For the Birds

"Be still my feeding heart" ~ Robert Reddon

I can't help it. I'm a crafty Mama. I've got my ECE diploma and everything. Add to that two kids under 8 years of age, a constant exposure to the internet (Pinterest is my inspiration mecca), and a love of all things aesthetic, and you get a new craft project every week.

It was a long weekend at our house this past weekend, so I decided that our crab apple needed decorating again. I mean it's been less than a week since I took down the exterior Christmas decorations! High time to redecorate in my books. And this is a project that I have loved since I found it on a crunchy mama blog a few years ago. This year's version was for the birds though.

What you'll need:

• A pan to freeze water in ( I used a couple of cake pans)
• A variety of items to put in the pan (only limited by your imagination)
• String
• Water

Ok, easy peasy here. Make sure you pick a receptacle that you will be able to get your frozen decor out of. I like cake pans because the are a good size to see from the house and road. Cut a length of string to drape into your pan. This is how you are going to hang your creation outside (mine hang in our crab apple, but you could string yours on a fence, gate or laundry line, wherever works for you). Now fill your pan with decorations; think tissue paper, dried flowers, feathers, greenery, berries or whatever strikes your fancy. Make it into a bird feeder with nuts and seeds, or a people pleaser with colourful items that bring you joy mid-January on a cold winter's day.

Once you have added your hand-picked items, carefully place your pan in the freezer. After it is frozen, remove from pan and hang for all to see and enjoy. Now you have a bright spot in your world and the cost is FREE!

How do you chase away the winter doldrums at your house?

Summer's End

Forest walk
with an eye for colour
Look ye there
I see another!

Reds, yellows,
greens and brown
A rainbow amongst the trees
and all around.




Feathered friends
and furry ones too
There's lots of life left
Despite Autumn's hue.

Those fleeting rays of sunshine
we chase into the trees
Our false sense of summer;
a pleasure and a tease.

These days a memory
one to cherish true
as winter approaches close
and balmy days are wished adieu

Editing Africa

For those of you who read this blog back when I regularly contributed excerpts about my travels through Africa, I want to thank you today. Just as it was a long process to write the story, it is a long process to edit it. It has all taken much longer than the original 10 months that I was gone for, but every time I step back into the tale, I am transported. And the encouragement that I received from you then, feeds me every time I push words around on the page today.

So, I just wanted to let you know that I have not given up the tale. There are 244 pages and counting, with new subtitles and potential pictures to be added. I am determined to see this project through to the end once more. I wandered through Zimbabwe today celebrating birthdays with friends, adding a little here and taking a little away there. And YOU my readers were with me.

Thanks.

And now, back to finishing the task at hand - dinner!

Add the pasta, and this will be a tasty treat

The Making of a Beet Salad

Stir beets slow

rooaaasssstttttiiiiiinnnnnnngggggggg

in oven Hot while

quinoa bubbles pop

don't stop until

a soft

com-

bin-

a-tion

they transform in

to

dinner salad

seasonal

delicacies

in tummies

yumm...

  Now, where did that chicken go?

Sunflower

cool breeze

autumn sneeze

breath torn asunder

at the end of summer

as a burnt umber face cries

to look at the skies

but all i can see

is the beginning of allergies

no cry for frost yet

i'll pay my dues, plenty wet

from the window seat indoors

with tissues & tinctures

and a memory of summer fun

and your beauty, hard won