Friends in the Forest

With the snow and cold temps upon us, it turns to the season of hibernation.  Living in the country has made me a finicky driver in the winter.  I have learned that going into town on a snow day is a low priority.  We have made several dates with friends but snow, ice, freezing rain has stepped in to the equation and we have chosen to hibernate instead.

On Christmas eve day the weather was too perfect to stay in.  We headed out to the west end and finally reconnected with our best sister friends!

 The three adults looked spectacular all geared up to walk in the woods.  I am not referring to the winter clothing, I am talking about the cameras!  Dave is sporting a full frame Canon with a 70 - 300 telephoto, Magda is modeling a 7D with 85mm prime and I had my Nikon 7000 kitted out in its lovely 70-200.  A pair of snowshoers came around the corner and exclaimed "WOW!"  we all turned to see if a deer was behind us but saw nothing.  The hiker said "You must all be professional photographers."  We looked at our feet, shuffled a bit to the left and said "well.... er.. no..." 

 We are used to seeing lots of deer at this location but only saw one charging through the deep woods.  The scenery and the girls did not disappoint though.  There were still lots of photo opportunities.  Here the girls found a tree decorated with all kinds of little things including a set of bells.  They had to stop to sing jingle bells!

Then it was chickadee feeding in the woodsy wonderland.  The light was magnificent! 

 And the day was finished off with some awesome face prints in the snow.  Bella said "Sid I was warned not to do this and now I will warn you not to try this, but watch this!"  and poof, Bella dropped face first into the snow.  I love this kid!!! 

A good friend helps wipe the snow off but a Momma does a better and more gentle job ;)
Thanks friends for the lovely day in the woods and a nice warm up to Christmas. 

And now for a bit of Christmas cheer, here a small contingent of the Sparrows choir preforming right before Christmas at Abottsford Seniors Residence.  The Sparrows Rock Abbostford House.

Sparrows

Winter Solstice

Mother Nature was not messing around today!  Within 24 hours we had 35 cm of snow and it was heavy, sticky and beautiful!

 Oh and a bit tasty too!

 First snow angel of the 2012/2013 winter!

 Mr Plow and assistant spent several hours perfecting our winter laneway.

 Big puffy snowflakes and balmy weather!

 More taste testing!

 Excited to have a white a Christmas!

 Snow Maggie... looook out!

 Groovy watching over the gang

 All the kids, Lilly, Sid, Groovy and Maggie

Geronimo!!!!!

Mom and Dad Rock the Town

Friday December 14th, Ken played in three different bands at the Glue Pot Pub.  It was a celebration for one of the musicians 50th birthday and it was a great night out!

Kenny was on stage rockin' the house and I was snapping pics.  It was a sold out event and some of Ken's family made it out and a bunch of hockey girlfriends came too.  Sid was having a great sleepover at her girlfriends house so everyone was playing that night.

 First band Ken was in was Aurora Jade.  He plays bass and sings back ups for her.  She is a bright and talented young woman (13 I think!) with a great future in the arts.

 Next up, Ken plays guitar and sings back ups with the Andy Mason Band.  What a great sound they had.

Notice the intensity on Kenny's face?  A good friend of mine pointed out how much it looks like Sidney when she is concentrating on her Kata's.  Such focus and determination!  This pic certainly proves that she comes by it naturally.

 Finally, the band that brings down the house every time, 4 Way Street.  A 7 piece musical explosion with a focus on harmonies and BIG sound.  CSN, Neil Young, Doobie Brothers are just a few of the names they cover.  They are a band that once you see once, you don't want to miss them ever again!

 Oh and did I mention how much fun we had?  Ken has such a great time playing music, and it shows. 

Please take time to check out the album in this link Rocking the Glue Pot Pub  It features all the band members and lots more pictures of my Rock Star!

I got home at two and had to take a peek at the pictures all taken with my BIIIGGG lens (love, love, love) and Kenny came home at 5.  It has taken us all week to recover and it was sooooo worth it!

Busy and Bokeh

Once again Christmas came early at our house.  We still have some Christmas fun to come but Ken wanted me to have my gift for the holiday season, not after!

 What did I get?  This picture is a clue. 

 And another clue....

 And finally, here is a shot of Lilly that "screams" as the sales guy said....  :)   Ultimate joy and Bokeh!  What is bokeh?  Well it is the blurred back / foreground you get using a small depth of field.  So essentially the subject is crisp and in focus but the surrounding picture is blurry.  This is only possible to achieve using a good lens and knowing your settings.  So have you guessed what I got?  Here is another clue..


:)   :)   :)

So then I had been saving up felting money for Ken's gift from Sid.  A Cajon, which is a Peruvian / Spanish drum.  So yes, he got gifted his gift early too!  Well, we needed something to take pictures of!

 Trying the cajon (pronounced ca-hon)

 Sid and Maggie mugging for the camera.

My handsome and very special man! 

 The felting has been sooooo busy!  I got another two orders this week.  One was for this beautiful Moon Fairy wall hanging

 She even comes off her branch so she can be held.

 And this is Indiana the Wonder Dog from Ohio.  He was recreated to be 8.5" long and then shipped to the states for Christmas.

He looks like baby Rebel!

Next on the felting roster is a little gift for my little girl, a border collie catching a frisbee, an airedale sculpted using her own fur and finally a long hair cat.  Enough to keep me busy for a few weeks and I have to start our valentines inventory for the shop.  Ye-haw!

Tomorrow night is a big sold out gig for Ken.  Hope to have some super duper pics from the show!

A new hobby

So Sid has discovered something she really enjoys.  Beat boxing.  Creative, inventive original... CRAZY MAKING!!  Ok, only crazy making when we are doing a puzzle and she accidentally beat boxes without knowing it for half an hour :)  See the beginnings here:  Sid Beat Boxes

Oh and check out these mittens I made for my good friend Magda.  Using the same upcycled wool sweater tutorial, she will no longer be directionally challenged when running the agility course with Zuni.  Due to the warm nature of the mittens, she better get cracking, cause come Spring these cozy hand warmers will be obsolete!

Sid's Choir had an awesome performance last weekend at Pressed

First we started off with a delicious tea and cookie.  Such a big kid now!

Then the kids sang for close to an hour.  It was amazing and most of them really enjoyed being in the limelight!

 Choir director Chris and his wife play a new Christmas Carole Chris wrote called Helping Santa's Garden Grow.  It is so funny, we are still singing it.

Having now had a taste for preforming, Sid and her friends do a little trio.

After all that singing it was off to dinner with the family before heading back home.  Nothing says delicious like eating blue jello with chopsticks ?!?

 We were really lucky this week to get a snow day with big fat fluttery snowflakes and friends to share them with!

 How delicious are they?  Well pretty good by the kids accounts but not filling enough to skip lunch.

 Sid was having great fun helping the little guy navigate the slippery hill in his puffy snowsuit.  Lots of giggles ensued.

 Snow is sooooo much fun! But it is definitely getting colder and so we tried this really cool tutorial
http://sewnnatural.com/blog/2012/11/super-easy-mitten-tutorial-diy.html

 That is Sid wearning her new mits and they are so warm and fuzzy.  I felted wool batting inside them and then needle felted the flowers for Sid.  Mine were attempt number two and they are comfy but a bit short on the wrists.  Will try another pair today, I think I have it down now.

 And lastly, here is a guest blog post I wrote for Sewn Natural with my newest mobile included!  Enjoy,

http://sewnnatural.com/blog/2012/11/a-surprise-guest.html