My Everything Corner

I don't notice the cold when the cold looks like this. I can't feel the freezing in this wonderland of bliss. Winter, knowing His visit can be quite unpleasant... Once in awhile, offers this exquisite present.                    Andrea Ostapovitch

For those of us connected on Instagram, this will be a repeat performance in photos. How is December treating you thus far?  As per our family's tradition, we all get colds to varying degrees.  But so far, the illness has been mild as has the weather and so December has been mostly quite joyful.  After my daughter's 16th birthday this past weekend, I put the tree up and have worked my way through wrapping quite a few gifts, a job that continues today, along with decorating the rest of the house.  Then the baking begins. Now there, in the baking department, I must file a complaint. Why have the mint chocolate chips disappeared off the shelf?  I have a recipe of whipped shortbread with mint chips that we simply cannot live without! I haven't attempted it yet, but I intend to make my own.  If you have any experience at all in the art of making flavoured chocolate chips, please share your knowledge.  I would be most grateful. Besides the shortbrea...

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a wonderful Fall and are enjoying preparing for the holidays.  I don't want to spend too much time complaining, but we had the most miserable fall in memory. I do try to not allow the weather to affect my mood, but my goodness, all that snow and freezing in September really did dampen my spirits. Aside from that, I've been having fun teaching myself to knit, and I'll have to get some project photos up soon. I just wanted to drop in and share this sweet photo of my kitty and wave a happy hello to you all.

Spiders are common, very common.  For a lot of people, and I'm sorry if you're one of them, spiders are far too common.  One of the most prevalent types of spiders are orb weavers. What is rare about the arachnid I took a photo of was the size and the unique shape.  What a beauty! I understand if you can't get past the creepiness factor, but I just love how this photo turned out. I love birds of all sorts, but I am especially fascinated with our crows and ravens.  I'm always happy to have my camera handy when they're around.

There's nothing like birds to bring life and cheerfulness to our landscapes.  In the winter, birds are scarce on the prairies and I can hardly wait for Spring to arrive so welcome them all back. Here are two photos of beautiful specimens.

This makes my day every time I see it.

There was a lot of shrill chirping in our yard this morning as these little fluffballs popped, one by one, of the confinement of their shells.  What a joy it was to watch it all unfold.  The proud, and very protective Daddy led his first two away from the nest as Mama finished up with the other two.  Let me tell you, that Daddy bird has a mouth on him!  He gave me the 'what-for' the entire time I was outside even when I was nowhere near them. I kept my distance, of course, but every ounce of me wanted to snuggle these little sweeties.  And as I heard the coyotes howling so nearby last night, I wished I could bring them all in and keep them safe.  Of course, they all made it through their first night, only to be led across the busy road to the pond on the other side. Just look at these adorable little critters! Before I get to the pictures, I have a quick question for my fellow bloggers.  I have tried to fix the problem, all of my settings ar...

It's great when you come across wildlife that is way too busy to care what you doing with your camera.  Foxes don't look their best in the spring when they are losing their coats, but she's a beauty nonetheless. This rainbow went on forever, it lasted for well over an hour and was incredibly vibrant. After taking the photo, I just sat on the couch and stared out my window. After the rainbow was over and the clouds were breaking up, the sky became very dramatic and again, the color lasted for quite a while. It was a nice evening to sit in front of the picture window. And then there's the train.  I hope to get more and better shots of trains this year.

Our devoted Mama bird is back!  How do I know it's the same bird? It's quite obvious she knows us as she is practically tame when are close, sometimes very close. We can't touch her, and wouldn't try, but we can sit within a few feet of her and have a pleasant little chat.  I like to think we are making her very difficult job of sitting there all day a little more interesting with our visits.  She has four precious eggs and we doing everything in our power to keep them safe.  We are so excited for hatching day!  Please send some good luck wishes her way...and have a great rest of your week.

It's time for the big reveal!!! I hope everyone has had as wonderful an experience as I did.   In all my travels around Canada, which are nowhere close to being done, one of my absolute favourite places is Whitehorse Y.T..  It is so incredibly beautiful and I can't wait to visit again someday. It was so fun to receive a package from there and to meet a wonderful new friend, Jessica! I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I knew from the moment I had the parcel in my hands that I was holding something a little extra special.  As I started to take that parcel apart, I had a smile that I felt right to my core. My name had been given to the sweetest 15 year old girl and she had put her heart and soul into that wee package.  There is one thing in particular that you will not see in the photos, a small item that I will treasure for a lifetime. Jessica had taken a quick peek at my blog, and could easily see that I love cats and nature.  Trust me when I...

I'm awake far earlier than I should be and I don't want to wake the rest of the household, so I'm in bed reading. I have my bedroom window open, and after such a dead quiet spell through winter, I am in disbelief as to how wonderfully noisy it is outside. Just listen for yourself...

It seems that our Spring has finally arrived.  I have plants coming up in the garden, more on that later, and I have spent a day or two outside in just a t-shirt (pants too, course).  My son and I went on a picnic this past weekend and got our first mosquito bite as well a bunch of wood ticks. I'll spare you those photos, but neighbors beware -they are back and they are plentiful! My dog loves to get his belly wet, and has been spending quite a bit of time in our temporary pond.  I'm afraid it is not going to be there for long though as we are far dryer than normal for this time of year. It is so wonderful to have all the songbirds back giving life to the outdoors again. Too bad about that twig obscuring her face, but otherwise a cute shot. A warm dog is a sleepy dog. Loving all the geese action!

I had a fun morning and I hope all of you did too. I spent a good portion of my morning packaging up a gift for my new friend.  I cannot tell you her name, because she doesn't even know that she is my new friend yet and it is a surprise. What I can do is give you all a sneak peek of what I am sending off this afternoon for the tea cup exchange.  My Christmas card list just keeps getting longer and longer due to this wonderful make-fun project.  Thank-you again Stephanie, I hope this continues for years to come.

It is hard to believe that it is April 5th and I had to dress up in full winter gear - snow pants, balaclava, goggles, you name it - I had it on and I was only going out for a bit.  When Spring does finally arrive, I am going to be rejoicing. On a much happier note, I had the opportunity to take photos of this gorgeous fella yesterday, also still in his winter coat. Also, I have signed up for Stephanie's Tea Cup Exchange. I'm so excited to find out who I will be sending to!  Check it out HERE if you already haven't.

It's late March, and it is cold. But on the day we noticed the ice cream shop was re-opened, it was 2 degrees above zero C*.  Apparently, that is warm enough, because there were several customers enjoying their first "Scoops" of the season.  The good news is, it won't melt and if you drop it, you can most likely pick it up out of some clean snow!

I have to say, I was a little nervous getting out of my vehicle for this one.  I grew knowing that under no circumstance should one try to approach one of these animals.  My husband reassured me that beavers cannot move very quickly and so I would be fine.  There was no sign of an imminent attack, and so I took my time observing and taking snapshots. He kept his eye on me the entire time and I didn't push my luck. More interesting than the photos were the sounds of his munching. He was very loud! I found it all very adorable, but I was happy to get back to my vehicle again, without incident. Without further delay, say hello to Beatrice, a fine specimen of Canada's national animal... I'm sharing my photo on Eileen's critter loving blog HERE today...Thank-you Eileen!

While out for a drive yesterday, hoping to photograph some wildlife, we only met with one willing participant.  I suppose I should say indifferent because that is exactly what a porcupine is like.  You are lucky if he so much as glances at you, and forget about a second glance. This little guy just went about his business as though I was not even there.   We also saw several ravens, but as soon as we pulled over, they would fly off. I spotted an absolutely beautiful coyote, but he was also extremely shy.  I didn't even have time to get a shot of his backside. Normally, we see deer on every drive, but they too seemed to know I had my camera with me this time. Oh well, it's actually not that often that we get to see a porcupine alive.  Sadly, all too often, they are dead on the side of the road.  They don't move all that quickly, the poor things.  So I had a lot of fun just observing this little guy for a while. I've named him Pete... T...

This was our third trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, but this time we took the kids.  Our main goal was to take in a show every night, and we did just that.  Mystere, The Blue Man Group, and O, were all great performances. Of course there are so many things to keep you entertained during the days as well.  We were running around for 4 days putting many miles on our poor feet. We did pick up a bus pass which saved a lot of walking. Here is a small sampling of what we did... Koi at the Flamingo.  There is a small wildlife sanctuary at the back of the hotel which is definitely worth a visit. Swan at the Flamingo Water show at the Bellagio during the day. Night show at the Bellagio Quirky little birds at the Flamingo. Cactus gardens at Ethel M chocolate factory, not far from the airport. Dolphins at the Mirage from the below ground viewing level. Dolphin at the Mirage. A flamingo at the Flamingo of course! View of the Bellagio ...