Bird Land

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Since we’ve moved to Cloverdale, I’ve become more aware of birds. Yes, of course, I always knew they were around and have enjoyed watching them from time to time. And I can identify most major bird types. But, I’ve never been one to really *notice* birds as I’m out driving around running errands. I’m not sure if it’s just because Cloverdale seems to have fewer tall trees and more sky overhead, but I’m now noticing birds in a much different way than I ever have.

On Friday, I saw a bald eagle on the way to work, in the low lands on 168 between 64th and Fraser Hwy. He was just sitting up on top of a pole with his back to me as I came up on him. Wow, bald eagles are big. While we’ve seen quite a few bald eagles flying around, sitting on high perches in a tree, (or, once, sitting in the mud in a field) in the farmland areas around Cloverdale, I think this is the only time I’ve seen one without it being pointed out to me first. Anyway, there he was just perched there, hanging out, in a very similar pose to the one below.

Yesterday, we saw a few hawks flying around behind our house, and then again on the way to White Rock. I also spotted a mallard swimming along quite happily in the drainage ditch in the farmland off 168th south of highway 10. He was so bright and colorful. My husband’s pointed out a few herons in that area too.

We seem to have some pidgeons who’ve grown somewhat attached to the our house as well. When we moved in, we had starlings swooping around in the backyard. They are quite fascinating to watch (although I’ve heard a bit of a pest of a bird). We’ve had quite a few of the standard crows as well. And then the pidgeons arrived sometime in the summer. Since it was hot out and we had our windows open, we heard them first. I thought their coo-cooing sounded quite relaxing going to sleep. Let’s just say, several months after the fact, the novelty has definitely worn off.

I know that there are quite a few parks Surrey aimed at bird watching: Blackie Spit at Crescent Beach and Serpentine Fen at King George Hwy and 44th are two I’ve visited before. Hmmm, next time I visit those, I’ll think I’ll have a more practiced eye.

Organize Me

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What is it about January and the feeling that one must get things in order? Must be something related to the freshness of a new year and wanting to enter it with clear thoughts. I have definitely been in an organizing mood. I was thinking about that today as I edited and revised an 80-page marketing document to make the content consistent and logical.

Sadly, I’ve organized my desk a few times in the past few weeks and it is still seems to be piled up with “stuff”. (My husband has identified me as a “piler”.) Of course, I know what is in all those piles ;)

That said, both my husband and I have made some good progress with sorting and organizing and getting rid of things we don’t need. I went through piles of wrapping items (paper, bows and ribbons) that we both had accumulated and got them stowed neatly in containers in a closet. (Turns out we have a lot of wrapping materials — as much as I’d like to check out The Essential Packaging Store (in Cloverdale!), there’s no need to for a VERY long time.) We both organized the garage so that we can now easily find overflow food items in the pantry in our garage and have been putting our investments in order. I compiled all my current address information I had scattered about in my address book, sorted items in my desk that I hadn’t looked at since we got married and consolidated them with our household stuff. The linen closet even got organized!

Hmmm, what’s next?

Attribution:

After Christmas!

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Happy New Year! Why is it that the Christmas season seems to go by so quickly! I definitely felt that way this year … although both my husband and I agreed that we had a wonderful holiday. I think it may be the first time since our honeymoon that we really had time to relax and “stop”. We attended a great Christmas Eve service, visited with family and friends, hosted our very first ‘Open House’, and even slept in a little.

Hopefully there’ll be a few schools around the Cloverdale area still doing tree chipping this weekend! I realize that it is, sadly, time for the Christmas tree to come down and for the decorations to go away.

Next year I hope to be a little more on my game to be prepared for the season. With that in mind, I’ve created a list for myself:

  • Make a few home made gifts: hot chocolate mix, chocolate bark, candied pecans, crafts are great hostess gifts. Felt ornaments. Felt gift bows. Knitting, I discovered a few years ago, is a great idea, but requires starting in the summer for me.
  • Read a good book.
  • Sip more apple cider. This requires tracking down some good apple juice or cider from the grocery store … harder than I thought this year.
  • Have more folks over to visit.
  • Check out the Winter Ice Palace and do some ice skating
  • Bake! I’d especially like to try making pfeffernusse.
  • Visit some Christmas craft sales. I haven’t made it for a few years, but the sales around the Langley area area always fun.
  • Make some snowflakes. Here on the wet coast, these don’t come around that often so this snowflake curtain (which could have come in handy) or curled snowflakes would make up for that. This year, I suggested hanging our Christmas cards from ribbon in the window. I think it turned out really well.

  • Volunteer at the food bank.

That said, I’m a firm believer that we should carry the thoughts of Christmas with us everyday throughout the year. Seasonal accoutrements aside, the spirit of sacrifice, an attitude of thankfulness, and the message of joy is perhaps the greatest thing I can strive for everyday.

Winter Break

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Ah, this has been a nice week in between Christmas and New Years this year. I did a little bit of Christmas baking on Christmas Eve, which made the day a little more hectic than I would have liked. Why is it that it takes forever to clean up after baking! Next year, I have hopes of trying a few more recipes. This year, it was just Martha Stewart’s Sugar Cookies. Not quite Martha-perfect, but tasty!

Sugar Cookies

It has been nice to have a bit of time off work to have a bit of a break, relax, visit family and friends. Hope you’ve had that time for this too!

Gingersnaps and Cranberry Muffins

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It’s snowing again tonight in Cloverdale. I can hear the kids outside having a great time playing. But it’s pretty cozy inside.

I’ve been in a baking mood. It started a week ago. I had a craving for gingersnaps.

I don’t know what it is about the colder months, but I start craving cinnamon and cloves big time! Gingersnaps and gingerbread are all good!

I used my trusty old Better Homes and Gardens recipe. I’m sure you can find the recipe if you want it!

Tonight I tried a cranberry muffin recipe I’ve been looking at for a few days now. It’s made with Red River Cereal, perhaps the most Canadian of cereals. We’ve had a box of Red River for quite a while. I think perhaps I ‘brought it into the marriage’. Ha Ha. A few weeks ago I tried making it in the microwave (not so great) and then on the stove (good, but took too long in the morning), so I was wondering what to do with it. Cranberry muffins (one of my favorites) seems like a great idea.

The recipe is very simple in that you don’t need a lot of ingredients or need to make a lot of mess with bowls and mixers. But you do need to allocate time to let the oats and cereal soak in the buttermilk. (I substituted milk and lemon juice for the buttermilk since it is almost impossible to find in the grocery store these days.)

They seemed to bake up pretty good. Now, for the taste test!