Day 52 - 21st February 2014 - Birds, Lake, and Clothesline

Temperature is -0.5, just where you need be carefully of driving. Slept in a bit this morning - til 6 am when Larry got up for work. Lexi was snuggled in and didn't want to get up either. She's a princess. Suppose to be mild with some rain today. The snow was going pretty rapidly yesterday. The weekend is looking pretty good weather wise, maybe we can escape somewhere for a few hours.
Could the March winds be here already? That would be spring too - am I right? The sun was certainly warm yesterday but oh that wind blew, temperature was up to +5 late in the afternoon and some of the ice underfoot melted. Lexi and I took advantage of the fine weather to roam the hood a few times. She appreciates getting a run especially through the woods. I keep her on the leash when we walk the road. Spent the rest of the day doing paperwork, moving photos off my laptop and a bit of laundry and housework. Another hard work out by Cindy last evening and exercise class - my knees really dislike steps.

 The sky was overcast in the morning, the lake looks like it is beginning to soften up.

 It turned out to be a good day to hang out clothes - providing they didn't blow away.

 Lots of fungi on this limb.

 Just a bit of color.

 The Red-breasted Nuthatch returned to the yard again today.

 And a small group of Goldfinches.

 The Woodpecker has been stopping in more frequently.

 But he got scared off today.

Sitting on the feeder roof.











Enjoy our day!

Day 51 - 20th February 2014 - Chickadees, Nuthatches and the Lake

Temperature is +1.0 this morning. I slept better last night than the last few although I'm not sure why, maybe just exhaustion has caught up with me.  I also noticed yesterday morning when I had posted the blog and shared it to Facebook and Twitter that finally after months of trying the Pinterest button was now there! Dah! Not sure how or why but it works.  Lexi and I are on our own today and we are spending another night on leftovers so not sure what we are going to spend the day doing - around the hood for sure, hopefully shouldn't be too slippery. I'm on a judging panel for grant application (not locally or within this region) so I received them yesterday - probably a good time to set them up and start. I've got 15 to go through and would like to mail them back next week when I'm in town.
We had a very slow and careful drive to town yesterday morning. I went in with Cindy and was so glad she is a creeper - the road was very icy. Anyway I'm not a good traveler (one reason why I like to stay home in the winter) so was happy to get there safely. So it was rather an uneventful day - nothing terribly exciting - just a few rough areas to deal with. I did manage to get some things done but not as much as I would have liked. That's the way it goes in the winter time. A supper of leftovers and then a quick jaunt around the hood. Nice that it's still daylight after supper and I can get out.Then an easy night in front of the TV, although I fought going to bed too soon.

I heard them singing their spring song yesterday morning "Phoebe, Phoebe"

 Not sure if he was trying to flash me or what, but definitely some tail action there.

 He was up too high - White breasted Nuthatch. Both the Nuthatches were hanging out there.

 Lake was still and quiet last evening after supper. At least now I can get out for a walk.

With all the weather we've had the leaves are still hanging on here.









Enjoy your day!

Day 50 - 19th February 2014 - Lake, Red-breasted Nuthatch and Chickadees

Temperature is way up this morning +0.8, just like a yoyo - up and down. It's my weekly town day - errands, volunteer work and whatever else comes my way. Hopefully it will be a quiet day and I can accomplish a lot.
Warmed up, sun was shining most of the day on Tuesday. Lexi and I got a couple trips around the hood, but you have to be careful under foot with the ice. It really sucks, hard to make any good headway for a walk. It was better through the woods and she could run off leash. Walking gives me thinking time, lately it seems that absolutely nothing is going right or well, sometimes I just get so discouraged. And I know lots of people are worse off but  that doesn't always matter - it's what is happening in my life that concerns me. Sorry - sounds selfish but it's true. Made a hot Italian sausage and rice dish for supper last night - it's nasty and makes enough for leftovers. There was still some chicken so I put that together with some pasta for a casserole for another night. It's lighter, later so I took a walk after supper. Can't wait til the ice is gone in the lake and the ducks are back.

 Standing very still so I wouldn't see him.

 A morning of snow bling.

 Lots of Chickadees around.

 Just wish that was water and not ice I was looking at.

Finally the Red Breasted Nuthatch spend some time at the feeders. Haven't seen them in several months.

 Guess there was a seed in the crack.

 Going down!

 It really was a Chickadee kind of day.

Enjoy your day!

Day 49 - 18th February 2014 - Sunlight and Birds

Another very cold morning, temperature is -13.6 outside, +13.6 inside. Brrr. Won't take long to get is warmed up since I'm home to keep the fire going. Should start to get milder the rest of the week. Well another day similar to yesterday I guess. Nothing terribly exciting - I need to really snap some action into my routine. It feels so dull and uninteresting, maybe that's just because the weather puts us in a bit of a winter funk.
Well I got through everything on my list yesterday. Cookies for Larry's lunch, a bit of housework, research and walks with the girl. You really had to watch where you were walking, a light layer of snow over ice made for tricky navigating sometimes. It was no problem once we were walking in the woods and I could let her off leash - just getting out of the driveway was a balancing act. Exercise class last night - we've been doing this Tabata work out on Mondays - let me tell you it is a workout indeed and the hour goes by like it was 5 mins. Usually you hurt for three days after. You know the story - no pain = no gain, we must be gaining with those.

 A hint of morning as it came through the trees and boy oh boy was it red.

 Been really windy the last few days, this Mourning Dove had a hard time holding on to the feeder.





He finally got his balanced.

 The Junco was holding on tight too.

Two of at least 30 Blue Jays at the feeders today.










Enjoy your day!

Day 48 - 17th February 2014 - Lake, Snow and Squirrel

Monday morning, the weekend is over and the work week back to face us once again. Temperature is down to -7.8 this morning, I still have this thing in my head and glands so assuming it's part of the virus/cold - not sure what they call them anymore. Other than that, I seem to be fine, hoping that's as far as it goes. Lexi and I will get around the hood some today and see what's happening, got some research I need to get wrapped up and think I'll make a batch of cookies for Larry's lunch. That should round out most of the day nicely and end with exercise class tonight.
So I'm tired of winter or at least this winter. Can we move spring ahead to say February 18th?? That would work for me. I don't like this kind of weather - the rain, freezing rain, ice pellets, whatever. I can handle some snow during November to February but that's about it, I really dislike the rest.  I did get out for a short walk yesterday morning, only because I couldn't stand being cooped up anymore. It was cold and miserable and not great for walking.  All day my neck/glands hurt so I guess Larry has passed some of his "cold" on to me. Not sure how that happened so quickly. I did some laundry, puttered around then played scrabble on the computer with Susan - it was a good day for that kind of thing. Roasted a chicken for supper. I spent some time going through some of my photos, need to clean them off again but was really looking for various bird photos to put together on one disk. Seems to be taking a lot longer than I thought it would.

Took this one a few days ago, yesterday it blew and lot more and wasn't so pretty.

 You know I like a little snow bling.

 If nothing else I can find a squirrel in the woods.

Enjoy your day!

Day 47 - 16th February 2014 - Shadows, Seals and Geese

Temperature is hanging right around 0 this morning, guess that's just about the right spot for the freezing rain/flash freeze warning in effect. Sounds like an ugly day. I would sooner have the soon comedown than freezing rain. Didn't sleep great last night I had terrible discomfort through my shoulders and neck all during the night and this morning it seems to have settled mostly in the neck.  Please tell me he has not passed on his cold. Have a chicken out to cook for supper, thinking a nice Sunday meal will be good, leftovers for tomorrow. With the sound of the weather I can see a lazy day with the Kobo.
Had a good walk around the hood yesterday morning. Larry and Lexi were still in bed - he with his man cold, she playing nurse so I ducked out early. It's so quiet in the hood these days, I'm getting tired  of winter. Off to town around noon for groceries. We took a run down to Gunning Cove as Larry had been there earlier in the week and saw a lot of ducks near the shore - not to be yesterday just a few quite a ways off.  We did our errands and headed home. Kind of an afternoon and evening around the house - nothing terribly exciting.

 The neighbour's mailbox lost the battle the other week. Doesn't matter like us they have to use the community mail boxes.

 The morning sun breaks through the trees.

 Pretty morning on the lake.

 The deck chairs wait patiently for warmer days.

 A road full of shadows.

 Frozen in the lake.

 A seagull and Shag.

 Seals basking in the sun.

 Someone's tame geese.










Enjoy your day!

Day 46 - 15th February 2014 - Butterflies and Better Weather

I can see the stars this morning, temperature is -3.4, which is pretty normal for this time of year. The red alert bars are once again up on the weather sites - "wind and rainfall warning for tonight". Have to make a run for groceries sometime, guess it will be in town since Larry has a "man cold" (ugh) and won't  feel like tramping anywhere so it will probably be a quick run to town. Which is really ok with me as I'm not thrilled with a lot of ice underfoot. Usually if we go to Barrington or somewhere else out of town it includes a little birding and maybe lunch.
Friday was a very wet day, rain most all day except late in the afternoon it turned to snow with maybe some ice pellets mixed in for a while. Not a great day for Lexi and I around the hood. It blew so hard, I half wondered if we would end up under at tree as we made several quick trips out side so we could both have a stretch and she could do her thing. The last few days haven't been great for photos either. So we spent most of the day inside putting the house back to rights, catching up on all that fun stuff. I think it's safe to say that most of us our really getting tired of winter this year. Now instead of snow we seem to have moved on to rainstorms, not sure if that's much better as I foresee flooding coming up soon.

 I went digging back into my photos - decided I wasn't in the mood to post snow/rain photos today and wanted something a little more encouraging.

 Not one of my greatest but I like the movement and the reflection.

 Think it's an American Redstart. I'm so waiting for the spring warblers to show up.

 Summer blooms.

 Among my favourite.

White Astilbe in my shade garden.



















Enjoy your day!