Sunday, January 19, 2014

Mea Culpa!
I missed a week of blogging.  I'm trying to
blog faithfully once a week but last weekend
I just didn't have all that much to say.   And we
spent most of the January 11/12 weekend
packing up Christmas and storing it away
for another year.    I miss my Christmas
tree but I have to admit it is nice to be back
to normal around the house.  


This weeks blog is short on thrills and
excitement too so I decided to raid my
photo stash for some activities from the
past summer to report on.

DH and I spent an afternoon visiting the
Raptors Centre at Mountsberg Conservation
area in August during our vacation.   This
beautiful Barn Owl was one of two raptors
used in a live show there.   I guess because
it was a week day there were hardly any
visitors at the centre so it was just DH and
I and one other guy watching the show.

The Barn Owl's name was Jazz and 
she was around 9 years old.   Most
Barn Owls in the wild only live 3 or 
4 years so Jazz was an old lady indeed
but she flew around the show area's 
enclosure with grace and breathtaking
beauty.


There were lots of Red Tailed Hawks
in the pens around the centre.   All of
the birds there had been brought to the
centre after being found injured in the
wild.   If they can be nursed back to 
health and released back into freedom
again they are.   But if the injuries are
permanent the birds are given a home
at the centre which allows visitors an
opportunity to see them up close.


This little guy was all ruffled and 
shedding feathers.   A young Red
Tailed Hawk perhaps?   I can't 
remember now.

There were a couple of Bald Eagles,
a Golden Eagle and a Gyrfalcon there
as well.  


And out in the park proper we saw this Heron
stalking through the waters of the man made
lake, while Ospray and Buzzards flew over
head.   

With the destructive Ice Storm that swept through
our area over Christmas I wonder what the
many conservation areas are going to do.  No
doubt they've got a massive clean up to do and
trees to check wherever visitors might walk
looking for broken branches that haven't 
fallen yet.   It's going to be a massive and
expensive job.


I paid a visit to Michael's yesterday and came
home with lots of fabulous stash.    Micron pens
for Zentangling, copic markers for colouring, 
washi tape, stamps, jewels, paper .... oh I had
a blast!!!



A new sketch book, more pretty papers, a new
embossing folder for my Cuttlebug, Gelatos for
journaling .... Yummy!!!


I've done a few pages in my Smash book.  The
black embellishments on these two pages were
made on my Cuttlebug.   Cool eh?   That's my
DH in the white shirt.


Another Smash book spread.

This was the day after Thanksgiving when we
had an open house for friends to drop by for
goodies, tea and chatting.


And more "tangles".   This one in blue
marker.


And this in black.

After a period of warmth when temperatures
rose to +6 Celsius at the beginning of this
week and have been lingering around -2 Celsius
by weeks end we are now facing temperatures
around -15 Celsius for this week, which does
not factor in the wind chill.    This winter is
taking a lot out of us this season and there is still
two full months of it to get through.   

Stay warm all!!

Cheers!!



4 comments:

stitcherw said...

Wonderful pictures of the birds, the one poor little guy whose molting sure looked like he was out of sorts. We've been having the horribly cold weather here as well. This past week was a bit better, but now they are saying the temps are going to drop way down again. UGH!! I'm so ready for winter to be over.
Sue

Andrea said...

Love the owl. I will never get tired of seeing an owl photograph. Your zentangle looks amazing. Have fun with all of the new stash, should keep you going for a bit! Stay safe and warm yourself, that is just too cold!

Judy S. said...

Great bird photos, Judy. That must have been a really interesting trip! Hope you've got lots of projects to keep you busy during the winter chill; here the sun has finally broken through the fog. Hurrah! Stay warm, and happy stitching.

Brigitte said...

Great pictures of the birds that you show here. Birds are wonderful animals and I always love to have them in the garden
Scrapbooking is going great with you. I also started a scrapbook quite a while ago because I didn't know where to put the occasional bits and pieces that I didn't want to throw away. I saw your idea on scrapbooks on your blog and you encouraged me to have one myself. And that's what I have been doing. Every now and then I add a page now. A good idea, thanks!