Archive for the ‘strategies for winter’ Category
black ice
black ice – a transparent coating of ice on a road, usually asphalt
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Winter comes with its driving challenges. Heavy snow, slippery roads, poor visibility … a good driver is aware of them all. Black ice is particularly challenging … it’s hard to see, often unnoticeable until you are trying to navigate across it. It may look like bare pavement, smooth sailing all the way! Black ice can be a metaphor for any dangerous encounter in our lives.
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charisma
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your eyes glitter
crystals of salt
I think you are
untrustworthy
your charm a veneer
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black ice only shows
in a stray beam
of moonlight
or when headlights are switched
to high
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Drive with care in every incident of life!!!
Jane
first ephemeral snow
snowflakes
absorbed by wet pavement
as though
they never existed at all
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all my best,
Jane
herb growing in winter #3
My AeroGarden guide says “don’t be afraid to prune.” Me, I love to prune. I must be doing it correctly since I am getting a small harvest every day or two!
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My plants are Basil, Tai Basil, Genovese Basil, unknown (labelled ‘Curly Parsley’ but definitely not), Thyme (hardly growing but trying) and Romaine Lettuce (planted last week).
I chop the leaves as I prune them and they are crisp enough to crumble in a couple of days.
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Photos of my ‘harvest’ …
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my garden after today’s pruning … gro-light makes a good photo difficult
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my ‘harvest … lots of leaves make a small amount of dried herb …
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Copyright Jane Tims 2018
a new birdfeeder
My coke bottle bird feeder finally succumbed to the weight of our colossal grey squirrel.
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My next attempt at a home-made bird feeder – a feeder made from a string of coconut shells. I cut the shells in half and removed the coconut many years ago, in an attempt to make a wind chime. They have been hiding in a bag in the closet and are part of my latest de-cluttering effort. I drilled a hole in the bottom of each half and strung them on a nylon chord. Let’s see what the birds think of them.
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Back to my writing. Enjoy your sunflower seeds, birds (and squirrels).
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Copyright Jane Tims 2018
herb growing in winter #2
A while ago, I told you I was starting an AeroGarden. The garden grows plants in ‘pods’, with addition of light, water and nutrients. After 54 days, my garden is growing mint and two kinds of basil in profusion. Two of the plants, thyme and another type of basil, are very slow, but growing and healthy. A fifth pod got mold and never grew.
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Every three days, I prune about one third of the growth. I remove the leaves, cut them into smaller pieces with scissors and spread them to dry on parchment paper. Our house is very dry and in 24 hours I can crumble the dry leaves and add them to my growing store of herbs.
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Basil is one of my favourite herbs, so I am very pleased with my AeroGarden.
It uses lots of water so I have to remember to add water every day. A little screen tells me how long the pods have been growing and when to add nutrients. Otherwise, as a garden it is trouble-free – no weeds, so I am happy!
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Copyright 2018 Jane Tims
bird feeder visitors – personalities
I put my feeders up late this year, but the birds have found them. So far the diversity is low, but the numbers are high. We have chickadees, goldfinches and nuthatches. I know from my bird diary of other years, redpolls, purple finches and blue jays will come later.
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I spend a little time each day watching the birds. And, as in other years, I am amazed at how different are the personalities of these birds.
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Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) – sings ‘chick-a-dee-dee-dee’ or ‘fee-bee’
- the chickadee hoards food, storing food in times of plenty under bits of bark or a patch of lichen. Canada’s Hinterland Who’s Who says a chickadee can remember where it has stored its food up to 28 days.
- the chickadee is a grab and go kind of feeder. They zoom in on a sunflower seed, pick it and leave.
- chickadees hang out in flocks, and have a hierarchy and a ‘pecking order’. The birds are very aggressive with other birds, chasing away other chickadees, nuthatches and goldfinches.
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Red-breasted-Nuthatch (Sitta Canadensis) – sings a nasal ‘yank-yank-yank’ over and over
- the nuthatch walks head-downward after it lands and in Newfoundland is called the ‘upside-down bird’.
- nuthatches are very solitary at the feeder and are easily chased away by chickadees.
- they get-their-food-and-get-going, not hanging around even for a second.
- nuthatches also hoard and hide food.
- Hinterland Who’s Who says these birds carry tree pitch to build their nests!
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American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) – sings ‘perchickoree’ and flies in a series of hanging loops, potato chip, potato chip.
- at this time of year goldfinches are dull olive-yellow.
- they hang out at bird feeders, staying put until they are chased away. They arrive at feeders in flocks and feed quite happily side by side.
- although they eat sunflower seeds, they seem to prefer thistle seed.
- Hinterland Who’s Who says goldfinches go into feeding frenzies before snowstorms, putting on significant weight before times when seeds are scarce.
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Do you feed the birds and what kinds of birds come to your feeders? Do they have distinct personalities?
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Copyright 2018 Jane Tims
a quilting project
Each winter I do three things to stay warm and content:
- I drink tea; only a cup a day but it warms me inside
- I knit; mostly socks and just to keep up with my voracious need for warm socks
- I make lap quilts; I cannot think of a warmer occupation on a cold evening
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My quilting project for this year may seem a little out-of-season. I took all the bits of Christmas fabric I have collected from various projects over the years and put them into a small patchwork lap quilt – just 40″ by 40″. If my husband and son look closely they will see my husband’s Christmas necktie, little bags for ‘coal’-flavoured candy brought by Santa one year, a pair of Santa-patterned shorts I bought as a joke, remnants of the Santa Cool sock I won one year at work at Christmas and so on. When there was a ribbon or draw-string associated with the remnant, I just incorporated it into the quilt. Perhaps someone will use the coal-sacs for a little treasure.
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not quite complete to the right of the Coal fabric … I will just sew another patch on the bare spot …
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the two amber ribbons are part of a gift bag …
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some of you who used to work with me may remember the year we decorated and I won the Santa Cool stocking in the lower left corner … those were the days!!!
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Today I went to Fabricville and found two pretty Christmas berry-patterned fabrics to use for the back.
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If you have read about my ‘quilting’ before, you will know that my stitches are long and uneven and they look more like basting than quilting. But my little quilts are solid. I keep them on every chair in our living room as another way of keeping the cold away!
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I will show you the final quilt when it is done in a week or so.
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Do you have small remnants of Christmas fabric and do you have a plan for them?
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Copyright 2018 Jane Tims
