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.

It's Beginning to feel a lot like Winter.

Himself arrived home on Thursday. I could tell that he was thrilled with the decorations so I was glad that I had done it all. We were watching the news just after supper and there was an interview with someone from Environment Canada talking about a Weather Bomb that was hitting the maritimes. We didn't give it much thought really until a short time later we heard a roar like a freight train coming at us. We both looked at each other and then realized it was wind. The house shaking at times and the trees (there are many around us, some about 50 ft. high, were literally dancing.) Then we lost the power. I said to himself, "What a terrible first evening home, you're having." We didn't get the power back until about 12:30 the next afternoon. I can tell you, you don't realize how much you would miss electricity until it's gone. Then in the middle of that night I got up for some reason and saw that one of the Xmas trees was flat on the floor. CATS!! Well, I just had to leave it as I wasn't going to try to put that up again with just a flashlight in hand. All is back to normal now.

Then in the middle of the next night the fire alarm went off. The two of us literally flew out of bed. We could smell smoke so searched the house for anything a miss. Nothing! We're pretty sure that there was a back draft in the wood stove and it drove some smoke out into the room. Still it was a scary moment.

We've been having cold temperatures lately with a brush of snow now and then. The Juncos and Chick a Dees are showing up at the feeders now that the cold weather is here. I've not seen a squirrel but hear them chattering over in the woods. I figure they must have quite a store of food otherwise they would be at the feeders.

And so, a few pictures.

The Tree Fairy. She only comes by this time of year.


One of our handsome boys.


Our teddy bear cat. He's a cuddler. I figure this is what bliss looks like.



Jays in some snow flurries.




Woodpecker.

Old Bones is Back.

Old bones is back! No, I'm not talking about himself. I'm talking about the old bones who always puts in an appearance this time of year.






Yesterday I decided to put up the holiday decorations. A bit early for me as I don't usually do this until at least the middle of December but himself, who will be back from his holiday in Spain in four days, thought maybe the decorating fairy would have all aglow on his return. So...yesterday morning at about 6:00am, I started in. Wasn't much in the mood if the truth were to be told. I decided to put up two trees this year, one, as always in the living room and now one in the new reading/sitting room. I opened the big trunk which contains most of the decorations and also my Santa collection that goes along the mantle each year. By noon I'd just about had it so grabbed a quick bowl of soup, then continued on until early afternoon when I finished. To say I was exhausted is to put it mildly, I had to lie down for half an hour or so. On looking at it all, I can't say that I was pleased. Maybe it was because I was tired because when I got up this morning things looked quite different and I was charmed.

The tree in the living room.


The tree in the sitting room.


Then of course I put a Santa hat on the big cat (we call him, the benevolent king). He never seems too happy with it, note the frown.


Speaking of cats, our cat Frankie has a very loud harsh voice. People are amused by it. If I don't jump and tend to his needs immediately he does things like...knocking over the television, getting up on a high bookshelf and dropping books, smacking one of the other cats particularly Malachi and it goes on. The boy is spoiled rotten because I've been at his beck and call since he was a kitten and he's smart enough to take advantage of it. Now, the poor boy has a cold and is feeling miserable. Consequently, I'm spoiling him even more...sigh!

Well, that's it for now. Only four more days and himself will be back. Gotta go now and plan a special dinner for the old boy.

My Week so Far!

The temperature went down to -10C last night. Bitterly cold this morning. The laundry that I hung out on the line yesterday afternoon and failed to bring in has frozen solid. The sky is clear so looks like it will be a lovely day though maybe a wee bit chilly.

Himself has two weeks of his holiday gone already. It never ceases to amaze me how fast time goes. It's the curse of old age. Laurie was here for four days and that was wonderful. We had a few glasses of wine and a few laughs that's for sure.

Yesterday when I was taking the laundry to the clothes line, I tripped on something and went sprawling across the ground. I heard what sounded like branches breaking over in the woods and was wondering if I could get myself up fast enough to flee. lol. Still a chance of a bear coming though and wouldn't want to be in the way. I'm a little stiff this morning particularly the shoulder and arm.

A few days ago I hauled the ladder in the house as I wanted to reach the boxes of holiday decorations that were stored on top of the linen closet. Too high to reach on a chair. So there I am up high on the ladder with a fair size box in my arms and trying to figure out a way to get down. I do sometimes get myself into predicaments. I had visions of ending up on the floor with a box of Xmas items on top of me with all the cats staring down at me from the bed. I finally did manage to get the three boxes down with very slow movements. I thought the tree lights were there but they weren't. I've been mulling over every since where I could have put them.

So, that's been my week so far. Here's a few pictures of two of the cats.

Stanley

Stanley in the new room that was added on this past spring.


Frankie, also in new room.

Frankie on rafters in another part of the house.