Crossbills

A birding friend called Saturday morning to let me know that there were White-winged Crossbills at the Smithfield Cemetery. As WW Crossbills are usually only found HIGH in the mountains around here, dh and I decided we'd better run out to Smithfield to see if we could find them. After chasing a small flock of birds from conifer to conifer around the cemetary, the male above kindly perched at the very top of a very tall tree long enough for us to get a good look at him. I wish you could see him better in the picture, as he is SUCH a pretty shade of red, and they have such interesting bills.

This is one of three Red-tailed Hawks that were soaring over the cemetery. We also saw Pine Siskins, American Robins and 3 Mule Deer at the cemetery. It was a beautiful day to be outside, and after the cold I've been laid up with all week, it was WONDERFUL to get out again!

Sketch tag

This week's challenge on the Tag You're It blog was a sketch. These are the colors in my family room, and this is actually the third tag I've made in these colors. I was joking with dh that I will end up with a wall of tags LOL It's just so easy for me to create in these colors; they really speak to me. And of course I love anything with a quote on it! Surprisingly, there isn't any bling on this tag, just mini deco fasteners and prima flowers. I need some nice mossy green glitter LOL

Fruit Salad

Last year for my birthday I bought a really FUN sewing book. Now, I WANT to sew, but I am seriously afraid of my sewing machine. Or anything that requires electricity and has an "on" switch, to tell the truth LOL (including this computer). But last weekend my desire to sew overcame my uneasiness, so I pulled out the really FUN book, Sew Pretty Homestyle, and made a couple of the projects in it.


First I made the pears. I know pears do not come in yellow polkadots or blue floral (my kids think I must have flunked kindergarten), but the fabrics match my kitchen, so that's the colors I made them :) They weren't actually that difficult, thank heavens. Now all my kids want me to make them their very own pears. What would a boy do with a stuffed pear? LOL



Next, flushed with the pear success, I turned to the strawberries. Being smaller, they were a little trickier. It didn't help that I kept forgetting that I needed to sew the RIGHT side of the fabric together LOL Then I decided that instead of stitching the seeds, I wanted to do beads. Every project needs a little sparkle, right? When I got the leaves I decided to take the easy way out. They were supposed to be sewn from fabric, but just sewing those single pear leaves was enough to convince me that I should use wool instead. I made them in pastels to go in my bedroom (once again, convincing the kids that I flunked kindergarten, because everyone KNOWS that strawberries are RED), specifically to go in this pink depression glass bowl. I think I may have made a couple too many; they're scrunched in there pretty tight. But that's where they're staying, at least until I change my mind.


You know, I still have a pattern for apples that I could try :)

Tag You're It in Purple

This is my purple tag for the Tag You're It blog. The challenge this week was to create a purple tag. My wedding colors (13 years ago!!) were lavender and white, so this will go nicely on a wedding scrapbook layout. Yes, I really am that far behind in my scrapbooking LOL. I had to add glitter to the wings, and a rhinestone in the center of the flower, because it's just no fun without the bling :)

time to relax

Our Christmas Tree

The holidays are finally over, I have taught at Cub Scout Basic Training, and done the Round Table Blue and Gold presentation. Now, hopefully, it's time to relax!

Christmas was wonderful (probably would have been better if I hadn't woken up with the stomach flu Christmas morning LOL). The kids got WAY too many presents, as usual. I got some really fantastic presents, my favorite being a NEW scout shirt! I even got all my patches sewn on before basic training, although I'll have to fix the two I sewed in the wrong spot LOL. I also got the Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle book, which is filled with beautiful projects. My mom got me two larger quilting rulers, so I might even be able to get some of them made! Dh gave me a $25 Borders gift card, which I promptly used to buy North American Wildlife: an Illustrated Guide to 2,000 Plants and Animals, and Sharing Nature with Children. Both of these books will help me pursue my dream of becoming a naturalist.

Which brings me to some news: Utah has a Master Naturalist program! I was so excited to find out about this program. I've had a dream to become a naturalist for several years now, but was unsure how to go about it. I still don't have a lot of information, but I'm on the list to be notified when this year's class schedule is released. I am beyond thrilled about this! I love the natural world (even if I do dislike being dirty or windblown LOL), and I love sharing it with others even more! This program will give me the ability to improve my skills and earn certification. It is literally a dream come true for me.

I have some fun projects that I'm about to start, so come back for pictures later this week!

Fireworks inchy

The Inchy by Inch blog posts a challenge every week. This week was to have some kind of fireworks/glitter on your inchy. Here's my attempt...


I LOVE GLITTER!!! I've been gradually collecting it, usually when I see it on clearance. For this inchy I got to use ultrafine silver and silver stars! I've had the silver star glitter for years, and have never used it, so I was happy to find just the perfect project :) And a rhinestone, my current favorite bling!

A visit to the thrift store

I haven't been to the thrift store for almost 3 weeks! I'm going through withdrawal LOL Today was such a nice day, so C and I went to the thrift store after dropping Az off at kindergarten. The shelves were almost bare! I think they are recycling their inventory right now. I still managed to find a couple of pieces for my milk glass collection though :) I got a vase to replace the one that I broke a few months ago (still crying about my poor little birdie salt shaker that broke in the same catastrophe), and a piece by Brody. I normally leave the Brody pieces for others to love, but this one had such a fun shape that I brought it home with me. It looks like a really big egg cup to me LOL I also found the broach, which I LOVE. Pink rhinestones... who could ask for anything better than that? And finally, I got a book, "Flat Rock Journal: a day in the Ozark Mountains" (LOVE nature writing!), and a basket. The basket is a hanging basket that's flat on one side. I had just seen a basket like it hanging on a door in a cottage style book this morning. I was so happy to find one to hang on my door! But then dh reminded me that you have to slam the back door to get it to stay closed. So it will probably end up hanging outside NEXT to the door instead. Life is all about compromise, right? Either way, I will have a cute basket LOL Now to find some pretty fall flowers and leaves to put in the basket! The last things I bought were some silver Christmas ornaments and 2 blue ornaments with snowflakes on them. They were the only ornaments in the store, and they are exactly right for my tree! It must be fate! C was so good to stay in the basket. I love shopping with a 3 yr old! I can talk to myself and people think I'm talking to him! LOL