Friday Finish!

 

This has been a tough week, a lot can happen in a few days and Bill is back in the hospital. He developed blood clots that went to his lungs and got pneumonia, so he was rushed to the hospital and has been there since. He is doing good but they are keeping him until he levels out and his lungs clear. With his knee surgery, coming home would be hard since he cannot walk well, but also sick and weak. So, I am glad they are keeping him, he is getting good care and it is easier on me. 

I have been keeping busy with the house, catching up on cleaning and getting as much as I can done, so I am hoping I can get out and enjoy a few nice days and have some me time. In the meantime I make time for me by watching tv and working on projects. I was able to finish one this week, a stocking design, by Cheri Saffiote. This was a fun one to do and I think it would make a nice gift idea.

Another thing I do for myself is, sit on the porch and enjoy the birds that come to visit. I also have some unwanted visitors, the local squirrels. I swear they are sitting in their nests, watching for the moment I put food in the feeders. I let them feed at the other feeder, but not at the porch one. For the first time, this little guy showed up. He isn't as brave as the squirrels, and took off, a few seconds after I got a shot.

I also try and walk around the yard and play with Bean each day. I noticed the neighbors had a lot of birds in their backyard, so I snuck through the bush and caught this robin.

And a new regular to the feeders is the Red Bellied Woodpecker. They are twice the size of the Downy. I don't always get a nice sky, so I cheat and use the new sky filter in Photoshop. The deeper blues make a nice background for the lighter birds.

And of course my regular visitor, the juvenile Downy Woodpecker. He was the first to visit and is quite comfortable eating, while I am on the porch.

With warm weather this week, I am hoping to get out for some hikes and maybe catch some of the birds, that are coming back from the south. There has been a lot of sightings of the Blue Herons and Ospreys this week, so they are heading home and nesting. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and experiencing nice weather in your part of the country.

Friday Finish!

 

It has been a slow week, most of my time is spent taking care of the house, the pets and of course Bill. Today I finally crashed and spent most of the day on the couch, watching tv. I have had the kids and a neighbor do the shopping and lots of online shopping, so that saves me from doing that.

I decided to make an easy project that I could finish in a week. I have one that is large, so that is being worked on, a bit at a time and another that I should finish by next week. I also want to finish a couple of needle felted projects, so hopefully I can find more time for myself, next week.

This is a pattern by Jacquelynne Steves that she offered in her newsletter. I made them into lavender sachets, a fun project from Spring.

I haven't had much time to take photos, but I was able to catch this young, female, Downy Woodpecker. The females are shyer, but this one is getting used to me and visits more often.

And I got to spend some time with the kids last weekend. It was my son's birthday so they came over for dinner and cake. Before dinner, we took the boys to the playground for some fun time.

Alex's smile always brings me joy.

And Nick loves to show Grandma how brave he is. Time with them is just what I needed. I hope you all had a nice week and a wonderful weekend.

Friday Finishes!

It seems like I have less time to do some things but more time to relax at night and work on projects. This week was a new stitchery by Kathy Schmitz. I got an idea to try something different and made an egg shape to put it on.

It was fun to make and I love how it came out. The egg is 9" tall so a nice size to display with my other Easter items. I used Gold Faber colored pencils to color it and thicker rug yarn for the edge.

I also had time to make up some Easter masks for the boys. I was hoping to find something more for boys, but Nick loves pretty colors and Alex doesn't care, so they will be fun to wear for the season.

Most of our time is spent at home for the doctors. Bill has surgery next week, so I am trying to organize my time so I have time for me and hopefully I will be able to get out by myself when the weather warms up. I do need my outdoor time and it won't be long before the birds come home from the south, so I can't wait to go back to areas where they nest.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and is doing well.

Friday Finish, fun and not so fun!

 

This has been one of those weeks, but I was able to finish one project I had started. It is a design by Robin Leuschen of Bird in the Hand Primitives. I used the main design and made a lavender sachet. It was a fun piece to do for Spring.

We didn't do a lot on the weekend, the weather hasn't been the greatest, but we had a nice day for a ride and headed into Connecticut. We took a loop ride to check out a few pond areas, but no birds or areas that we could get into without walking in the cold. 

So what did we see? Something you wouldn't expect along the roadway, a dinosaur.

And a Teradactyl on a roof. It is a place called Dinosaur Village, the kids have been inside so we may go again with the boys, when they reopen.

Another thing in the village is a large antique mall, a great place to explore on a cold day. We spent hours and I saw a lot of great items, but a bit pricey for me. But I did come home with a few goodies.

And on the way back home, we made a few stops at local lakes and parks.

And then things went downhill. I wanted to rest on Monday, wasn't feeling great and my injuries were acting up, but that was not to be. I woke up to voices, my husband and son. My son was nice enough to go pick Bill up from the hospital so I wouldn't have to. Bill was on his way to work and stopped for coffee and slipped on the ice at the shop, so now he is laid up. 

We had to wait for permission to get an MRI, so that happens on Tuesday and we will find out what the damage is. So, I am back to taking care of everything that I can and luckily my son is good about helping and I discovered online shopping for food. Not as good as what we pick out, but easier on me since I cannot lift too much.

I hope everyone has had a better week and it won't be long before Spring is here.

Friday Finish and weekly friends!

 

This week I finished a piece I was working on, a design by Cheri Saffiote. It is fun to do Christmas throughout the year and I will have lots of gifts for next year. I do plan on selling some things this year, so I need to organize what I have and what will sell.

This piece was done with colored pencils and DMC floss, then I used a bit of glitter floss in each design element to add a pop. I am not sure what the black line by the glove is, but it doesn't belong.

And what is not showing is the edging along the outer border. I did a feather stitch in red and love how it looks on the piece.

Last weekend we took a drive to the ocean and sat at the breakaway. Of course the seagulls were abundant, there are several restaurants in the area, so lots of scraps. They are the same seagull, the darker one is the younger one.

And I always have fun watching the common Eiders, they are great fishermen. The female has a catch and the males are white and black, the other is the younger male.

And we got to watch the seal as it swam in, as the tide was going out. Someday I will get a close up of some seals.

And another thing to enjoy on the docks is, boats, and ferries. Someday I would love to do some art pieces of the fishing boats. I cheated and added a blue sky, not much sun lately.

On the way home, I spotted a few hawks. Bill drives and I saw Hawk and sometimes he actually hears me and stops, lol. This guy was closer, but when I opened the window to shoot, he took off, so I was able to catch him further in the field, high up in a tree. This is a Red Shouldered Hawk.

No sun but lots of snow lately and more today. I enjoy seeing all the birds who come in the snow, they seem to be more active when it is snowing.

And a few sit in the trees, too shy to come to the feeder when I am around. The chickadees are the friendliest, they sit and chatter at me.

And a visitor who is not allowed on the porch, but I let him sit for a photo. I have food in the other feeders that they are allowed to have, but they know there are peanuts upstairs.

And last but not least, time with the boys. Mom and dad were car shopping so the boys spent the day with us. Too cold to go out, so we had fun playing at home. Of course Bean wanted everyone to play with him, he is such an attention hog.

I hope you all had a good week and staying warm. It won't be long before Spring is here, I can't wait.

Friday Finish and Feathered Friends!

 

This week got away from me, I thought it was Thursday, lol. I have been working on a couple of projects and finished one. I say finished, but it needs some fixes and a finish. A friend sent me the pattern as a gift and I think it will be a nice gift to give back to her. I am not sure if I want to mount it on wood as a hanging or make a storage bag for knitting needles, will think on it.

It is a bit of a mess now, I need to trim a bit and redo the areas that got snagged into each other. The design is by Yvonne Buus. It is a bit skewed in the photo, but the design is a bit over 6" x 8".

We got a bit of snow this week, looks like winter is here to stay for the month, more snow coming this weekend and during the week. This is my back yard at nightfall, last weekend.

The birds didn't seem to mind and were extra hungry, so lots of visitors. This female, Black Eyed Junco was nice enough to sit for a photo.

The Starlings are always trying to eat all the food, so I let one have some while I took photos, but I usually chase them away. And the Bluejays are always eating up all the food, but I allow them to have a bit. I do have feeders in the yard that I fill, so they are welcome to that, but they know the good food is on the porch.

This weekend is Bird count weekend. If you have birds in your area, you can join in by signing up at Cornells Bird Lab. They have a lot of information on birding and a site where you can list the birds you see in your area. It helps them to keep track of bird populations.

I really wasn't going to do it, but today I saw a new bird and decided to list what I saw, in a half hour. I had quite the list, it was very busy today. And this guy, he is a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. I saw him yesterday and thought he was a bit large and different than the Downy Woodpeckers. I was able to catch a few photos and was happy to see I had a new feathered friend.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and maybe you can enjoy birding in your own backyard. A suet feeder is the cheapest and easiest way to start. One thing that most of the birds love is peanuts, a great way to attract a variety of birds.

Friday Finish , family and Feathered Friends!

 

This week I finished a couple of things. I have projects I am still working on so hopefully a few more for next week. Winter is always a good time to create and a nice way to spend the cold winter days.

A new month and a new stitchery from Kathy Schmitz. This one seems a bit like the others she has done, so I decided to make some little sachets with it. I wasn't as neat with these, but something small to finish in a few days and I can always use more sachets in my stash areas.

I also made up more masks. A friend liked the ones I had sent as a gift and ordered some for work. She works in a yarn shop so I did a few with yarn and a few regular ones, so she can match them to the day. She will be sending me some roving from the wool she has, to spin yarn with. I also had some dog fabric that I wanted to use and did 3 ply, way too thick so a bit sloppily made. The planets are for Nick of course, he loves glitter. The hearts I made to sell and they went, the minute I showed them on Facebook. One I made for me, with a satin lining.

We also spent a few hours with the boys. With the cold, it is hard to take them out for the day. We like to ride and explore and they get bored. So, we went to their house to visit and then took them out for milkshakes and a ride to the eagle lake. Unfortunately the eagles were not out, so they didn't get to see them, but Alex had to get out and play on the bouncy ride, they had at the beach.

Nick has a pet, if you could call it that, lol. He took it out to show me, how it comes out of its shell when he holds it. 

And I made a new friend. He was sitting in a tree and I expected him to take off when I came out, but he stayed, even when I walked up to him. I think he was just taking a break and when I came out again, with Bean, he sat and watched Bean as he ran around the yard.

He also gave me a show while he preened and puffed up his feathers. Puffing up like this, keeps them warmer in the winter. I feel blessed that I was able to enjoy seeing him and getting such wonderful photos of him. I hope you all had a wonderful week, and have a wonderful weekend. May you all be blessed with a little joy each day and good health in your household.