T'is the season.

T'is the week before Christmas...

It is very cold today; biting cold.

But, the wind has calmed down and now it is the perfect winter's day.

The birds, squirrels and rabbits are busy cleaning up every single seed we put out there. The mix we have includes peanuts which is a big hit with the blue-jays.
I have not seen a chipmunk in a month now.
I hope Simon and his friends are doing ok. Yes...I worry about them. :-b
It was time to add some Christmas cheer outside for our feathered and furry friends. :)
It was -26C this morning but has warmed up a bit as the day goes on.
Our little red squirrels are happy for the food.

And someone wanted to help but was not impressed with her Christmas garb.

"Please get this off me or I'll shred you in your sleep."
"Audrey...Santa is listening." :(
"He already got my letter. It's just wait and see now."

=^..^=

hugs, Deb

Little critters and Hawley's Corners.

"Good (early) Morning, little brown bunny."

The little critters and birds share the feeders well here.

red squirrel, bunny & mourning dove

I had the job of cleaning up all the empty shells at the foot of the maple today.

You'd think they'd be a little less messy for all the food I give them.

Home-made suet. They love it.

Waiting for Santa.

Even the shy squirrels at the back get some seed.

Hawley's Corners.

This is one of my favorite little shops that is only minutes from the mouse-house.

And it is a fun place at Christmas time.

There are four rooms in this beautiful Victorian home packed with something for everyone.

You can't leave without a trinket to pop in a stocking.

I bought a few gifts and came home with a vintage cat for the mouse-house tree. :)

Let's call him Frank

(ol' blue eyes)

As bright as the moon on a cold winter's night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvaffKP931o

Hope you are all knee-deep in snow and enjoying the Christmas season.

hugs, Deb

Little visitors at the mouse-house.

The mouse-house was busy this weekend.

Grandittles...

Riley, Brad & Tenley

and their mom and dad

 came for dinner.

So fun to have them visit.

And they loved our Charlie Brown tree.

These two are not too comfortable around little ones.

Overnight, the snow covered our trees and bushes and unfortunately all the feeders, too.

But that's easy to fix.

This beautiful cardinal sat waiting for the seed this morning.

It's time to get the shoveling done.

hugs, Deb

Helping our birds & a cheery fox.

It's getting very cold here and my heart (and pocket-book) goes out to our local birds. They do look cold out there.

 It was time to make suet again, but with all the Christmas preparation, I cut a few corners.
Here's the recipe...

                      Home-made Bird Suet
1 c peanut butter
1 c lard
2 c corn meal
1 c flour
1/3 c sugar 
2 c rolled oats

peanuts, seeds, sugar-free cereal, cranberries and apples. Add enough of each to make it thick and so it can be molded.

Looks good enough to eat. :)

This time, instead of filling muffin cups lined with saran wrap to freeze and distribute as needed, I just put it all on a big cookie tray to cut as needed.
Before cutting, I placed the tray out the side door on a stone to get good and cold. Then it was time to cut into squares, place in a freezer bag and freeze until time for the suet cages.
They absolutely love this suet; much more than the commercial stuff . And...it's "cheap..cheap..cheap..er."

                     But...it won't last long.

                                    Chickadee
Make it easy for yourself during the busy season. I know we are all running here, there and everywhere, but these poor birds do need our help during cold days and nights. I still can't get over the fact that some birds lose up to one third of their weight shivering in one night of -25C. No wonder they need to find extra food to stay alive. We can help them do that.

This is my latest tree ornament.
Isn't she cute.
It's the pearls that kill me. This foxy lady wants wine. :)
My mother's maiden name was Fox so you may find quite a few of these critters on my tree. 
We now live on a piece of the Fox farm. It's a dream come true. :)

Someone is practicing yoga at the moment; perfecting her poses so she can make her way around the tree this year.

I can't even begin to know what is going on in that head.

hugs, Deb

Don't make this bread unless you have a knife and butter. ;-)

"Put the tea on, Sally."

Santa stopped by because he could smell the bread baking at the mouse-house.

This, my friends, is the BEST Pumpkin Bread ever.

Here ya go...1 cup butter, 2 1/2 cups sugar,3 large eggs. Mix together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, 3 cups flour,1 tsp. each of cinnamon,baking powder, baking soda, cloves, and a pinch of salt. Add 1/2 tsp of nutmeg. Add dry mixture to wet mixture alternating with 2 cups of pure pumpkin. Mix well. Stir in 1 tsp. of vanilla extract. Mix well. You can make three small loaves or many muffins with this recipe. Bake at 350 for one hour for loaves. 25-30 min for muffins. Nice with pecans on top. Enjoy!

There is more snow coming.

Every night at four o'clock this group of  mourning doves drop by to clean up what's under the feeders. It's almost dark by then.

 I always throw a bit extra seed out there for them now.

They are so cute and pudgy.

I guess it's time for tea. "Are you hungry, Audrey?"

"You know what you can do with your muffins, lady."

"One of those little pudgy guys on a sesame seed bun would do the trick."

"Uh...I don't think so, Audrey."

"What do you have to do around here to get a bird thrown at ya?"

                                                    =^..^=

hugs, Deb

The mouse-house tree & a recipe

Up until four year ago, this was the size of tree we always brought home to decorate. And I kid you not, I decorated every inch of it.

2012

Now we bring home a small tree or a table tree and are happy with that. I couldn't even imagine Christmas without a tree and it took some doing to change from BIG to little but I am fine with it now. I love table Christmas trees as long as they are nice and tall and charlie-brown-like.

So this is the mouse-house Christmas tree .
Now stop that laughing. :-b

You can see the bottom is yet to be decorated. =^..^= =^..^=

 It is decorated with little critters and some of my all-time favorite baubles. And a mouse, of course. :)

Audrey has plans; I can see it in her eyes.
Like these cats...

If I know Audrey, and I do, she will have her way with it and then be bored to death of it in no time. Annie will just want to lie on the table, under the tree, and look at the lights.

I have a cookie recipe that you may want to try this Christmas.

                            Moravian Cookies

c - cup, tsp - teaspoon 

1/4c butter

1/2c warmed molasses

1/4c brown sugar

1/8 tsp allspice

1/3 tsp baking soda

1 pinch of salt

1 7/8c  flour

1 pinch of nutmeg

1 pinch of ground cloves

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix together the butter and warmed molasses. Add the sugar, allspice, soda and salt.

Sift together the flour, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and cinnamon. Mix well together. Roll it like a sausage with your hands.

It should look like this.

Wrap and refrigerate for 10 days.

Bring to room temperature, roll the dough thinner and then cut each cookie. Bake in a 375F oven for 10 minutes.

These come out looking like your grandma's molasses cookies. :)

We have snow today and lots of it.

Our birds are very happy to see their feeders filled.

I put a log of home-made suet out for them to help pack on some weight.

Had enough...off she goes.

I'm enjoying all the beautiful decorating as I pop over to your blogs. Thanks for sharing. :)

hugs, Deb