I Like Thursday #49

Sorry I am a wee bit late to the show today.  I have had a busy last couple of days, and lost track of time, and a wee bit of confusion about what day it was, and I am essentially single, and alone.  My kids are adults.  I am still trying to figure out how there are days I am busier than I ever was when I was working full time.  I then wonder how did I ever get anything accomplished then?

Oh well I digress...Welcome to my 49th week of I like Thursday, thanks to LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color for encouraging us to find something each week that is positive, and we like.

I like that even before the first day of winter and the winter solstice I have been getting bombarded with seed catalogs.  Leafing through and thinking about what you want to plant moves your head from the long, cold, dark, gray days to thinking about spring, and the new growing season, the smell of freshly turned soil.

I like to repurpose things, and I saved all of the packing paper that has came the past few months.  I used it to wrap Christmas gifts.

I smile thinking of the song My Favorite Things....brown paper packages tied up with string....

I like this baker's twine.  I used it to hang Christmas Cards, and tie up my Christmas packages.

I love this bookmark that I received at the guild Christmas party.  I always need a bookmark!

Finally I love Bobbin's new toy I picked out for her for Christmas.  This guy has had a lot of play the last couple of days. 

The downside to all the play?  We have caused a wee bit of destruction doing it.  The chipmunk was flung, it hit a crystal clock that fell over on the glass TV stand that we inherited from the great aunt and uncle, and the TV stand actually chipped a shard of glass off!  Anything breakable is now moved to prevent further breakage hopefully.

Now head over to LeeAnna's to see links to other I Like Thursday posts.

I Like Thursday #48

Welcome to my week #48 of I Like Thursday.  Thank you LeeAnna from Not Afraid of Color for encouraging us to find something that we love, like or makes us smile each week.

I like the Hubcap tree at the local antique mall.

I will say it is at least 8 feet tall.  I actually had to pull into the lot to take a picture I thought it was so cool. It makes me smile each time I drive by it.

I made a trip to the Christmas Store in Dundee.  Well to tell the truth I went to the Quilt Patch (Quilt Shop) in Tecumseh, but I stopped at the Christmas store in Dundee on the way home.  I will write more about that another day. 

I liked this Santa that met you at the walkway.

 I keep looking at it trying to figure out if it is made from something recycled, but I think it was just an artists work. 

I loved the Christmas Store's stairway.

The wood work going up the stairs was gorgeous.  I don't know if you can tell how thick it is, but it is impressive.

I liked their garland they put on the stairwell.  What was really neat is they had some fun holly looking picks in there, but it was just the outline of the holly, not the whole leaf. 

I have been a wee bit busy finishing up Christmas gifts and even doing a lot of cleaning, so not much to show for the week.  Now head over to LeeAnnas and see the other I Like Thursday posts.

Merry Christmas to one and all.

I Like #47

Thank you LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color for encouraging me to write and get back into blogging last year.  When life gets you down it is hard to stay that way when you are actively looking for things that you like, love, or bring a smile to your face. 

I went out to dinner one night and I saw the cement outside of the restaurant with these leaf imprints and thought they were pretty cool.

It has been cold here and the water is frozen over.  My little pond has a pretty thick layer of ice on it.  I am not too sure if one of the boys broke it or after the freeze, thaw cycle it just has done this.

We have a joke going around about squirrels.  When I was in high school a teacher used to call me squirrel.  I think it was because I always had tons of ideas going all the time.  Then we saw the movie UP and Doug the dog.

When I would get off task Jeff would call me squirrel.  My middle daughter and her family live in downtown Portland, and the kids put peanuts on the window ledge of their apartment.  Becca calls them urban rats, she really dislikes them.  So imagine my delight in an opportunity to torture one of my children with this dog toy.

Unfortunately this one's squeaker was broken.

I have a tough time getting in the Christmas spirit.  I will take tags off of the angel trees, help pack food boxes, but when it comes to my home it is tough.  My first step was to go buy a wreath.

I had the nursery add juniper and pine to it.  It reminds me of home.  I loved the gingham ribbon too.

Imagine my delight one cold morning when I opened the door to this frost craze.

Yep that wreath caused this.

Finally I broke down and instead of going and unpacking all of the Christmas stuff in the attic I bought a tiny tree, ornaments and lights.

I felt in a red mood this year.  I didn't like the lights that came on the tree so I bought a multipack of rice lights and put them on the tree.  These are battery operated.  I just love the white lights. 

Now head on over to LeeAnna's and see what others like on Thursdays.

Trouble Brewing

I have my chicken, and I love these silly girls.  For the first couple of flocks I had Buff Orpingtons, they are a bigger chicken, more robust to handle the cold Michigan winters.  They are great layers, but only for about 2 years then after their first molt they kind of wax and wane with egg production.

I decided to get what they call Silver Laced Wyandottes this year to add to my flock.  Not quite as hefty, took a bit longer to lay than the Buff Orpingtons, but they are gorgeous chickens.  Downside is they are very stubborn.   I would compare dealing with them like being the mother to 13 fifteen year old girls at the same time.  We have had some misadventures due to our unwillingness to cooperate with curfew among a few things and met a very bad fate.

Now I know they all get a little rambunctious.  I mean I find eggs laying in the middle of the coop instead of the areas where they normally lay.  I hear tapping late at night from their coop, which sounds like Morse code.  Whenever I go outside during the day the noise level increases substantially.  The Wyandottes are very demanding for attention. 

In the mornings I feed them some bread, fresh veggies and the past couple of weeks they have got an apple or two diced up, sometimes they get a banana or an avocado--it gets thrown into the chicken run to make them scratch, they also get a couple small scoop of mealworms for protein.   When it is dry I will fling a handful of feed out there too.  It is good for them to scratch (the term used when chickens looking for food on the ground and/or forage).  I also feed them a huge scoop of a mix of cracked corn, and egg layer in their big feeder, which is about a foot away from the waterer. 

When it gets cold their water gets moved inside, it is heated.  My biggest problem is this waterer only holds 4 gallons so it gets filled every 3-4 days, sometimes every 2 days depending on how busy the girls have been during the day.  Today was a water day.  Imagine my surprise when I unplugged it and took it to the hydrant to fill.  Number one it stunk, and secondly I found it full of corn from their feed.   In fact it smelled like sour mash.  Now I know why they are so rowdy, and all the noise at night.  They are brewing moonshine in there, I am positive. 

And having parties.

I Like Thursday #46

Welcome to my I Like Thursday posts #46.  Thank you sweet LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color for encouraging me to find something to like during the week.  Sometimes it is easy, and lately I actually look for things I find amusing, or love.

During the holiday season there is so much going on, and many times we forget the reason we celebrate Christmas.  I love The Advent Project which is a selection writings, music and art created by the Center for Christianity, Culture and Arts of Biola University.




You can read more about it here. 

I like seeing people's decorations.  How often do we see something and say, "I have that!"  I don't think often.  I love snowmen and this guy was just too darn cute.  Love his bucket hat!  No I didn't buy him he was someone else's decoration.

Remember when Hostess quit making Twinkies?  My dad who is a sugar fiend about had a conniption fit.  In fact I think my dad bought several boxes at the time and has them squirreled away in his closet.  Now according to Bruce Willis' character in Die Hard they will last forever.

 I saw these Monday at the store. Ok, seriously I love Twinkies, I love peppermint...I am thinking the only way they could have made this better would to have developed a chocolate Twinkie with the peppermint cream.  No I didn't buy them, I was good. 



I like the Santa Stuff my stocking, Countdown to Christmas, 12 days of Christmas, and my favorite Bag Your Booty, sales happen during the holidays from quilt shops.  What better way to pick out some gifts for yourself for your family to give to you?  They don't have to worry about the size, wrong color.  Some of them you must sign up before the event starts, others you just get included in the event if you are on their e-mail list. 

Calico Gals
Bear Creek Quilting Gift Giving Guide 
Fabricworm

I am not an affiliate, nor am I receiving any compensation these were just a few in my inbox, check out your LQS.  Maybe they have a similar sale event happening.  I just think they are fun, and it is a great way to see new products.

I don't watch much TV, but I giggle seeing how excited people get about the Hallmark Christmas Movies that come out each year.  I see posts where people claim that is the only channel that is watched during the month of December.  What really made me smile though was someone mentioned that they watch them with their spouse and many evenings they play Christmas Movie Bingo!  Yep there are a ton of printables from different people all over the internet to play bingo as you watch the Christmas Movie of the day.  So if you are a Hallmark Christmas Movie devotee/aficionado, this may be a fun game for you....some of the spaces are Ugly Christmas Sweater, Flirty Snowball Fight While Wearing Hat and Mittens, Cute Friendly Dog, Dead Spouse/Parent, Ice Skating....you get the picture.  Use Hershey's kisses or or M & M's for markers.    Just Google Christmas Movie Bingo to see all the fun and print out your game cards. 



I like when I am out shopping and I see something that reminds me of a friend.  Like this guy I saw at the pet store the other day.

Hey Milo, he is supposed to be indestructible. 


Finally I saw this video and thought WOW!  I loved the energy and the singer isn't too hard on the eyes either.

Now head over to LeeAnna's and see the other I Like Thursday posts!