snow birds

and a squirrel…

Like many people here in the USA we’re experiencing some Extra Wintry Weather. I’m keeping the feeders full and making good use of my camera and knitted apparel.

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Happy Weekend!

Sunday on the porch

The weather was beautiful yesterday. I enjoyed my coffee, my knitting, and the wildlife on my back porch. I took so many pictures of this blue jay that you will probably see more of him here soon.

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Don’t forget about the Colorado Flood Relief Fundraiser going on at the webshop!

cheerful

The flood has been pretty awful. We’ve seen lots of sad and some horrible things. Yesterday I was able to be with all four of my children at the same time (2 of them have their own places across town) and that made me quite emotional for the rest of the day. Jerry was able to get back for 2 days which was very good. I’m really missing him.

Today I’m concentrating on bright and cheerful things so here are a few pictures I’ve taken at home since the worst of the flood.

I’m thankful my family is safe and that our neighborhood (unlike those just down the road) was spared damage. Pray with me for those who can’t say the same.

more walking

Today’s walk had a country feel, Ethan and I both enjoyed this walk. I sure hope you like wildflowers because I have a new camera and that’s what I’ve been taking pictures of for the past 2 days. It was a lovely morning as you can see.

I got a little sidetracked on last week’s walks. Thursday’s was no fun at all – too hot and no shade. I couldn’t get any takers on Friday and besides the Prairie Schoolers arrived and that was way more fun!

Today’s flowers include prickly poppy, musk thistle, and flax which looked charming with some volunteer wheat outside the cornfield. Feeling just a bit sad that my flax seeds never came up…well not yet anyway.

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pretty pins

I loved the way the afternoon sun made the pins in my pincushion look so pretty and decided to take a few pictures…and had a little camera fun too.

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PS all that pretty thread is for the cross stitch on the new Impie, Hattie & Bea release, more pictures tomorrow!

up close

Ophelia’s toes

A cake I baked

Strawberries I discovered

Roses at Amber’s

Jane sleeping under my bed

Spent a little time playing with my camera today. I’m working on up-close shots, these are right out of the camera as they say, or at least they say something like that. I don’t have photo editing software but I do crop pictures sometimes to create a tight picture of an object, these however are not cropped. They aren’t anything special but I’m having fun looking at everyday things.

I hope you have a beautiful weekend!

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looking at barns

I do love to drive down winding dirt roads with tall leafy trees. That is probably one of the things I miss most in Colorado. That and the lakes.

I had hoped to post some good pictures of barns today but I’m very unhappy with my photography lately. There are many barns in this part of the state so I’m getting lots of practice. Here are a few that aren’t too bad.

We also spied some wild turkeys on this very pretty hillside, it looks like a dream to me.

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mushrooms & acorns

I’ve been feeling out of sorts, anxious, and not sleeping well. I’m trying to keep very busy with lots of stitching and some photography. Yesterday I headed out for a morning of looking for interesting barns to photograph when something on the roadside, less than a minute from the house caught my eye.

What I thought were unusual flowers turned out to be fungi, Omphalotus olearius or jack-o’-lantern mushrooms to be specific. Ethan was excited to hear that these produce bioluminescence but since it’s 54 degrees and pouring rain we are not checking them out tonight. Personally, I was intrigued that they so closely matched the color of the hydrant they were near.

I’ve been gathering acorns in the yard. These seem like extraordinarily large acorns to me but since I haven’t seen an acorn in about 15 years – not many Oak trees in Colorado – I’m not a good judge of what is ‘normal’ for an acorn. I did find a small one floating in the lake which you can see in the pictures. I hope no squirrels will starve because I’m cutting in on the gathering.

It sure feels like Fall!

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PS I did get some nice barn photos too

bumblebee

Playing with the camera again and trying patiently to get a decent bumblebee picture. This guy was very busy on the bush by the back door which I believe is a Lavender Rose of Sharon Hibiscus bush or Hibiscus syriacus. He was also quite covered in pollen.

I took several pictures of the flowers on another rainy morning too.

Jerry is here for the week, we are planning a scenic drive to look at old barns and perhaps a great lake tomorrow, we’ll see how far we go before turning back for home. We did take a very nice twilight boat ride tonight, it is so nice to have him here. He is off to more work travel soon.

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cute creepy crawlie

My sister-in-law alerted me to the presence of this fuzzy little guy this past Sunday afternoon. It took most of the evening for him to make his way along 50 plus fence boards between one tree to another.

Oh, this is an American Dagger Moth caterpillar.

It was enjoyable working on photography for a bit again, today I was stalking a bumblebee, not sure those turned out as well though.

We have had cooler weather and missed a few days swimming but Ethan and I took a dip earlier this evening, the water was beautiful.

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