Mom Fooled Us

Oh mom you know how to get us good.  I turned on the Decorah nest this morning and here is mom in egg laying mode.  After an hour she flew off.  I thought we were about to have an egg as it is time. She usually lays in the evening around 6:30pm but that was with Dad. Now she has a new spouse and who knows if or when we will have eggs.  Good job Mom freaking us all out.

Week 6 Color

*  If I were to be welcomed into your home what colour scheme would I find to be most prevalent?

*  Is this colour scheme true to your personal taste today or does it reflect a season past?

*  Have you been inspired by this week's study to make any changes to your current decor, wardrobe or personal style?

I grew up with a grandmother who never shied away from colors, the brighter the better.  Grandma always had those slippers with the very bright colorful jewels on them. She also wore her color.  She gave me the love of color in the scraps of material she passed on to me. Grandmother worked for Cole of California and often brought home leftovers.  One of the things us grandkids got to do was go through the box of fabric she kept in her bedroom to pick what we wanted.  I remember one of my favorite dresses was a silk like fabric. It had wedges of yellow, blue, purple, and orange on a white background. I made a simple A-line dress and wore it all the time. 

My main floor is full of what I would call spice colors. I just painted my dining room sage green (which will be the kitchen color as soon as I get that pink flowered wallpaper off the walls, ick).  My laundry room will be turquoise to match my lime green and turquoise curtains.  My living room is currently terra cotta to be soon a light teal.  My room that leads in from the living room is a dark yellow color because it gets a lot of light and my plants live there, it needed a bright color.  My bedroom is periwinkle and my bath is turquoise.  My main bath upstairs is blue, yellow, and white.  My office is yellow and my sitting room is yellow.  The guest room is currently mint green soon to go to white with a red accent wall.  My front door is blue (Dodger Blue), my kitchen door leading to the deck is purple and my basement door is a light green going to eggplant this Spring. 

I love color and would have a purple house but selling that would not be good and I have never seen purple siding.  I love periwinkle and cobalt blue.  I am not a pastel girl nor do I like the fall colors brown, green, orange, gold, etc.  The brighter the better.  My closet looks like lots of blue, purple, some bright pink, white, black and gray.  

I believe choice of color is a very personal thing.  You like what you like and should be ok with it.   How often do you see people buy something in a bright color in the middle of winter just to have a splash of something happy.  I say use whatever color you want and embrace it. 

Isn't He Gorgeous?

I have a 3rd feral cat that I am feeding and loving on.  He used to live across the street and the *&^%$# people let him out one day and never did anything to bring him back in. They had 2 cats that came and went but I don't blame him for never wanting to go back in that house.  He has finally let me pet him and rub his belly and almost get him in the house.  My goal is this year to bring him in. Not sure how my girls are gonna take to him, but he is declawed and is 2 or 3 years old.  He is so sweet.  Anyway I have been calling him Big Boy but he needs a proper cat name. 

Round 2

Round 2 was not as bad but it started out with some sleet and grauple.  Had almost an inch of snow.  Looks like the ferals came up for a late night snack.

Round 1

We are in the middle of 4 rounds of winter weather events.  Our first one poured snow and I had a little over 3 1/2" of snow.  It was a very dry powder which can pack in the tread of the tires and make it really slick.  Outside of my kitchen window I can watch the cars get stuck trying to go up the hill.  It was a real mess.

 Sunrise the next morning.

 I have the best neighbors. He snowblows my drive and sidewalk. He got a new snowblower for Christmas and loves to play with it. 

 The deer were out overnight messing up my perfect snow.

 This is BigBoy, my big gray feral tom.  He is so sweet, he has taken to laying in the front flower bed during the day time. Some day I will bring him in.

 Several cars stuck going up the hill.

Since someone is out of the car not sure is this was an accident.

Tajari has a Girlfriend

So we know Tajari was moved to his new home.  Well we got a glimpse today of his girlfriend.  She is 14 and he will be 2 on April 15th.  Maybe next year we will have a baby announcement that she is pregnant. She does not have a name yet, but soon we hope.  You can watch Taj's cam at the same place as April's.  Don't forget April is due next month maybe.  Hope I can see this baby be born as I watched Taj's birth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUPOvYzsFyw

Week 5 Playtime

This week I’d love for you to share in the comments below the domestic themed movies or shows which have touched your heart over the years, the ones you go back to or have taken inspiration from.

It may be an entire movie or a television series, but perhaps it's one special episode or scene - what was it that made such an impression on you?

The author talks about when she had children all the rules kind of went out the window.  Creativity grows in children unless it is stifled.  They make up words for things and you have a language between you and the kids that no one else understands.  You mix foods you would never have thought of but they want to try different flavors together so you do. 

The author lists several movies that have inspired her.  I love Blue Bloods not only for Tom Selleck and those beautiful cable sweaters he wears, but the family always has a meal together along with a prayer.  When I was kid we always said a prayer even when we went out in public.  It was just something we automatically did.  I like that they allow that family meal with prayer to be in every show.

I love Doris Day movies.  Pillow Talk and Please Don't Eat The Daisies are my top favs.  They don't really inspire me but I always loved the clothes she wore in those movies.  I have seen everyone and several many times.  My mom calls me and says Doris Day movie on channel whatever.  When I find a Doris Day movie marathon I set to record them and watch them when I have a snow day or need to veg for a couple hours and escape.

Sometimes in the Summer I watch the neighbor boys, they are in grade school and get out of Summer School at 3. I walk down to the corner and get them from the bus.  We always have a snack and sometimes what we eat is pretty weird and we always have popsicles.  We often go to Dollar Tree and the Library and find things to do when we get home from whatever we got.  They love to finger paint and so we put down plastic and just have fun. If we make a mess it does not matter, pictures are laid out in the garage to dry and half go home and half go on my fridge.  They are a lot of fun and remind me that is good to just let go and have fun at times.  

D24 and D27 send Postcards

Remember D27 was the girl who fell out of the nest wingersizing.  We thought she would never leave.

Squeeee! We got two postcards this week - one from D27 and one from long-silent D24! Both eagles are doing well and in the Decorah area. D27 is spending a lot of time in the vicinity of N2B (perhaps not surprising to anyone who thought she might never leave the nest), while D24 has been out in the Calmar area. Brett commented "When D-24 briefly transmitted last Saturday, the two Decorah birds were about three miles apart when the data hits came in. Who knows, they could have been closer than that between hits – maybe sharing a carcass!" We're thrilled that D24's transmitter has started talking to us again and we hope to have more to learn and share in the months ahead. Stay safe and warm, you two - and thanks for checking in!

So how old are the eaglets? D24 will turn three this year and D27 will turn two. We wouldn't have this data without Brett Mandernack and the staff of Eagle Valley sharing their knowledge, data, and maps with us! You can follow the travels of all of our eagles and learn more about them and our transmitter project here: https://www.raptorresource.org/learning-tools/eagle-map/

Congratulations SOAR!

SOAR is where our beloved D20 (aka Decorah) lives now as an education eagle.

They were honored with an award:  http://soarraptors.org/2019/01/soar-wins-award-for-excellence-in-environmental-education/?fbclid=IwAR01nsMFQ7jkhhvS9OdNxvm2SQxmznSuec2QaPuzOp2ISSUNPBSwqSsaJy8

Week 4 Domestic Library and Pineapple Passion

What book have you read in the past which still holds an emotional connection for you? In what way?

Can you suggest any novels which nurture a 'domestic' culture?

Has today's study inspired you to read any of the titles Jane has listed as her read and re-read favourites?

 

I have always loved Charlotte's Web.  Every time I see a copy I purchase it.  One can never have too many books or copies of their favorites.  I also love The Harbinger and try to read it annually.  The Shack has become a favorite as well.  I love murder mysteries and special ops books (Vince Flynn and Brad Thor).  I have a ton of historical books about America and how we got to where we are now.  

 

My father gave me my love of books, he read all the time and I always had a bookshelf of books.  We had the library at school and during the summer we would go to the library every week.  I never was one to take naps but if I laid down with a book then I did not have to nap.  Too me it was a joy to have the house quiet while my mom and brother napped and I could read to my heart's content.  My mom has a picture of me on my potty chair reading a book, guess I have always read almost since birth.

 

When I was in 2nd grade I read 100 of these blue hard bound books that were autobiographies of famous people.  It was my goal. I guess some would say I was a weird kid because I lived to read. I still do pretty much. My house is full of books.  They take me where no mode of transportation can.  

 

I am not one of those Jane Austen, Downtown Abbey, Little House on the Prairie types of reader. I don't know that I have what I would call a domestic culture novel in my house. There is not a book on the author's list that I would read because they are not the type of books that interest me.  

The author loves pineapple so much that she made a Carmen Miranda type of tea cozy which is pretty cool.  My father's favorite cake is pineapple upside cake.  Every year for his birthday and Father's Day he gets one. He will be 95 in a couple of weeks so I have the supplies and recipe all ready to go.  The cake really need to be made in a cast iron skillet so the butter and brown sugar get that great crust that clings to the pineapple slices. 

Week 3 What Do You See Around You?

This week lets each be inspired to "see" what is around us and how it can inspire our own creativity.

To PONDER...

What do you regularly observe in life that triggers your creativity?

Has this week's study encouraged you to 'see' art differently?

What did you like about the three paintings Jane chose to focus on?

What creative afternoon ideas can you suggest for children (of varying ages)?

I have bird feeders on the deck and in the front yard. I love to watch the birds and wish they would all stay all year but alas I have the Juncos in Winter and the Hummingbirds in Spring/Summer. The rest of the year I have the rest of the usuals: Sparrows, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Doves, Starlings, Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmouse, Wrens, Finches, Grackles, and an occasional Hawk swoops in.

I often take pictures of my flowers, the birds, and sunrises and sunsets. While I don't paint they would inspire me if I did. I used to get a lot of catalogs and I would go through them and tear out pictures of things I wanted to make or recipes to try or just to hang on the frig for awhile.

I don't know that the birds trigger my creativity but I do enjoy watching them. They can be so comical and I have to wonder how they withstand the heat and cold.

The pages we read this week had some art work of women mostly knitting. The one picture had them all sitting around a room and just knitting alone. One of the reasons I love my 3 knit groups is that we visit and get to know each other and share our lives. I have been known to walk up to strangers and ask to take a picture of a knitted or crocheted item to go home to see if I can re-create it. Every week someone brings in a pattern that we all want to make and so we get the yarn and create our own version sometimes making some changes.

My neighbor kids love to finger paint, so I always keep cheap white construction paper and finger paint for them. A couple years ago on of them made the cutest snowman, their imagination runs wild mixing colors and thinking of what to paint. We also make popsicles in the summer and can't wait to eat them. The Dollar Tree store creates juices to make things as well with their packages of beads, etc.

I have to admit I spend a LOT of time on Pinterest. I used my Boards as file folders for ideas. When I need some ideas to make something I go there first. Sometimes nothing catches my eye and other times after an hour I have added lots of ideas to my bulletin boards. My niece has a board of things she wants me to make her and it grows almost daily at times.

The sun is out today. It is an inspiration to get up and get things done which I have had a very productive day. We have so many days/weeks here in the Winter without sun that it gets depressing and you just want to do nothing. Today I am taking advantage of the sun even though we have ice and snow and it is cold, I got a lot done.

Test Run

I am hosting one of my knit groups next Sunday.  I went looking for a recipe using pears. I love them especially the red ones.  I found this recipe.  I have never made anything with mascarpone before.  The smell while it was cooking was like the smell of butter baking.  The cake was very light and is best eaten right out of the oven. It is not really sweet at all but does need a bit of whip cream (the real stuff not that Cool Whip crap) or some vanilla ice cream.  It is definitely a keeper and will be making it next week.  I think instead of the sliced pears on top I will put some almonds on there.  It is a heavy but light cake.  It is very rich you don't need a very big piece. 

Recipe is here:  https://anitalianinmykitchen.com/pear-cake/

Be Yourself