Birds, Birds, Birds

I was up with the birds this morning.  Out of bed at 5:00 am and out the door at 5:30 am headed to the Heritage Hills Wetlands east of the city for sunrise at 5:53am.

It's great to be out with the camera at that time because the birds are out and busy with getting their day started.  Of course, some have been awake for a while already. 

The order of business these days is to find a place to build a nest, lay some eggs, keep them warm and safe and birth some offspring.

The couples are all out together these days still in the decision making process. 

I passed several birdhouses which have occupants very busy gathering supplies for nest building.

The Red Wing Blackbirds, the White Pelicans and all manner of ducks are living at the wetlands.

It was a bit cloudy with intermittent sun so the perfect weather for photos.

The top photo is an American Wigeon male, the center is the Red Wing Blackbird male, and a House Finch male.  The wigeon and finch are first time captures for me. 

A great morning with lots of birds out and about.

You can check my Flickr page for more photos.

Sharing with Through My Lens 142 hosted by Mersad Photography.

Anything Goes at Pink Saturday hosted by Beverly

Fruit, Harvest, and Thrifting

I spent a day and a half at my sister's processing the apples we had picked from Mom's trees on the weekend. 

Food processors are wonderful inventions and my sister had recently acquired a good machine for a song. 

We managed 13 four cups bags in just over an hour with prep and clean up.  We washed, quartered, cored, sliced and bagged. She will use hers for pie and crisp and I will use mine for fruit crisps.

We picked chokecherries on Tuesday night in quite cold temperatures.  I had gloves on except when picking.

The berries were plentiful and ripe so picking went very well.  We came home with 2 full ice cream pails and bit. After clearning, that yielded several bags of frozen berries.

I will eat them unthawed during the winter as a snack.  They can be made into jelly or syrup anything during the winter.  Mom will get a couple of bags as well as my sister. 

We also processed the high bush cranberries (pembina in french) which she picked on Friday.  Again, the picking went well and she froze them until I could come to help with the making of pancake syrup. 

We ended up with thicker syrup than the last couple of years and it may be due to starting with frozen rather than fresh berries.  We processed mostly 1.5 cups jars which makes the process quicker than dealing with tiny jars.  We did make a few small jars for giving away. 





We learn a few lessons every year. 

I am grateful that she has all the tools to make the process work well.  I provide the support help.

It will taste absolutely wonderful on pancakes during the winter months.  Like a bit of summer.





I got a tip from my aunt that there was a thrift store near my sister`s house that had some Blue Nordic dishes in the window.  I should check it out next time I am visiting.  I called ahead and indicated I was on my way and should be there in 1.5 hours.  The weather did not cooperate so I arrive 10 minutes before the store closed.  I quickly checked the pieces over and made my purchase.  I unpacked the boxes today.  I have brought my total teacups to 10 with saucers so that was a good score.  The coffee pot, cream and sugar set was another great addition.  Adding 6 bowls brings my total to 10 as well.   Very good.

I look forward to having tea with friends and family in wonderful dishes that I love.  I believe there will be sufficient space is the kitchen for all of it.

Sharing with 
Share Your Cup #265 hosted by Jan at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson

Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth at Antiques and Tea Cups

Tea in the Garden hosted by Bernideen at Tea Time

Pink Saturday hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound