Ile des Chenes Winter

Jack Frost has done a good job on our front door.

My bird feeder with a recent visitor.  I'd love to invest in a good long lens to get better pictures of the birds... Some day...

Today's warm temperatures (-5) and the thick hoarfrost on the trees were two good reasons to go for a walk today. 

Seed pods

Probably just in time... when I got back home, the trees in the back were almost clear of the hoarfrost.

In the park behind our place.

A January Project

I'm always up for a new craft.  And since my granddaughter's first birthday was coming up, I thought it was a good time to try making a sock monkey or two.  I bought these two pairs of socks at Mark's Work Wearhouse, because it was such a good sale, and because they were incredibly soft.  Perfect for sock monkeys. 
I was amazed how easy they were to make.  And I couldn't stop with one pair.  Many crafts that I have attempted, such as the Quiet Books, could never be sold for the amount needed to actually make money.  This one could be different. 
So I picked up more socks, and, in my spare time, I sewed. 
I made the above two on Monday.  By Wednesday I had 4 more completed.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Each time I learned something.  The fuzzy socks are a pain to work with - they shed badly (everything in my house is sparkly now) and need resewing in many places after the first wash and dry.  They were a good price at Walmart, but I had to be careful when cutting them, that the heels were where they should be... otherwise the bum didn't end up at the bottom where it belonged!! I had to add an extra bum to one of them! But they are also very forgiving - stitches just don't show.  And they are very soft and cuddly. 

I just couldn't stop.  Which is a good thing because I bought a lot of socks.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

I think #7 is my favorite, even though that's the one with the wonky bum.  I really like #11, too, but it has some wool in it.  Will that be an issue for a children's soft toy?  The real socks for sock monkeys, I think, are the grey men's work socks. That's my #12... further down.  I'm thinking that if I do another craft sale this year, I want to have cards and sock monkeys BOTH.  I think that's an odd combination, but if those are what I do, that should be okay, right?  What would you pay for a sock monkey?  I'd like to price them at $15 each.  Is that a reasonable price?  At that price, it's worth my time to make them since I can do it in my spare time.  I would love feedback on this.

The first 11.

 

My granddaughter got these two yesterday.

12.

The 17% wool sock monkey.

The Glory of Winter

This was the site that greeted me this morning when I looked out. It was still somewhat dark outside, so I set up my tripod on the deck (just outside the door so I didn't have to go outside), and took this shot.  I love the sight of hoarfrost in winter!  The day just kept getting prettier.

I'm not sure how many times I cooled down my whole house because I had to get another shot... and didn't really want to go outside.  But the beauty of the morning finally won, and I put on some warm clothes and walked out into my yard.

It's just not possible to get these shots from inside.  And it was just in time -  the hoarfrost was beginning to fall off the trees.

 You can actually see it falling on this shot.

My Christmas tree is just lying in the snow right now, but with last night's light snow, and this morning's hoarfrost it is still useful for a nice winter shot.