Sea Gulls Away From The Sea

We do not live by the sea.  In fact, we are about as far away as we could be.  In spite of this, Wisconsin still has more than it's share of sea gulls.  They are everywhere.  They are in farmer's fields and even in the Walmart parking lot.  Any place there is a morsel of food, you will see them.  People chase them away, and they have become a real nuisance in some towns.  In fact, some towns will not allow people to feed ducks, geese or gulls.

I don't mind them though.  In fact, they are interesting to watch.  They soar and dive with the best of them and float like ducks. 

We usually don't have a lot of gulls at one time.  I have seen 20 or more, but usually there are just a few.

Here he is lining himself up to dive into the water.

I couldn't see if he got anything.

Over and over again, they fly and dive.

I don't know what kind of sea gulls they are.  Apparently there are a lot of different types.  I do know that they are beautiful to watch.  They are very graceful.  They can dive into the water and fly away in one fluid motion.  I'm sure if they were messing up my lawn or arriving by the hundreds making loud noises, I may not care for them either.  For me they are welcome to entertain me daily.

Finding Some Old Knitting Patterns

I was looking through my knitting patterns recently.  Even though nearly every pattern is now available somewhere online, I just can't part with my old patterns and books.  I have some favorites that I won't ever make again, but I like looking at them. One of my favorites was put out by Cottage Creations. Cottage Creation patterns were written by Carol Anderson.  Carol graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and was a teacher in Madison Wisconsin.  I believe she lived in Cottage Grove Wisconsin, which is a suburb of Madison.  This is probably where the name Cottage Creations came from.  I have several of her patterns because they were readily available in our part of Wisconsin in the 1980's.   I like the little booklets and the way the patterns are written.  I have made several "Wonderful Wallaby's" and the "Big Sven Sveater".  In the Big Sven book she mentions my hometown of Stoughton, Wisconsin and their Syttende Mai celebration.  I liked all of her patterns, but the pattern I have used the most is the Scandinavian Cardigan.  In the center of that booklet she even included some Scandinavian recipes.   The easiest way to find her patterns is directly through her website http://cottagecreationspatterns.com

What the little booklets look like.

These are the only pictures I could find of this sweater.  I only made little children sizes, and I didn't take pictures of the others.  Seeing these, I may have to make another just for the heck of it.  I can always donate it. 

What's New On The Trail Camera

These are the days between seasons where I don't have a lot to write about.  I like to take these quiet days to post some pictures and use some of the photos that no one ever sees.  I didn't take today's photos, they were taken on the trail camera.  We haven't seen any big angry bear or wolves, thank goodness.  We have had hundreds of pictures of racoons, possums, deer, crows, squirrels and rabbits.

I delete most of the trail camera pictures because we can get 150 pictures in one day.  These next photos were from yesterday.  They are of a doe with her twins.  I have been watching the twins since they were young fawns.  Now they are almost as big as their mom.

Here they are eating some shelled corn I put out for them.

One of them is eating on a pumpkin.  They like the Halloween pumpkins .

Even though the twins are bigger and on solid food, I guess they need a little mama's milk to wash it all down.

I haven't seen our buck with the deformed antler for a while.  I showed photos of him in the following blog.   http://www.thecabincountess.com/2014/09/update-on-whooping-cranes-deer-and.html
This other buck comes around almost everyday.  Hunting season is almost here.  If these deer could read, I would post Safe House signs on all the trees in our woods.  I featured this buck on one of my Facebook cover photos.  I think he is young, and I hope he is smart enough to dodge the hunters.

The deer and raccoon get along fine.

Then the crows as big as chickens come and eat anything that is left over.  With their Caw, Caw, Caw, they invite their friends over too.  They always know when food is available.

I look forward to checking the camera every day or two to see who has been in the neighborhood overnight.

Soft Frosted Pumpkin Cookies

Last weekend my daughter and her family moved into their new house.  They have been gradually moving for the past several weeks, but Saturday night was the first night sleeping there.  The old house hasn't sold, but it was time to move before winter sets in.  Anyone interested in a nice older home on the Fox River in Berlin Wisconsin, it is available.  Moving is a chore no matter how efficient a person tries to be.  That is why, at the end of the day, my daughter's friend brought a big plate of delicious pumpkin cookies.  I usually like crunchy cookies, but these are super good.  I asked for the recipe, and here it is.

It looks like the original recipe for these cookies came from
http://dianaskitchen.com/page/recipes04/a40226t.htm 
These cookies would be good by themselves, but she frosted them which made them even better.

Soft Pumpkin Cookie

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 ounces) can pumpkin
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup (8 ounces) butter, softened
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 eggs

Instructions: Into a large mixing bowl, measure all ingredients. With a mixer at low speed, beat ingredients until blended, scraping bowl occasionally. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for 1 minute longer.
Preheat oven to 350°. Using 2 tablespoons of batter for each cookie, spoon batter into mounds on ungreased baking sheets, keeping mounds about 2 inches apart.  Bake cookies for 14 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Loosen cookies with spatula and move to wire rack to cool. Store in tightly covered container for up to 4 days. Freeze in portions, if desired.

Makes about 6 dozen

Frosting:

1 stick softened butter

1 (8 ounce) cream cheese

4 cups powdered sugar

Mix ingredients until creamy, adding a little milk to get the right consistency to ice the cookie.