A Winter Walk in the Woods

We've been inside quite a bit the last few weeks so the SBA and I decided to go for a walk in the woods. The NW woods are very beautiful in the winter because they are so green. Of course, the positive side of the rain is the green moss that covers everything in the woods. Plus with so many evergreens, the woods stay lovely. This area is about 45 minutes from our house. It is quite near the lighthouse that I have blogged about many times. I hope you are having a great week-end and you enjoy seeing the photos. We really enjoyed taking them!!

This is the main trail that leads into the woods. The further you go the smaller the trail.

We saw lots of branches down. Probably from that storm we had. Too bad the holidays aren't ahead, you could make lots of beautiful garlands without cutting anything.

At one time , this area must have been covered with old growth forests. We saw these huge stumps everywhere. These trees must have been an amazing sight. The SBA agreed to be in the picture so you could see just how big these stumps were. The holes that you see were chopped there to provide a platform for the logger to stand on to chop the tree down.

We saw this pretty black and white duck in a quiet little pond.

At the same place, we saw this kingfisher.

This is a shiny black fungus of some type.

More fungus. I think it's pretty.

This tree shows you that beavers live in the nearby ponds.

Even dead trees provide food for the birds.

I love unusual bark.

This is the trunk of a madrona tree.

This lovely pond was at the end of our hike. We hoped to see some wildlife but no luck today. It was still a great walk in the woods and I think I'll sleep very well tonight!

Cross stitch , Books, and Gardening

The title tells you about three of my favorite things. First, I finished the "SM 1841" sampler. I think I'll keep it up just in Feb. and then again around the 4th of July because I chose to do it in red,white, and blue. I really don't love the design. I have started, I should say just barely started, Rebecca Robinson. It's quite large and will take awhile. I know I have a few small spring/Easter things I want to do. So I'll interrupt the big sampler to do some smalls.
Now for the book. I just finished reading "The Book Thief." Sorry for not providing the author but I gave the book to my daughter this morning. I found it to be a very amazing story. Very different but an amazing read. It is intended for high school age readers, but I think it had much to offer adult readers as well. Not what I would call a "light"read, but well worth the time spent reading!
I took the flower pictures at the market. I'm trying to figure out where I can put some primrose. They are so pretty. We had a hard freeze last night and they were all tucked under a roof at the market. I think I'll just wait a bit! Last year I put them in my window box but I do like the heaths and heathers that we put in the box last fall. I don't want to tear them out for primrose! We'll just have to see.
Well, thanks for taking a look and have a wonderful week-end!

Sorry for the strange lines on the photo.

Here it is in the frame I robbed from the coverlet room.

Hellebores! I love these flowers.

Spring in a pot!

The market had a lot of plant combos with primrose.

We try to keep things local!

Here are my Ivory Prince hellebores. A ways to go.

We are very good at growing weeds in the winter here in the Pacific NW!!!!!

A cross stitch catch up

Not much is going on so I thought I'd so a cross stitch catch up. I'm about to finish the Carriage House Samplings "SM 1841". I'm thinking of doing a large sampler when I'm done. I 'll probably do some smalls while working on the big one. I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

One row of letters and one heart to go. Sorry, the color is much prettier than the camera shows!

Here's the one I'm thinking of doing next. I have the linen all cut and ready to go. The colors are all DMC and that makes life easier since I have no shops with special threads nearby.

I hate to spend the money framing so I always look to see if I can switch one out and use the frame again. Here is the frame I'm stealing for SM1841. I usually have this Carriage House piece in this frame. I keep it in what we call the coverlet room. It's a guest room that we rarely use for guests.

Here is a photo of the coverlet room. We love the antique coverlets!!! We got them when we lived in Kentucky. One is from New York the other is an Indiana coverlet.

Here is the New York coverlet. The eagle in the corner square makes it very special.

Here is the Indiana coverlet Corner. You can often identify the weaver by the corners.

I'll end with this cute little snowman I did last year. He's getting framed today!
Have a wonderful week!