Wine Tasting Gala

Our local health care facility had their third annual wine tasting gala tonight to raise funds for their transportation service fund.  Since I donated several of my Arbonne body care products for the silent auction, I received two free tickets to attend.  So, Bike man graciously agreed to go with me tonight. 

The facility was decorated with lots of gold and glitter!

The hallways near the activity room and the entrance of the health care facility were tastefully decorated.  Lots of people enjoying a glass of wine and conversations.

Walked through the silent auction room.  Here's a wine sign on recycled barn wood that was made by my friends/neighbors Jill and Mike Chandler.  Their business, Once Abarn A Time, can be found on Etsy or Facebook.

Here's a beautiful quilt made by a local woman from the Colfax, Wisconsin area.

Actually there were about 6 quilts for the silent auction.  I think the quilts were the best part of the silent auction!  Did I bid on anything tonight?  Nope.....trying to downsize our belongings if you know what I mean.

Saw some of my former library patrons tonight....they a few had questions for me, of course.  Do you have a different job?  Are you part of the hiring process for the new Director?  Are you going to be involved in the Colfax area?  No, no and no!!!!!!!  At some point I know the questions will stop, but until now I'm just going to focus on starting a new chapter in my life.

Trees Were Talking

Headed out for a snowshoe walk this afternoon.  Halfway through my walk, I noticed the cloudy skies were opening up from the West.  I just had to stop, turn around and snap a photo, or two.  Those blue skies have been vague during the month of January, so when we do have sunshine and blue skies, you just have to stop and give thanks!

Even the sunshine filtering through the trees was magical this afternoon.  The sunshine didn't last long....maybe an hour or hour and a half and then the clouds filtered back in.  The temperature held steady at around 29 degrees with a brisk south wind blowing.  Just enough breeze to keep my face and neck chilly, so I was very happy I wore my fleece turtle to keep my neck and face warm while snowshoeing.  

I just have to mention that the trees were talking during my hike this afternoon.  Enough squeaking and moaning to make me stop every once in awhile and just listen.  Have you ever been out in the woods on a breezy day and heard the trees talking?  It's beautiful and unusual all at the same time.  If you've never walked through the woods, then you probably don't know what I'm talking about.  In breezy conditions, trees will rub against one another, or tree limbs will sway back and forth creating an unusual moaning or high pitch sound.  I just think of it as the trees are talking or communicating with us.  We just need to be there at the right time to listen.

Ended my day down on the lake with Bike man ice fishing.  Our neighbor came down on the ice and drilled a few holes and chatted with us.  Bike man's oldest son Mike also stopped late in the afternoon for an hour or so.  It's always nice to have company stop by since our winter days seem long and quiet.  Bike man built a nice fire to keep us warm during our ice fishing.  Enjoyed a glass of Merlot around the fire....heck yes, you gotta stay warm on the frozen lake!!!  The sunset tonight was beautiful, as the sky opened up again right at sunset and then followed by more cloudy skies.  Weather man is forecasting rain tonight and mixed precipitation.  This has been the most unusual winter.

Savory Verses Sweet

Savory Buttermilk Scones

Who loves scones???  Me, me, me!  For weeks now, I've just been craving a savory scone verses a sweet scone.  Several months ago I bought the most delicious savory cheesy scone at the Viroqua Food Co-op and I vowed I would recreate the same recipe.  Well, I found a buttermilk scone recipe and just adapted it to include "savory" and cheesy.  My recipe still doesn't compare to the Viroqua Food Co-op scone, but it will do for now.

So, I took a basic buttermilk scone recipe from the Alice's Tea Cup cookbook and added Herbs de Provence and grated sharp cheddar cheese to the recipe.  Wow, it worked wonderfully and I was very happy at the results.  Just a tip, please use a sharp cheddar cheese and fresh buttermilk for this recipe...fresh buttermilk is the key to producing a nice moist scone.

Just a little background on Herbs of Provence.  This mix of herbs is perfect for baking and contains rosemary, fennel, thyme, basil, tarragon, dill weed, oregano, lavender, chervil and marjoram.  If you do not have Herbs of Provence, then I'd suggest you use Italian seasoning.

I've added my recipe to the Turtle Recipes in the menu above.  From time to time I'll be posting other scone recipes that I absolutely love.  Thanking for checking in with me. 

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!