November 23, 2009

And finally I'm posting again. I've been busy with other things and have neglected my blog, but I hope to stay on top of things now!!!

One exciting thing I first have to mention is that this morning I finally managed to get a photo of the ever elusive Belted Kingfisher. Yesterday as we came home from church he was sitting on the post of the dock, but flew away as we sat looking at him. This is really rare for us as Benj and I have each only seen it once at seperate times over a year ago. So this afternoon I look out to see him sitting on the post again, and yippeee, this time I managed to get a picture. Not the best as he is very shy, but hey, at least I have proof that he was there.

I've also been cross-stitching. I got the pattern for this house in the snow from a British x-stitch magazine. They used it for a card, but I think I'll sew on a backing and ribbon, then fill it and hang it up as an ornament. I'll post the picture when I'm done.

A crochet pumpkin and some wildlife.

I made this pumpkin with some leftover yarn I had. They are quick and easy to make and lots of fun to make!


This otter was sitting on a log in our slough this afternoon.


A salmon jumping up the ladders at Weaver Creek, October 21, 2009

Wood Ducks in flight

August 7, 2009

The month of July has been ever so busy, as summer months usually are with 5 children at home. Between Canada Day festivities, visits to Minter Garden's, our weekly sign in's at the Library summer reading club, a few birthday's and a wedding, it's all been lively and busy around here.

I've still managed to find time for bird watching, and this year we have 3 cedar waxwings that continue to visit our place.

There are an abundance of beautiful damsel fly's and dragon fly's around our place. The children find them facinating (and so do I!).

Our huge willow tree fell over several weeks ago and has now become a feeding spot for 3 beavers.

Benson and Christine's wedding at Centennial Beach, Tsawwassen, BC, was a picture perfect event. The weather was gorgeous, the bride beautiful, and the flowergirl's (my two youngest daughters) adorable. It was one of those days when everything just went right. Congrats, Benson and Christine.

Then of course there was Harry's 60th birthday party. Since his hobby is collecting antiques, for his party they were all on display, as well as a few borrowed one's, such as this nice GMC pick-up that Benj and I are posing in front of.

I also have a few more garden and needlework project pictures, but those will have to wait till next time. Until then, keep smiling, and the world will smile with you, (or at least wonder what the joke is!)

June 2009

Finally an update. It's been so busy with fieldtrips and other school events, not to mention all the other stuff that needs doing at this time of year, that blogging has kind of taken a backseat for a while. Now I have 3 days of just being home and catching up (and hopefully getting over this nasty cold that I came down with). The weather is balmy, the laundry is on the washline, and the bird are singing cheerfully so it looks like a good day to get out and tackle some weeds! This is a picture (a slightly tilted one) of my garden entrance with a red climbing rose and a very pretty climatis.

This is a view of my front porch garden. That's the beauty of perennials, even when your to busy to weed and such, they still bloom profusely (and by then who see's the weeds anyway)!


I found this cute bee sitting in my cloths pin basket. Not sure what it's called yet, but just had to share this pic as is sure looks cute!

The swallowtail butterflys sure add their own colour and beauty to the garden.

I took a picture of this 'Cardinal Meadowhawk' dragon fly while he was resting on some grass along side our slough.

Resently the kids had Western Day at school. They really enjoyed not having to wear uniforms for a day!

Benj took a picture of this cute guy sitting in our walnut tree

This picture was taken at a recent walk at Cheam Wetlands

And we finally have our first family of goslings.

A few new camera pictures

I got a very nice new camera from Benj for our 14th anniversary. This one has a fantastic zoom on it, so now I can finally take some good bird photo's. This robin was enjoying the sunny spring morning from our magnolia tree earlier this week.

This finch was a bit tricky to photograph as he would fly away at the slightest sign of movment

This broken perch on the feeder makes it an ideal place for the red-winged black-bird to come and eat

Today Benj mowed the lawn for the first time this season, and I managed to plant most of the early crops in the veggie garden. Red and white onions, spinach, lettuce, peas and sugar peas. This kids thought is was great fun to help!!! ;-)

These viola's were planted last fall and just started blooming this week.

Just wanted to share a picture of one of my past x-stitch projects, a toile picture, called 'The topiary gardeners' made with less then 10 colours, all in red tones.

And finally, yesterday the kids ran in, all excited to tell me that there was a really bright rainbow outside. I couldn't quite get the whole bow on one pictures but it was really, really bright and beautiful.

April 2, 2009

Project 'Sandpiper' is finally finished so here is my next crochet project. It uses only two colours, winter white and spring green, and I'm making in a granny square style design.

This week while shopping at Micheal craft store I came across this beautiful linen floss from DMC. I had no project in mind, I just liked the colours, so when I came home I found a simple pattern, changed the colours a bit and voila! Not sure yet what I'll do with it although I have some idea's.

It may be snowing today, but when my mini forsythia is nearly in bloom, I know that warmer weather is just around the corner (I hope)
And finally, I came across this cheeky wall quote while shopping at a dollar and more store this week. I couldn't resist buying it, and now it is on the wall of my laundry room. I still have to grin everytime I see it, because with a family of 7, laundry is never, ever done!

March 25, 2008

Nothing is nicer then fresh sheets, hung out to dry in a fine spring breeze. Finally seeing some blue breaks in the sky yesterday morning, I decided it would be a great day to wash all the bedding. It would have all been dry too, if it hadn't been for a brief but very wet hail storm early in the afternoon. This photo was taken at supper time. As you can see, the storm cleared up in a hour and the sky was blue for the rest of the day. The laundry was nearly dry, and only needed a few minutes in the dryer.

Here are a few of the mushrooms in my ever growing collection. The dotted set are the most recent ones, which I just bought at SuperStore this week.

And finally, the magnolia tree is starting to turn pink. A wee bit later this year, due to a colder, longer winter, but hey, better late then never!




The slough and surroundings are still looking rather brown, but if you look closely you can see all the plants starting to grow. If you take a good look at this picture you can see some of the many ducks that make their home here.

The coop/garden shed got a very good spring cleaning, and the rabbit hutch, which was broken due to some nasty raccoons who tore open the old wire and stole one of the rabbits, is now repaired with much stronger wire. Coco, the rabbit, is happy to be back in his proper home.

'It was one of those March days, when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold; when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.' - Charles Dickens

Kind of says it all doesn't it!

'The first day of spring is one thing, the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.' - Henry Van Dyke

Now ain't that a fact!

Hope you all had a wonderful St. Patty's Day!

This is a band that Eric created out of foam. It kept him busy for hours. There's Benj on guitar and myself on harp of course, and then he also made a drummer, an organist, a singer and a flute and recorder player.

The other kids also made some interesting pictures.

Although this afghan looks like 'shoreline in winter' it is slightly different as it doesn't have much tan in it. This one is called 'Sandpiper' , not quite done yet, but should be by weeks end.

And finally, I have to do a wee bit of advertising for my favorite apiary. Serious folks, if you're ever in this neck of the woods, you should get some of Bear Creeks honey. It is hands down, THE BEST. You'll never go back to grocery store honey again, because it will taste bland and artificial.