Cabled Cushion Cover

While I've been away from the computer, I've been able to spend a bit more time working on some knitted projects. I really enjoyed getting back into some knitting. I made this with a worsted pure wool for a 15-inch pillow form.

For the back I did a simple basket weave pattern. I really like the overall texture of this pattern.

A row of vintage buttons finished it off nicely.

The pillow form is stuffed with feathers, so this makes a very squishy, comfortable cushion.

I'm sorry I've been away for so long, but there have been things changing here that are robbing me of blogging time. This isn't going to change anytime soon, so I'll see how I can manage to get in a few posts here and there. 

I've not been out to the marsh since my last post, but was a bit disappointed when I did visit. The birds seem to have gone elsewhere now that the warmer weather is bringing more people down to the marsh trail. I haven't seen the turkeys at all. The number of birds in my own yard has grown considerably with the return of redwing blackbirds, grackles and robins. I even saw a turkey vulture today which was nice. Although there are still pockets of snow in the shaded areas of my yard, for the most part it's melted away at long last! It was still quite cold this past week and only got to +2 today with a wickedly strong bitter wind. Another few days and we're into April and more warm weather will follow ... looking forward to getting the patio furniture back out and actually sitting outside again!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Wendy

Spring is in the Air

Photos from the weekend.

I do believe winter has left us now.

Spring is in the air.

Drip by drip, winter is being forced to melt away.

______________________________________________________________________

Five on Friday

Taking five minutes of my day to share five things.

_____________________________________________________________________

One

size comparison with the mourning dove

Common redpolls visited my backyard this past weekend. I read up on redpolls, and found some interesting facts here. These tiny birds breed in the Arctic tundra and can withstand temperatures of -65F. In order to survive, they will burrow into the snow at night which acts as insulation against the cold. They have throat pouches to store seeds quickly, and they can then eat the seeds when they are in a protected area. They are long-distance travellers. One bird was banded in Michigan, US, and found later in Siberia! Incredible little birds. I have huge respect for them now.

A little redpoll jumping for joy! Spring is almost here!

________________________________________________________________________

Two

Cap'n Nuthatch. I thought nuthatches always looked like neat little soldiers when I was young. I once drew a picture for my mom of a nuthatch to look like a soldier. After that she called him Cap'n Nuthatch too.

_______________________________________________________________________

Three

This is where I've been hanging out for the past couple of months. The cold winter drove me outdoors more and more because I was tired of being forced inside. I braved the cold, icy winds and snow, and was much happier for it. I dislike being indoors.

_______________________________________________________________________

Four

This was once a farm, but has been taken over by the conservation authorities. What a beautiful, picturesque area for a farm right on the shores of Lake Ontario with the marsh running up one side. I'm jealous of the family that lived here many years ago and enjoyed all the wildlife for their own. The silo is surrounded by a very old apple orchard ... I'll have to visit again when it's blossom time to see if the trees still bloom.

___________________________________________________________________

Five

Female Cardinal

I think my blog has turned into a bird-watcher's blog lately. I'm just going with the flow right now, and birds are the only thing grabbing my interest at the moment. I've been very fortunate with the birds at the marsh, and will continue to visit it as Spring arrives ... well, when it arrives. My thermometer is reading -20C again this morning, and an extreme cold warning is back with windchill making it feel like -30C! Now they're telling us next week it will start to "really" warm up.

_______________________________________________________________

Thanks for stopping by!

Wendy

Cooper's Hawk outside my patio door ... he's eating the birds I feed!

Linking up with Amy's ...

Tomfoolery

There is definitely a feeling of Spring in the air today, and despite the snowstorm we all groaned about yesterday which ended in freezing rain, the heaps of snow are now quickly melting and casting a haze in the air. The temperatures will be fluctuating throughout March. Today was +2C!! Plus 2!! But tomorrow we're supposed to divebomb again. I figured today was a good opportunity to head to the marsh and see what I could find.

Geese were the first to welcome me. But I didn't want to waste my birdseed on the large birds today. I'm running out of seeds at home and won't be going to the store until the weekend, so I saved most of my seeds for the little guys.

The black, grey and red squirrels were out in force and the bird feeders that are provided all had squirrels sitting inside them scarfing down the seeds people had left.

Plentiful cardinals were following me, but they are far too shy to come to my hand.

This cardinal (above) was so bright compared to the other females. 

Do you see the heart behind her made of wild cucumber vine?

The chickadees were out in droves and chased me around the woods begging for seeds. I couldn't refuse them they're so gosh-darned cute! I even had a woodpecker come to my hand, but didn't take a photo of that as I didn't want to scare him. But here he is on the tree ... a downy woodpecker ...

Now you would think having a woodpecker eat seeds from your hand would be a bit terrifying with that long beak. However, although they can blast into trees with their sharp bill, they are very gentle when picking up seeds. He didn't stab me with his beak, but gently picked them up and flew away. He returned about five times. I just loved that, and he is so very pretty close up!

As I walked along, I noticed there was quite a commotion going on further up the path with a bunch of tom turkeys. I don't know if it was the lighting, or if the males' colouring brightens up in springtime, but their heads were quite brilliant today!

Aren't they bizarre looking?

As I say, there was a commotion ahead, and I quickly walked up the path to see what they were up to.

Male strutting was going on, and the toms were fighting each other. It was strange to watch, there were no females around, just these silly toms all boasting about who was better looking etc. They would push into each other and wrestle with their beaks, beat each other with their wings and duck under and over each other. It was crazy stuff!

Here are a few ready to make a turkey sandwich ...

Then they started grabbing each other's faces! Oh yeah, nasty stuff.

Then one bright bird decided he was going to show off his beautiful tail feathers. 

He fanned out his tail, and plumped up all his feathers and strutted around in a circle. 

Then they all wanted to show of their lovely tail feathers, so strutting around in circles with tails fanned out became the new game, with a bit of face chewing and pushing and shoving for good measure.

They were quite entertaining, but all this male ego fighting and strutting was completely wasted on the females. They were all gathered around eating seeds far from the males. But I enjoyed the show and told the boys I would share their antics on my blog. 

Now I'll leave you with a brilliant photo of a male cardinal ... trust me, that's him ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Wendy

Linking up with ...