Holiday Wishes

Yep, this is our Christmas card.  I wanted to wish all of you a happy holiday season!

I have been away from the blogosphere for nearly two months – both writing and following/reading. Things became very hectic and overwhelming in early November and I knew something had to give. I even had to turn off all my WordPress notifications because my e-mail inbox being full was adding to my stress. My father experienced a down-turn with his health and was in the hospital for a week.  My sister and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to help our aging parent while holding down our jobs and taking care of our many responsibilities.  Then December with all its accompanying craziness had me spinning!  I am hoping that now that the holiday madness is over, I can catch up with all my blogging friends.

We did go up to the northwoods for Thanksgiving but I didn’t do my journal entries because I was truly taking a break from all of it. Mark actually spent nearly two weeks at our cabin for deer hunting. He went up the week after opening day and stayed a week all by himself and then came home and got me the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and we both went back up for the rest of Thanksgiving week and weekend. To be honest, there wasn’t a whole lot to blog about at the time anyway. It was cold and snowy and photo opportunities were few and far between. I spent a lot of time reading and working a jigsaw puzzle while Mark hunted morning and evening. Unfortunately, the deer eluded him.

I did put up my harvest tree.

Every now and then I stuck my camera out the door and tried to get a few photos.  Nothing spectacular, for sure.

White-breasted nuthatch.

A fluffy blue jay.

A camera-shy pileated woodpecker who would not come in close enough for a decent shot.

December went by in a blur of activity.  I can’t believe it’s all over already and now it’s time to prepare for a new year!

I hope all my friends and followers had a wonderful Christmas and that Santa granted you all your holiday wishes. I did get a few items on my wish list, including a really cute, purple (my FAVORITE color) camera bag for some of my kit – it’s not quite big enough to hold everything – and also a little mini-tripod and some exposure cards. Also, a very good friend of ours blessed us with a very nice pair of Nikon field glasses, a new Sibley field guide and a blank journal for me to keep track of my birding list for 2015.

Christmas goodies!

I was inspired to keep a “Big Bird” list by Bob Zeller at Texas Tweeties. If you are the least bit interested in bird photography, you MUST check out his blog. His photography will blow you away.

My daughter and son-in-law also gave me some wonderful scrapbooking tools and supplies and “Santa” left several new jigsaw puzzles under the tree, so I should have plenty to keep me occupied for the rest of the winter!

I pray you all had a blessed Christmas season and I wish only the best for each and every one of you in the coming New Year.  I look forward to experiencing new adventures that I can blog about in 2015!  May God bless us every one!