Saturday, December 31, 2016

The American Kestrel for Hike # 52!

We’ve made 52 hikes this year, most of them in Florida!

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And last weekend, we were on the very back of a trail that makes a loop at Halpata Tastanaki Preserve when we spotted this Kestrel.

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We actually came around a bend and scared a huge hawk out of a tree and it scared a Kestrel into our area.

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The Kestrel perched in top of a broken tree first.

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Then it went over to a limb and started hunting.

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A close up..

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We saw it fly into a leafy tree and get something and fly back to the limb.

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I’m sorry to say…

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it looks like he is EATING Katy!

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A Katydid like the one we saw in our shrubbery.

Oh well! Hopefully there’s more than one Katy!

What a thrill to be close enough to get good photos.

The American Kestrel is the smallest Falcon in North America.

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I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

The Warm Glow of Candles

We love candles and ‘mood lighting’ in our home, especially in the winter months.

So we have a lot of candles that are on timers that come on in the evenings and lamps with dimmers.

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But real candles are nice to have on hand too. I buy these tall glass candles from Dollar Tree and ‘spruce them up a bit’!

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This week I added some Velum paper with soft white designs to add to my white candles.

I did a tutorial a few years ago, so I’ll share it again today. You can either use paper you have or print out a nice image.

This particular print I copied as a 5 by 7 but I made others full page and cut them down.

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I trimmed the top and bottom to get the perfect size.

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You need some overlap but not too much...so I marked and trimmed....

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then I used double stick tape. You could glue but I LOVE double stick tape!

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SO EASY!

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Stick on one side…

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Lay it down and wrap around....

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And this is how it will look...

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and then the FUN begins!

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I loved deciding what ribbon or embellishment to use! Vintage lace and trims are the best!

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I need to add a little something to these now!

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And on one of our hikes we picked up this branch with pinecones still attached and I thought it looked so pretty! (thanks hubby for carrying it the whole way! LOTS to be thankful for!)

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I’m joining Thankful Thursdays today!

Monday, December 26, 2016

A Slow Walk around the Neighborhood!

I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera to take photos of some of the houses in my neighborhood.

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It made for a ‘slow walk’!

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More of an afternoon stroll!

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I’m sure everything will come down in the next few days.

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I’ll miss seeing all the beautiful decorations.

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We’ve been setting records for high temps! It’s been around 80 for the past several days!

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Are you ready to ‘undecorate’? (I’m not quite!)

Sunday, December 25, 2016

***Merry Christmas***

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas day!

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These are a few photo cards I’ve made over the years to share with you!

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God bless you!

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Holiday hugs

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from Florida!

 

Saturday, December 24, 2016

The Wild Kingdom!

I take a late afternoon walk now when I can and I usually end up at the little pond near my house.

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This week, it’s been like the wild kingdom!

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All of these pics were taken one afternoon.

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The wood ducks have been on the pond all week.

Eileen called these Mergansers and I had thought at first that’s what they were but someone else at the pond called them wood ducks. What do you think?

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I always stand under some trees to take photos and the trees were ‘wild’ too!

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Squirrels AND woodpeckers…

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oh my!

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And how do you like these Mottled Ducks?

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And I think this is a Little Blue Heron.

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What do you mean the ducks splashed you!

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Shake it off!

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HEY…Wait for ME!!!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Friday, December 23, 2016

A Fun Day planned!

It was a good start to the day when hubby saw an eagle soar overhead when he was at the Post Office! That’s always exciting! And I plan to do a little baking this afternoon for my sweet hubby!

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I also want to share my holiday giveaway wins!

Danice sent me a package filled with things she made for her winter giveaway.

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Don’t you love Miss Reindeer?

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And Danice makes the cutest cans and this one is filled with wintry potpourri

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You can visit Danice at Homespun Hannah’s HERE to see what else she’s made for Christmas.

And a special thank you to Michelle for this adorable snowman set!

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It’s perfect in my kitchen.

And I even put the netting ribbon and tag on my baker’s rack as a little garland.

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Michelle blogs at The Nest at Finch Rest HERE and you’ll love her Christmas posts!

Time to make a nice lunch for hubby and bake some cupcakes just for him!

Hope your day is special too.

Take time to HUG!