Visions of veggies dance in my head

It's the dead of winter and it's time to melt the snow with thoughts of delicious heirloom vegetables and herbs growing in my garden. It's a known fact that in January people start getting amped up about Spring (and sick of Winter) and they start planning their gardens. I'm doing exactly that. The new Seed Savers Exchange catalog is gorgeous and has my gears turnin'. This year I'm going to start plants indoors in the basement under a grow light. This will allow me to grow some things that I haven't been able to in the past--broccoli, kale, leek, etc. Speaking of the basement, you can check out what Chris has been up to this winter here. It's nice to have Spring as a deadline for projects.

Look at those unusual carrots! Perfect for rocky soil.

Contrast

The long awaited mobile.

For the past two holiday seasons I hung glittery, brassy ornaments from a branch above the dining room table. Well, in between those two Christmases I had every intention of hanging something else from the branch. I was thinking of maybe some cool candle holders. But alas, the branch sat empty for an entire year. As soon as our decorations came down this year I was determined to get my project going as quickly as possible. The following pictures are what I came up with and I have to say, I really love it.

That's the centerpiece on my table right now which has two rabbit furs and some Himalayan salt lamps.

Snow Day

Last Monday it snowed ALL DAY. I don't work on Mondays so I had a list of errands that I was going to run. The snow was piling up too fast and it became dangerous to even think about driving on the roads. So I stayed home and in my pajamas the whole day. Heehee! It was such a fun day! I lit a fire in the fireplace, did some crafting, walked around outside in the snow and bird watched for hours. There were hundreds of birds in my yard and at my feeders all day long. I think the crazy amount of falling snow made them panic and stuff themselves silly. They were so fun to watch. I had numerous kinds of Woodpeckers visit the suet, tons of sweet little Sparrows and Cardinals everywhere and about a dozen Robin Red-Breasts playing in the pond. What a fantastic day. Sigh....

This is my very favorite bird, the Northern Flicker. There are 4 of them that visit the suet feeder often. They have gorgeous markings like a cheetah and gold underneath their wings.

Northern Flicker

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

A pair of Flickers

Male Cardinal

His girlfriend

A Robin Red-Breast playing in the pond

Driftwood

Last Sunday, Chris and I went down to the Kaw River to scour the levee for driftwood. The Kaw, or Kansas, River runs right through Lawrence and is a great spot to watch for eagles during the winter months and ride your bike along the path when the weather turns nice. We are wanting to make a few things out of driftwood and thought this would be the perfect place to find some. It made for a great afternoon outing and we even spotted an eagle!