Day 335 - 30th November 2013 - Waves, Snowy Owls and Horned Larks

Say good-bye November. Today is finally the first day of the Lobster fishing season. It was scheduled to start last Monday but due to weather was postponed. Better safe than sorry. Hopefully everyone has a good day setting. So it's really cold this morning, my indoor/outdoor digital thermometer is wonky and only showing the indoor temp. Time to change the battery outside I guess. All I can say is it's darn cold! Am going to do some cinnamon rolls today, maybe some cookies and hopefully that turkey will be thawed out this afternoon and it can go in the oven.  A jaunt or two around the hood and other than that I have no idea what the day will bring.
Had a lovely but cold day on Friday. We got geared up and went to Barrington - did the grocery shopping and headed for Cape Sable Island in search of the Snowy Owls. It was a blizzard on Daniel's Head Beach and I was on my hands and knees trying to get close enough to some Horned Larks to get good photos, talk about cold! We spent about 2 hours roaming around the Island but never did find the Snowy Owls. I had a second change on the way home we detoured to Baccaro.  Pulled in to the parking lot at the Lighthouse and there were a couple trucks parked there - men talking and watching the surf I guess. Went to get out of the truck and there was the Snowy Owl sitting in the parking lot behind those trucks! Yup, he flew when we got out - we didn't see him until then. Chased him around but he was having none of me. I did get some flight photos and one in the distance. Would love to have gotten one really good one. They are truly stunning. On the upside - that's 100 positive bird sightings with photos (good or bad) since the beginning of January, so I'm pretty pleased.

 The surf was still rough.

 The Horned Larks.

 We stopped at Clark's Harbour and took a little jaunt on the Boardwalk. What a great spot - nicer in summer I'm betting.

 And they have a lovely Bandstand/Gazebo. You can see the Fishermen's Memorial to the right.

 The Snowy Owl.

 Hopefully I'll get back down before Christmas to try again for better shots.

Lots of waves and spray!












Enjoy your day!

Day 334 - 29th November 2013 - Grey Skies, Chickadees and Goldfinches

After I bragged at Exercise Class how well I've been sleeping I'm sitting downstairs on the computer at 2:30 am - groan. Tossed and turned for the last hour and finally decided to get up. Will try reading for a while and see if I can fall back to sleep for a few hours on the sofa. Will make for a long miserable day if I don't snag a some more shut eye. Am planning on heading to Cape Sable Island in search of the Snowy Owls, Barrington for some shopping and then maybe travel home along the shore. Will see how our time and the day goes.
Rained a good part of yesterday morning. I tried to get out for my walk but ended up coming home soaked. By noon it had cleared by the skies were a mix of darkness and lightness. Changed at the blink of an eye. I did go for another jaunt in the afternoon. Checked out the swamps - lots of water but I don't think we are going to have a flooding issue this time.  The water will continue to rise for a few more days. All this means is that we are ready for winter to set in.
Grandmother's Journal:
29th November 1974: Cold lovely winter day. Not much wind. Bob to M.C., I to work. 
30th November 1974: Beautiful Moon. Worked today for Marie. Bob & Bobbie to MC. Bobbie trapping. Cold for this time of year.
1st December 1974:  Beautiful day. Very cold night. Mike & Bobbie to traps. Bob to MC. Home late. I was worried. Very cold night. Ruth and I out for walk. 

This was about the time it started to rain hard again!

 Raindrops and bubbles in a little pool of water.

 These fungi have been here for a long time.

 Touch of blue sky but mostly grey in the afternoon.

 There were a few ducks around. This guy was trying to impress the others.

 A tree full of Goldfinches.

I waited patiently and this was the only one who came down.

 The Chickadees are so sweet.

Enjoy your day!

Day 333 - 28th November 2013 - The Lake, Grasses and Birds

Another morning of sleeping in, I could get so use to this 6 am business. Temperature is still mild at +8.2 this morning. I guess I slept through the storm. Am amazed that our power wasn't out and I had internet this morning. Well Larry got everything done on my list I left yesterday so now I can plow ahead with decorating whenever the urge strikes. I'm thinking Friday or Saturday the baking and decorating will begin.  I'm seriously thinking today or tomorrow we should run to Cape Sable Island and see if those Snowy Owls are still hanging around. Guess I'll see where the day takes us.
I lucked out pretty good. It rained and was windy but the worse really started when I got home before supper. So I did get wet a few times but not too bad.  Had a pretty good day, one brave soul ventured out in the morning, but wasn't a lot of bother, so I managed to get quite a few things done. Although I wasted a fair amount of time sorting out a 1 cent error in my accounting. Grrr! Wow could you ever hear that wind whipping around last evening. Got out my lantern just in case of a power outage, only to discover the one I like the best needed to be charged up.

 You know the grass really wasn't blue. I was playing around with an editing process - invert colors. Looks kind of cool I think.

Another perfect morning for reflections with just a bit of ice in the lake.

I always think the grasses are the best this time of year.

The White-breasted Nuthatch.

 Goldfinches were all puffed out against the cold.

I really like these feeder, wonder if Lois would miss it.












Enjoy your day!

Day 332 - 27th November 2013 - Ice, Clouds and Birds at Feeders

Not looking forward to town today - weather is going to be yucky, which means I'll be wet most of the day. I'm always on foot, which is great as a rule, I enjoy walking but in rainstorms this time of year - not so much. Maybe I could wear Larry's oil gear! At least I've got my rubber boots. The weather sites have those big red bars up with " Rainfall warning/Wind warning". Sounds like the worse will start around noon, fingers crossed I can get the bulk of my running around done by then.  Hopefully it will  be a quiet day and I can get some of my volunteer work caught up.
The weather wasn't too bad most of Tuesday - didn't rain much until later in the day and then not long. Larry and Lexi got to spend a lot of time outside working around the yard, I finished off some chores in the house. Managed to roam the hood a couple of times. Worked on some research for a while. Cooked some really good ribs for supper, glad there were enough for leftovers. Even had some time to curl up for a bit with my book - complete laziness.

A layer of ice in parts of the lake yesterday morning. A frosty stick.

 Those clouds sure look like they are telling us of weather to come.

 I love the patterns in the ice. Some look like leaves, others feathers or you can just let your imagination go.

 Goldfinches were at both mine and Lois' feeders today. They've been pretty independent and not showing up until just before a storm.

 Simple but pretty. I'm stalking the neighbors again.

Kind of struttin' his stuff.

 The seed looks too big for this little guy.

Nice to see them sharing.













Enjoy your day!

Day 331 - 26th November 2013 - Birds and Ice

Nippy morning, temperature is -4.5 but should start rising.  Sounds like we are in for some rough weather in the next day or two. Lots of rain and wind on the way.  So it will definitely be inside work for today and tomorrow. Good thing I did up a list for Larry to keep him from getting bored. Most are little things that I can't reach or lift. I don't necessarily enjoy having him under my feet all day so this will work well.
Monday was a very cold start to the week. Went out for my morning walk and really bundled up. Larry and Lexi worked in the woodpile for a while then he tinkered around in his work room - not sure if he's building something or cleaning it up. I cleared up some things, moved stuff, etc to get ready for decorating later this week. Of course there was the usual - laundry, dishes etc. Had a good workout at exercise class last evening.  Larry's gone back to playing darts for the winter - it's just a fun evening at our local hall but a good activity.

 To give away to a good home - 5 Blue Jays - I seem to have a large flock these days.

 But there they are getting along again.

 A lone Junco  snacks away.

 The Red-breasted Nuthatch.

 Female Downy Woodpecker - she's turned right around to look at something - maybe me!

 A White-breasted Nuthatch.

 Quite sure this is a Red-tailed Hawk. He was flying over the cove.

 Ice and Snow along the lake edges.

 One of my favs - the Brown Creeper.

The grasses along the lake edge are anchored in ice.












Enjoy your day!

Day 330 - 25th November 2013 - The First Snow

So it's 2:45 am and way too early for me to be up - going to be a miserable day unless I get some sleep. I've been tossing and turning for over an hour so finally gave up and brought my book downstairs to read for a while. Oh well maybe the the sofa will call my name in the next few minutes and I will salvage some sleep. On the upside - I threw a few more logs on the fire - should almost stay warm til morning. The first day of Lobster season has been postponed due to the weather - actually looks like they won't be going anywhere til the end of the week. Slow start to the season but better safe than sorry. The one person you can't argue with is Mother Nature.
Oh it was definitely a wintery day on Sunday - snow flurries, cold, windy all those things we will be living with for the next few months.  We will survive and get use to it. But just think - less than a month from now and the days will once again be getting just a bit longer each day. Something to think about. I drug Larry and Lexi out of bed around 7:30 am so we could go to the Breakfast at our Fire Hall. Oh it was good and just what I needed. We didn't even build a fire before we left so the house was a tad bit cool. It was quick warming up, I went out for a walk - nice to go through the woods being the first tracks in the first snow. Did up some laundry and wrapped a few gifts. Then we went over to Upper Clyde to visit friends. Been a while since we've seen them and it was nice to catch up.

 The dried ferns looked lacy yesterday morning against the snow.

 No tracks only snow.

 Just mine when I look back.

 The snow makes these look fluffy.

 I always like snow on softwood trees.

 It looked nice but was really cold.

The Grackle puffs up during a snow flurry.











Enjoy your day!

Day 329 - 24th November 2013 - Barns, Geese and Sunsets

Sleeping in on Sunday morning is something I could really get used to. Wow it's nice. Hoping this continues through the cold winter months. Well we've got our first snowfall of the season, temperature is -1.3. Looks kind of pretty out there. I put that back light on and it's falling gently and everything is covered. Now it can probably stop right there!  Might just be a good day to wrap the gifts I've got and take stock. Of course roaming the hood in the first snow will be special too, especially if I can find a few spots where no one else has walked first. Other than that I have no idea what we are going to do on this snowy Sunday.
Had a great day in Yarmouth - think I've got the bulk of the Christmas shopping done. I'll know for sure when I go through everything. Had a great lunch with some of the family, was nice to sit back relax for an hour and recoup my strength and gather my thoughts again.  Most of my photography was of the drive by/from the truck kind today, something a little different.

 Lots of old barns on the back road, so took a few pics on the way home. I've done most of the them in B&W - like them better that way.

 A flock of 30 Canada Geese in a yard next to the Tusket River.

 The flew off when I got back in the truck.

 Nothing like a hint of red!

 They all have tales to tell.

 Hard working farmers trying to make a living from our rocky soil.

 Some seem to still be in use.

 Green is not the norm.

 This is an old Church and yard.

 Doesn't look like many years left for this one.

 Got close enough to home just as the sun was setting.

Over McKay's Lake.














Enjoy your day!