Spring Day in March.

It's the most beautiful day. Sunny and temperatures to go into the double digits. Himself is outside taking down the storm door. This definitely means that spring is here. Lots of bird song and birds back and forth to the feeders all day long.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I went by this climbing vine and saw that the leaves were starting to open.


And the Willow as well starting to show their furry coats.


The girls are also enjoying the wonderful spring, walking the paths to the feeders. Grabbing up the bits the other birds drop.



After almost a year without seeing them, the Nuthatches have come back.



And the ever present Blue Jays.

Bloggers Block

I guess it's like writers block. I can't think of a thing to blog about. Nothing much happening, basically waiting for the snow to be off the ground so I can get out in the garden. Mind you, there's not much snow but it's being very stubborn and seems to be clinging on to the ground. You'd think with all the lovely mild days it would have all melted. I do see more patches of grass showing up each day though. I've already started buying seeds. What gardener can resist all those lovely racks of seeds in the department stores. Every year I say that I'm not buying any more seeds but inevidably I'm drawn to the racks and walk away with a handful. I'll probably be going into the city in a couple of weeks and as my father loves taking me around to all the big stores, I dare not think what I'll come back with.

Himself is going to Spain in April for a three week visit with his daughter. Have I mentioned that before....probably! The brain is not what it use to be, lol. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to my time alone. I'm hoping that the weather will be nice as every spring I stain the floor of the deck and paint the railings. I will also have to take the screen door apart (it's an old fashioned wood frame one) and put new screen in. It gets torn up every summer by the cats. I bought paint for the guest bedroom, a bright salmon colour. I would like to get that painted next week. Then there's the usual spring cleaning to be done both inside and out. I don't understand how the property gets in a mess over the winter. In the fall I have it tidied up and when the snow melts all manner of things show up.

Did I say I had bloggers block. Guess I've gotten rid of a bit of it, lol. Here's some pictures of the cats taken recently.

Stanley in a box.


Ratch waking up.


Freya and Stanley.

Frankie having a relaxing afternoon.

Spring is in the Air.

Another wonderful day. The birds are singing and quite a few around. The Purple Finches have arrived. Chickens are on the deck laying down with the warmth of the sun on their bodies. A few pictures taken this morning. Not included in the photos but lots around are Juncos, Chick a Dees, Woodpeckers, a couple of Nuthatches, Grosbeaks and of course my friends the Crows.


Male Finch.

Female Finch.


Blue Jays.



This one seems to be saying "Hmm, which one shall I choose this time."

A Few Pictures.

There's been little or nothing happening lately. The weather people had predicted a 30 cm. plus snow fall a few days ago but fortunately we didn't get it all. It started, then turned to heavy wet snow then rain. Ending up with a couple of inches of very wet, heavy snow. It's +4 C today and the sun was suppose to shine but we only got a glimpse of it for a few moments.

Here are a few pictures that I've taken this past few days.

Up the road.




Grouse under feeder yesterday.


Crows.




Angry cat. She wasn't happy about one of the other cats wanting her spot on top of the chair. With deep growls she drove the up start away.

A rather "Pink" day.

Himself has pink underwear! Why, you might ask?? Her inside was doing a wash, dreaming of spring and planting and threw a red article in with his whites. Oh dear, oh dear!!!! Nothing to be done for it now except the question from himself "How come my underwear is pink?"

A very mild morning. I was letting hens out and filling bird feeders with just my sweater on. I just can't get over this winter. Wonderful. A good bit of rain off and on but it's not snow.

There haven't been many birds around this week. I think because it's warmer out they are going farther afield these days. Yesterday morning I boiled a few eggs for the crows breakfast and I must say they really enjoyed this special treat.




A nice picture of Frankie.

Frosty Morning.

You know you need glasses when you look out the window at the platform feeder and say to yourself..."Wow, that's a strange bird. Haven't seen one like that around here before", you run for the camera. Having another look out before taking the picture, I see it's not a bird at all but a large piece of whole wheat bread that I had put out with the bird seed....sigh!

I bought myself a hula hoop, yep, a hula hoop. I use to be quite good at it when I was a child but now it always seems to be down around my ankles, lol.

The weather has been wonderful really. Yesterday the sun was shinning and it was warm enough to sit on the deck with a sweater on. Imagine, sitting on the deck in February with just a sweater on...amazing. I wouldn't mind a winter like this every year.

This morning it was a little chilly and the trees were full of frost. It looked magical! A few pictures taken on the way back from the shop.






Angelica seed head in the garden.

Strange Winter

It's been an odd winter weather wise. Not much snow and a fair bit of drizzle and rain. Temperatures mostly hovering around zero. We haven't seen the sun in a while but to be honest, I'm not complaining. With the milder temperatures and lack of shoveling what usually seems like tons of snow, I can take more of this.

There's been little or nothing happening here so not much to blog about. The chickens have been having a good winter being able to come out most days and spend time on the deck with the occasional banging with beaks on the back door looking for treats and I'm foolish enough to take care of their demands, lol.

The Grosbeaks are here most days now. As long as I have lots of sunflower seeds on the feeders they will come. I've seen a few Nuthatches which pleases me greatly. I usually have lots of them around but last year I didn't see one. This was a great surprise as I can't remember ever not seeing them regularly.

I had two odd experiences with the crows recently. Early morning, not a sound, not even a whisper of wind, an eerie feeling really, a feeling of expectation almost. I go to the platform feeder with breakfast for the crows but hadn't seen any around. I leave the feeder and on the way back to the house I look up and there I saw a tree full of crows, not making a movement or a sound. I felt I was caught up in the dance of the universe, being one with nature and the crows. I really can't describe the feeling.

And so, I feel the promise of spring already. Maybe it's the weather that's giving me that feeling of excitement.....digging, planting, weeding, all that good stuff. Not long until April. Himself is going away for three weeks in April and I'm looking forward to some "alone" time.

A few pictures taken recently.

Chick a Dee.


Evening Grosbeaks.

Juncos.



Woodie.

Snow, snow and still snowing!

I can safely say that we got dumped on. I don't know how many cms fell but my mother called and said they got 60 cms. The snow was about five feet high against their door and they couldn't get out. We didn't get that much but we got enough. I'm tired at the moment and my back is aching from things to be done outside ie: filling feeders. Clearing a way to hen house, etc., etc. A few pictures taken this morning.





Yesterday morning we went to visit the friend who got her new puppy the day before. What a little doll. Full of beans too.

Stuart.


A few pictures of birds this morning. Taken through a window so not the best shots.




(Marnie, if you are reading this, I've been trying to read your blog but every time I go there Firefox crashes. I don't know what the problem is and yours is the only one this happens with. I don't know how many times I've tried with the same result.)