Dipped in Raspberry Juice

Purple Finch

Look what showed up in our yard several days ago.  Several Purple Finches just showed up....just like that!  They actually showed up near the end of our subzero weather earlier in the week.  First I saw one, then yesterday and today I saw several.  The one thing I noticed is that the finches seem to be just resting in the trees near our bird feeders and not really feeding like the other birds.  Weird.  I took this photo when the finch was just in his resting mode.  The Purple Finch is such a beautiful bird and I really appreciate seeing some color at this time of the year.  They really do look like they were dipped in raspberry juice.  Do you have birds in your yard?  If so, what kinds of birds.

First Things First

The very first week of January, I started tackling 10-year projects that I purposely ignored.  When I worked 40+ hours each week, I just didn't have the motivation to get some of my projects done at home.  So, here's one of my projects....altering the curtains in our bedroom.  We purchased these curtains years ago, but they were way too long in length for our bay window.  I'm embarrassed to say I was never able to pull the curtains closed, but then we live in the country so it probably doesn't matter anyway!!!  After a very quite project, I re-hemmed the curtains.  Why did I wait so many years to do this?  Geez    

I laid out the curtain panel on our bed to look over my sewing job before I hung them back up in the window.  Bad idea.  Aiden just couldn't resist and had to get all cozy on the curtain for his early afternoon nap. Crazy cat.  As you can see in the photo Abby is politely sleeping above the curtain panel.....thank you Abby!

My reward for getting the curtains re-hemmed was a late afternoon snowshoe walk in the Enchanted forest with Bike man.

 And the sun came out finally after four days of cloudiness.  Felt so good.........

Exploring Today

Rejoicing in a temperature around 21 degrees today, so I went exploring.  I've waited seven days to be able to snowshoe again in the Enchanted forest since the air temperatures have finally recovered from the recent Arctic blast.  No new snow fall since last week, but the trail was still crunchy and great for snowshoeing.

Oh my gosh, look what I found.  An eight point buck that apparently died.  I'm not sure how we missed this last week when we were in the same area, but the deer head was frozen in the ground and it's body was pretty decomposed.  Nice rack on the deer, don't you agree? 

This is my favorite spot in the forest....a good place to take a rest and enjoy the scenery of the Hay River. 

After heading up the hill from the river, I added a new trail to snowshoe.  I believe I walked 3 to 3 1/2 miles this afternoon.  My heart was beating and I was sweating, so it was a good winter workout.  Along the way I enjoyed a flock of birds that followed me from tree to tree....couldn't tell what kind of birds they were.  Then I heard the scolding of a red squirrel, they are so annoying!  Spooked a hawk, but that was about it.  Basically, it was a very quiet snowshoe walk in the enchanted forest....made my day perfect.

This Week's Project

Yikes, I haven't sewn a garment for years, but here was my attempt to sew an easy stretch knit tunic.  I slowly started working on the tunic on Monday and finished it today.  I added the infinity scarf to jazz up the basic grey color.  I wouldn't say this tunic is professionally sewn by any means, but it was my first garment in years.  I'm kind of thinking about focusing on quilting instead!  Let me ponder that thought and get back to you!

Who Gets Excited?

Who gets excited about visiting a new grocery store?  Hmmm, me!  I had heard about Woodman's grocery stores in Southern Wisconsin and other places around the Midwest, but I had never shopped in one, until today.  First, you have to know there is a sign on the door that says, "debit cards and cash only."  Thankfully, Bike man pre-warned me about this, so we made sure we were supplied with cash for our shopping trip.  Kind of felt weird using cash, since we switched over to credit cards years ago, and we hardly write out checks any longer.  I guess it's just a matter of planning ahead.

Holy cow, I stepped into the store and couldn't believe the size.  There were isles and isles of food....fresh, packaged and frozen.  I think I'd have to compare the size of this store to a Wal-Mart SuperCenter, but minus all the clothes, housewares, toys, hunting and sports items.  And when was the last time you saw fresh cactus in your produce section? 

Or fresh aloe vera leaves?

Or, or, these funny  little fruits.....and a little miniature pineapple?

We could not resist the $2 each fresh pineapples, and believe me, there were LOTS of pineapples.  So, after about an hour and a half, Bike man and I decided we couldn't go through all the isles and we were getting really tired.  I think we were both suffering from food shopping overload.

I just have to tell you, I still feel like I'm on vacation and my retirement still hasn't sunk in yet.  I do find myself frequently asking, what day of the week is it???

Bike man had a meeting in the city this morning, so I came along for the ride.  During his meeting, I found myself a Starbucks coffee and then eventually had a little time to shop at a local department store before heading back to meet up with Bike man.  I am surprised at how fast a person can fill in their week with running errands, going to outings or meetings, grocery shopping, doctor appointments, outdoor recreation and the list goes on.  I'm liking retirement more and more everyday.......