hand quilting at night. This is an old quilt, I had sitting on the shelf. Now I wish I had used the machine, the quilt was made on an old machine and not the best quality, but I find hand quilting relaxing, so I do that for my more primitive quilts. I am just doing an outline stitch, and working a row at a time, so slow going.

We get out when we can, but with so many storms, the ocean areas are getting slammed with damage. A lot of the beach parking is closed as they clean them up and tonight we have another storm coming. Some areas are still under water and the river areas are just as bad. 

We are able to enjoy some birding in the pond areas, they move further in, in the winter. I was thrilled to spot a Merlin at the cove.

And a few of the birds, we say along the way. I even spotted a seal, but he went under before I could get a shot.

Today we had a nicer day and went to the island. One area was still undergoing clean up, but our favorite beach was a protected area, so we got to enjoy time on the beach without any people.

And I found a few treasures. The dark heart is green glass, I found a few pieces of dark green today. Even a dog tag, which I have an idea for. Hopefully I can get organized and start making some art pieces with my finds.

I hope you all have a nice weekend and the weather calms down, so much destruction in so many areas.

No finish Friday!

 I am sure I am not the only one who had less time to work on projects the past week. With the holiday and Bill being home, we were out and about, more than in.

One thing I did do was, make a new recipe. This is Pineapple corn bread and it is delicious. It will be a nice bread to make for the holidays, maybe Easter. The recipe is from our local mill, the only corn meal I like. You can find the recipe and more, at  Kenyon Grist Mill.

The recipe calls for a half cup of crushed pineapple and a half cup of jam, but I just put in a whole cup or small can of crushed pineapple.

We did a lot of rides to the ocean and salt water ponds, so we saw lots of birds this week. One day we actually spotted a Red-tailed hawk, sitting in a tree next to Dunkin donuts. He wasn't. happy with having his photo taken. The one in the smaller photo, we saw in a farm field.

As we were driving down a back road, another Hawk flew in front of us, luckily we didn't hit him. He had just caught his dinner and of course when we stopped, he flew back across the street. So, I stood in the road to catch a shot.

We had a lot of days out, so I cannot remember the order of all of them, so I will show you some of my favorites.

This Great Egret was in the pond area and closer than usual, so I was able to shoot from the window, so he wouldn't fly away.

And then I noticed in the far distance, a blob on a pole, this is what I saw. Not too bad for a long range shot. Someday I will find a Kingfisher, that is closer and doesn't fly away.

We also had good luck with the smaller birds, some at the bird sanctuary and at the ocean area. Yellow romped warblers in both areas.

This Mockingbird was happy to pose for me. 

And I was lucky enough to spot a flock of Horned larks in the parking lot area, so I was able to shoot them from the truck, but they still move around so fast, they are hard to get clear shots.

Another day we stopped at another beach and it was still closed, the storms did a lot of damage and carried sand across the roads. Now it is mostly cleared and people have been cleaning the clutter on the beaches. I was able to spot the local Kingfisher in the pond.

From there, we went to Galilee to see if the seals were in, but not that day. We did catch some fishing boats coming in with their hauls. You can always tell when they have catch aboard, the seagulls are a dead giveaway.

And one came in behind this one.

And on the last day of holiday, we went to the island. We went to the lighthouse and I took a short walk around the cliffs. In one spot I was able to catch A group of Common Eiders that were closer to the cliffs.

And mixed in with this group, was a group of Surf Scoters. It was definitely a busy week, but nice to get out and enjoy the birds in our area. It seems we have snow and rain coming, our area is more rain prone. I am looking forward to a little more snow this year. I got the kids snow boards and last year, I got a few sleds to use when they come here and they have been sitting in storage. 

I hope you all stay warm and safe with the storm coming through and can enjoy some time outside to enjoy time in nature.