a gypsy caravan

my all time favorite line from a book

“Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same colour as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.” 

- Ernest Hemingway describing Santiago, The Old Man and the Sea

dissection of an owl pellet

Before the last snowfall, Ben found an owl pellet in the woods behind our home.  He recently dissected it and found quite a few bones. We are not certain what kind of owl coughed up this pellet but perhaps we will catch a glance of him in the woods sometime.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a close up of all the bones.  I just couldn't get the camera to focus correctly on those tiny little things.  There was an awful lot of dark grey fur, probably from field mice or moles.  Here are the bones he found:

1 skull
1 femur
4 lower jaw bones with tiny teeth
5 large claws (that looked like they belonged to a squirrel or cat)
2 vertebrae
9 unidentified random tiny bones

This was interesting for the younger children as well.  Everyone wanted to have a turn poking around in the fur for bones.  Ben was kind enough to oblige even though he had found the pellet himself.  It is always fun to find nature to study, right in your own back yard.

we're having a heat wave

It's a balmy 8 degrees here in Northeast Ohio.  Balmy compared to yesterday's -11 degrees!  We are used to Cleveland winters but it is pretty amazing when it gets so cold that your breath freezes in your nose after being outside for a few minutes.  There has been a lot of tea brewing this weekend as I recently received my shipment from Adagio.  Adagio has so many delicious teas but my favorites are the peppermint, spearmint, chamomile, Masala Chai, Jasmine #12 and Foxtrot.   All of them smell heavenly while brewing and they taste so good on these chilly days. Today, I am drinking the chai with a splash of maple syrup.

If you like Jasmine tea, the #12 is the best I have ever had, hands down. I love to watch the little buds unfurl in the hot water.   Two or three of them make a delicious cup.  No need for an entire teaspoonful, in my opinion.

Because I had a chance to sit a spell late last night, I picked up my knitting again.  Not working on the Tasha Tudor shawl as I should be.  Instead,  I started a pair of Toasties for two of  my sister in laws who have February birthdays.  Leslie has a very lovely, simple pattern posted on her blog "a Friend to knit with".   I am using Debbie Bliss' Donegal Luxury Tweed which is 85% wool and 15% angora.  It is just enough angora to make the wool ever so soft.   I am fond of angora though I don't like the mess it leaves behind.  This is just a touch of angora so it doesn't have the fuzzy effect.

This afternoon,  I have floors to sweep and laundry to do but, this evening, we will be here knitting, sipping and playing games by the fire.  I hope all of you are warm and well. 

about those woodpeckers

We have never seen a pileated woodpecker, much less two, before this morning.  Mary had just gotten up from the table and went to sit on the window seat in the living room.  She called out in surprise that she saw two woodpeckers.  We have other varieties in the yard on a regular basis: red bellied, red headed and downy.  So none of us jumped up because they have become kind of commonplace. 

When Ben sauntered over to see them, he called out, "Mom, it's a PILEATED! No, it's TWO pileated!".   We, being the bird geeks we are, all ran to the window.  We followed them around the property by running from window to window with binoculars and cameras.  They are very large birds.  I guess I never realized from photos I had seen, just how large they are.  I would venture to say they were a foot and a half in length with a very large wingspan, over two feet.

They had a distinct call as they flew through the trees, landing and spending several minutes on a single tree before moving on.  Interestingly enough, both were seen dropping large pieces of bark from the trees they excavated.  We got to watch them for almost a half an hour before they flew farther into the woods. 

Here are some more photos for all of you birders out there. :)

We thought they were really neat to have in the yard and hope they return again.

wordless wednesday-a pair of pileated woodpeckers

chair recovering

If I knew how easy it'd be, I would have done it years ago.

I Spoke Too Soon :)

Well, we thought we were feeling better but as it turns out, I went from a head and chest cold with one day of respite to a stomach bug that sure resembles the flu.  Ben got hit with it even worse than I did.  I am not certain it is flu but it sure feels that way.  So we have been lounging around in our jammies.   On another note, we received over a foot of snow so we can gaze out at it from beds, sofas or wherever else we find ourselves plopping down. :)  It really looks like a winter wonderland.  We are surrounded by woods and all of the branches are covered with several inches of snow.  Here are some photos I took from inside the house for you to enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay warm this snowy Sunday!  Thanks for visiting.

Plant Photos for the Botany Obsessed

Ben finished his Plant Science Merit Badge requirements yesterday when we took a field trip to the botanical gardens.  All of the outdoor gardens were closed but we spent quite some time in the two indoor exhibits in the glass house.  The glass house is a four story greenhouse.  The two separate exhibits contained plants from the spiny desert of Madagascar and the rainforest of Costa Rica.

WARNING: If your eyes have already begun to glaze over at the details of this post, I want you to know that it doesn't get any more exciting and that I am about to post lots of photos from both exhibits.  If you really enjoy plants, forge ahead.  :)

Madagascar is a very dry island located off the coast of Africa.  Its plants store water for months on end and most are covered with protective spines.  The following photos are from the Madagascar exhibit:

Baobab tree

Interesting note: This tree can go without rainfall for an entire year, living on the reserve in its trunk.

Sorry that I can't identify the plants for you but Annie left my identification sheets in the restroom. :)
The Costa Rican exhibit is also a butterfly house.  It is very humid, warm and misty in this exhibit. Many of the plants have extremely large leaves.  Here are some of the Costa Rican plant photos:

Tank bromeliads were growing everywhere.  They grow on other plants and can hold up to two gallons of water.  They support much animal life up in the canopy of the rain forest.

 







 

 

Wintery Thoughts

There is downy snow falling outside my window. I am sipping on my third, maybe fourth cup of cinnamon tea from a potbellied mug I received for Christmas. We are on the mend here, having been sick for a few days. Yesterday,  I got dressed for the first time in four days. Our visiting family members left on Sunday, drove back to Virginia. A couple of people from both families fell ill during the visit but most of us are doing much better now. They had been here for ten days and Oh what fun we had! It was so nice for the cousins to play without having anywhere to be but together. The grownups spent a lot of time catching up, staying up late, chatting and cracking jokes. We even got out to the movie theatre, something I only do once every few years.

Today, we spent the morning taking down the Christmas decorations, packing away all the greenery, lights and wooden cranberries. Gone are the ornaments, Advent candles and manger. This day is always bittersweet for me because I love the color and festivity that Christmas adds to our home. When the decorations come down, it always looks a little stark. Thankfully, there are Christmas presents to make us smile, warm food for our bellies and a fire on the hearth. There are new books to read and things to make.

This is my favorite time of year for crafting. The pressure to complete something by Christmas has passed and my creative mind works much more freely in the winter months. I am reading and enjoying a few new books.   One is called Sock Doll Workshop by Cindy Crandall-Frazier. I went to a craft fair before Christmas at our old parish and bought a couple of little sock dolls. They were so sweet and I wanted to learn how to make them. Also, since making Annie's sock monkey last year, I've been intrigued to learn how to make some different animals. Miyako Kanamori has two books Sock and Glove and Happy Gloves which are full of simple, sweet plans to make a variety of little creatures. So those dolls and creatures are my craft plans for this winter, along with picking up some neglected knitting.

Do you know that I still have not completed my Tasha Tudor Shawl?  There is something very rhythmic and mesmerizing about the thousands of tiny garter stitches that puts me to sleep every time I try to work on it. :) I actually taught myself to knit the European way while working on the first two skeins of this shawl because it is a simple pattern which allows me to focus on technique instead of following directions. Meredith finished hers months ago and sometimes I pop over there for inspiration. Maybe I will have it done by the end of winter. (Now you know why I like to knit small things like socks, gloves and baby hats, because they are done in a jiffy. :)

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for visiting and many blessings to you on this wintery evening.

Happy New Year 2009!

We have a house full of visiting family members and there is little time to post but I wanted to drop in quickly here and wish you all a wonderful 2009.   The bigger kids have been playing a lot of ping pong and board games with their cousins.  The little girls and the little cousins are having fun with their new wooden kitchen, cooking many delicious (wooden) meals for us to enjoy.  :) The days have been a blur as our company has been here since the day after Christmas and are heading back to Virginia on Sunday.  I will catch up more here after the weekend. 

In the meantime,  many blessings and joy to you in this new year!