The Winter Goldfinches

The winter American Goldfinches have a lot less color than they do in the summer,

you probably all ready knew that!

I see them sporadically in the winter, but this week I have been seeing a lot.

The American Goldfinch is New Jersey's State Bird!

- talk about a lot of sticks, but he choose to sit in the middle and give me a clear view -

- here he was dining on berries -

That's all for today, I think perhaps I have been doing too much and my body is kicking back.

I may rest today or just spend time with my feathered friends!

Winter Bordem

Do you get bored during the winter months,

I don't...

During the summer, there are so many fun things to do outside the house,
while the weather is warm, 
I don't want to be in the house cleaning and organizing things.
During the winter, I have so many projects and things I want to do.
I always do it once per year and this is the time, 
after Christmas is over and all of the decorations are put away!


I cleaned the china cabinet, this side was fun,


 this side was a total struggle.
I washed all of the dishes and organized things...
now I am trying to decide if I want to clean out the drawers in it.
 I have not done that in years, it needs to be done but thinking about it makes me cringe!
I think "china cabinets" are a bit old fashioned,
I would like to delete it from my life but what would I do with all of the "stuff" inside it?


I cleaned inside the kitchen cabinets, that's only fun for the first 2 cabinets,
but...I love when it's all done!
I found new snowman bowls in Christmas Tree Shop,
middle shelf, second from the left...I love them, and as you can see, I "really" needed 2 more bowls,   
* chuckle *

I have been cleaning out my clothes dresser, 
one drawer at a time, and a few of the hubs drawers are done.
That is always a struggle as he hates helping.

Of course I have been knitting and I have done a bit of scrapbooking too.


I finished my "ICE" book until next year,
all of the pictures we take and buy when we visit the ICE display at the National Harbor.






2017


2018


2019
It's up-to-date now, I had 2017, 2018 & 2019 waiting to be added.


We play games this time of year...this one was fun.
Winter Scattergories
you can click on the above link and print them out.
I printed it in black and white to save on color ink.
For this game 
"Write something you see or do in winter that starts with each letter"!
This was really fun and I won, 14 to 10!

We play Bananagram but the hubs always looses so he does not like to play.
I always win so I love to play.
We put together that big puzzle at Christmastime,
if I even say the word puzzle the hubs runs the other way...
it's not really his thing!

I have been keeping an eye on my birds, but I don't really have any new visitors.


I planted a new batch of Paper White bulbs,
I enjoyed the last batch so much!

Soooooo as you can see, I have been busy, I wonder what everyone else does to pass the time?

Yarn Along

I have another exciting Yarn Along to share...

two projects finished, that is a hip-hip-horary for me, 

I am so excited to share them with you guys!

The hat I knitted for my niece, to match the one I made for her son Kalmin,

I am so happy with the way it finished up.
It is the February Hat by Kate Gagnon Osborn, free here on Ravelry.
Knitted with yarn from Arrow Acres Alpaca Farm 3 ply DK Alpaca Yarn.

I included this sweet little candle in the box, Honeysuckle, handmade with soy & love,
I thought this was the perfect addition!
Off it went yesterday, mailing it is a must as she lives in North Carolina.

I also finished my sixth and final 

Neapolitan Cowl 

Knitted with Mad Tosh hand dyed yarn,

100% merino wool, dk weight.

- I don't know the color but it reminds me of colorful fall leaves, with a touch of blue sky -

Now I will go back to knitting my Irish Hiking Scarf, 
I hope I can remember how to knit those cables!

Howe Street Beach

We visit the beach more in the off season than we do during the summer.
Howe Street Beach, in Bay Head
is one of our favorites.
The beach replenishment or nourishment project is complete, and they have rebuilt the dunes.
The beach is much wider and the walk to the water is much greater,
making it more difficult for me to get to the ocean.
The sea glass is all gone, 
the work that was done pumping layers of sand to the beach has covered it up
and changed it's flow in the ocean for now.

We visited recently,
 just to take a peak, and make sure she was still there...
everything is different but the ocean...she still sounds and smells the same!

Wise Words On Sunday

Saturday Critters ~ 319 ~

My ride to Lake of the Lilies on Thursday,

turned into a trip to the Manasquan Inlet as well.

The Inlet is close to Lake of the Lilies 

and the hubs is so kind to take me to all the places I want to go.

I saw this unfamiliar, easy to photograph bird...

it was "interesting", it did not fly off, so I went with it.

It's a Female Boat Tailed Grackle

I was happy I photographed it as the pictures were nice and clear 

and it was a "new to me" bird!

Don't think she didn't notice me...
"how many pictures are you going to take of me"?

While photographing her, out of the corner of my eye, I spied a 
Herring Gull 
catching and eating crab for lunch.



These 2 pictures are a little out of focus...the gull was a tad excited, I was excited for him!

Sharing today's pictures with Eileen at Viewing Nature With Eileen

Skating On Thin Ice

I accepted the hubs offer yesterday, 

to go out to do errands, he said we could stop at Lake of the Lilies.

We stopped there first because the sun was out,

I did't know the lake was frozen.

Almost immediately, I saw a 

Great Blue Heron

on the edge of the lake but once he saw us he took off in to the lake.

But not so easy he soon found out...I had fun watching him slide around on the ice.

To say that he was aware of my presence is an understatement.

He kept eyes on me almost continually.

According to the North American Native tradition, 

the Blue Heron brings messages of self determination and self reliance. 

They represent an ability to progress and evolve.

Blue Herons have the innate wisdom of being able to maneuver through life,

 and co-create their own circumstances.

His chestnut coloring was much more visible today...

Was he spreading his feathers like this to keep warm or impress me?

I was impressed!

Yarn Along

This Yarn Along is not going to be as exciting as last week,

it's actually quite depressing.
I was pretty far along on my February Hat by Kate Gagnon Osborn, 

when I noticed I had made a mistake pretty early on.

Of course the first thing I did was text Leanne and put the pressure on her...

"should I rip it out? or just keep going".

Of course, she is so very kind, her response to the first picture I sent...

"What mistake? I don't see anything"

I sent another picture, her second response...

"I still don't notice a mistake. Soooooooo that shows you! Don't rip it out!!!

I sent a third picture pointing at the mistake, she had to come clean, her exact response...

"OMG. Leave it. It's hardly anything at all. DO NOT RIP IT OUT!!!!!!!"

You know I ripped it out, almost back to the beginning, 
I was able to save the brim.

But I have made great progress since ripping it out, it was a great motivator...
I think it would be done if I hadn't...

But, I am so happy I did as now it is perfectly, perfect.

February Hat by Kate Gagnon Osborn,
free here on Ravelry.
Knitted with yarn from Arrow Acres Alpaca Farm 3 ply DK Alpaca Yarn.
This hat is for my niece Sarah, matching the one I made for Kalmia.


It is almost finished. 
It is the only knitted project I am working on right now,
I would like to get it done and mailed so she can get some use out of it this winter!


Here is a close up of some of the detail in the hat.
It looks complicated, but it's not.

Once I finish this, I will be back to my cables.

The Male Mallard

The Mallard duck is perhaps the most familiar dabbling duck of all ducks.

It can be found almost anywhere water is present, is found year round in "most" of the United States,

and is tame and often interbreeds with other ducks.

The male mallards beauty is often overlooked, he is ubiquitous and hard to miss.

There are so many at Lake of the Lilies.

I am always looking for the unusual ducks and I too overlook the beautiful, more common, 

Mallards!