Down the chimney? Through the wall!

Hey all.  Santa may be coming down the chimney but Woody is coming through the wall.  Yep.  We finished patching all the smaller holes a few weeks ago and yesterday I heard an odd knocking. 

It wasn't the loud pecking that alerts us to a pecker, it was different and I thought Junior was attacking the adults.  Nope.  Outside investigation revealed a very large bird with yellow beneath the wings.  ?????  It's the Flicker. 

 

Inside investigation showed a hole about 7" long and 4" high.

Flickers are also protected by the Migratory Bird Act and are basically a type of woodpecker.  They are distinguished by the yellow underside of their wings as you watch them fly away from tearing your house to shreds.  Big bird.  I continued to scare and interrupt his excavating all afternoon which obviously upset him since he hasn't returned today.  We have an aluminum piece attached inside the attic and caulked around that to prevent rain and snow from running behind the siding.   The siding will be replaced on the house this spring so it will be corrected then.  We were planning on cedar lap siding again, but after this year, James Hardie cement siding may be a better choice.  We've co-existed with many pecker varieties and fed them for 25 years, but they obviously are needing more protected roosts.  Not sure what to do if he comes back but I'm also concerned that he is elsewhere starting a new hole.  He wasn't finished with this one! 

Woody Woodpecker his very self was here again and is creating a cavity for his home as you can see here.  Problem is, they usually pick dead trees but this tree is living - so far! 

Well, I have to prepare palachinkas (cottage cheese filled crepes), smelts, pierogis, with a few purchased side dishes for Christmas Eve so I don't have time for birdwatching. 

I haven't really been browsing for freebies but Pineberry Lane's caught my eye on Nan's blog.  Love it.  For some reason, my reader's list missed quite a few recent posts so I need to go back and review your blogs.  I'm listing a few freebies that were featured by stitchers - just in case you missed them or haven't had time to check them out.

Pineberry Lane's download on PatternMart (you need to register)

can be found HERE.

Another nice Christmas Free is from Woolen Sails and can be found HERE.

Merry Primitive Christmas from The Primitive Hare can be found HERE.

Another of her wonderful free charts is on her blog HERE.

And scroll down Viola's lovely blog to see several sweets HERE.

DMC's Mistletoe Sampler is a little more elaborate HERE.

Tokens and Trifles has lots of smalls and I picked the Quaker Stocking HERE.

Their sewing cards are so lovely and they offer many free charts for them HERE, you just click on the shape. 

That's the end because I'm flashing and need to go stand outside in the cold rain.

****************

I wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Tour of Homes

Hi all!  I found a blog that has hundreds of home tours from bloggers if you're interested.  It takes a while once you reach the blog for it all to load so give it a while, and then click on any of the photos to see Christmas decorations from some pretty artistic bloggers.  Well, not all.  I posted mine!  You can post yours too.  I uploaded my photos to a page on this blog - your can see the tab for Stitcher's Christmas - copied and pasted the URL for that page, and voila.  You can do all the photos on one post and give that URL if you prefer.  I've seen some wonderful photos from stitchers so think about including yours for this fun show.  You only have one more day and then it will be closed.  There are 617 house tours before me so it may take us months to view it all!    Click HERE to take a look.

I went to Pat Catan's (again) to purchase the 4' tree but it was gone.  They are having 25% off Christmas items and I found these picks, garland, and wreaths that are stiff, painful, and very realistic for CHEAP.  I'm a happy girl lady woman.  My kitty now resides in one of the new wreaths.

Here's a few of my favorite ornaments on the newest 3' that you have talked me into keeping.

 Big hips and big feet - these two are certainly related.  And yes, I can relate to!

 My SIL's daughter bought this for me and it cracks me up. He has a backside, where he is hiding a snowball to nail someone with and he's wearing ice skates.

I also found this really scrawny garland that I draped over the hutch and my husband just rolled his eyes.  See the little baskets now on the other tree?  25 cents each and they were bright red - I just water thinned my brown craft paint and slopped it on to age - more cheap ornaments.  Happy dance.

 

 

I said I was done posting about decorating but I can't keep my mouth shut when I get a bargain.

I promise - no more!!

Have a great week and thanks for visiting!  Don't forget to check out the home tours and add your stitched or favorite decorations!

AUGH!!! and more trees

Hello everyone.  Today started off with me shaking in my red rubber boots.  I was proceeding to the cat condo (which now has egg-crate foam lined with thick sherpa) to feed the brats but not before I gave a panoramic snarl to the white crap that is now covering my yard.  Did I ever mention that I hate winter?  Something colorful and large caught my eye.  There he was.  The Godfather, the Drill Sergeant, Jack Hammer of the woods, the Grand Poobah of peckers.......the pileated.  Oh Lord I'm in trouble.   He's bigger than the cats!  Did his subjects call him in after being squirted off my house?  Did the clanging pans disturb them too much?  The sight of a wild woman jumping up and down flailing arms and screaming give them nightmares?    I was afraid to let him out of my sight to get the camera so I snagged this photo.

This Poobah Pecker can take the siding off my house in a half hour.  I'm providing nourishment (as recommended) for his #*$&*! subjects that were trying to nest in my house so he should be kind to me.  He's too big to land on their feeder - I'll make a larger feeder - and a sign with his image on it - with an egg-crate landing post.  Anything O Poobah.   I watched him fly away as I bowed, but I'm not leaving the house just in case. 

 Here's the results of the drawing.  I went to Random.org and entered all the names, it created a list and assigned numbers, and then two numbers were drawn.

I hope you like your gifts!

I decided to forget about stringing lights on the last tree so it is back in the attic.  This smaller version has been used for years and since it already had lights, I brought it down and decorated it the same as always.  The little schooler Santas that I earlier put on a wreath since I wasn't planning on their usual tree, and rust.  Rusty jingle bells, stars, and pine cones.  What a difference since staining them!  I like the tree so much better than prior years and am glad I darkened the light sage Aida.  It looks great with the rust and even better with the lights off.

The little stool next to it is something I found at our local antique mall a while back.  It's a darling little shoe shine stool.  Usually the lid is down and it looks like an ordinary little bench but the Shinola label matches the colors on the tree so I left it open and will fill it with greens and enormous rusty bells.

So with all these trees and others in the attic, why am I keeping the 3' I just purchased?  Because I may never find a little one with branches that stiff for heavy ornaments.  I think it's perfect in my tiny parlor.  The price tag is still on though, just in case.  I'm done.  So you've seen all trees.   Except for the main one...

 Which goes in front of the window next to the fireplace now that it's complete.  Now we're done.   The glass ornament filled with colored ribbons has "BJ" on it.  We have a local pet cemetery, chapel, and they also do cremations.  Any pet lost in the year is remembered with a personalized ornament at a chapel service held at Christmas time.  I couldn't go last year, but Mark did.  They would have heard me wailing downtown.   Anyone is welcome and it's a packed house every year for our pet service.  I'm crying already!  So that's it.  For sure.  I'm done.  Back to stitching.  I want to finish Frances Bliss and start on the Woodlawn that I plan to post for sure, next time.   I was planning to make our cottage cheese pierogis for Christmas eve, but none of the stores carry dry cottage cheese anymore and the regular (even well drained) isn't the same.  So I'll make some of our favorite cookies and try not to eat so much dough that I only get a half batch.  Stay safe, have a great week, thank you for reading.  My sincere gratitude to everyone that participated in the offer, and to followers.  Thank you!

And the winners are..

Ann won the large box and pear.....

and Anonymous (Jean Hohulin) won the small box.

Please send your address girls - I will post the photos of the Random.org drawing later.

I want to thank everyone for participating.  I really appreciate the response and wish I could give something to every one of you!

Your chances just increased

Hello people!  I'm feeling generous.  I am thrilled that 50+ of you would like my box, and encouraged enough to think seriously about Etsy.  So how about super sizing it?

I used the same two designs and put them on a 6" x 6" box.  I will use the generator at Random.org for the winner, and also draw a second time for the original offer of the 4" box.  If you're the winner and prefer the small box, that's fine.   The pear will be included with the first prize, along with a few dried citrus.  Don't you wish there was some stitchy stuff inside?  Well there isn't so don't get your hopes up. 

I was also informed that the pear will not make it into Australia which I didn't know.  I guess the box is all I can send since even the dried oranges are not allowed.   I don't know if other countries will accept but we'll find out.   I'll try to find something that I can include instead of the pear should the winner be lucky enough to reside in Australia.   Many of you are "no-reply" so be sure to check back for the winner.   Today, 11 pm EST!   I'll post by midnight.  Have a great day everyone.

Offering update

Hello everyone.  I've decided to give the winner of my offering a choice of boxes.  You can choose from the house design I showed earlier...

or if you are an Adam & Eve lover, this design...

The round boxes are painted a dark brown, aged, and are 4" high and 4" across.  I will draw from the names at 11:00 pm Eastern time on Friday night.  Hopefully I can get an address Saturday morning and get it in the mail before the post closes at noon.   Don't forget - the pear will be inside! 

Another tree!  This is jingle bells and dried orange slices, with dried whole oranges lying on the branches.  I think the last tree (still waiting for its lights) will be all lights and rusty, brown, and gray jumbo jingle bells.  

 I didn't get the scanner working to post the Woodlawn piece, but wanted to give the deadline for the pear box.  Make sure you leave your request on THIS POST.  Yes, the box originally shown was mustard but I wasn't happy with it and since it's still my box, I changed the color.  Good luck!  Remember, Friday night at 11:00 pm EST. 

I also wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful comments on my mantel.  I added more stitched Santa pillows in the greenery and it looks even better. 

To answer your emails, Margaret stitched her PS on the recommended 18 count Davos over one.  I always did mine on my standard 28 count over two, but really like this look so I will be using the 18 count on future designs.  Unfortunately, I included all my 18/19 count Cork linen with the charts for my EBay sale.  All gone.  Never thought I would have a need for it!!  The Christmas cushion from Carol (Sampler Farmer) is a design from Country Rustic Primitives.  Nice stuff.   It's stitched on "mink" which may be discontinued.  That's typical.  If I didn't give it away, sell it, or burn it, it's discontinued.

That's it folks!  I'll be back the end of the week.  Stay safe!