In Case You Were Wondering...

Pip has been out and about all fall and winter coming forth a couple times a week for a meal. She's had a friend with her on several occasions.  Tonight I when I called to her she popped right over to the rabbitry for her hand out.

Knitting Help

I knitted a Convertible Center Row Lace Headband/Neckwarmer for myself this past week. I used a double strand of lace weight angora/alpaca blend. My plans are to use it as a neckwarmer with the new black leather coat that I got for Christmas but I also like the way it looks as a headband.  In any case my new little buddy Tafari loves to sit on my shoulder and he is very curious and wants to get his little beak into what ever he can find that is nearby. He loved playing with the yarn that I was using for knitting. 

Hand Turned Bowl

Sad to have lost our Norway Maple this fall. Thrilled with the bowls that Andrew made for me and Elisha to remember it by.

 Elisha's

 Mine

Our once beautiful tree that finally succumbed to old age leaving us some beautifully grained (due to fungus) wood.

Pre Christmas Festivities

We visited our good friends Traci & Clint last evening. They have a new baby and a 6  year old.  We got Greyson the 6 year old (with prior permission from his parents) a pocket knife. He was pretty excited.  Andrew gave him a brief tutorial on the major do's and don't s that come with owning a knife. Grey knows he has to have supervision at all time when using it. Tanner and Daisy had a good time cavorting about until Tanner got too rambunctious and was banished to the den; Traci and I got to giggling over some hilarious pictures that Greyson took of Clint and a good time was had by all. Dinner was Mama Mimi's pizza-the best in town. Just what we needed to get into the Christmas spirit.

Shooshing and Noshing

Our holiday wine party was last night. What fun. We ordered in Chinese and my brother made us a couple of white chocolate caramel cheesecakes for dessert.  A relaxing evening was had by all.

Blue Jackets

We all went to the Blue Jackets game this past Saturday night.  Our seats were decent and the game was fun. There were about 30 Santa's in the crowd and everyone was in a festival holiday mood. Andrew's friend who works there moved us to VIP seating at half time. That was great!  They lost to Tampa in the last couple minutes of the game though.

R I O

The breeder that I bought Tafari from gave me a back issue of Bird Talk magazine and it had an article about the premier of the movie RIO in it. I was discussing the article with Elisha and she told me that it was good and so I bought a copy of the DVD on Amazon knowing that our nephew was coming to spend the weekend and thinking that he too might enjoy it.  We watched it last evening and it really is a good movie. It's somewhat of a musical and it also addresses the issue of the illegal bird trade (i.e. bird poaching and smuggling) and also about loyalty and good and evil.  Four thumbs up from this household. If you haven't seen it - I recommend that you do. We're watching it again this morning!

Beautiful Morning

A little chilly but a beautiful sunrise...

The Photographer

We were out and about yesterday and decided to stop in Cambridge to see the Dickens Village. We went last year and it was a lot of fun.  A new character for this year is the photographer.

After visiting last year I thought about making some of these for our yard but never got around to it. Maybe next year. After our stop in Cambridge we went on the the thriving metropolis of Caldwell and met our friends for a delicious dinner at Lori's Family Restaurant. 

Halls Are Decked

We decorated the tree this evening. We actually purchased it on Saturday.  It's Fraser Fir.  I told Andrew I wanted one when we drove up to the tree lot and he said ok but plan on paying $90.  Every year we get a stupid white pine (no offense if anyone has one but I just wanted something different for a change). Well anyone who knows me knows that I'm not about to pay $90 for a Christmas tree.  Sure enough they wanted $90. Oh but wait. There was another row of Fraser Fir's and they were only $40. Frankly I couldn't tell the difference between the $90 tree and the $40 tree. Andrew said it was the height.  He walked down to the end of the row of "cheap" trees and reached out and selected one. It was perfect. We didn't even look at another tree.  I guess I shouldn't be shocked that the Arborist can select a perfect tree should I? Anyway we were bushed Sunday and had a Christmas concert to attend. Last night we were busy with chores so the tree had to wait to be decorated.  Andrew set up his O gauge train that belonged to his great uncle Edward around the base of the tree and that completed the decking of the halls.

 Like the new sweater that my mom got me?

 Daisy likes the tree and the attention she is getting at this moment. LOL See that little mosaic artwork in front of the poinsettia? I made it in CCD in first grade. Thanks mom for saving all my junk treasures. 

Early Christmas Present

Andrew and I went to Petsmart yesterday and bought a bunch of stuff for the bird and couple things for Daisy.  Among the items was a new Kong toy for the pup since she has all but destroyed her other toys that make her work for treats.  I put the Kong toy in a bag with some other items in the spare room behind the dresser.  We left for the evening and as soon as we got home Lassie (I mean Daisy) wanted us to follow her to the bedroom where Timmy had fallen into the well.  Well close. Daisy wanted to show us that she knew her present was hidden behind the dresser. Good dog that she is -she only looked and didn't touch. Of course I told her she was a good girl for not touching and she thought her reward was going to be the Kong. I thought about it today and felt pitiful for not giving it to her yesterday so I gave her the Kong this evening. I'm such a softie.  She was so happy!

A Murder of Crows

Our resident hawk had the unfortunate luck of encounter a murder of crows today. We estimated 30 in the group. They drove him in to the pine tree behind our house and harassed him mercilessly for a good ten minutes until Andrew stepped out to see what the commotion was all about and in doing so caused them to retreat. They can be nasty at times.  The hawk was no worse for the wear and I am guessing he took off as soon as I stopped photographing the remaining crows which soon flew away to find some other poor unsuspecting soul to taunt.

Tafari

You might recall that in May I wrote about losing my 17 year old Lovebird.  He lived a long a happy life as far as birds can do, with us.  I cleaned his cage and put a picture of him in it and left it in the living room for a month or so. Initially I made a few phone calls looking for another bird but there were none to be found. Finally I gave up and decided to think about it and had Andrew put his cage in the attic.  I figured when and if the time was right we would get another bird.  Wednesday I made an inquiry with the breeder I had contacted in May and got the same answer. No birds available-they had had a series of infertile clutches throughout the year yada yada.  On Thursday I did a quick Google search on lovebirds in Columbus and as luck would have it found the blog of a young man who breeds them and said he had available birds. I emailed him and he replied that evening and we talked on the phone and I made an appointment for this evening to see his birds. Turns out he only lives a few miles from us and yes he had two males.  For those of you who don't know much about birds typically the males are very sweet and bond with you and the females are bitchy and lay eggs and bite.  Andrew and I  purchased a peach faced lovebird.  He's the most adorable and sweet bird already at only three months old.  Elisha came over for a late dinner and the three of us sat in the living room together as she read from a list of hundred's of names A-Z hell bent on getting this animal a name.  At one point I think I fell asleep as she recited name after name while nothing was striking my fancy.  Just as I was saying lets sleep on it I came upon the name Tafari on Behind the Name.  It means he who inspires awe.  Elisha and I immediately liked it as our bird has the most beautiful coloring-something like the earth when you view it from space-brilliant blue and green.  Anyway we got to reminiscing about our other Little Bird and dug out some photos. When Elisha was 6 years old she was just delighted with Little Bird and he was ever so charming.  Tonight she had that same look of delight with Tafari as he too managed to charm us as only a lovebird can.  

 

Tafari

 Tail feather spread

 Checking out his cage. Tomorrow I'm shopping for a larger cage.

New Jammies

Back in the old days I used to get new pj's for Christmas. I really don't recall if this was an annual event or not but I do remember that one year my mom sewed me the cutest pair of flannel pj's that had little mice on them. I wore them out.  Several years ago Elisha got me a flannel jammies for Christmas that had cats and dogs on them. I wore them out.  Then I bought some red plaid flannel jammies from Kohl's and you guessed it-they are worn out so I treated myself to an early Christmas present this week. I was shopping the Vermont Country Store on line after receiving a catalog at work and  I couldn't resist these (costing more than I am typically willing to spend but with a 25 % discount). I'm going to sleep good tonight!   Daisy even obliged for a photo without closing her eyes for the flash.

Coasters

More on the coasters. Here's what they look like wrapped up and ready for gift giving.

Holiday Gift Idea

I made coasters for my wine group. Shhh! It's a surprise for our Christmas gathering. My friend Kathy showed me a set she had made and I thought it would be a great (and inexpensive) gift since I need 13 sets.  I used 4 x 4 shower tiles (10 cents each at Lowe's) and 3.75 x 3.75 squares cut from scrapbooking paper and affixed to the tiles to make the coaster. The bottoms have cork on them and when finished will be stacked in sets and tied with a holiday themed bow.

Griffin Gets A New Coat !

My friend Robs Bichon Frise has never had a coat. Griffin is 14 now and I decided he needed one  (mostly because I was looking for a way to return a favor that Rob had done for me and though this would be something he would like).  I requested and Rob sent Griffin's measurements and I altered Daisy's coat pattern especially for him (Griffin weighs 6 pounds less than Daisy).  They got the coat today and I am happy to report that Bichon and owner are both pleased. I was hoping he would have it to wear to grandma's on Thanksgiving.

Autumn Beauty

No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one autumnal face.
~John Donne

Blue Jackets vs Minnesota Wild

Last night a colleague and I took a group of students, all Sport Management majors, from our University to Nationwide Arena to see the Blue Jackets hockey match with the Minnesota Wilds. They got a chance to tour the arena pre-game and talk with professionals in the fields of sport marketing, sales, event/guest services and facility operations. It was a great networking opportunity and a fun night out.  Unfortunately the Blue Jackets aren't having a stellar season and they lost but for $30 we got our ticket, a ball cap, and dinner. And personally I don't care who wins-I just like the atmosphere and love watching live hockey.

 

Long-tailed Salamander

 Andrew was off today for Veteran's Day so he decided to go to Clear Creek to do some research in the creek.  When he came back to his truck he found a parking citation.  Good thing he has a sense of humor.  Anyway he found the following subject under a drain tile.  It was returned to position after its photo session.

Long-tailed salamander (eurycea longi cauda). Adults are mainly terrestrial and are reside underneath old rotting logs and under stones.

CMA's

I grew up on Midwestern Hayride, Hee Haw and Lawrence Welk. Mom and Dad listened to WHIO radio in Dayton practically 24 -7. With that being said it's no wonder I am a die hard country music fan; especially partial to classic country (1950's- mid 80's). In high school my good friend Bob (who is a DJ on a major Columbus radio station) and I set up the first country music program ever for school's radio station -WRSF.   We wrote the programming and spun the tunes for a couple hours every school day during the early 80's. On our off time we dreamed up future shows, incessantly listen to the American Country Countdown  and went to some country music concerts.  Fast but little know fact about me-I've been kissed by Urban Cowboy legend Mickey Gilly. Yep I'm a big nerd. What a great time we had.  Anyway I've always been a huge Glen Campbell fan. I've watched Glen Campbell with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra on PBS more times than I can count.  On the CMA's the other night country music greats Keith Urban, Brad Paisley and Vince Gill played a fabulous tribute to Glen, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Brad Paisley, who is not one of my favorites, redeemed himself with a seamless rendition of Galveston written by country music great Jimmy Webb.  It's true that a song can bring a smile to your heart. Enjoy!

 

circa 1980...LOL