winter

Don't let the -11 fool you, with this wind it feels like -35F!

Mosaic Monday...this morning's birds

It is the third morning in a row of temps of -20 or below and since I am not venturing outside I have more birds to show through my window. The feeders are extremely busy on mornings like these, but I do feel sorry for those with frost around their eyes!
On the last post, Kay Kay asked if I had a heated birdbath. I do, but this year it is buried in the snow on top of my rock fountain. The heat is enough to keep the snow off the top and the birdies still find it. If the heated dog water dish in the garage is empty so do my dogs as you can tell by the tracks on the rock.
This sparrow is not a house sparrow - what do you guys think...an immature harris? It does have a slight V of black on his chest so I will try for a shot of that next time.
Have a wonderful day - and please head over to Mary's, the Little Red House for all the others participating in Mosaic Monday. You can find her post and the links HERE.

it's COLD outside!

It is so cold outside that a chickadee, female hairy woodpecker, a female downy woodpecker and a blue jay are showing the frost around their eyes! I looked at the outside temp and it was -28 degrees F this morning and the inside of my windows are even frosty leaving the temp on the windowsill at 48. A check of our furnace thermostat confirms the outside temp at -28 but it is sunny with no wind so it actually didn't seem as cold as other recent days when I went out to fill the feeders for my frozen friends.

Fluffed out at the feeder tree and ready for their close ups are a female hairy, junco, female downy, bluejay, goldfinch, male downy and a chickadee.

I don't know where the bluejays slept but they were the frostiest even on their back feathers!

2009 in review...

I cannot believe how fast 2009 seemed to fly by for me. I guess it is true the older one gets the faster time seems to pass. For my annual year in review I am showing the header collages from each month with a link back to some of my personal favorite posts.January 22nd - hoar frost. Each year I look forward to the hoar frost days and the opportunity to try and capture the magic of the tiny little leaf shaped crystals.
February 22nd - Joseph and Johnny, the ring neck pheasants. Last winter our days were filled with watching the resident pheasants feed in the backyard. However, so far this season we have not seen any...Jeff feels it is because we were surrounded by soybean and not corn fields this past farming season. I keep the corn buffet going and hopefully they will come back this year and join the bluejays, sparrows and squirrels feeding there.
March 19th - moving day for the little red barn. March is a boring month in MN! We are sick of the long winter and anxiously awaiting spring. This past March, a highlight were the days Jeff & I spent in the shop building my latest little garden shed. I am already dreaming up winter projects for us in the shop this year but they will not be to this scale :)
April 8th - the wide open spaces of Texas Hill Country. We were blessed to take an early spring camping and cycling trip to Texas and Hill Country was the perfect spot.
May 5th - brought the beginning of the tulips and the start of the gardening season, so of course I picked this post. May's posts reflect the busy and joy filled days of gardening, watching the migrating birds, dance and piano recitals - so I laughed when I saw my "to do" list included staining the cabin...didn't happen but a must do in 2010! Reviewing May's posts the most sentimental to me was the memorial post to Gabi, our beloved pet...a somber post to pick as a highlight but I couldn't resist at least giving you an opportunity to go back and see this beautiful dog :)
June 29th - our highlight of the month was definitely Nathan & Tammy's wedding recap post, what a wonderful event it was! A garden highlight was the start of Pine Hollow - it really grew over the summer and I have acquired more additions this winter so I am looking forward to putting it all together once again in the spring.
July 4th - I finally mastered fireworks photos!
August 12 - Cycling Colorado and the thrill of riding to the top of Pike's Peak were personal joys for me. The garden was probably at it's best on August 1st so I couldn't let this year in review post go without the "tour"...part one...part two...part three.
September 30th - I had a little fun setting up a bird photo shoot with a faux pumpkin birdhouse.
October 5th - the beautiful autumn colors in the woods of northern MN just said "October" the best to me :)
November 6th - I watched as a goldfinch took a late season bath.
December 14th - I posted about a family weekend of fun. Viewing Christmas lights, taking in a concert and baking together was a fantastic way to start the Christmas season!

Can't wait to see what 2010 brings to my garden of life and look forward to sharing some of the joys with you here.

Scenes from Christmas 2009...

I hope your holiday was as wonderful as ours was...
Belated Merry Christmas to all my readers!

Winter Greetings from our home to yours...

I added another peanut feeder to the feeder pole yesterday and it made for some great photos ops as all my little feathered friends had to check it out.

Almost all of the bluejays have learned to take two peanuts at a time now...such little piggies


In this photo you can see how I wire a tall dead branch to the feeder pole in order to get more "natural" looking poses. This is actually my second branch of the season as my first cool looking and lichen covered one couldn't handle the weight of a fat squirrel jumping from one branch to another.

I broke off the branch obstructing the view of the round ornament and get a much better view now :)

mosaic Monday...the man in red

The man in red made an early appearance this weekend riding in on Rudy, the red fendered 4-wheeler. This early scouting mission was to check who was naughty or nice in the area...


by the looks of these smiles...I would say he found nothing but Nice everywhere he went.

I'm joining Mosaic Monday once again with Mary, the Little Red House. Click here to see her post of fresh snow as well as many of the other east coast bloggers sharing their storm scenes and of course there are many Christmas ones as well.

Sunday steeples...

Today's steeple is a small rural church out in the middle of farmland...Trinity Lutheran of Havelock Township, MN.

With no parsonage on site and surrounded by the stillness of the cemetery, I imagine it as a peaceful place like on my garden flag where the sights of nature are peeking inside.
Many have asked about my ornament suet feeders pictured on Friday's blog as well as below...I don't know where you could purchase them. I have 3, a heart, a ball and a star purchased at Goodwill and originally filled with potpourri in netting. I saw they were hinged and would make perfect suet hangers so of course they came home with me.
I have them hung on a dead branch right outside of my window for photo ops - but I can see I am going to have to trim the branch in front of the round one :)


Have a wonderful Sunday!

feathered friends Friday...

I finally finished the Christmas decorating and my feathered friends seem quite happy about it :)