nature of things

my mind searches for colour
a silhouette catches my eye
the colour of a frigid winter day
black, white and grey.


birds in their puffed up manner
dove looks like a partridge
perched in a pear tree
against the frozen sky.



wren has set out a cake
in case visitors decide to
stop in for some much needed conversation
but instead of waiting for anyone;

she digs in herself with seed & suet

the buffet set out for others is enticing

sweet little grey boy waits patiently

for a turn at the new place.

a pair of old friends the golden finches

make their way down the lane

to have some time with wren.

they have no problem with the house being a mess.

chickadee flies overhead and spots the party

he invites himself and joins in on the feast.

mr. finch officially declares it an occasion

and calls for the rest of the clan to join them.

they come over right away to see what all the fuss is about

and find a nice place for feasting themselves.

mr. and mrs. cardinal stroll over from the neighbours

and add the much needed colour to what was lacking.

feeling a bit of an outcast the sparrow sits on the outer edge

waiting for a proper invite to the festivities.

there is beauty in these grey days of winter

it flies above us

it sits in front of us

it takes a place at our table.

in need of inspiration

i have a room in my house that has many purposes.
just before the holidays i decided to make abbey's play room into a permanent place to do crafts.
she is getting older now. i have big plans for this room.
this room has done it all playroom, sewing room, scrap booking room, guest room, storage, painting with oils/watercolours, gift wrapping station for christmas, place to play with photographs...

...i have had many different visions for this room...sometimes all i might need is one thing to inspire me...ok
change the lighting...i have a thing for chandeliers...can one have too many.

this one was purchased at a local lighting store, Graham's, that carries both antiques and new...

i love it...next add an inspirational chair...a found object of desire at a local art show held on the historic house and land of "now and then antiques"...
there were two and i bargained down to what i thought was a fair price...done. i love them.

an inspirational pet you say...jade...well yes she is a bit more of a

distraction...but those are the kind of distractions i like.

i have so many ideas floating around in head for this

room...those will have to wait...now to do something crafty in my craft room...i actually still need

one more christmas present... for a well deserved ballet teacher.

this year i was trying to be frugal and creative at the same time.

they go hand in hand sometimes.

i saw this on a blog and i can't remember where...but blogs are inspirational.

i have made several sets of these given at christmas to teachers, house cleaners, friends.

HANDMADE COASTERS

# 1 you make a trip to your local do-it-yourself store. i went to the big orange depot.

find the tile of your choice to make attractive and useful coasters. they do hold the moisture.

my choice antique gold. they have a rough elegance. the cost for 9 tiles is under $6.00.

#2 buy clear coat rustoleum painter's touch...i like the matte finish. i think it was $2/3.

#3 you will need feet or cork for the bottom of your coaster, so they won't scratch furniture $2.

# 4 you will need ink which i purchased at target for around $3.00 each.

i personally like this brand because i use a lot of her stuff for scrap booking.

#5 you need some beautiful stamp pads. i have had these for years...i believe i originally got

them from michael's. a wonderful place for every craft imaginable.

i use a self healing mat under most of what i do just because it protects the table.

i lay out my tiles to decide which ones i will use...the ones to the left were my mess up ones

from christmas time...which in the end i managed to salvage by re-stamping and giving them to my son, david for his apartment...he was very happy.

then you just pick your colour ink and stamp and start having fun...these

will work nicely for abbey's ballet teacher.

while i was working on them another son, ethan came in and wanted a set for his room...

those are his on top...

now they dry for several hours and i will spray them with a clear coat of rustoleum.

drying time on this is suggested 24 hours.

paint on a protected surface and a well ventilated, humid free area.

now you just add the feet and a pretty ribbon...

voila...an inexpensive gift... for all those many people in

our lives that do so many valuable things...like teach our children.

bit of sunshine

a little bit of sunshine goes a long way.

oranges and sunshine are synonymous for this florida born girl.

i crave sunshine in the winter.

so here at dash home farm we make our own...with a little help from

this wonderful fruit, the orange or as is often referred to around here

the sunshine fruit.

my sis, many of you know as meems@ hoe and shovel just

did a post on our father's garden and his citrus.

click on sunshine fruit to see that post on her new blog, For the Love of Florida...this is also a good place to receive a bit of sunshine in these wintery days.

while i make dinner... abbey and dh cut, place, squeeze...

cut, place, squeeze...
i can almost hear the rhythm...

we are a little giddy with the wafting smell of orange peel being crushed.

then when we do get to partake of this orange goodness...all

at once you feel lighter, healthier, full of sunshine...in the middle of a

grey dark winter's day.

how refreshing...renewing...a bit of revival.

being gifted

over the weekend my dh and abigail brought me unopened tulips.




they were hoping they were purple...my favourite colour...but they were not sure.

they did good...what a beautiful hue of purple they are...how sweet of them to gift me with such an elegant flower.

blessed morn

the air is filled with song.
the birds are in their chorus.


all is right with the world this wet morning.

watching the birds this january morn has been most satisfying...
...they seem a little more active with the rain gently falling
and not quite as cool temps... it is 59 degrees as opposed to nearly freezing.

this is downey woodpecker just a tiny thing...not more than a few inches.


he is new to dash home farm...welcome sweet boy.


mr. cardinal seems content enough.

mr. bluebird is on watch as he often is over the mrs. and their nesting box.

sometimes they are able to enjoy a bath together.

a pair of yellow finches sit together quietly after eating many niger seeds.

i put out a feast of suet and black sunflower seeds yesterday...

to bid my bird friends to move in a little closer.

chickadee is spying out the prospects

but hasn't made the leap to the new buffet.

it is quite soaked now.

we shall see... we shall see...

big girl

abbey will be having a birthday this month.
she has been asking to get her ears pierced for a few years
but we wanted her to be old enough to make the decision
and care for them herself.

off to sweet and sassy we went.
this place describes abbey to a tee.
here she is trying to build up courage to have the piercing done.


as i have mentioned before, she is the princess and the pea.
i have always cut the tags out of her clothes because they bother her.
she has always worn a slip or something soft under her princess dresses because they itch her.
her sheets and blankets have to be soft or she wants nothing to do with them.
so even though this was what she wanted, it took about 20 -30 minutes for her to convince herself that she would go thru with it.

she nearly lept off the chair with the first piercing.
and then a good 10-15 minutes of talking her into the next one.
at some point i said let's just take the one-eared pierced pirate out of here.
she knows i would so she agreed to finish what we came to do.


here we are after.
whew!
at least she won't be one of those that has multiple piercings.

that's my pirate, ur i mean princess!