Day 356-358 - 28th December 2017 - Woodpeckers and Bird Nests

I'm back! I'd like to say we had a fun couple of days but being without power in the winter time isn't really all that entertaining. It gets old really fast, especially since it's been so cold. Although one thing I noticed was with the dark sky (no street lights, etc) the stars were so bright those few mornings.  Now we have a "cold artic airmass" over the province - brrr for the next few days - windchill of -20 to -30. I'm not right thrilled with that forecast. Anyway we continue on.  A few years ago (maybe longer) we had a power outage for several days before Christmas and the power returned Christmas Eve. I don't remember it being so miserable. This time the temperatures were probably lower. Even though we have a wood furnace we get a minimum amount of heat - the blower of course is electric. So the basement is warm, the upstairs is warm but the main floor remains cool. It keeps the pipes from freezing. We have a butane burner that serves as a cook surface so that's good. Larry got our generator going - it's small but will charge up a few things as well as keep the fridge going or the freezer (we alternate between the two). We checked on some of the neighbours in the hood, making sure they had what the needed, delivering water to one. Played crib by candle light in the evening and I caught up on my reading.  Next trip to town I'll need to stock back up on paper plates, butane and batteries.

Male Downy Woodpecker

 Female Woodpecker

I can always find the bird nests after the leaves are gone!





Enjoy your day!