February Spring

In spite of some dreary grey skies, February has been unseasonably warm, and we're seeing signs of spring everywhere. But this IS Manitoba, and we know it won't last...winter will have it's last hurrah....but we're trying not to think of that!

Looking for spring in February

 Earlier in the month, the full moon shone down on the deer as they made their evening trek across our neighbour's yard. With the warm weather we've had, they're enjoying the ground cedar that grows on our acreage. In the morning they make their way back to the Sprucewoods Wildlife Refuge. 

The deer coming across the field under a full moon


Winters are long here,
and any signs of spring are welcome!
Deer enjoying the bare patches of ground

Doesn't look like this sleigh has been taken out for a while...
An unused sleigh in the field


These guys are ready to welcome spring!
Scare crows watching for signs of spring


As much as Raven likes the snow, 
I think she's watching for spring too.
Our puppy waiting for spring to arrive


Well, hello there!
A deer in the forest

Have you seen spring?
Deer in the Forest



It's just around the corner!
It's just around the corner

Someone else is out enjoying the weather...
Looking forward to spring  too, I'm sure.
A beautiful white horse

Yes, it's still winter.....

It's still winter, a lonely tree
But
Breathe, spring is on the way

Manitoba Sky Monday, February 20/17

I know, I know...it's more sunrises and sunsets.
But I never get tired of them...
hopefully someone else appreciates them too!

The moon at sunrise
The moon at sunrise

Pink sunset

It was hard to choose between all of the sunset photos this week!

Sun set

Sunset

Sunset

Sunset

Sunset

Sunset

Sunset
  
This beautiful sunrise turned from pink and red to golden as the sun rose.
Sunrise

Sunrise


Sunrise

Sunrise

Sunrise

 See you next week!

Home Made Bird Feeder

Looking for a simple project to do with the kids? We love watching birds, and ever since we moved here, I have planned to buy a bird feeder to put up in our yard, but somehow, just never got around to it. But this year, I came across a really simple way to make a homemade bird feeder from mesh bags.

Mesh bag bird feeder

I started saving the bags that our oranges and onions come in.

Mesh bag bird feeder

I found a few recipes that can be used to make suet to feed birds, but we ended up just using what we had on hand.

Mesh bag bird feeder

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup fat
1 cup large flake oats
1 cup peanuts (crushed)

I would have added bird seed, but didn't manage to get any.






We combined everything in a small mixing bowl.

Mesh bag bird feeder suet

The mixture is pretty greasy, so Danica used small bags to shape it into balls. 



We set the balls in the freezer for a while to make them easier to work with, then put them inside the mesh bags.

Mesh bag bird feeder

We then tied the ends, and attached the suet balls to a hanger. We have a pole in our yard for hanging flower baskets. It  seemed like the best place to hang our new bird feeder. 

Mesh bag bird feeder

Mesh bag bird feeder



Danica put together a slide show of how to make these easy and inexpensive bird feeders.


Manitoba Sky Monday, Feb.13/17

Welcome to another week of Manitoba Skies!

I'm not sure how I got this one, but I really like the way it turned out!
Beautiful orange sunset


Beautiful orange sunset

Pink sunset

Pink sunset

pink sunset

Deer under a pink sunset

I should have a tripod set up for times like these! 
It's very hard to get a clear picture, trying to hold the camera still!

Full Moon through trees

Deer in a snowy field under full moon

A little blurry...but still pretty!
One of these days I need to take a photography course,
 so I know how to get these right!

Full moon

Apparently, this was the beginning of a Penumbral lunar eclipse.
 I should have kept watching for the full eclipse!
Full moon


Upside down snow bank cloud

That's it for this week!