Hello!

I’m back!  Well, I haven’t been away but I’ve not been posting much recently.  I’ve felt bad about having this blog and then not writing much this winter.  I’ve even considered stopping blogging but I don’t really want to do that.  This has been a winter of many distractions that have kept me away from the computer.  I’m hoping to change that.

So, what’s been going on this month?  Both of my grandchildren have had birthdays.  Annika turned 26 on the 3^rd and Gavin turned 20 on the 15^th!  I cannot believe how quickly they have grown to be wonderful, caring, young adults!

The bird feeder stays busy these days!

February has been the month for extreme winter weather for us.  We have had big snows each week.  Our temperatures have stayed below freezing almost constantly which keeps us inside most of the time.  I usually buy groceries each Thursday but all month it seems we have the most snow and ice on Thursdays!  I don’t mind changing my shopping day though as I keep enough food in the house for storms.  We’ve had to change a few medical appointments due to snow and ice but that is not unusual around here.

Our deck has remained snow-covered
except for what the wind blows away.

I love to feed the birds, especially in this weather.  They offer much entertainment for us and our two cats Sophie and Zeus. 

Sometimes the squirrels help
themselves to the bird food.

Have many of you gotten started on the Wordle games?  I enjoy doing them especially since it is just one game and done each day.  I have a tendency to start on games and not know when to stop sometimes and Wordle keeps me from going down the “game rabbit hole”!

There is not much exciting to write about at the moment here but maybe that is a good thing!  We are having more snow today so I’ll probably go out tomorrow if the roads are clear.  I’m sure we are all looking forward to Spring but I don’t really mind Winter because there is so much beauty in all four seasons.  Take care everyone and I will try and be back much sooner!

 

Cold Weather, Birthdays and Birds

Last week I wrote about how so many of us were headed into the deep freeze with all this cold weather.  Well, I guess we got there because temperatures have continued to go down in many parts of the U.S. and many other countries as well.  It is currently 0 degrees F here and was below 0 last night.  I’m not complaining though because I have friends in Minnesota and Canada that have temps of -40!   

We braved the cold last night to celebrate my granddaughter’s 25^th birthday.  Originally, we were going to do that last weekend but heavy snow postponed the celebration a week.  We met at a popular Indian Restaurant for dinner and then went to my son’s house for a bit.  It was wonderful to see family as that is a very rare occurrence these days.  We will be fortunate to see everyone again next week as we will be celebrating my grandson’s 19^th birthday.  Gavin and Annika have birthdays that are less than two weeks apart making February a big birthday month for our family! 

I always feed the birds here but in this extremely cold weather I try to have a little extra for them.  We get a nice variety of birds year-round so today I thought I would try to get a few pictures.

 

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day today!  Tom gave me some chocolate covered strawberries and a beautiful red rose!  Have a good week everyone!

 

A New Year

 

It’s hard to believe that we are already nine days into the new year.  It started out for us with a snow and ice storm on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.  It was beautiful and we enjoyed watching the birds and squirrels as we fed them.  They provide entertainment for us and the cats.  The cats know the word “squirrel” and will come running to the door if we say it.  I tried to get pictures of the birds at the feeder but every time I opened the door they flew away.  However, the squirrels were not so skittish and I could almost walk up to them to get a picture.  Those guys will practically pose for you if you have food.

 

Mrs. Cardinal watching from the trees

This fellow was happy to get a treat

January 1st was my one-year blogging anniversary.  I feel like such a blogging toddler compared to my friends.  I started following blogs six years ago after I retired.  I had not planned on starting a blog myself but after a few years it just seemed to be the right thing to do.  When I look back on my first year of posts it is clear to me that I have a long way to go to be the kind of blogger I’d like to be.  I have lost some of my writing and grammar skills over the years and I am often lacking in good subject matter.  More important to me though is the simple day to day sharing of activities and thoughts that we all do through our blogs.  It’s the friendships we make and the caring for one another. 

 

It’s difficult to realize that we will soon be in our second year of this pandemic.  I remember how at first I thought it would just last a few months.  I guess that shows how little I knew about pandemics.  In many ways it is worse now than it was back then.  But do you know what?  I think we should all be proud of ourselves for adapting as well as we have over this past year.  Yes, it’s been challenging but it has also shown us what we can do when we put our mind to it.  We now have a couple of different vaccines and that has to make a difference for us all.  The authorities here in the U.S. are still working out the best ways to get the vaccines out to the people but I am confident we will get there.  In fact, just a couple of days ago I was able to get Tom and myself signed up on a list for the vaccine with the Health Department.  It may be months before we get it but at least we are on a list for it and that is the first step.  I think every state is handling the vaccinations differently and if you have not heard anything about it in your state it might be worth checking with the Health Department where you live.     

 

I’ve not started this year very well as far as getting posts out but I hope to improve on that.  I always enjoy reading everyone’s blogs.  There are some good people out here in blog world and I appreciate you all!  Take care my friends! 

 

Spring, Birds and a Bit of a Rant...

I've always loved Spring despite the ups and downs we get with the weather here.  We've had sporadic sunny days and a good portion of rainy, stormy days as usual.  A few weeks ago we had our usual short Spring snowfall and tomorrow night we are supposed to get a hard freeze.  Overall, it has been nice and we have even started to welcome the Spring and Summer birds back.  I was finally able to get our hummingbird feeder out which always makes me happy.  I try to wait for any freezes to be past us before I put it out.  They must have been waiting because it was not out ten minutes before the hummingbirds started coming to it!  We have it hanging on our deck in front of the glass door so our cats can watch it.  Sophie, our female cat, loves those hummingbirds so much and talks to them whenever they show up.  I have not been able to get any hummingbird pictures yet but I did get a few pictures of some other birds.  These were taken with my phone so they are not the best quality of pictures.  I have tried to identify them but I could be wrong.  If I am incorrect, I welcome any identification anyone can offer ! 

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Goldfinch

Goldfinch

 

This isolation is starting to wear on me as I am sure it is with others too.  Our state has started opening up in some areas but not yet in the county where I live.  We start phase one Monday so I guess we will see how it goes.  One thing I have noticed lately is that there now seems to be two kinds of people.  One kind wears masks when in public, stays home and tries to follow the recommendations of the CDC and the medical community.  The other kind seems to think the first kind of people have either imagined Covid-19 or they are blindly following scaremongers and the press.  This is extremely frustrating to me.  I do know you can not believe everything you hear on the news and there are always going to be people that make things sound worse than they are in reality.  But come on, there are over a million cases just in the U.S. and there are almost 10,000 cases in the state where I live.  If nothing else you should have respect for those that have died and for their families.  

Okay, that's my rant.  Thanks for listening.  I hope everyone is healthy and enjoying the improving weather and whatever beautiful birds and wildlife you have where you live.  If you've taken the time to read this - I appreciate you for being here.