Birthdays and other things - January 2019

 January is my birthday month - Mother Nature celebrated by having the snowdrops bloom early!

My spinner guild met on the day of my birthday, so I brought cake.  My favorite? Chocolate cake, raspberry filling and whipped cream icing.  Literally, I could eat the whole thing! 











The Shepherd & I went to The Outback Steakhouse in Burlington for my birthday dinner - which included a trip around the back roads to see swans and snow geese.

So pretty and SO NOISY!  

And eagles - we were lucky and got down there in the afternoon feeding time.  Lots of birds in the trees!













 And flowers for my desk at work.  Never too old to celebrate a birthday. 

Some thoughts - January 2019

 

Happiness cannot be traveled to,

owned, earned, worn or consumed

Happiness is the spiritual experience

of living every minute

with love, grace and gratitude.

Denis Waitley

 

December 2018 - That Holiday feeling

 One of my very favorite Christmas presents from my older sister is the Christmas wreath that she makes and sends to me each year.  She uses lots of different kinds of greens so it is very festive looking.

Hellebores, or Christmas Rose.

We are getting quite a collection - we have this one, a green one, a reddish one and a blackish one.  They provide a bright spot of color all winter in the garden.

And you can't forget to get yourself something for Christmas.  These pretty poinsettia earrings were made by a lady named Iryna Chajka who I follow on Instagram.  She has an Etsy shop called EtenIren.etsy.com and her stuff is lovely.  She does a lot of succulents - earrings, jewel boxes, etc.  Prices are reasonable, and even though she's some place in Europe, the earrings came really fast! 

Spinning projects November 2018

 One of my treasures from Black Sheep Gatherings past.  This is called Paper Roses. 

That little bit of Glitter really makes it sparkle

 

One of the first projects on my new e-spinner.  I'm also working on some roving from our sheep for another sweater for The Shepherd. 

I think this would make a pretty capelet, don't you? 

Beautiful Mt. Baker on a fall day

 

Sometimes I can't believe we live in such a beautiful place!  I love seeing Mt. Baker when out and about.  I often wonder what the first settlers thought when they came "around the corner" and there was our beautiful mountain, just shining and welcoming.  

The local indigenous people say that once you live in the shadow of this mountain, you will always come back, no matter how far you roam.   

Some of the bounty of Summer 2018

 

The Shepherd's garden went every which way last summer, including this wayward acorn squash that set itself up in the black pine by the driveway!  

 

A beautiful little acorn Squash from last summer that we enjoyed for The Shepherd's birthday dinner. Spoiler alert - he saved seeds and they had crossed with the butternuts so he got all kinds of different things this year.  

Some Sheep photos from November 2018

We were (rightfullly) concerned that the sheep put on so much wool last fall.

Did it mean we were going to have a hard winter?

It wasn't too bad until after the first of the year.  But here they are, turning grass into wool.  That's their superpower! 

November 2018

Hello - Just catching up the blog "for the past year"  I had hoped to post from my phone, but for some reason, the link is broken and I just haven't had time to look into it. 

So here is Gracie - giving you her best Caturday smile.