snow day

surprise – yesterday we woke up to snow

I got up early to thaw out the hummingbird feeder

poppa hummer was waiting for me

the chickadees were waiting impatiently

a large, healthy squirrel spent the day dining on sunflower seeds

although our weather is never as severe as other parts of Canada

our critters are not prepared for extended cold periods

baking helps keep the house warm

white chocolate, ginger cookies

and double chocolate, banana fruit loaf

it wouldn’t be Christmas without the special baking

cutting shifu between cookie batches

slowly working on the wool/silk hanten

I struggled with whether to hand or machine stitch

because it is woven fabric I finished all the cut edges on the serger

but all the rest is hand stitched

P.S. – if you want to see some real winter and avoid the tired old reruns on T.V.

try NHK world, Japan’s national broadcaster

https://www3.nhk.or.jp

(sorry, this link doesn’t seem to work  – it is correct – so you can type it in)

click on “Travel and Culture

scroll down to “Editor’s Picks

watch the three, 28 minute videos

Winter Wonderland

Kushiro

Yatsugatake

the photography is breathtaking

enjoy!