Winter Gold

Yes, yes. More winter birds. I know. But that's what there is to see at the moment. Lots of snow and sweet birds (well, and a few bunnies and deer that have only been coming around when it's too dark to photograph them).

I loved the evening grosbeak in the picture above. That straight-on earnest look just makes me smile. They usually don't hang around all winter, but this year there is a little flock that decided to tough it out. They look like giant goldfinches with only slightly different markings (and bigger beaks).

Of course , the goldfinches are always a treat. Their songs are funny this time of year - they sound like they're asking questions. Tweet?  Twee?

This is the same bird as above, but I liked the way he turned his head to watch what I was doing. The puffed out feathers make him look so much bigger than his actual size. Sometimes they snuggle those downy breast feathers right down over their feet to try and keep their toes warm. I completely understand - it's cold out there today!
 

Bright Birds in Snow

Watching birds enjoy snacks at the feeders is a favorite winter pastime for my family.  Our parents taught us well! The bright feathers and energetic antics are always a welcome entertainment.  

Suet is particularly attractive to the pilelated woodpeckers and getting to watch these large, almost prehistoric looking birds is always a treat. Their laughing call makes me smile. While mostly black and white, the bright red crests (and cheek lines on the males), not to mention the their size make these birds eye catching (even if they can be hard on the siding of the house from time to time...).

The cardinal above waited for an opening at one of the feeders and swooped in a moment later to get a late afternoon snack. I thought the bright spot of red against the dark green of the cedars and the white of the snow was quite striking. I can see another possible carving inspiration here, too!

In the Bleak Midwinter

There always seems to be something to add a little color and brightness to the chilly days of winter.  I sometimes wonder whether the brilliant white of the snow isn't meant to temper the bleakness of the seemingly endless gray of winter skies.

Snow covered fields and woods are beautiful in their own stark way, showing the bones of the land and dazzling the eye with their quiet glittering. Then, a flash of color that went unnoticed before the snow fell, since it blended too well with the grays and browns of tree bark and bare branches, dazzles the eye with a different kind of beauty peeking out of a snowy blanket.

Tiny crab apples suddenly look like holiday lights that almost glow against the snowy backdrop. The movement of birds among the branches, displacing bits of snow proves that the world is not completely wrapped in a blanket of sleep.

My parents planted a number of these crab apple trees out in the woods as food for birds and other creatures in the winter. Some years the apples are gold and some years they are red - and on occasion, they are both on different parts of the trees. We often see grouse and other fruit-loving birds enjoying these miniature apples in the winter months. And, of course, they are covered in glorious blossoms when spring comes! 

We don't know what variety of crab apple these are, and we'd love to plant a few more for our woodland friends to enjoy. So, if you're familiar with what they might be, let me know!

Sounds of Spring??

Strangely enough, in the midst of snow and January chill, the chickadees are singing their spring songs.  As I have said many times before, they have amazingly indomitable little spirits!

I fully expect one of these poses to end up in a carving at some point. They are both so very "chickadee". This particular branch is a favorite perch for incoming diners.

 

They are waiting to swoop in for a peanut and looking for the perfect opening. A peanut in the hand will draw a chickadee out of the bush - or tree.... :)

More January Blues

  Yes, still birds, but bluejays this time!

These are more of the candid trail camera pictures taken after the big snowstorm. Once the doves have had their early morning snacks, the bluejay contingent arrives to partake of the  bounty (along with a couple of cardinals in the picture above).  And yes, I'm still always looking for good in-flight pictures.

The bluejays were busy enough to provide quite a few action shots. The fellow in the back is impressive against the wooded background and the one in the foreground just makes me smile with the slightly awkward lift-off.

In the picture above, the bluejays were startled by something and all took to the air while the dove and evening grosbeak just watched the excitement without getting ruffled about it. The trail cam captured some really good flight action in this shot!

One of the reasons I like the action pictures so much is that I am continually looking for carving inspiration, so getting to study how the birds take off and land (or how critters run or climb) is a help when I'm designing something new to carve.

I thought this one was particularly good. I love the curve of the wing in the foreground and the fully fanned tail. (There's also a cardinal in flight at center right, if you look for the little spot of red.)

Here's another picture that makes me grin. It's an especially stylish landing, don't you think? It reminds me of a dance move. There's another bluejay flying in at the top right corner of the photo, just in case you were still distracted by the dancer.

I'm hoping I might have a decent idea for another winter scene and I want to put a bluejay in flight somewhere in the image. I'm thinking of either multiple blocks or a reduction print in blue, gray and black. We'll see what I come up with -- and how it turns out. :)

 

Midwinter Sun

This time of year, sunshine is in very short supply. But then, there's a day when the sun peeks through the clouds (usually as it dips toward the horizon) and the sunset is glorious. I thought I would share a couple recent examples.

The above two pictures were taken as I was walking by the bay on a day when the clouds opened up at the horizon just as the sun was going down. The sudden burst of color was simply delightful. 

The second pair of pictures was taken as I was walking across Baloo's big field on a night when the light show took on some spectacular colors. Yes, it really was that intense. I met a couple other people on the trail and they were just as stunned by the colors as I was. Seriously, I didn't doctor the pictures at all - if anything, they don't do the brilliance justice. 

Baloo used to love taking sunset walks, so I have been keeping up the tradition in his honor - there are definitely rewards along the way!

Chimp Boy Gravel Pizza

I haven't done a flagrant foodie entry on the blog for quite some time, so brace yourself for a homemade pizza post.

In case you're wondering about the title, there's a deli in town that makes a sandwich called the Chimp Boy Gravel Pants and this pizza is inspired by that sandwich.  They differ in a number of very important points, but I will not claim it as an original - I was challenged by my family to come up with something like it and this seems to do the trick. 

How to make it? First, you need a nice homemade sourdough crust par baked to make it extra crispy. This one was made down at the family homestead, so the crust got put on the stone on the grill at about 500 degrees for about 4 minutes before it came back into the kitchen be covered in goodies. When I'm at home, I use the oven with a pizza stone in it at 475 - 500 degrees. (If you don't have a stone, use a cookie sheet.)

The toppings include some of the pesto that I made and highlighted on the blog at the height of basil season, partially cooked pheasant breast (to give it a nice sear on the outside, but keep the inside nearly raw so that it doesn't dry out in the baking process), sliced sun-dried tomatoes, crumbled buttermilk blue cheese and a drizzle of Italian salad dressing. If you're going to make this, don't overdo the blue cheese, tempting though it might be. You don't want to overpower the rest of the flavors. 

Put it back on the stone and cook it for another 7-8 minutes, until the cheese starts to get little golden spots on it and the crust starts to brown on the edges. 

All you need to go with it is a crisp salad and the beverage of your choice. 

But I don't have any pheasant in my freezer, you cry! No fears. Some smoked turkey breast will work quite nicely. 

(Also, if you don't have sourdough starter, any nice pizza dough will do - it will just have a little less tang.)

See? I anticipated the requests for the recipe! Let me know if you try it and how you like it.  :)

January Blues

Birds, that is...

Bluebirds usually have the good sense to fly south for the winter, but there are exceptions to the rule. These birds were obviously flying (or, rather, sitting) in the face of the conventional wisdom of their kind by hanging around in Baloo's big field in January.

 

I thought they were quite picturesque bravely perched with snow falling all around them. They seemed pretty unperturbed by both the weather and my presence.  I wondered what they might be finding to eat, since they tend to prefer bugs to other forms of nourishment.

Here is madam, with her more muted blue-gray wings and softer orange breast.

She curiously watched my progress along the trail.

I caught one picture with both of them in it, but it isn't the best - madam is hiding behind a branch and the sun, while hidden by clouds, is still backlighting them, making the picture too bright and exposed. 

When I was in Missouri, bluebirds would stay in the woods near my house all year. I have homemade hickory log feeders that I fill with a concoction of peanut butter, cornmeal and bird seeds and the bluebirds in Missouri loved that stuff. The ones in this area have yet to discover these feeding stations - the chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers make good use of them, though.
 

New Year's Resolutions

 Let's see how well I do! 

Something I have been wanting to do on the new Stampeaz site is publish some tutorials, tips and tricks for carving and printing. I just published the first one, so we'll see how well I keep my resolution and whether people find it at all useful.  I have plans for several more already and we'll see where I go from there.  

The first installment is a quick tutorial on how I prepare a block before transferring an image or carving. I like to use the sanding method and it's really, really easy to do. So, if you're interested, the post is on the Stampeaz site in the blog section here.

Here's the before and after picture to try and entice you... :)

 

Doves on Candid Camera

While snowed in at the family homestead around Christmastime, we enjoyed digging out spots for the birds (and bunnies) to come and get a snack. We also took advantage of an available trail camera to get some candid shots (and especially to see how many bunnies came during the night). 

Here are a few pictures of the doves that enjoyed partaking of the daily feast - the photos are a little dark because it's early morning - well, early for winter hours, since the sun is so lazy about rising these days. 

There's a pretty large group that parachutes in to snack together. I love the fact that the trail camera catches the flight action. In the picture above, there's a dove flying in just about in the exact center of the picture.
 

Here's another picture with a dove coming in for a landing, along with a cardinal right behind him.

 

This was my favorite dove action picture, though. I love the way its wings are twisted in what looks like an impossible position for flight. There's also an evening grosbeak taking to the air toward the middle of the picture. 

We'd go out and retrieve the card from the camera every morning and looked to see what it had captured as we drank our caffeinated brew. There were always a couple of fun pictures in the mix.  

Oh, and the answer is five, if you were wondering how many bunnies came in during the night. Five was the largest number caught in a picture at one time. Usually we'd get three of four at a time.

The Sock Drawer

Well, just wow! There was an amazing amount of interest in the socks! Who knew? So, I thought I should maybe post a picture of the whole hand-knit sock drawer.

The first socks I knit were made for my brother as a Christmas present a number of years ago when we had a family challenge to only spend $20.00 on each person for the holiday. Happily, back then, one could get a really outstanding hand-dyed sock yarn for that price. He only uses those socks when he's camping to keep his feet warm in his sleeping bag - he tells me they've never seen the inside of a pair of boots! 

After that, I started knitting socks because there are only so many shawls, sweaters, hats and mittens that a person can use or foist off on family and friends. I figured that I could have fun, keep knitting and enjoy wearing outrageously decadent socks. They have a lot going for them as a handy and portable project - they are made of tiny little stitches and take a long time to make, they have the advantage of needing very little storage space, they usually only use one skein of yarn, and they feel fantastic on my feet! 

People wonder if I actually wear them. Well, I haven't worn any of the 2022 socks yet, since I wanted to take a picture of the lineup before I put them into my boots and started giving them a workout, and so far, I've mostly used the two rows on the right for everyday use, but others will soon be joining the rotation. The pink and brown ones are a perfect match for a flannel shirt in my wardrobe and the gray, brown and blue ones are excellent all-around general use socks. Otherwise, I'll just go with what I'm wearing and how flashy I want my feet to feel. 

You already knew I was a bit odd, so this shouldn't surprise you too much, right??

The Socks of 2022

One of my (many) goals of 2022 (and, amazingly enough, one that I actually managed to accomplish) was to knit a pair of socks for every month of the year. I thought it might be fun to share the lineup as a colorful beginning to 2023. 

January actually had a head start, since I started a pair after my Advent socks were finished. 

January through April included one pair of thicker boot socks, rainbows and a pair of very utilitarian brown socks. 

Then I did a couple of socks with stranded colorwork patterns and a couple more plain, everyday socks - one in blue and one in gray. One of the things I also tried to do was experiment with different construction techniques and that was fun - eye of partridge heels, toe up, cuff down, instep gussets and no instep gussets. I dabbled in creating some patterns of my own and that was fun, too.

The next batch had a blue and gold that reminded me of Van Gogh's Starry Night, another plain gray and then some that the dyers gave interesting skein names. The striped one was called "It Takes a Village", the green and brown "Dobby, the House Elf" and the green, black and orange was called "Friday the Thirteenth". 

 

Here's the full lineup. I didn't manage to make an Advent pair for 2022, but maybe this year. Although, now that I have a drawer full of hand knit socks, I think I will be knitting something other than footwear. We'll see what I come up with. And yes, there's an extra pair - since January had a head start, I thought it only fair.... Oddly, number thirteen was the "Friday the Thirteenth" pair. I didn't realize that until just now.

Happy New Year!! All the very best wishes for 2023!!