March

I foolishly thought that spring was here until we got two snow storms in a row. It had been lovely with mild temperatures and bits of the ground showing up. Then we got this....


I know some of you winter people would be cheering and I agree that it looks pretty....for a while but I don't like it. The sun seems to be giving off considerable warmth now so I'm sure the snow won't hang around for too long. Mind you, there will be more of the white stuff yet to come but I don't expect it to last for very long. I guess I'm just over anxious to get out at the garden once again.

So here we are, a week later, and that scene doesn't exist anymore. The snow is slowly shrinking and it's started to look springlike again.

I've been trying to do some spring cleaning but it's been a slow process because I get waylaid by ie: getting some painting and painting the bedroom ceiling. On the weekend, I made red currant jam and an Irish Soda bread that himself has just about finished off.


Lots of birds taking advantage of the feeders these days.



Mouth stuffed with sunflower seeds.




Frankie wishing the snow would disappear.

Early morning sky.

February Ups and Downs.

I've been very lax in keeping up with blogging lately. I was feeling as though I were in a box and couldn't get out. The reason being....the new section I had built on to the house last year has suffered considerable water damage. I'll not go into detail just to say that the flooring had to come up and the ceiling and some of the walls got damaged. Consequently a lot of stuff had to be moved out of two of the rooms and was scattered all over the rest of the house. Yesterday the flooring was put back down and I now have things back to normal so I've finally been able to walk out of the box I felt I was in. The ceiling won't be fixed for some time yet as it's still damp but I can live with that for a while.

It's been very much like spring lately with daytime temperatures above zero. I'm hoping for an early spring but one never knows with our weather. The seed catalogues have started to arrive so excitement reigns here at the moment.

Lots of birds around. Mostly nuthatches, chick a dees, juncos, jays, grosbeaks and woodpeckers. The purple finches have started to show up now from time to time. Squirrels as well. Of course I can't forget my favorites, the crows.

The workman came last week and had his dog with him. It was cold out so I found a cord to use as a lease and let him come inside. The cats were not too happy I can tell you! He's a sweet dog and well behaved.





We dropped in to the Goodwill a while back and on our way out the door, a muffled cry from the toy box. On looking to my left I see two legs hanging out the side of the box. A teddy. I don't go looking for these things, I really don't. He is very cute though, isn't he.



Some pictures taken outside.

These are ice crystals. I find the designs in them fascinating. Click on them to get a larger picture.


A few pictures of my furry and feathered friends.

We've Had Snow.

Funny how one gets lulled into thinking that this isn't going to be too bad a winter after all. It is almost the end of January after all and it hasn't been a rough go. But....yesterday we got dumped on! Heavy snowfall warnings, blizzard warnings, etc. Preparing for the worse, we stacked a pile of wood outside the back door for easy access and I made some salads because with any harsh weather we always seem to lose the electricity. We didn't lose the power thankfully. So, this morning the snow is up to our knees and we may have to hire a plow to get the driveway cleared. Mind you, it's a very short driveway but with the problems himself has been having, it's not a good idea to shovel heavy snow.

So, a few pictures of snow we had a week or so ago. It's still dark as I write this so no shots of yesterdays mess.


There was hardly a bird to be seen yesterday as it was too rough, high winds and white out conditions. This is a picture taken last week of Grosbeaks taking shelter in one of the feeders.





And this little fellow is looking at me as if to say, "Hey, how come you haven't put more seeds in this feeder."


One of the neighbours has just arrived with his small plow and is doing the driveway. How wonderful!

Cats and Crows.

Thank you all for your kind comments with regard to himself. And yes, elastic in the drawers is called for, lol. A bit of light snow falling at the moment but it's not suppose to come to much. 2 - 4 cm. They are predicting rain tomorrow which seems ridiculous as it's been very cold and it is January. Lots of Juncos one the ground eating seeds other birds have kicked off the feeders. The jays are the worse for this as they will kick everything off to get at their favorite bits. Two squirrels were here yesterday eating from the platform feeder. I hadn't seen any in such a long time but could hear them in the woods.


The cats have been a little ticked off about the cold weather and have spent more time sleeping than anything else.

Malachi


He's a strange fellow as he loves laying on his back and having his tummy rubbed.


Stanley is always up for a picture.

This was taken with the lamp beside him turned on so it warmed up his colours.


Malachi in profile. Not a great shot.


And my favorite birds....Crows. I find it difficult to get a smashing picture of them but I keep trying. I can't describe the joy I get from seeing them come every day.

Update,

Update....Himself has been released from hospital. The test he's had done showed three blockages in three very small arteries. Medication should take care of it. He's been very lucky really as it could have been much worse. When he was having the heart attack he got me to get him an aspirin and was told later that by doing this he saved his own life. Such a simple thing but I thought it was worth passing on. And, by chewing it up, it gets into the blood stream faster. He seems to be doing well now that he's home and hopefully will gain more strength as the days go on.

Well, it's been a long time but it's happened again. Yesterday morning I went outside to fill some of the bird feeders. I was dressed in cap, short winter jacket, pajama bottoms and winter boots. It was bitterly cold. I reach up high to one of the feeders when at that moment my pants dropped down to my ankles. Of course there just had to be a car passing at the time. There I was...naked to the world...sigh!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is a Gold Finch. There are lots of them around these days.


We've had some very cold nights lately. -16C in the early morning. Jack Frost has been here a few times as you can tell by these windows.



This is a silly little shot but there was something about it that appealed to me.


So, all seems well here at the moment. I'm off to get breakfast.

Little Bird Saved.

That's the good news but on to the bad news first. Last Thursday himself had a heart attack. He's been in intensive care since then. Today they are going to do an angiogram to determine how much damage has been done. Hopefully it won't require an operation....fingers crossed!

My daughter arrived yesterday to spend a few days with me. I'm so grateful that she could do this. Yesterday afternoon we heard a bird hit the living room window. She ran out to see if it was there on the ground or if it had flown off. It was on the ground, on it's side, knocked out. It was a little chick a dee. She picked it up and kept it in her warm hand for some time until it finally got it's sense back and then flew off. It was one of those feel good moments when you've saved a small life.





There are loads of little birds around these days as it's been cold and snowy for the most part. I was a bit worried for some time as I hadn't seen any around. I've been wishing for spring but unfortunately we've hardly gotten into winter.

Bitter Cold but Fluffy White Snow for the Holidays

Another year has just about finished and I truly don't know where it all went. Now my thoughts are turning to spring although that's a long way off. It will be months before I can get in the garden again however, I can dream of what I'm going to do. Soon the seed catalogues will begain to arrive then the planning and excitement will really start.

This month we finally had the bonfire to burn up a lot of wood from when the old extension was torn off the house and the new larger one put on. It was quite a big fire although there is nothing to compare it with in this picture.

The nights have gotten dreadfully cold this past while. Temperatures going down to -14C. Not a big improvement during the day either. There had been no signs of the smaller birds for ages and I was wondering what had happened. This past while though they have arrived at the feeders....chick a dees, and juncos. The evening Grosbeaks are here in a good size flock.


We went to the Goodwill recently as we hadn't been there in a while. I found a few lovely items.
It seems so much is made in China these days so I was delighted to find these salad plates made in France.

And these terracotta sugar containers made in Portugal.


And this little cutie....who could resist!


Xmas Eve we had friends here in the afternoon for drinks and finger food. I had been up since 4:00am cooking and preparing for it so needless to say by late afternoon I felt exhausted. Everyone was gone by 5:30pm and by 7:00 I had my pyjamas on and was settled down to watch a movie. A half an hour into the movie I said to himself "I'm going to bed, I can't keep my eyes open." So that's exactly what I did.

Malachi under the tree.


Snow fell on Friday which made everything look like a Winter Wonderland for the whole weekend.


Part of the garden.


I got lots of great presents. My granddaughter gave me these Fairy Doors which go at the base of tree trunks. Needless to say, I'm charmed with them. She knows that I believe.

Well, that's about it. I hope you all had a wonderful Xmas.