Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you well. All is well here but it is very cold. The high for today is 1° F with a windchill of -18. The forecast says the low for the day is -6° F. I could never figure out how the low for the day is usually up to 6 AM the following morning… Anyway, it is very cold no matter when it gets here.

I went through the normal routine of getting up, making coffee, and feeding the cats. When I looked out the bedroom window, a few birds were impatiently waiting for birdseed… The hanging feeder still had plenty of feed, but what was left of the seed I spread on the ground yesterday was covered with snow. The sparrows were doing their backward scratching trying to find something to eat. I also knew I had to go to the chicken house with fresh water as theirs would be frozen. After I drank a little coffee, I went outside…

We had more snow somewhere between the time I went to bed and got up and there were a few more flakes falling off and on during the day. There is a 60% chance on Monday. The forecast says the low for the day is -6° F. I could never figure out how the low for the day is usually up to 6 AM the following morning… Anyway, it is very cold no matter when it gets here.

I went through the normal routine of getting up, making coffee, feeding the cats, and taking the first three photos.

When I looked out the bedroom window, a few birds were impatiently waiting for birdseed… The hanging feeder still had plenty of feed, but what was left of the seed I spread on the ground yesterday was covered with snow. The sparrows were doing their backward scratching trying to find something to eat. I also knew I had to go to the chicken house with fresh water as theirs would be frozen. After I drank a little coffee, I went outside to the chicken house and sprinkled about a gallon of birdseed next to the tree in front of my bedroom/office window.

Then, I came back inside and got the camera…

I went outside and saw the little black tomcat by the corner of the house. He doesn’t look too impressed to me. I already forgot the name I gave him recently so I will have to look at past posts or make up a new one. It’s a good thing I didn’t tell him his name. 🙂

This cat has been coming and going lately, and sometimes he isn’t here to eat feed for several days at a time. He is growing, though, and is almost as big as Simba. A couple of evenings ago I heard Simba and Little Bit growling on the back porch. There was this black tomcat by the steps wanting something to eat but he wasn’t allowed. I thought, “what the heck? Why aren’t they letting him come to eat?” I opened the door and looked at the black tomcat and said, “MAN you grew over the last few days while you were gone.” Simba looked at me and said, “that IS NOT our friend!” Well, I was sort of confused for a minute. I stepped out of the door and the black cat ran down the steps but tried several times later. I think he finally did get something to eat.  The next morning the little black tomcat came to eat and there were no issues… HMMM… I guess we have been having a visitor…

When I was coming back from the chicken house, I noticed the furnace vent had some ice around it. I never saw that before… It’s just on one side but you would think as much as the furnace has been running there wouldn’t ice around the vent! GEEZ!

Thank goodness Phlomis ‘Edward Bowles’ is covered up… 🙂

HMMM… The Cylindropuntia imbricata is covered with snow and taking a bow… It has been warm enough until last week it hasn’t even turned red.

I went back inside and Jade was asking if she could sit on the shelf in the bedroom. I said, “Ahhh, since you successfully snuck in a few days ago and I let you stay now you are asking?”  I let her in but I told her not to make this a habit. 🙂 She ran in and put her front paws on the front of the shelf and looked at me. She snuck on the corner last time, but this time she wanted more room… I picked her up and guided her to the corner in front of the Aloe maculata… She was agreeable…

I used to allow her to stay in the bedroom and sleep on the foot of the bed when I was in there working on the computer, but her hair… I mean, enough is enough! I would go to bed at night and pull hair out of my mustache. SO, when I bought the new flannel blanket for winter, she had to stay out of the bedroom.

When I took the above photo there weren’t many birds eating under the tree. I thought maybe it was so cold they were somewhere out of the wind.

Then, the Blue Jay came and what birds were there flew off. He makes the other birds nervous.

Oh yeah, a few days ago there was a new bird I hadn’t seen before. I didn’t get any photos but I looked on All About Birds and found out it was a male Spotted Towhee. We are a little out of its range, but it for sure was a Spotted Towhee. I have not seen it since.

A few more birds trickled in. Mostly different species of sparrows and the Dark-Eyed Junco. The Red-Bellied Woodpecker would fly down and get seed and then go to the tree to hide it. He was very busy and wouldn’t sit still long enough to get a shot.

I don’t know, but I think that speckled bird is an immature sparrow of some sort… There are several species of Sparrows here but I don’t want to get the list and write them all down… I am sure several species look the same at this stage.

Every time I looked out the window there would be a different bird to take a photo of, so I would get the camera and give it a shot. I saw a female Cardinal only one time…

Then, later, there was a Morning Dove and a couple of male Cardinals. I was lucky and got a good 2 for 1 shot. 🙂

Hmmm… I think this was a time I tried to get a photo of the woodpecker… The Tufted Titmouse came a few times but wasn’t in the mood to get its photo taken.

Then, LOW AND BEHOLD, an Eastern Bluebird flew in the tree. I guess he wanted to see what was going on but he didn’t stay long and went on his way.

Then FINALLY the little Nuthatch came… I took five photos but only this one wasn’t blurry. These are neat birds and I always like watching them…

I took the birds photos over a several hour period but I grew tired of that. It’s days like this that the cactus and other plants are glad to be on the warm side of the window. I completely agree! Jade is now sleeping on the bottom shelf but you can’t see her in this photo. Actually, I think a nap sounds pretty good…

How is the weather in your neck of the woods?

Until next time, be safe, keep warm (or cool wherever you may be), stay well, and always be thankful!

Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you well. I got up this morning and opened my blinds and saw the snow and ice hadn’t melted overnight. There were a few birds hopping around on the ground looking for food. The feeder was still almost full. So, I made coffee, fed the cats, and decided I would get a little birdseed and sprinkle it on the ground. As I approached the tree, they didn’t fly off like they normally do…

White-Breasted Nuthatch

I was 5-6 feet from the feeder and I looked up and saw a White-Breasted Nuthatch peeking around at me from behind. I SSSSLLLLOOOOWWWWLLLLYYYY reached in my pocket and got my camera. The Nuthatch moved to the side of the feeder for a better shot. They are such neat little birds and quite comical the way they sometimes back up on tree limbs.

Then something even more exciting happened…

Tufted Titmouse

A Tufted Titmouse flew right on the feeder in front of me… For me, to be that close to a Tufted Titmouse was incredible. They are very cautious and trying to get a good photo of one was always a challenge. I have tried to get photos a multiple of times but they just won’t sit still. I have taken photos that are blurry and some even with no bird because by the time I took the shot they were gone. Watching it at the feeder so close kind of made me feel all warm ad fuzzy. OK, I made that part up…

I wonder what would happen if I sat in a chair under the feeder? Well, I think I should do that where I feed in the back yard. People driving by and the neighbors would think I completely lost my mind…

I ventured out to the chicken house to check their feed and water then decided I would take a few photos of the Chinese Elm disaster.

I kind of knew it would happen sooner or later because one of the limbs that fell yesterday was kind of growing horizontal toward the shed (which is not in the photo). I used to have my plant on a couple of tables behind the shed and was always standing on the tables removing branches that were hanging down. I am thankful I moved the tables to the front and back porch. Several limbs had already fallen out of this tree before.

LUCKILY the only damage to the pickup was on the bed. The biggest limb was actually right smack on top of the cab and one of its branches was on the hood. Apparently, the one that fell on the bed kept the other one from doing as much damage.

As I went back to the house it started sowing a little. It looked like little styrofoam balls falling from the sky… On the steps, I could see a few that looked like tiny stars…

I have to admit, snowflakes are a marvel of nature…

What is this world coming to? I am taking photos of snowflakes!!! With that, I think I better stop! At almost 3 PM when I am finishing this post, it is “s-ing”… I mean REALLY ‘S-ING”… The forecast last night said we had a 20% chance this afternoon… It is very fine and I need to go clean the church. I guess I better get on with it. 🙂

Until next time… You know the drill…