What was your favourite childhood toy?

Recently there was an email going around, sent from friend to friend, which listed all sorts of interesting questions that each person would fill in then pass on to the next person; things that you might not know about your friends - maybe things you shouldn't know about your friends. Questions in the list would be things like "What was your favourite tv show?", "What did you have for breakfast today?", "What did you want to be when you grew up?". The question that I had to really think about was, "What was your favourite childhood toy?". I remembered all the games I used to play...Monopoly (hated it), cards, checkers, barbies (omg, what do I wear today??), Planet of the Apes dolls (ok maybe I don't want my friends to know that one), but then I remembered some toys I played with that I loved so much I still have them...they were in the archives at grandma's house. I brought them home to the farm where they should be. The funny thing about these toys is I never gave them up, even when I got older.

Marvel the mustang - one of my first horsie loves after the grocery store pony and the merry-go-round. You could bounce up and down on him and he travelled along. Our driveway sloped downward toward the end so you got a really good ride. Unfortunately he was a bit small and I outgrew him quickly, so before his poor little legs got squashed right to the ground, I retired him to the backyard and fed him grass alot.

And a magical thing happened, all that grass must have worked because here he is today; we're both all grown up!

Fisher Price Pull Chicken has seen alot of mileage in his lifetime and still makes that great life-like chicken sound when you pull him along. His paint may be peeling and some of his joints are a bit loose, but hey, after 44 years, whose aren't?

Today there are five hens that live here and one suspiciously looks alot like old Fisher Price henny.

So besides the Barbie Corvette which I never got...not practical for lugging hay around and I think it was my spoiled little sister who had it anyway, there was one more toy which has a special place in my heart....Eeyore the donkey hand puppet. I love Eeyore mostly because he's adorable but we also share alot of personality traits. I've smuggled him here and he lives in our bedroom on a shelf near Tom's side of the bed (I don't think it's creeping him out, he hasn't mentioned it - maybe he hasn't noticed yet). Although I don't own a donkey yet, the people who run the local donkey rescue are having an open house...... Hey Tom, I know what we can do this weekend!

Greeting Cards

Here are some of my spring and summer greeting cards, perfect for birthdays, Mother's Day or any Special Occasion. I do custom invitations, or cards of your cottage, farm or beautiful home. These make great gifts for those hard-to-buy-for people. Please email me at jenniferzsolt@twooaks.ca for more information.



Dog Days of Summer

Through the Garden Gate

Easter Hen

Easter Chick



Hollyhocks/Mouse

Happy Birthday

 

Squirrel Wars

Valentine Heart

Valentine Dogs

Valentine Mice

Horse Friends

Summer Cottage

Teamwork

Purple Hills

No Place Like Home




Blue Hens

Summer Barn

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Field of Dreams

Hen Friends



Hen Mom

Mom and Lamb

Mom's Garden

Little Peeps

Pet Love

Old Schoolhouse

Robin

Best Friends



Chicks Rule



Sheep Pals





Bird Watching and the Colour Green

I used to think that birdwatching was a pastime enjoyed by...well....grannies and grampas; folks that just couldn't move fast enough to enjoy pursuits that involved any equipment sleeker and faster than say a comfy recliner and a pair of binoculars. I must have crossed that threshold into the blue-haired zone, because I can't tell you how much joy I get from the birds that come (have been lured) to my backyard. I have binoculars, bird books and even a wonderful book that plays each birdsong at the press of a button (from the allmighty Costco). All the feeders are strategically positioned so I can see the birds from any of the kitchen windows and the binos are on the window ledge or never more than a quick dash or rapid not-moving-too-fast-as-to-frighten-birds-away tiptoe across the room. While visiting friends with finch feeders, I was awed and immediately covetous of the dozens of beautiful little yellow and black finches that clustered on the long feeder tubes for seeds. They flitted down from trees in a the little bobbing way they have and landed perfectly, each one on its own perch at the feeder. I had to have one!

I bought three, filled them and waited, and waited ....and waited. No finches came. The feeders swung in the breeze, full of seed, devoid of finches...(play that weird ghost town sound clip from 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' here'). Days went by and then suddenly there was a flash of yellow out at the feeder. "Yippee..they're coming...they're here", I cried. Both children in full eye-rolling mode realize mother has finally lost it. In the days that followed, so many finches came that not only was I in fear of running out of money to keep the bloody feeders full of food, I was afraid there were so many finches that they could easily pick up my home and carry it off for ransom. Truly, they are a joy for me. They zip around the house from tree to tree playing and chasing each other and have overtaken the swallows for title of birds that have the most fun. The swallows must be in full nesting mode now as I'm not in so much danger of being thwacked in the side of the head by a dive-bomber every time I walk out to open the barn door. Other birds come too; robins and jays, cardinals, chickadees, sparrows, woodpeckers and to my great excitement, the elusive ruby throated grosbeak.

I admitted to my neighbour the other day, this fact that I am enjoying the birds far too much for someone of my age and she said "Next thing you'll be loving the colour green. Old people love the colour green you know". "Really", I replied, feeling a little sad, "on your way out, I'll show you the new throw cushions, candles and tea towels I got last week"...........all green!