Merry Christmas 2013, Happy New Year 2014

Originally published December 2013

The new ornaments this year are quite beautiful, and I think my favorite is the little porcelain bird, which I've put next to the pear ornament. That doesn't make it a partridge in a pear tree, though. I think the little bird is a dark-eyed junco.

This year's Christmas tree is named Duckie, after Woody the wood duck and all the other ducks who have allowed me to be part of their little duckie lives in 2013.

 

This is my video Christmas card, wishing you a very happy holiday season, from my hovel to yours.

Have a Duckie, Duckie Holiday!

Originally published December 2013

The 2013 Christmas tree, a Fraser fir, was named Duckie, after Woody the wood duck and all the ducks I've been privileged to watch all year. The tree is very, very tall, which makes me very grateful for an 11 foot ceiling.

Duckie has taken over the living room of the hovel, and with all the ornaments and tinsel, welcomes me with fragrance and joy each time I enter the apartment.

As has become a tradition, I visited Macy's Holiday Lane once the ornaments were on sale, and was so happy to get some nice new ones.

My theory is, there can never be too many ornaments or too much tinsel.

This year also meant baking cookies again, and they were particularly scrumptious. I made the famous pecan Snowball Cookies (if you scroll through the Previous Posts section below, you'll find a link to the recipe).

The other cookies were cranberry oatmeal. I use the Quaker Oats vanishing oatmeal cookies recipe, but substitute dried cranberries for raisins.

Duckie now stars in his own video, A Duckie Little Christmas, which you can watch below.

The walks continue in Central Park, and I have enjoyed taking photographs and making sure Woody and the mallards (and even a coot!) get lots of peanuts. After the New Year (and I really hope yours is extremely happy and satisfying), I will post more pictures from the amazing park that sits right in the middle of the greatest city in the world.

Patriotic Central Park — Another Silly Video by Susan Kirby

Originally published July 27, 2013

On July 4, I took a six-hour walk through Central Park. I took a lot of pictures and a lot of video. I've edited it into a new Another Silly Video by Susan Kirby (see Weight Loss, Ducks and the Art of the Silly Video). It features my favorite subjects: Woody the wood duck, the egret, the black-crowned night heron, mallards and their ducklings, cormorants, cardinals, blue jays and the ever-cute raccoons.

Below that, you'll find Another Silly Video, this one without music, and very short, of a duckling who would love to have an umbrella, but will use its mom if there's no other shelter around. It was filmed on Aug. 2 at the Pond in Central Park.

Please enjoy both videos, and "like" it if you do!