Here's to 2016 !

Merry Christmas

A Merry Christmas to all of you, my dear readers and friends. I hope you can spend a quiet and peaceful day with lots of laughter and joy. 

Frosty Morning With A Touch of Autumn

We have had some pretty frosty mornings recently - remember, we are totally spoiled Californians who complain when temperatures drop below 50 F. However, this was real frost; 27 F! Okay, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the East Coast, don't laugh (not to mention Alaska and Canada)!!! Since we also have sunny days, the morning show right after sunrise is quite spectacular.

There is a park right next to Kaefer's high school, and after I had dropped her off this morning, I stopped to take a few photos. There had been more frost on Monday, but this was still very nice and I enjoyed my little photo shoot - until my fingers became too cold.

Some kids were on their way to school - middle schoolers, since Kaefer's old middle school is to the other side of the park. There were joggers and dog walkers - this park also has a fenced-in dog park which is very popular.

I loved the light of the early morning sun - even though it was cold, the light gave the impression of warmth. It was almost magical; I love the contrast between the frost and the warm orange shades.

I couldn't resist taking pictures of the shadows - my kind of selfie! The leaves on the ground were pretty as well, with some of them featuring fine frost at their edge.

The magic finally disappeared with the steadily rising sun who poured the light onto the park. The glow of the frost was no longer clearly visible - but it was still very beautiful. I was glad that I had stopped and could witness this short morning magic.

A Good Day

My dear friends, I've run out of apologies except for the "this is life" one that seems to happen always around this time of the year. Why is it that the season that should be calm and peaceful always tends to be anything but? It's hectic with busy and full days... you can't even do regular grocery shopping anymore without running into crowds and waiting in line at the checkout. When I think of Advent and the pre-Christmas season I always imagine beauty, candlelight, peacefulness, hot chocolate and cookies.

Nothing of that - except for the hot chocolate - did happen this year.

Instead we were all in an insane run for - what? Kaefer has been spending hours at the computer, filling out applications for the universities she thinks may be a good fit for her. Finals will be this week, so she's studying for long hours. Last day of school will be on Thursday and then on Friday night she will have a potluck and a night hike with the TeenNat program at the nature preserve she spent her summer internship at - that's a nice event and she looks forward to that. It's a good start for the winter break as well.

I had my last class a week ago, but still spend many hours preparing for the artisan holiday fair. One of the last things I made were these ornaments.

It was a lot of fun creating these - I just love to "invent" these little winter scenes and fill them with moose, howling wolves, trees, a full moon, cats and snowmen. Some even got the Big Dipper.

I did a practice set up of my table, took pictures of it - and promptly forgot to print the photos and take them with me! So I had to set up from memory which actually wasn't too difficult.

The fair turned out to be a really good day. Since I sold at this fair last year I knew that it was a good one, but it by far exceeded my expectations. I actually ran out of some of my items - note to myself, knit more hats in more colors. I even sold the hat I was wearing! The things I expected to sell like the hedgehog mittens didn't move at all!

I guess this part of Northern California is not a good location for hedgehog mittens! This is luck for my two little nieces in Germany who will each get a pair for Christmas! They do need mittens in Germany!

In the end I was very happy with my sales and the entire day. The vendors next to us were lovely and we had quite some fun together. The entertainment program was excellent and we even did some dancing! What more can you ask for?

Kaefer was my assistant again - perhaps for the last time since next year she probably will be off to college. It will be very different and only half the fun without her.

A Busy Week

My dear friends, I'm sorry that I haven't been active here for two weeks, and I also haven't visited any of you! I feel awful about it! However, I promise to be back as soon as things have calmed down a bit.

The reason I am so busy right now is this:

I'm having a sale in my shop until Thursday, I'm editing high school senior pictures for clients and I'm also preparing for an artisan craft fair where I will sell my handmade items in less than two weeks. That means I'm a busy bee right now.

However, I do miss you, I miss the interaction and I miss writing on my blog. My next post is already in my head and I hope to find the time later this week to get it in this space.

Until then I invite you to take a look at my shop if you want to. Otherwise, cuddle up and try to stay warm in this December weather (in the Northern hemisphere) and hopefully get a feel for the season.

Oh, and by the way, Dax (the little dachshund in the lower right corner in the photo above) will find a new home in North Carolina with the grandson of the buyer of it. Dax is a silly boy, but quite sassy - I think he will make friends with the grandson.

Lake Birds

When I wrote my last post, I promised that I would show you the photos of all the birds I saw. There were so many birds at the lake that morning!

Of course the Canada Geese were there - they always are, hanging out at the lagoon, swimming leisurely across the lake or flying over it while making a lot of noise. I enjoy watching them land on the water - gracefully and with quite some splash!

Another of the regulars are the cormorants. They love to sit in the top of the trees right next to the water where they soak up the sun. They don't seem to care about anyone else in their area and never mingle with the other birds.

My greatest joy, however, are the herons. This morning I saw five of them - four black-crowned night heron and one green heron. I also heard another green heron; they can get quite noisy. Here is the green heron that I discovered along the narrow fisherman's trail - a true beauty, don't you think?

Right across from him, patiently waiting for breakfast, was this handsome guy - a black-crowned night heron.

I loved how the two of them were so close together hunting for food without getting mad at each other.

The black-crowned herons are my favorites. I can never pass one without stopping and looking at it. They are pretty awesome birds. Male and female look alike, but the young ones are brown and only turn to this beautiful white and bluish color in adulthood. This particular one loves to hang out in this small and kind of hidden part of the lake. It sits under low hanging brunches and is difficult to spot from the trail. I only saw it because I know that it loves to be here.

There were three other ones close by, sitting in the trees. Two of them flew off later and settled in a different tree, right at the edge of the trail. What an opportunity to get up close!

Yes, they do have red eyes. They are stunning and such a contrast to their more muted body color. Just see for yourself.

Quite an impressive beak as well!

The lake wouldn't be a lake without a few swans. They were busy with the morning cleaning, mingling with the geese and ducks.

Later they swam across the lake to the other side.

From there I saw them taking off. To be completely honest, I first heard them taking off. You can easily identify swans flying by the loud swooshing sound of their huge wings - it is truly amazing!

And last but not least a California Quail. The are not water birds, of course, but they made their home close to the lake. They are funny birds, very shy, and produce unique sounds (you can listen to them here). Usually they stay in flocks and run away quickly as soon as someone comes close. They love to rustle in the underbrush and probably look for food there.

It's also our state bird - a cute little beauty.

Autumn Morning Magic

Shortly before we set our clocks back to standard time I went to the lake in the early morning. The sun had just spread its first rays over the hills, and the sky wasn't even blue yet. There were only a very few people out and about. It was all quiet, the lake was perfectly still and the morning fog was hovering over the water.

It was stunningly beautiful.

The birds were busy getting ready for the new day.

Some of them, however, did their first outing, getting their bellies wet. They probably hadn't a clue how much I loved seeing them swimming toward the fog.

The reflections at the boat ramp nearly took my breath away. This is the light and the colors that I love so much about fall. No wonder autumn is my favorite season - it seems to have so much in abundance. Mornings like this make it hard for me to go home and start working. I'd rather spend my time outside, taking pictures and watching the birds. I saw many birds this morning, and I will show you the pictures of them in a later post.

And suddenly the fog was gone, within minutes everything was clear. It became warmer, but somehow the special magic of this early morning atmosphere was gone as well.

It must be so nice to float in a boat across the lake and see everything from a different perspective. I'm quite jealous of the people who are able to do this.

When I came home after this magical morning I felt happy and peaceful. The magic never completely left me that day. I love days like this!

I think I need to go back very soon at the same time and see how the light is different with the time change.