Animal Colouring Designs

A couple of years ago I found some really cool and free Animals of the World colouring designs online, from Louise Elliott Design's website, found HERE.  They look very 60's'ish to me so I've been trying to colour them that way. 

I have, or at least used to have, a small wooden horse from Sweden that was painted red.  That's why I did this horse red.

I coloured the llama dark blue before I realized that the Huichol colours I had chosen are Mexican and not Peruvian.  Oh well.

I tried to do the English cats in blue and red like Wedgwood, but I could not match the blue at all...that was the closest I could get with my markers.  I find the most challenging part of these designs are the birds and butterflies.  I'm so tired of looking up what birds look like so that I can at least try to get their colours right.

The Winter of Our Discontent

Woke up to more......you guessed it....snow, last Wednesday.  There was at least 5 more inches on top of the stuff that refuses to melt.  Here's a picture of the Cape & Islands and off Cape.  See all that ice in the seawater?  Crazy!

It was a very pretty morning though with bright blue skies and though it pains me to admit this, a fresh coating of snow does look very pretty.

The light breeze would shake loose the snow tufts.

This one shining flake looks so art deco!

More snow coming off the branches.

Then we got a very pretty late afternoon moon.

This crumpled snow pile on my bowl of stones and shells reminded me of the sorting hat except it's not pointed.  Then I cracked myself up when I heard Hagrid's voice in my head saying, 'Yer a blizzard, Harry.'   Yes....cabin fever has hit full force.

Icebergs In The Canal

I'm not sure that the Canal has ever completely frozen over as the currents/tides run fast, and it's sea level, but every now and then in winter there will be ice chunks.  I headed over to Sandwich around 10 AM and the water was totally clear of ice, even small pieces.  It was dead low tide on the Bay.  By the time I crossed back over at 1:30, the ice was so thick you could barely see any blue water at all.  

I went home, grabbed my camera and headed back out.  I thought I could get some good 'aerial' views from the vista points on Scenic Highway, but all the snow piles were pushed to the end of the parking lot and I was not about to risk my life scaling them....not with a sheer drop on the other side.  So I ended up at the Herring Run parking lot, where I still had to climb up a snow bank to see over to the water.  I only got 3 pictures at that place.  

Looking west

Looking east at Sagamore Bridge

So I drove back to Buzzards Bay and tried to get access to the Canal from the park.  It was a very cold and icy walk from the parking lot to the service road, and I had to very slowly and gingerly pick my way across the icy walkway and hope to god I didn't fall.  Looking east at Bourne Bridge.

This really blew my mind.  Never, ever have I seen this.

There's a channel of water out there in the center.

Brrrrrrrr

One last look at the Bourne Bridge and I was in a hurry to get to my car.  It was 14* and my ears were frozen.  I was probably minutes away from frostbite because they really hurt and burned after I got back in the car and turned the heat on!

Well I always wanted to see the icebergs in Newfoundland, but this will suffice for now!

The Neverending Winter

Winter continues to hammer us nonstop with subzero temps and snow.  Oh the snow.  The media has been winding everyone up about collapsing roofs and ice dams.  I do know of some people who are experiencing leaks from the ice build up on the gutters which sucks, but so far our place is OK.  It rained a little bit and was 34 yesterday but it didn't seem to help my roof as much as I'd hoped.  The ice is still solid on top of the gutters.

I will say that the icicles do look pretty cool.

Snow on the rail trying hard to melt.

The weather has been hard on me mentally, and hard on the truck too.  My car makes weird noises when it's this cold. It's hard to not be completely lethargic all day long, eyes sliding in and out of focus on the TV or computer screen, hours slipping by as you mindlessly play Bejeweled Blitz.  

I had hubs home for a week after the last blizzard and we did what we could to get out a few times for breakfast & errands, or grab some takeout Chinese for lunch on Chinese New Year.  He helped me grocery shop for the house and also for my mom.  He's been really into wanting homemade soups lately so I've been lovingly preparing lots of new recipes, so that I can bask in the ultimate compliment, 'This is yummy, babe. Thanks!'

So with him home last week, and with my back virtually destroyed from all the shoveling, I cross stitched in my recliner with the heating pad on my back.  As is my usual MO with beaded cross stitch, once I get going and the design emerges, I obsess to the point of waking up in the middle of the night to think about where I want to pick up in the morning.  So I cranked out the stitched part and then was finally ready to add the beads which is, of course, the best part.

The beads make these projects really pop.  I beaded in two marathon sessions that lasted hours.  I didn't even stop to shower and kept saying, 'just one more thread's worth....just one more colour....'

And then these happened.....banana chocolate chip cookies with vanilla frosting.  Cause I woke up and it was snowing....AGAIN.....and dammit, I wanted cookies.  Hey anything to beat the winter doldrums at this point.

It's February 23rd.....last time I saw my yard was January 25th.  Can't believe we've endured a month of this crap.

Valentines Day Card & Surprises for the Pups

Did everyone have a nice Valentines Day?  Ours was quiet.  Hubby took me out to our fave brekky joint, The Breakfast Nook, in Wareham.  I made him a card using some of the little Valentines that I got last year at Build-A-Bear.  

Of course I blocked out what I wrote to him, but this is the inside.  I meant to take pics of the card after it was completed but I went and wrote it out and sealed it up before I remembered!

The day before, we were surprised to receive a package in the mail to Pepper & Sagan from Buddy Gourmet in Iowa.  It contained some biscuits and a squeaky toy.  Because a donation had also been made to a malamute rescue, I immediately knew that my dear friends Heather & Travis, and their adorable malamute StellaBellaBurgerBear were behind the surprise!  I should've taken pics of the biscuits but those got scarfed down right away.  And of course Sagan stole the purple turtle toy.

Pepper was getting mad.  "But Ai wanna pway wiff Purkle Turkle!"

"Mama! Make him share!"

"Stoopid dumhead. It's MAI turn."

So I dug out Piggly Wiggly for her but she was having none of it.  Sagan stole him away too!

"NO MAMA! IZ MINE!"

We Are Most Definitely NOT Amused......

Literally running out of places to shovel this white crap.  This was taken at about 10:00 AM yesterday as winter storm 'Neptune' was slamming into us.  For some reason, they are naming winter storms now.  The one we had in late January was called 'Juno'.  

By 2:00 pm, the snow had stopped falling but it was windy and the temps were plummeting.  It was 26 when I shot the first pics, and 18 by afternoon.  Our plow guy showed up to clear the driveway and OMG I really don't know what's going to happen when this mess finally starts to melt.  The pictures really don't do it justice.  Those plow piles are over 5' tall.

Very worried about the roof and how to get the snow off it. There no yard access and I know Russell won't want me on a step ladder.

I'm also worried about the weight of the snow on this deck.  I can't possible shovel it.  It's at least 3' or more high.

At least this was a short blizzard, unlike the 36 hour one in January.

I've pretty much given up hope that this is ever gonna stop.