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.

Friday Un-Finished

 This week went by too fast and I never got a chance to sit down and work on my newest project. It is a kit that I got to review and only got it started. Kits are fun since they are pre stamped and easy to do, so hopefully I can get some crafting time this weekend. The only bad thing is, I tend to go off on my own, so I did add a little of my own nicer roving, but mainly, I will stick to the original. It is a fun way to get started on painting with wool.

Last weekend we took a trip to Connecticut. We enjoyed visiting places along the river and even found a new trail that went along the river.

We took a few back roads and enjoyed a few waterfalls.

At the Connecticut river, we did see an eagle, though it was far away. Always a few types of birds who live along the waterways.

We also spotted some hawks along the way, one was just trying to rest when the crows decided to harass it.

The last thing we did was visit this fun gift and candy shop. Lots of old fashioned candies but ones Nick can't eat, he has braces now.

Another day we spent at the island, and enjoyed a new hiking trail near a farm, more hawks there. And a ride to the ocean to see the waves.

Of course we always have to walk along the beaches and find new treasures. I am also trying to find more smaller rocks to paint, love hiding them when we go hiking.

On the way back, we saw the Osprey pair is back in the cove. The others have yet to arrive.

Today we got to the beach before the rains come in tomorrow. We watched two boats, putting out the mooring buoys. Lots of boaters use moorings to save on costs of using the marina. We also found some nice colors today.

And of course, the shorebirds were out, enjoying the low tides, and we spotted another hawk. I hope you all have a nice weekend and hopefully the weather will keep improving for all of us.

Weekend Wanderings!

 

We have been keeping busy with drives and finding new places, as well as visiting old places. A lot of foliage is showing now, but I can never find a place to get good shots. Today I found some nice places and of all times, my camera has stopped focusing. I will have to take it in to see what is going on, hopefully not an expensive fix. I am looking at buying a new body to hold my zoom lens so I can just grab and shoot and maybe not miss shots, like I did this week.

Our first stop Thursday was a graveyard, always fun when I find a new one. Lots of old grave and we enjoyed walking around and reading some of them. To the side was this sign and small stones to mark the graves.

As we were walking on a hillside area, I looked down the hill and saw a grave, all by itself. Of course I had to see what was on it and why it was there. As you can see from the stone, he committed suicide after he murdered a Doctor's daughter. I read that they were lovers and the family didn't approve, so he killed her, then himself. Another says he loved her, but she didn't feel the same way, so it was unrequited love. 

Our next stop was a pond. As you can see in this photo, there are two hawks, battling it out. One zoomed by my face, one over my face and I grabbed this shot with a regular lens. Then an eagle flew over my head and before I could get my zoom set up, he was gone. The sky was full of crows, they were chasing the hawks and eagle.

We walked along the path to a big field and walked through that to old cornfields, but no eagle in sight. I did find a few wasp nests, and glad it was cold and windy. Definitely not a place to go to in the warm weather.

Our final stop was the fabric store. They have tons of fabric, but nothing that I was looking for. I did find a fun kitty print, to make a few masks for me and the boys. Then a rustic flag print for Bill and the ghosts glow in the dark, so the boys will love that.

Today I wanted an easy day, a ride to the quiet side of Connecticut to stop at a few places and the primitive store to get a new pump for my soap jar. We stopped at a dam first, that is when I went to use my camera. I think dropping it the other day didn't help, I did notice my photos were not the usual quality. Then we stopped at Roseland park to enjoy the views. It is a beautiful park and the colors were coming in nicely. The iPhone did a fairly nice job though.

Our last stop was Wolf's Den. I wanted to do the hike we couldn't do with the boys and I figured it was an easy 2 miles. I was wrong, we walked 7 1/2 miles, up and down steep hills, lol. My legs got tired and weak, but I made it to the Wolf's den and the other interesting sites. I seriously think I need a rest day tomorrow. It will be warmer, so sitting at the ocean for a few hours will be fine with me. 

Quilting and Cooking with Moki!

I guess there is no escaping the cold that is going around, do not need to be sick right now. I got some more of my quilt done, though not as much as I would like, but it will get done.

I made this sunflower block, since my sister likes sunflowers and added a saying. I think it needs something in the upper part, but not sure what, maybe a few words like hope, strength?

Not a great color shot, bad light tonight and I am too miserable to try too hard;) This block was from a book by Jan Patek, called Say it with Flowers.

And I decided to make spaghetti for dinner, a good cold killer. I add hot pepper and a red pepper to my sauce, both great antioxidants. Before I knew it, Moki appeared and eager to help. Good thing I was done cutting and that was a piece I was throwing away;)

 Yesterday, the hawk was visiting. He perches on the tall tree in the back of my yard and watches the field below. Lots of field mice to keep him satisfied.

Kayaking at Burlingame State Park

Yesterday we went paddling at Burlingame state park. It is a beautiful place to paddle, half of it is owned by the state, so there are a lot of quiet areas. It is also shallow in a lot of areas, so we can keep away from the larger boats and get out and swim in several areas along the way. This is where we started from, a nice parking area with a sandy launch.



One of our favorite places to stop is on the opposite banks of the main campground. It owned by the camp, but no longer used for camping since they are too lazy and cheap to pay someone to keep an eye on that side. It makes a great stop for a picnic and a swim and no crowds, and usually no people at all, so we have the beach all to ourselves.



As you can see, Bill, the speck in the water, has to go far out to get deep enough for a swim. The water is extremely warm and I felt like staying on the beach all day, but we had to get back to our paddle.



We had such a great time, that we decided to go back today and paddle in the opposite direction. The weather has been gorgeous this week and we wanted to take advantage of it while we can. We also like to go here when it is not crowded, so the weekdays are perfect. We got a treat today as were were paddling along the area where the beach is. About 10 hawks were riding on the updrafts that come in from the ocean winds. They were soaring and rising into the sky, going higher and higher till it seemed like they disappeared. It was a sight you cannot capture on still cameras and the water was choppy, so I had to use a regular lens. It was a beautiful site for a perfect day.



To top my day off, I received a wonderful prize for Pat Sloan. She had a contest for cupcakes and we had to find a cupcake site to enter. It was fun to do and it is amazing how many cupcake sites there are on the web. I love the cute pattern and beautiful fabric. Will have to make something special with them. Check out Pat's site on the web, she has lots of fun patterns and a wonderful blog.

Pat Sloan
website - http://www.PatSloan.com
Blog - http://patsloan.typepad.com