A Green Santa....

 The sun does shine in the winter time. I had to take a shot to show the glow coming in our front door. You can see snow is partially on the ground. It didn't warm up enough for it to be gone but more of it did melt. 

My new project of a planting of seeds from trees. It is a bonsai tree kit and I had to place the soil into these plastic lined pots and water them in for growth. I have them setting onto of an aquarium hood so the heat from the water heater will seep up a little bit into the pots. I planted only half of the seeds provided so if I have any failures in starting them. It will be years before they become a bonsai tree but it will be fun to grow trees in pots. 

We have a new refrigerator and we have been slowing adding things onto the front of the door.  The kids brought us these small school pictures. Ou grand daughter decided to glue them to some paper and illustrate around them.  She has butterflies around hers while her brother below has dinosaur tracks.  The oldest brother gets to have a shark next to his photo.  We did get larger photos to put in our picture frames on the mantel. This project by Ella was done in the car while they were driving here from their Illinois home. 

I cleared off my drawing table and she sat at it a lot of the time making pictures. As you can see she has made her mark on the top so no one else can use it but her. I don't even know how the peace symbol of the sixties has been brought down to her today. 

I was confused about why the Santa is in green. I learned from the PBS show "All Creatures Great and Small" that the Santa Claus of England during the 1940's was green.  I think Coca Cola ads turned him red in our country. 

We are warmer today but the deep freeze is coming back again.  I will make one last trip to the grocery store and get meds tomorrow.  It will be stocking up for the long haul of the real winter.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Thursdays Things.....

 The more I look at this ornament the more I am amazed with it. The wreaths avove the windows are painted green. The garland is painted abd the clock has its hands painted on with the nubers on the face too. The tree has red dots on it for lights which would have been quite a feat to paint. 

This has become a project. The solution for how they will be hung is still unknown. I did string up all of them so far in strings of four or five. 

Maybe a mobile is in the works and yet I have other ideas for the displaying of them. Stringing them up was fun using a large sewing needle to stab and tie them all in a long vertical string of cranes. I have seven of these so far. 

I worked with the planting of seeds that are of four different kinds of trees. It is a bonsai set that my wife gifted me. I will share more down the road if they actually do start sprouting. My book of directions talks about a longer than expected tim is going to be before I see any sprouts. 

We were warm er today. It made going for groceries and meds an easier task. The was and is a mes up with my insulin supply.  Doctor's assistant is to blame as she did keep up my prescription amount and the insurance says I am not due for any more for a couple of days more.  I will be calling the doctor's office in the morning to get them to do their job correctly. I will be kind even though I am miffed.

Thanks for stopping by.

Middle of the Week's Worth....

 Decopage from the past hangs one the wall on an old house board and a magazine picture stuck down well. .

 

While I was making trips out to the deck to shoot photos of the moon, I had to stop and visit the city. The village has a lot of energy at night with all the people out and about on the streets. The lights are on and the people are busy doing so many things.  Church choir is going on and people like sharing some hot chocolate.

The moon doesn't really change much but it is always a challenge to see if I can get a focused shot of it. I had to dodge the snow piles that are left in certain spots. I also had to wait for it to finally get up above the blue spruce tree. 

The shiny for the day is a group of ones hanging too close to each other. That is one of my favorite indents and the house is a good one. 

It is too cold to get out but I do have to go tomorrow for meds. The snow is sort of freezing itself away with the cold evaporation. There are big patches of grass showing and I see we have two warmer days coming up. It will be great to be warmer even though 42 degrees F. isn't hot.   Thanks for stopping by today.

Red Hot....

 

The plant is in a downstairs spare bedroom. It is cold in there and the hardy geranium is doing well.  I guess cold for the plant is probably 65 degrees  F. The thermostat is broken in there and I just shut the doors to keep it from cooling of the rest of the basement.

We have vaulted ceilings in our living room, dining room, and kitchen.  On really cold days it is just helpful to turn on the gas fireplace and let it heat up all that air above us. The decorations are not down yet there but it will be happening soon. We woke up to single digit numbers this day and it looks like we will stay in that area for a couple of days. 

The poinsettia is looking more like a bonsai with its falling leaves. I lost a stem of it immediately from the grocery bagger breaking it partially while stuffing it into the cart.  Its two remaining stems will keep on putting out the red color. 

Instead of dumping the rest of my ornament shots, I am gong to pull "an ornament a day" until I get them all shared. This indent is a modern version of the old time ones. It is a great ornament with great color. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Cedar Tree.....

 An endocrinologist appointment today. As I was leaving I took a shot next to the ramp.  As I look at the photo I wonder what is with the cedar tree growing up there. It must be in a patio pot. Probably it was volunteer as they do that all over Iowa sprout up.

This is an accidental shot of the ground.  It was not ice but just gray cement from the months of construction which has been going up there for three months. 

I shot an ornament to share with another soldier watching thing going on. The maker of the house almost got too much textured snow on it erasing some of its features. 

A shot of me in the indent shining ornament is impossible to shoot without getting the photographer's reflection.  We are still enjoying the tree so it is still up in the sun room. I keep lighting it just like my neighbor John and his house lights. His are still on so mine are too.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Just Shots....No Words.

 

 

 

Project Day...

 We never had much of a snowfall but what we have is leaving slowly. The tracks of the rabbits in the snow helps some of the snow to thin out. 

My second story deck is almost clear of snow. I did shovel some out to make it melt away more quickly. 

My project for the day was to make a new top for my older bird feeder.  My height of the new top was determined by what recycle wood that I had.  I took a sturdy old piece and cut it into four equal lengths. That meant that my new roof was seven and a half inch tall.  I used leftover pieces from a wainscotting project and also strips of one by tow for another project.

I had a two leveled feeder at my old place and wanted to recreate that here on my old platform. I am thinking snow won't be as much of a problem at the lower level so seed is always available. The platform is not in good shape so I may have to return in another season and rebuild or replace some of that wood. I have pictures from the old place where the neighbor cat would crawl up into that lower level and sit there checking out the view. Tom is long gone but he was the neighbor's cat that loved my wife and came to visit her often. 

This gives me two trays which could increase the chance for cardinals. I looked out and laughed earlier as there wasn't a bird in sight on the feeder but the juncos were on the ground around it feeding. They really prefer eating on ground level but when desperate in a snow storm they will land on a feeder. 

 

Thanks for checking in today.