Wednesday, December 21, 2022

A Christmas Star and Merry Christmas.

 Christmas Eve is in a few days.

 I made stars, this year
from red alder twigs.

This photo was taken in the blue hour,
And I have blue lights behind 
decorating the gazebo.

I dedicate this star to my oldest sister
Joyce who passed away in September,
from dementia. She was 89.
She enjoyed decorating
 and loved Christmas.
She will be missed.



Alders are a wild shrub that
 turn red here in Winter.
I made some stars and decorated with  
solarlights, dried fruit and flowers.
 




The stars are made in 3 easy steps.
Cut 5 pieces of twigs, the same length,
placed as follows:

One.




Two.


Three.

I glued the ends with glue gun
the wired them with floral wire.



Also in the porch.
We have a natural tree,
from the woods, 
smells so nice.


Another star



Some decorations outside.

I used alders to decorate a barrel also.
This photo is from a snowstorm we had in November.


At the front of the house.





My sister Annie photobombed this pic.






We have no snow at the present time.
We did have a snowstorm in November.
Rain has washed away all the snow.




It suppose to change at the end of the week
with a major storm coming our way,
with lots of snow and high winds gusts
over 100km.

Update: The snow  was mixed with rain 
and all melted away



Solar lights on the tower.
They have been there a few yrs
and are still working,
year around.



Victorian Carollers


In the kitchen
 
An old wreath
I added battery lights

A folk-art snowman
I painted many yrs. ago.

Bottlebrush vintage trees.
Some in rubber.


Carollers 
The mother, child, father and black cat.
Made from 2x2 wood.

Nutcrackers
including 2 Canadian Hockey players.




Scandinavian Rams
 from Ikea, years ago.



This photo was taken Dec 6th. 
at the back of the house.
The full moon in the trees.

Merry Christmas Everyone.
Stay safe and healthy. 

💚💚💚

Monday, November 28, 2022

November 2022


November started with my 
Christmas Cactus in bloom.


Then on the 5th
We had our first snow.





A magical transformation to see 
the property change from brown to white,
from dull to bright.



I did some decorations outside.
Used some pine,cedar, 
spruce and red alders from the woods.

In the barrel
red alders 

The Barberry bush with
lots of berries.
This bush is near my living room 
window and Robins enjoyed the berries.

Robins usually fly south
during the Winter.

Some males stay if  
there’s food around.
This guy is near the window 
so it was easy to get a close up pic.

More snow









My sister Annie and I 
bought snowshoes, and for 
the first time tried them out.



Annie

Myself

It’s nice to get outside 
and enjoy nature.


December is around the corner,
Time to start baking, shopping 
and decorating for Christmas.

Thanks for your visit
☃️❄️🎅🏼❄️

Saturday, November 5, 2022

Harvesting Sunflowers

  I planted a Sunflower Garden this year  
and was surprised how easy 
and beautiful it grew. 

I decided to harvest some seeds 
for bird food in the winter.



Sunflowers don't need rich 
soil and are low maintenance.🌻


A peek at the first flower appearing



Amazing evolvement


Fun to photograph.







Great Polinators 



Bees and other insect
enjoyed them.

8








When the heads start to droop,
it's time to harvest.








Brush of the top layer and 
the seeds are easy to take out.





Seeds.

Lots of seeds



I placed the seeds in pans 
and let them dry 
for about a week.


Close-up of some seeds


Sunflower seeds are edible and
 can be used in many food dishes.





So I have lot of seeds for the birds to enjoy!
A fun experience for the first time,
and maybe, I'll do it again next year.

Thanks for your visit. 
🌻🌻🌻