What a Hoot! First WIPocalypse of 2014

I hope everyone is off to a great start with this year's WIPocalypse. I know I am!You'll understand my title more once you've finished reading all about my stitching. If you check the pages below my header on the blog you'll see the page for this year's list of hopefuls. I've included quite a few larger projects so we'll see just how far I get this year.

I decided to start off the year with something that brought thoughts of spring especially since so many of us have had just a miserable winter so far. I wanted lots of colour, flowers, birds, etc. and I found just what I wanted waiting for me in my pile of kitted projects. Here are my first photos of  With Thy Needles and Thread Pink Sparrow Sampler. 

I'm really loving the colours in this stitch. I finished up that little dog this morning. At first I couldn't figure out what was in his mouth but now I see that it is a basket of flowers. Sweet!

Besides Pink Sparrow I pulled out another sampler that is just begging for attention. Remember A Mon Ami Pierre Paradis Perdu?
I'm surprised anyone remembers it as I haven't touched it since last winter! Here's where I left off......

and here is the stitching that I put in over the past week.

Slowly but surely!!

My first finish for the year was this ornament by The Primitive Hare called Welcome Santa - Ho, Ho, Ho.

I also stitched up this little quick stitch by The Primitive Apple. I hoping to finish this up into a small pillow along with another finish I completed for my 2014 Smalls SAL. I'll post a photo of this one at the end of the month.

When I woke this morning I had lots of plans for my stitching and then my husband called. He was on his way into work and called to let me know that he had seen two owls within a 5 minute drive of our home. Our area has become home to an influx of snowy owls recently which is rare for this area. It seems that there was an increase in the number of owls hatched this year in the Arctic and their food supply is running low. Hence their arrival in our neck of the woods. If you're a regular follower of my blog you will have seen the photos I posted recently that I snapped in the area. To date I have spotted 6 different owls and today I added number 7 to the count. 
The rest of this blog post is picture intensive with owl sightings so if it doesn't interest you, you should check out at this point.

The weather was overcast and perfect for sightings. We haven't seen any in the area of the past few days and figured they might have moved on. Boy were we wrong! As I drove along our usual route I looked up and spotted the first one flying overhead.

I slowed the car down, pulled over and waited to see where it would land. It was starting to snow and was difficult to see especially since the birds are quite often white against all that white. Can you spot where it landed in this photo below? Look closely now!

Here I am!

A little closer now....

Although I was parked at a fair distance, the owl grew uncomfortable with my stares and moved across the road to this post.

A little blurry so I inched the car a little closer so I could focus better.

Please turn your head!

Finally he had had enough of me and my intrusions and he took off where I couldn't follow.

A little further down the road I spotted this fellow watching the scenery at ground level.

He was a little too far away for a clear picture. Both of these owls tend to hunt in the same areas as do the other four which I have seen. Today I added a new owl to the group. I decided to head in a different direction and found this fellow right along a main highway scanning the fields for lunch.

These last few pictures were taken over a week ago on another of my owl forays.

The next one is a little blurry but I wanted you to see the feathered feet they have.

I've gotten a little carried away with all my photo shoots but they may never be in this area again and I feel I have been so blessed with this opportunity to view them. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did.