From Our House To Yours...

Outdoor Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas to all.

Christmas Is A Week Away

Remember the picture we posted back in October of the sky being reflected in the calm water of a nearby river here on The Witch’s Island? Well, they were having a photo contest at work to decorate the president’s office wall. You know, something to impress visiting customers with, and I entered that picture. Guess what. My picture was one of only three selected! Better still, each of the three finalists won a crisp new $100 bill! And even though it is one of the newly introduced plastic bills it’s still a hundred bucks, yahoo! That’s right, baby. The Witch is rich, sort of. It was a shock, but a pleasant one.

This is the picture that won me a hundred dollars.

So, what else have I been up to, you say? Well, I’ve been busy crafting away in my basement workshop. I created a little picture using shells and other bits and pieces I collected at the beach this summer while Hubby was in swimming. I really enjoyed designing this and the shells just all fit together nicely to make this scene come alive. I’ve already got some more ideas floating around in my brain and it’s going to be a long winter so I may try some more of these.

I made this picture using shells and driftwood I found on the beach this summer.

I’ve also been decorating the family room for Christmas. The fireplace mantle is one of my favourite things to work on. I love birds so I’ve given it kind of a nature theme. And some poor little elf must have fallen through the ice and gotten soaked. He seems to have left his clothes to dry by the fire. Someday I may find the right elf figurine to sit up there too but so far I haven’t come across one. He would have to be the right scale to fit the clothes and he’d have to be semi-naked or in his undies and that’s just a little too much to ask, I guess. I just might have to make my own.

This is my mantelpiece all decorated for Christmas.

I’m hoping you all enjoy this little up-date as it is only 7 more sleeps till the big day. Merry Christmas!

Wow, My First Award For Blogging!

Well, I was really surprized today when I checked for comments here on the Witch's Island to find that It's Me, Sam had nominated me for a Liebster Award.



A quick Google search doesn't turn up much information about how the award originated but Sam has a brief description of its intent as well as the rules for passing on the love.

The rules:
1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all - have fun!

Here are the five that I would like to nominate:

Grunge Queen
A Garden Wench
Japan - Living The Simple Life
Canoe Corner
The Fat Hydrangea

These are all great reads and I try to get to them all every day. You might want to go to the Grunge Queen's blog first because she is all set to move to England to get married.

Thanks again to Sam for this. It's been fun!

Secret Santa

(photo above stolen shamelessly from Buttons, Ribbons And Other Things)

Way back in October I came across “Serendipity’s Guide To Saving” while doing a little surfing. She was writing about “The Bloggy Secret Santa Project” and it sounded like such a great idea that I signed up right away. It looks like about 3 dozen others were interested, too. I’ve been waiting for the email since then to find out who I would be sending gifts to and just yesterday I got it. The matchup is just perfect, as far as I’m concerned. Great job, Serendipity!

So I was doing a little spying on my recipient’s blog and it turns out that she has already put up a list of her interests and what she would like to receive and it made me realize that maybe MY Secret Santa would appreciate the same thing from me! Well, here goes!

• If you are crafty, any home-made goodies would be great.
• Home-made jewelry made with beads, sea glass or other found pieces.
• I love all earthy colours but my favourite has always been purple.
• Anything to do with owls, I’m just crazy about them.
• Dark chocolate covered almonds, mmmmm.
• I love gardening and all plants, too.

I want to give Serendipity a big thank you for organizing this. It was just what I needed to put me in right frame of mind for the upcoming season. My brain is just buzzing with all kinds of ideas, now. I’m going to have to get busy if I’m going to make the deadline!

Oh, No. Halloween Is Over For Another Year.

This creepy pumpkin ghoul was ready to scare the crap out of the kiddies but none of them even noticed him. I think he was disappointed and may have shed a tear or two.

Well Halloween has come and gone for another year but I had a great time while it lasted. After the big storm on Sunday, the weather turned out just beautiful yesterday and it should have meant that the kiddies would be out in full force. Not that any of them actually walk in our neighbourhood, there’s just too much distance between houses.

When you know that you are only going to get a dozen kids you can afford to max out the contents of the treat bags.

We did end up giving out 8 treat bags out of the ten we had prepared but two of them were for kids who were stuck at home for some reason. The best costume of the day was worn by one of the mothers, she was dressed up as Smurfette and she had done a pretty good job of it!

Smurfette?

Anyway, here are a few pictures of this year’s crew. I hope you like them. Now how long did you say it was until Halloween 2012?

Halloween night was just perfect, weather-wise and the house was all decked out in plenty of time for us to go outside to enjoy it.

It looks like the owl has caught himself something to snack on for later.

This is the first of the two pumpkins I carved this year. Hubby says that he may have a concussion because of the different sizes of his pupils.

Hey, I think this guy is winking at you.

This is my other pumpkin. I’m not sure what he actually is but he looks kinda like Grover from Sesame Street with a new nose.

”Stars and Moons” got a skeleton guardian this year.

Halloween Is Tomorrow, Time To Make Some Bloody Fingers!

Yeah, that's right. Tomorrow is my favourite day of the year. The day when all the ghouls and ghosts come out. Maybe some kids, too. At least they might if this storm eases up. Right now the wind is pounding the house with a hard-driven rain. An hour ago it picked up a plastic lawn chair and threw it from one side of the back deck 40 feet to the other side just missing the kitchen window. We're just feeling lucky though because we aren't getting snow and because we've still got our power on. So with a nice pot roast cooking away in the oven I thought maybe I could share my Witch's Finger cookie recipe with you.

Those are the Witch Finger Cookies under the dome of my cake plate.

Witch’s Fingers
(adapted from a recipe in Canadian Living magazine)
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
1 egg
1.5 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
2 ¾ cup flour
1 cup almond, whole and blanched
1 tube red cake gel
7 or 8 drops green food colouring


Preparation:
In bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, vanilla and the green food colouring; beat in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Working with one quarter of the dough at a time and keeping remaining dough refrigerated, roll into a long snake of dough and then cut into 3 or 4 inch pieces. Squeeze the pieces just enough to form the knuckles of the finger shape for each cookie. Using a fork, press the back of the tines lightly onto the top of the knuckle to simulate natural creases. Press almond firmly into end for nail.
Place on lightly greased baking sheets; bake in 325°F (160°C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for 3 minutes. Lift up almond; squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and press almond back into place, so gel oozes out from underneath. Remove from baking sheets; let cool on racks. Repeat with remaining dough.
Makes 3 or 4 dozen creepy and delicious cookies (the number will vary depending on how big you make them)
I usually pass these out to the adults who accompany their kiddies to the door if I can keep Hubby from eating them all! I hope you have time to make some, they’re worth the effort!

Never let a witch play with your hammer, they always seem to manage to hit their poor fingernails.

Here is this year’s crew warming up in the garage before their debuts tomorrow.

You would never believe just how bad it is outside today after seeing how nice it was yesterday.

Witch Gazebo is Done? Well Mine of Course!

It's DONE!

It started with a couple of drawings and a few photos.

We made a template and installed the footings.

We added landscape cloth and river stones to control the grass and weeds.

We built a platform sturdy enough to constuct a ten story building on.

We added the corner posts to get it up into the air.

Getting the structure of the roof to the top of the posts was a bit of a challenge.

Along the way there were some heavy calculations done along with a lot of head scratching.

The upper roof was added but was quickly deemed to be too small in scale. We lengthened each rafter by a foot or so and came up with a much better diameter.

Eventually, the entire roof structure was completed.

We added some spindles to the upper air vents to provide a little style.

Shingling the roof was a difficult exercise but eventually it got done.

The inside of the roof is a sight to behold. There are a ton of man-hours hidden up there somewhere.

We closed in the two back walls to provide some privacy from the road and we filled the bottom of the other walls with plywood. This is about as far as we got in 2010, the only other thing we did was to cover the privacy walls with cedar shingles.

The first task of the new year was to install the floor. It was so nice to be able to take the chairs inside and sit down that we started using it right away.

Then we added a set of stairs so we didn’t have to crawl in anymore. This was much easier than expected to accomplish.

The window sills and casings were added next.

The trim was all painted and then the walls were covered in tarpaper before the siding was added.

The window screen frames were made and then covered with screen.

The door was installed next. We bought it on sale last year from the hardware store and painted it in the basement over the winter.

The floor was finished off with a coat of Thompson’s Waterseal.

The last task was to apply the water sealer to all the exterior siding. At some time in the near future we may add some electric power and some lights to the gazebo but for now the building is done.

This project did take up a huge amount of time over two summers. It cost a good chunk of money, too. We think it's worth it though and doesn't it looks pretty back here in the yard?

Just a last note on the budget. We planned to spend about $4000 for our gazebo and we came in just about right on target. In 2010 we spent $3940 and in 2011 it has been another $520 for a total of $4460. Of course, that doesn’t include any labour cost. Thankfully Hubby works for love and beer! Want us to come and build one for you? Not a chance!

Holiday Time!

I have 1 week left out of my three week vacation and the time has just been flying by. We have done lots of interesting, fun stuff and have spent a ton of money. I said I was on vacation right?
I bought myself a new bike!!!! I got one that fits my frame size with lots of accessories for serious bike travel. I can pack great lunches, throw in some beach clothing and away we go. We have been riding the trails and loving every minute of it. My legs are very sore but I guess I have just been that out of shape. There are lots of very steep hills in our area so my new bike gears are getting a work out also.

Here’s my new bike on the day it came home. I got all the accessories to go with it, too. I got a bottle holder, a trip computer, a kickstand and a carrier rack including a soft bag big enough to carry lots of stuff.

On its first day we took a ride around the block to see how it would go. I didn’t realize that it was that big of a block!

We have also been out for the maiden voyage in the canoe we bought from a co-worker this spring. The day was beautiful, sunny and calm and we paddled around for about 3 hours. I even got out into the middle of the bay without getting scared. I’m just getting so brave!

What a perfect day to go canoeing. The water was just dead flat for the first 2 hours. We were able to travel around the entire bay and check out some of the homes that can’t be seen from the road.

We paddled right out into the bay and under the bridge just to see what was on the other side. Well, okay. We knew what was over there but we did get to see under the bridge!

We have visited lots of restaurants and sampled some of the finest foods out there. I’m glad to be exercising or I’m sure I would have gained 10 pounds easily.

I’ve had lots of time to fly my kite, build beach art and play Rummoli.

I found this funky looking piece of driftwood at the beach and decided that he looked like he wanted to dance so I propped him up and gave him a stage.

The dancer looked so good that I made him a dance troupe to back him up.

Of course, every artist needs to sign her work!

We’ve played lots of Rummoli this summer but this was the perfect evening to play outside. Needless to say that I won again!

There’s something so relaxing about flying a kite. It just hangs up there fluttering in the breeze.

I’m leaving you with some great pictures and hopefully I’ll get back on track financially and will have more blogging time in October. Oh wait that’s Halloween Pumpkin season, the Witch’s favorite time of the year!

No, this crab is not sun tanning. I assure you that he is quite dead and I’m okay with that.

We’re not sure what kind of birds these are. They might be semipalmated sandpipers but that is just a guess. They were taking a siesta on a nice warm rock until we showed up.

We’ve been able to spend a lot of time at this beach this summer. The weather has been crappy all year but it has been perfect ever since I started my holiday.

Now that’s a summer meal! Fresh oysters and corn heading off to the BBQ as a side dish for smokey chicken wings, mmm.

This red fox came out to greet us while we biking down the trail. He was quite happy to pose for pictures and even brought a friend out to play.

We had a great ride on this afternoon. We rode along the trail for 8 or 9 kilometres until we got to this fishing village. We found a small dockside café and had a bowl of mussels and a beer and then rode back again.

Being on vacation means that there is lots of time to make breakfast and one of my favourites is blueberry pancakes and fresh fruit, peaches in this case.