charmed by nature

I’ve really been enjoying bird watching these past few days. Fat fluffy robins, energetic yellow-rumped myrtle warblers, and a beautiful hairy woodpecker have been gracing my front yard. It seems like spring may have finally sprung since all of these feathered beauties keep flying up to my tree… it gave me an extra push to get creating: I’ve finished up some new bird-inspired, one of a kind, charm necklaces for a super awesome gallery that carries my work, Blackstar Studios (as I will be visiting them in the next week or so with a plethora of new product and many big hugs). 9 new pieces join 8 of the necklaces left from my etsy jewelry sale. They are currently hanging in my front window awaiting their upcoming trip to a new, creative home in Invermere, and will hopefully be around some gorgeous necks shortly after.

backyard buddies

Spring has almost sprung, and despite a few flurries these past couple days, the grass is turning green, we’ve been out bike riding, the bird feeder has been hung and seed dishes nailed to the posts. Our house in 100 Mile House in comparison to my cabin doesn’t see as much of a variety of wild animals… however, we definitely get more visits than our old homes in Alberta.  For the most part it’s been just Oregon juncos who have been addicted to the bird feeder. Awfully cute little guys, especially the males with their dark black caps.The occasional chickadee and  sparrow gets in there once and a while……and there are a couple solo, yet-to-be identified, birds also getting in on the feeding frenzy. That’s the thing with birding, no matter how much you watch, there is always a new bird to see and so much more to learn. Identifying birds on the spot is quite a skill. At dusk there is usually a 30 minute period where we are visited by a dozen robins who go on a grub hunting spree in our backyard, or sit together in a large group amongst the branches of the tree up front.The deer have been passing by again, and eating some of the seed too judging by fresh footprints in our front lawn. The most I saw at once was a group of six marching through our neighbours yard. However this morning a mama doe and her 2 fawns who survived the winter, were grazing in the backyard grass! They were adorable and quite calm; such a joy to watch. I love it so much when furry animals are close by. With the reminiscing of old backyard friends, I wanted to post something that I’ve only shared with friends and family. Last year there was a doe that had 2 fawns and she lived down near kinsmen beach, right next to Pynelogs & the Scotty Burger where I was working. We dubbed her the irresponsible mother, because the cute little fawns always seemed to be roaming alone without supervision. This however offered me with some pretty incredible photo opportunities since she wasn’t always around to ‘protect’ them. From a pile of shots, this one is definitely a favourite; it makes my heart just melt.