Well it definitely feels like the holidays around here because we have had more snowfall in the past few weeks than I think we have since I moved here. It has been crazy and beautiful and stressful to drive in on my hour commute, all at once. Today we are due for 8 inches, and I got to drive home from Boise in it which was "interesting" to say the least. But now I'm home with a glass of wine watching my backyard turn into a snowglobe so I thought I would share some of the beauty of my recent crafting and wildlife adventures. Thanksgiving weekend I ran the 5K Turkey Trot that morning in 11 degree weather (notice the horrible photo of me pre-snow). On Saturday I thought B and I should rake leaves only to look out my window and see 4 inches of the white stuff on the ground...what is a girl to do when her yard maintenance plans are wrecked?.... Well she eats blueberry pancakes and then tries her hand at horticultural design. No I did not beat up Martha Stewart and steal her wreath, I actually made it myself with the extremely talented and informative help of Susan at Andrew's Seed Nursery. If you're ever in Ontario Oregon, go and see this amazingly knowledgeable family at their garden nursery you won't be sorry. They held a wreath making class in the seed barn portion of their shop that was built in the 1920's. So my friend and I sipped hot chocolate, covered our digits in sap and watched the snow softly fall outside as we made our wreaths which made for a relaxing afternoon. Then of course I had to play with the dogs in the snow and Bo was the only one who stayed still for a photo.
I've also been conducting some raptor surveys on the weekends. B went with me on Sunday and we saw a lot of wildlife. Though these aren't the best photos, I was still happy to catch these guys on film (from the car)....Side note: Dear Santa, it would be really stellar if you could get me that fancy camera with 50 different zoom lenses so I can pursue my National Geographic career,make a ton of money, and retire on an island in the Caribbean Thanks!
This last little guy was my resident Cooper's Hawk who views my bird feeder as his own personal McDonald's and frequents it quite often though this was the first time I've seen him this year which was a treat. My photos shot from my bedroom window of him in the tree were too dark, so once he landed on the fence I did a rather chilly belly crawl on the deck to get a photo of him....again Santa, that zoom lens would be mighty handy, and would save me hours of picking splinters from my belly button.
And there you have it, a nice way to kick off the holiday season with a shot at a new craft and some of my favorite critters!
Happy Holidays All
SJ
