Sunday, March 3, 2013

Herring Season, Northern Flickers, Pillowcases and Spudlike!

It's Herring Season

View from the beach today: 






Sea lion lower left ~



A few recent photos of the Northern Flicker at the bird feeder ~ Mrs. and Mr. taking turns.


Close-up:
Mr. ~ head-on:


I learned about 1 million pillow cases for charity, and recently made a few to donate to the BC Children's Hospital.  

When finished, I had threads all over the carpet, so located an old paint roller holder, added a broom handle, joined two empty toilet rolls together, affixed it to the roller, wrapped sticky tape to the outside, and rolled up the threads to save the vacuum cleaner getting tide in knots  :)




and today while at the beach, I saw a Spud Look-a-like ~  I was so excited!



That's it for now!

17 comments:

  1. Who are you? Martha Stewart? :)

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    1. Your comment made me laugh :) Perhaps Martha learned everything she knows from me ;) Age, wisdom and all that, you know!

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    2. Just checked ~ I was wrong! She IS older than me.... she's 71! I'm a mere....well, younger, anyway ;)

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  2. Ooh, I like the looks of your pillow cases -- something fun for someone to enjoy. And the clean-up is pure genius.

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    1. I dropped off the pillowcases today to the ladies who are collecting them for the BC Children's Hospital. I hope they bring a little bit of cheer :) I love adapting things to solve problems, so I was pleased that my technique of thread roller picker-upper worked well. Thanks :)

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  3. Goodness - what a lot of gulls - opportunists ever. Love the pillowcases - hope you don't have to sow a million!

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    1. Yes, Elaine, it was quite the sight. Between the gullabaloo, and the barking sea lions, it certainly sounded like a Herring Feast Extravaganza.

      It would get a bit monotonous stitching up too many pillowcases, but I enjoyed using the roll-up method instructions I found online. I also made French seems so there were no raggedy edges! Glad you liked them.

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  4. Years ago we had large herring fleets which followed the fish down the coast. Now with over fishing and limited fishing times imposed by Europe it is a shadow of its former self.
    Well done with the home made roller. It is a real bind freeing up the brush on the Vax when it grabs some loose threads.

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    1. It is unfortunate that over fishing has taken its toll. There are only a few days open here for the herring run.
      Thanks about the roller. It beat crawling around on my hands and knees picking up threads. I love thinking of ways to solve problems (especially when they end up working) I'm sure you can relate :)

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  5. What varied subjects in this 'photo' post, and I really like that expressive last picture. Flighty xx

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    1. Thanks Flighty. That last photos is nice, isn't it? I like the way the wind is blowing his fur and ears and the expression on his face.

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  6. All those birds lining up on the beach look most dramatic, and I suspect the drama is just about to unfold!!!
    I can't get over that Northern Flicker, it's such a stunning bird, I certainly wouldn'y mind have a few of those on my feeders....could you send a few across please????

    What genius re the roller, an idea I may nick!
    I do like the Spud lookalike, such a lovely gentle looking dog!xxxxx

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    1. Thanks Snowbird :) I could send you a Flicker feather if you are interested! I found one on the lawn, with it's bright orange centre.
      I was quite pleased with the roller, and when the first layer of tape was covered, I added another layer of sticky tape on top of that, and carried on.
      Spud lookalike was a beauty, wasn't he?

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  7. Lots of activity on the beach, they all want a part of the action.
    Love those flickers.

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    1. Hi Gillian ~ Yes, a very busy beach indeed ~ and now no more fishing boats. I could hear the sea lions echoing through my bathroom window last night, so they're still very active.

      Yes, the Flickers are quite stunning looking birds ~ and look rather large on the little suet feeders.

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  8. Oh what a lovely Spud u like!! I once heard a fascinating BBC radio programme about the girls who gutted the herrings, following the fleet of boats along the coast. This video gives a fishy flavour of their world. http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/181

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    1. So glad you dropped by to check out 'Spud'! Thank you for the herring link ~ talk about up to your armpits in work! What a job that must have been.

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