January and the start of a new year. Weather wise it was not as cold as usual at the start of the month, and we saw many days hovering around 0 Celsius and just above.
Instead of looking through the garden gate these photos were mostly taken through the window. January started with the garden being free of snow.
We had snow the next day, but it came and went fairly quickly.
We started January in a lockdown due to the covid pandemic. It was supposed to last till almost the end of the month but about half way through the month the Ontario government issued a stay at home order to last until sometime in February 2021.
That didn’t affect us that much as we don’t do a lot of road trips during the winter, but it did mean we couldn’t see anybody except each other, so visits with the grandkids was put on hold once again. Thank goodness that after 51 years of marriage we still get on with each other!
The stay at home order doesn’t stop the critters and birds from visiting the garden. Both cats and bluejays visit the cat food bowl.
We are so lucky to have about 5 pairs of cardinals over the winter. Such a delight to see the brilliant red of a snowy day and they frequently play peek a boo in the trees.
When I’m not looking out the windows and taking photographs I’ve been keeping busy with lots of different things.
I’ve read some more of the Fethering series by Simon Brett and I’ve been working on upcycling the playing cards too.
When these books get returned to the library they will have one of my bookmarks inside them and hopefully the next person to read the book will enjoy the bookmark.
By mid January there were patches of grass and gardens showing close to the house. This area is the trellis garden.
I’ve spent a lot of time on the mosaic crochet project. I love how the cross body bag turned out.
I’m knitting the hyacinth and heather shawl with some yarn that I purchased awhile ago. The original project wasn’t to my liking, and so it was unravelled and now I’m using it for this shawl. But since I started the mosaic crochet it has been put aside and I only pick it up now and then to do the odd row.
With the addition of some paint pens to my crafting supplies I am now able to decorate much smaller rocks with the fine detail I can get.
I love fun facts like this. On January 21 it was the 21st day of the 21st year of the 21st century.
This was a quick and fun little project to make from an idea that Margie had at Tea in the Valley I had an old glass teapot that had a hole in the bottom. I had been using it for a planter but cleaned it out and added a string of lights that are battery operated and can be set on a timer. Really cute to see it lit up in the evenings on the kitchen table.
I made natural diffusers for various rooms, as I love the natural scent of essential oil.
We had snow towards the end of the month and the temperatures dipped way down to about -15 Celsius overnight with wind chills making it much colder.
The days seems to run into each other and pass very quickly thanks to my daily routines, photography, reading and crafting.
The last day of January has the sun rising on a very cold and windless day. With the month over we are moving closer to spring and there is a bit more daylight to each day.
Hope you had a good January.
I’m sharing with
Eileen
Hello Linda
It is snowing here, we may get up to 18 from now till Tuesday morning. I enjoyed seeing your Black Squirrels, they are not seen around here. Beautiful captures of your birds, the Cardinals are one of my many favorites. Your painted rocks are so cute, I love the Ladybug and Bee and the Lighthouse. The shawl is very pretty. The scent of lavender oil is one I can tolerate, what do you use as the reeds? Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, enjoy your day! Have a happy new week! PS, I appreciate the visit and comment.
Crafty Gardener
Hi Eileen, the link for making the natural diffusers is under the image, or you can use this link https://craftygardener.ca/natural-diffuser/ You can also change the scent to whatever you prefer.
Lavender Dreams
The bag you made with crochet is adorable! It’s just the type of thing I love to carry. What cute painted rocks too! And the black squirrels are gorgeous! Happy weekend my friend!
Crafty Gardener
Thanks Diane, I really enjoyed making the bag, and I’m sure it will get lots of use once we are able to go out more. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.
tomthebackroadstraveller
…we received our snow recently too! I like your black squirrels, we don’t have them down here.
Crafty Gardener
Perhaps I could arrange to send you a couple of black squirrels! 🙂
Linda
It looks like your January passed pleasantly, the first month of the year has gone already. I love the wildlife in your garden I don’t think I’ve ever seen a black squirrel. I have been practicing stone painting but I have to say they look pathetic so far, I think my little almost 3 year old grandson could do better but I will keep on trying, yours are always lovely.
Crafty Gardener
I’ve been using paint pens for awhile and you can get much better detail. This facebook group has lots of tutorials and good info, not sure if you’ve seen it before https://www.facebook.com/groups/ReefRocksFreeWorkshops/
somewhereinireland
Nice post. I love seeing the Cardinal, he really pops out in the scene with his red colour. We don’t get much snow here but we do get rain and ice and that can be tricky to walk in. Have a winderful new week and month.
Crafty Gardener
Thanks for stopping by today. We love seeing the cardinals too, really brightens up the dull landscape at this time of year.
Shiju Sugunan
Love seeing the cardinals. Your crochet work is impressive!
Crafty Gardener
Thanks very much, glad you stopped by for a visit.
Shannon
Love the mosaic crochet! Such a cool project. Also fun to see the black squirrels which we don’t see here in Northern Indiana. 🙂
Crafty Gardener
Thanks for stopping by Shannon. Lots of grey squirrels here, along with grey and red. Have a good week.
Shannon
Thanks, Linda! You too.
Sarah
Your garden looks lovely in the snow we have only seen a thin dusting on the distant hills inland! Amazing to see black squirrels we only have grey ones here! We have been in lockdown too since the end of December it doesn’t look as if there will be any easing until March at the moment! You have been busy keeping yourself entertained, with some lovely ideas to copy. Take care, thanks for opening your garden gate again! Sarah x
Crafty Gardener
Hi Sarah, I’ll have to post more photos about the black squirrels as a lot of visitors from other countries are saying they have never seen them before. We are still waiting to hear if our lockdown will be eased or extended. Have a good day.
Jennifer Jilks
I love my daily routines! Five cardinal pairs, very cool! Lovely post!
Crafty Gardener
We are so lucky with all the cardinals, this is the second year we have had around 5 pairs of them. It is so lovely seeing them all in around the same time, but it is really hard to get a photo of all of them together. But I’ll keep trying.
Margie
Your teapot light turned out great! I was also admiring your Mosaic purse on Instagram.
Since I’ve got nowhere to go these days, I actually don’t mind the snow. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow how many weeks of winter are left…
Crafty Gardener
Thanks Margie, I was really pleased with the teapot lights and they look lovely when turned on. Looks like the groundhogs predict an early spring. In these days of equality I’m wondering where the female groundhog predictors are 🙂
Jeannie
I have never seen nor heard of a black squirrel. I asked my husband, and he has never heard of them either. They are beautiful.
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
Crafty Gardener
So glad you got to see the black squirrels on my website. I’ll be sure to post more photos of them as a lot of visitors have mentioned they have never seen black squirrels before. Have a great day and thanks for visiting.
Diana Studer
That mosaic crochet is fun. Greek key design.
Crafty Gardener
Thanks Diana, wondered what the design was. Thanks for stopping by.