Poor Percy = Lucky Birds

Richard's cat Percy hasn't quite figured out that even though he stays perfectly still, he's not exactly camouflaged with his black coat against the white snow. Poor Percy. Lucky birds.

Banana Cake

During the snowstorm last week, I decided to make a banana cake from Marcy Goldman's book Best of Better Baking.com. The cake was big and gorgeous and delicious!


I changed the icing because I didn't have all the ingredients that it called for. Instead, I topped it with melted semi-sweet chocolate and butter, drizzled with white chocolate. I brought it to work and everyone loved it.

Peekaboo Cardinal

I heard the click-click call of a cardinal the other day.


He sure is one elusive bird but with those gorgeous red feathers, you can't really miss him.


I tried to get a good photo of him, but he kept tucked behind some lilac branches.


Peekaboo Mr. Cardinal.


Ahh, there you are my beauty. Gotcha!

Decadent Chocolate Cake

I made a chocolate cake, gluten-free and non-dairy for friends coming for Super Bowl last night. I didn't like how the cake looked -- kind of flat and dull, so I cut it up into hearts with a cookie cutter. The scraps? I rolled them up and put them onto lollipop sticks and dipped them in white chocolate with drizzle of dark. I saw the idea for cake pops at this fabulous blog: cake-ology.ca. The original idea came from Bakerella who put out the book Cake Pops.

Redpolls

These little redpolls seem to be everywhere this time of year.


The females have a stripy, pale breast...


While the males are very rosy.


This guy is a little acrobat. I'm not quite sure what he's up to.


And this one seems to be playing peek-a-boo with me.

Nutmeg Immortalized

I've had a lot of cats in my life but I definitely have a soft spot for Nutmeg. She was born 12 years ago, on a shelf on our back porch and out of a litter of five, my late father chose her for us to keep. She's the shyest cat I've ever had and sleeps on my hip at night. Yes, she's spoiled.


At our last art show, artist extraordinaire Natalie Rowe, asked if we could trade. Trade?! I was ecstatic! I always wanted one of Nat's hooked rugs. And even better? She offered to do one to look like one of my cats. I chose Nutmeg who is a remarkably beautiful calico. (And yes, all my cats are beautiful...I did have to choose ONE though, right?)
To see Natalie's fun blog, where she writes about her own animals as well as her art, click here: Knatolee's World.
Thanks Natalie. I love my Nutmeg ruglet!

Victorian Cake ATCs

Here's the set of artist trading cards I swapped at Saturday's monthly trade at the Dunvegan Recreation Hall. The images were from a 2010 desk calendar. I glued on shiny half-pearls I found in a drawer and some teeny beads that looked just like candy roses. Fun.

Robbie Burns Day

At the Robbie Burns Day party on Saturday night there were all manners of Scottish things...men in kilts...


...haggis...


...and the poem that goes with it.


I got into the spirit with a wee bit of tartan.


Dessert was sticky raspberry steamed pudding and my tartan cupcakes...


...which matched one of the kilts just perfectly!

Robbie Burns Day Cupcakes

Elisabeth helped art direct a set of cupcakes for Robbie Burns Day.


I bought shiny gold cups to tart them up a bit.


In the end, they were pretty darn colourful.


The cupcake girls were pretty happy with the final product.


I even got to try the "food" setting on my camera. Cool!

Hairy Woodpecker

He looks fluffy and hairy but he really is called a Hairy Woodpecker! And he posed for me the other day while I was trying my new camera.


He is one handsome bird. And doesn't he know it?


So please, Mr. H. Woodpecker. Stop pecking my house and get back to the trees!

St. Raphael's Ruins

It was a cold and stormy day and I was on the roads driving around. I came upon St. Raphael's Ruins.


A fire destroyed the interior of the building in 1970 but the clever folks of the area have managed to keep the outer walls up and made it an historic site.


It's only to the public in the summer.


I'll have to be sure to get back here.


It sure is impressive, cold and lonely in the winter though.


Pretty mysterious too.

Chicken in Every Pot...

Frozen Fungi

Some interestingly shaped mushrooms growing on the trunk of a tree. They kind of look like coral growing under the sea.


These mushrooms are actually growing from a stump submerged in the snow.

Visit From Banjo

My neighbour Rene and his dog Banjo travel the road together on Rene's 4x4 and yesterday I was lucky enough to have them drop by for a visit.


Banjo (who Rene calls simply "Jo") is a great dog and is content to be driven around while she has a bird's eye view of the road.


She's a sweet, friendly dog who wanted to come into the house and have a visit with me and the cats.


When it was time to go, she hopped back on her perch and away they went. I hope Jo (and Rene) come back for another visit soon.