March 30th.

At last...a bit of excitement in my day. Early this morning I went out to push the snow off the roof of the hens quarters. I was nearly on the top rung of the ladder, pushing at the snow, when before I knew it, I was on my back looking up at the sky. Yep, the ladder moved and I flew off. Not only that, I ended up in a pile of old chicken wire I had thrown to one side. I managed to haul myself up, thought I might have broken my leg, but don't think so. However, body is trembling and aching and head is hurting. Will probably end up with a bit of bruising, if that.

So, after making sure leg or hip weren't broken, I hobbled around getting ready to go to Gander, dental appointment and shopping awaited. The highway was awful, slush and water all over. Everyone was driving much slower than usual. By the time we got to Gander there was a blizzard happening. We did manage to finish up all we had to do and by the time we were ready to come home the roads had cleared a good bit and the sun was trying very hard to shine.

Off now to try to get the broom down off the roof I was clearing when I fell.

March 29th. Snow

Woke up to a winter wonderland this morning. While pretty, I hope it goes quickly, we have had enough of it now.

Again, the Jays, always around.




Well, I'm off to the beauty salon to get my hair done. I've never been to this one before. I could be in tears when it's all over, lol.

March 28th.

This whole peninsula is a tourists haven. Not only do we have the National Park at out doorstep, but we have some lovely little communities, sandy beaches, rugged coastline etc, etc. Now, we hear that some companies have been given the OK to clear cut a large section of land that's visible from the road. Clear cutting means cutting everything down leaving a big bald spot and they don't even have to re-plant. It takes Spruce trees, apparently 150 years to get to a good size. We are told there was a meeting about it in Gander but the residents weren't informed. When asked, the minister of what ever said. "Well, we had it on our website". As if people check out the government website everyday. What a load of crap! We phoned the council office and they said there would be another meeting here soon, but have found out that it's a done deal and it doesn't matter what the people have to say. It won't affect me in the sense that it wouldn't be visible unless I drove about 10 klms., never the less, to think that the government can just go ahead and do this....pure greed. Not only are they going to ruin a beautiful area but what about all the wildlife there. Makes me sick to think about it.

OK, I've had my little rant. I got out in the garden yesterday and was actually able to do some weeding on some of the places where there was no snow left. I tell you it was fabulous. The chickens were with me all the time helping out, scratching the soil up and chatting away. Can heaven be better than that?

I also received a parcel from my daughter with some great books and a chicken. Pictured below. She is in a place of honor by my computer with my little hog.

Yay, Spring is in the air.

A glorious day here. I got a lot of my plant pots sorted out, raked up some of the areas that are free from snow and considered taking the statues out of the greenhouse and place them. Looking around I saw that most of the places these things go is still snow covered. Roger was busy stacking wood so about 11:00 am we decided to have a cup of tea on the deck. Mind you we had our winter jackets on, never the less, after the long winter it was wonderful. I said to him that it was heaven, birds coming and going to the feeders, cat sitting on the deck in the sun, chickens around us making their contented murmuring sounds, no noises, couldn't get much better than that.

I think I saw a Blue Jay feeding another. Apparently they do this when mating. The two squirrels are always here so I'm wondering if it is a pair. I really should check the cabin as they made a nest there a few years back.

Right now I'm aching a bit but it feels good. Finally getting some exercise. Pictures of Pine Siskins below, they have been coming every day lately. Not the best pictures, I had to take them at some distance as I didn't want them to fly off.

My apologizes.

A while back I had "comment moderation" put on this blog. I have only just discovered that some comments made a while back were missed by me. Yes, I did see something that said six or so comments weren't moderated but never thought beyond that, figuring the computer didn't know what it was talking about.....duh! I finally decided to click on that and felt like an absolute fool when I saw the computer was right. I think I have them all published now, although a bit late. My apologizes to all.

March 23, Sunny and cold.

More ground is showing up as the days are passing. Just to show how insane gardeners are, one morning this past week, being over anxious to get going, I, in my ultimate wisdom, decided to go outside and gather all the flats together, fill with soil and plant seeds. Ha! Well, it was rather chilly, I must admit, but never the less I did haul all the flats out and put them on the deck. Was wondering then what to do with all the plant pots that were stored with the flats when it started SNOWING. I called myself a bloody fool and came back inside wondering where my mind had been. Needless to say, no seeds planted yet.

I may go into the city sometime in April. My parents and daughter keep asking me when I'm coming in. I've told my parents they should come out here for Easter, they said they would think about it. I do have a few things I could pick up if I go in there, and all the gardening stuff should be out in the stores. My downfall, I'm afraid.

Yes, another squirrel picture. Took these this morning. I do believe I have the cutest squirrel ever. When I saw the picture and saw how the fur was standing up on his head i had to burst out laughing. How cute is that.

March 22nd.

Winter is not quite finished yet, the day before yesterday we had flurries all day and yesterday again. Very high winds all day and last night when I went to bed I found it so comforting to hear the wind howling through the tall Aspens outside the bedroom window. A lullaby to be sure. Today it has once again gotten above zero, reaching a high of +5 C. A lot of the ground is showing up now and to be honest, it puts me on a high. I'm chomping at the bit to put soil in all the flats and get seeds started, clean up the garden and get all the pots and statues out of the greenhouses.

Not much bird activity today. A flock of small birds were sitting high up on the tree branches but couldn't quite tell what they were. Pine Siskins, I think. I saw this little female woody sitting on a branch, asleep I think, then must have heard the click of the camera and woke up, as you can see from the pictures.

Happy Ostara

Spring, if it hasn't fully arrived, it's on its way. I checked some of the plants that weren't still covered with snow and I see buds on my Tree Peony and Azalea Bush. The Russian Olive tree, which is still quite small, is coming out in leaf. This is the time when the Green Man is wandering the woods bringing everything back to life. I expect before long we will see the fairies dancing.

Okay, okay, this is the last time I put pictures of Jays and the squirrel on here for awhile. Anyone reading this must be saying not Jays and that darn Squirrel AGAIN!!! It's just......he's soooo cute.

March 19th.

I walked down to the beach this morning to see what I could see. Just one lone Gull! It was so windy and cold that not only were my fingers frozen but I could hardly keep the camera still. I did manage to get the pictures above.

March 18th.

Well, the weather has been very mild this past few days and a lot of the snow has gone. Not that I can see the ground yet, but there are a few places where patches are showing up. Grass can be seen down by the gate, around part of the fence and around one of the greenhouses. The chickens have been spending their time mainly on the deck when they are out as they don't care to go through the snow, and why should they, there is no ground showing for them to work over. An hour ago I looked out to check on them as I usually do through out the day and there they were down by the gate where the ground was showing and one out in the driveway. I grabbed my boots and went down to get them back up. No luck, no way were they leaving the treats they were finding. Now, normally they can roam the property but with the snow on the ground, if there is a predator about they are unable to get through the snow quickly. I come running back to the house, open the back door and yell to Roger, "I need help." He's in his dress, yes, I say dress, lol. As he has traveled all over the world he is inclined to wear what I call his dresses and skirts that men in the middle east and India wear. Not all the time mind you, but when he is relaxing. So, out he comes in his dress and long rubber boots, carrying a very long thin stick with coloured ribbons on the end. This is to herd the chickens back to the deck. You don't have to wonder why people think we are nuts. The sights they see sometimes when going by. Well, we finally got the girls back up through the snow so now I'm thinking I will have to put chicken wire along the fence so they can't get out onto the driveway.

The pictures of the Jays look like they have been cropped but they haven't been. I was seeing how close I could bring them in, in the camera, and get a decent picture. Experimentation!

Evening Grosbeaks

These lovely birds come by each day, there is usually a whole flock of them but only caught a few of them a couple of days ago. Not much happening around here, the weather has turned mild with temperatures getting above zero. The snow is slowly shrinking thank goodness. With any luck, in a few weeks I will be able to get out at the gardens.

I Just Had To....

show these pictures that I received this morning from my Dad. I have heard that some people get about 2 inches of snow and everything shuts down, lol. These were taken after a recent storm in the city. As you can see going up the path to my parents door is like walking through a tunnel.

Squirrel once again.

Gorgeous day yesterday as well as today, bit chilly though. The squirrel was there as usual so got the camera and took a few shots. As I took the pictures they seemed to be all blurry, came in the house wailing and stamping feet, "My camera is broken, pictures all blurry." Sat down and took them off on the computer and I think they are some of the best pictures I've gotten. lol, maybe I should have had my reading glasses on. The last two are yellow because the early morning sun was shining directly on him.

Rain, rain, glorious rain!

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain. Spring is definitely on the way, not to say we won't have a couple of winter storms before it's all over but now hope springs eternal. Yesterday was just wonderful, sunny and almost +10 C. The snow is slowing shrinking.

Didn't get into chat last night as I was having a birthday dinner for a friend. Ahem...what's this about three in a Jacuzzi, tut, tut.

Above are a few pictures of the "Girls". I'm hoping to get into the city maybe in April and am thinking I will go to a couple of places where I can get pictures of ducks. Maybe some pictures of churches, for Pete, lol. Funny that I hadn't thought of this before but never having been use to taking pictures, it never occurred to me..duh!! The mind is racing now though, lol.

Light and Shade

After kidding myself that the cold temperatures were finally over I woke up yesterday morning to -16 C. With the wind that was blowing it was bitter outside. When the sun came up and coming through the windows, I noticed that there were nice light and shadows on things in the house. Being too cold to spend any time outside, and camera at hand, decided to try some pictures. This morning it's -20 C, the fire went out over night and I'm sitting here trying to type with frozen fingers. One wonders if it will ever get warm again.

Lots of birds around, still getting Goldfinches, Pine Siskins, loads of Juncos along with the regulars, Jays, Chick a Dees, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, Crows and a Starling or two. It must be tough on them when the weather is this cold.

I would love to be the type of person who could chatter on about my days but really nothing much happens on a daily basis. I suppose that's good in some respects and life certainly isn't boring, but it's much the same day after day particularly this time of year. Ah well, with spring and summer on the way there will be much more to talk about.....she says with hope.

March 7th.

The weather has been marvelous, mild and sunny. I've been hearing more bird song and the squirrels have been chasing each other, it's either love or battle over territory. I walked down the road with my camera yesterday, hoping to go on the beach and get pictures of something even if it was only the scenery. Unfortunately the parking area had not been plowed and the snow bank was so high at the entrance that I couldn't get over it. I suppose that would have been a picture in itself, me sprawled over a snow bank. So, I kept walking up to the corner store, nothing to take a picture of...Nada! An hour later I was back home again and took the pictures above.

A few minutes ago, while I was sitting in the living room, I heard a loud bang as if something had hit the deck. I went rushing to look out the window in the door and there on the deck about two feet from the door was a hawk lying there with it's wings open. Thinking it was hurt, I rushed to get my boots and coat on and when I opened the door, the hawk was gone but there was a little Junco, not moving, where the hawk had been. I suspect the Junco was on the deck and the hawk came down, grabbed it, but when it saw me look out the door it took off without the bird. The only thing I could do was pick it up and see if it was ok. It seemed to be in shock with nothing broken. I put it in a safe place and kept an eye on it for about half and hour, when all of a sudden, off it flew. It made my day to see that it was alright. The hawk was quite handsome, grey I believe, and when the wings were opened they had stripes. Hmm....wonder what kind it was.

March 3, More Pictures

I was thinking yesterday as I threw on my jacket, grabbed my camera and went rushing outside, is this the madness that takes over when you get a camera and want to get pictures of wildlife! I never thought I'd ever see a day when I was going around with a camera slung round my neck. I can't imagine what a state I'm going to be in when spring comes and mating begins, then when the birds bring their young. Then, of course, I think of when the plants are in bloom, bees and butterflies, etc. Does my head in with the thought of it all. Above are pictures I took yesterday and this morning.