The American Kestrel for Hike # 52!

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

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.

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

 

The Kestrel perched in top of a broken tree first.

Then it went over to a limb and started hunting.

A close up..

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

I’m sorry to say…

it looks like he is EATING Katy!

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.

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

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.

 

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’!

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.

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

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

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

SO EASY!

Stick on one side…

Lay it down and wrap around....

And this is how it will look...

and then the FUN begins!

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

I need to add a little something to these now!

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!)

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays today!

A Slow Walk around the Neighborhood!

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

It made for a ‘slow walk’!

More of an afternoon stroll!

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

I’ll miss seeing all the beautiful decorations.

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

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

***Merry Christmas***

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas day!

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

God bless you!

Holiday hugs

from Florida!

 

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.

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

All of these pics were taken one afternoon.

 

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?

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

Squirrels AND woodpeckers…

oh my!

And how do you like these Mottled Ducks?

And I think this is a Little Blue Heron.

What do you mean the ducks splashed you!

 

Shake it off!

HEY…Wait for ME!!!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

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!

I also want to share my holiday giveaway wins!

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

Don’t you love Miss Reindeer?

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

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!

It’s perfect in my kitchen.

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

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!