Spring Portents...

Snow may linger in the corners
Of a sheltered nook;
Ice may fringe the shaded places
On the banks of pond and brook.

Cold my be the wind that's blowing,
Pale the sunshine, gray the sky,
But winter-weary mankind's certain
Spring is drawing very nigh.

For someone saw a willow branch
Trimmed with furry gray;
Someone saw green sprouts thrust upward
Where snow lay yesterday.

Someone saw a robin redbreast,
Someone heard him sing...
Welcome signs and certain portents
When winter turns to spring.
(Virginia Moore)
Spring is here! We still have some snow and the ice on the pond is deep enough to walk on, but the robin's are back! I saw my first one yesterday though it was too gray and drizzly out to photograph but today their bright orange breasts were easy to spot in the sunshine. Happy Spring!

a time to start anew...

Every sunrise is a present, a gift from God above,
Gift-wrapped with scarlet ribbons and tied with bows of love.

Each day's a new beginning, a time to start anew,
While all the stars are sleeping, and the rose is fresh with dew.

Every day's a new creation, too lovely to ignore,
And may we find a blessing, just outside our door.

We cannot keep the past, like fireflies in a jar
Nor journey to the future by wishing on a star.

Every sunrise is a blessing, a gift for just today.
Rejoice, my friend, embrace it before it fades away!
(author unknown)

We had a really beautiful sunrise today - a fitting end to the last day of winter. I wish you a spring full of new beginnings and wonderful blessings.

wearin' o' the green...

Today is the day fer the wearin' o' the green.
Today is the day when the little people are seen.
Today is St. Patrick's Day, so if ye'r Irish me lad,
Join the celebratin' fer the grandest time ta' be had.






He's Italian not Irish but today's his day. It is my soon to be son-in-law's birthday and I'm sure there is some wearing of the green as well as drinking of a little green (beer) too! Happy Birthday Scott - tried to get you some birds on the shamrock flag but they did not cooperate.

Pleasant things...

I try to fill my life
with pleasant things:
With the peace that simple
daily living brings,
With love of nature
in each passing phase
From spring's shy dawn
to winter's icy days.
(Margaret Aeberhard)
Even though I know that winter weather is probably still here for a few weeks it is so wonderful to see the first signs of spring. Honking geese are flying north at sunrise and I found the first buds poking through the ground (though I really had to search for some).
Most of the garden is still snow covered and I hope this guy sticks to fallen birdseed and doesn't find my first tulip shoots!

Let's talk turkeys...

Let's talk turkey!
What a walk it's got!
Strut about, strut about,
Do the turkey trot!

Let's talk turkey,
What a shaky wobble!
Strut about, strut about,
Gobble, gobble, gobble!
(Meish Goldish)
















We saw about 2 dozen wild turkeys on our roadtrip looking for pheasants on Friday afternoon. They have a unique beauty with the greenish tint to their backs and red coloration on their neck and heads.















While watching a flock of turkeys in a field of corn stubble a young racoon walked by and stopped for a bite of leftover corn.Spring is almost here! We saw our first northern flicker that afternoon so the robins can't be far behind.

Pheasants in the snow...

"Poetry is a pheasant disappearing in the brush"
(Wallace Stevens)







Our snow is disappearing very quickly with the warmer temperatures we have had the last few days. The pheasants that we have been seeing for the last week or so are leaving the roadsides and going back out to the fields so Jeff & I went for a ride late this afternoon so I could photograph some before the snow was all gone. Sorry for the quality as these skittish birds don't like to stand still for a photo :-)

Icicles...

I see icy icicles
Hanging off the trees.
I see icy icicles
Forming in the freeze!
Here, oh here's the way
That an icicle will form:
A stream of water drips
While the air is still warm.
When the air turns colder
And water starts to freeze,
It forms a stick of ice
That hangs from the trees!
I see icy icicles!
(Meish Goldish)

As I was checking out the sunset from the warmth of my house (that is why it is viewed through the trees), I was pleasantly surprised to see the rainbow effects the sunset was giving the many icicles hanging from the eaves of the house. I ran to grab the camera and wasn't able to capture the brillance my naked eye saw but it still made a unique photo anyways.

















With all the snow that is around we are seeing many pheasants. I'm sure they have been here the whole while but were hidden in the brown grass. I'm going to have to start carrying the camera in the car because we saw about 50 along the roadsides traveling to town today. Hopefully I will have some good shots to share soon.

Today's the day...

Today's the day
We get to say
We're happy you were born-
Hooray!

Happy Birthday Tammie!



Today is my youngest sister's birthday. She was always the "cute little blonde one" in the family of brunettes. The baby sister. Now she's a wife, mother of five, college professor and a great friend. I wish her a wonderful day and another happy and healthy year ahead. May your nest always be feathered.

In like a lion...

The March wind roars
Like a lion in the sky,
And makes us shiver
As he passes by.

When winds are soft,
And the days are warm and clear,
Just like a gentle lamb,
Then spring is here.
(Author Unknown)


March is here and is being ushered in like a lion so hopefully the old saying is right and she goes out like a lamb. After our winter of no snow we are being hit with snowstorms twice in one week. The snow is as deep as the garden lanterns and up to 15-20 more inches are predicted in the next 2 days along with high winds. The gardens are a flurry of bird activity as they feed and stock up for the storm ahead.

Angels in the Snow

We used to play in winter's snow
By making angel wings you know.
We'd lie so still with arms up high,
In snow that was so smooth and dry.

Then through the snow, all white and deep,
Our arms so carefully we sweep
Until our hands o'erhead we bring,
Each arm has made an angel's wing.

Then up we rise with greatest care,
Not to disturb the images there,
And gaze with wonder at the row
Of angels in the snow.
(Irma Sanborn)



They say you're as young as you feel and yesterday I felt like a kid that needed to make a snow angel in all that fresh snow. Of course, being young in spirit is different than being young in body...my angel was much wider and deeper than I remembered from days gone by and getting up from that position without disturbing the angel was alot harder than I remembered too :-) I couldn't get the the dogs to play "fox and goose" but they sure did enjoy running through the deep snow. In fact, to quote Jeff, I would say they are "the fastest runners in the sixth grade".

Snow Storm

All day the old earth waited;
The clouds hung gray and low;
Then in the brief and sudden dusk
It began to snow -

Flake by soft, white, feathery flake,
Until the rusty, brown
Hedgerows and the apple trees
Were swathed in eiderdown.

And all the bare fields round about,
And every rounded hill -
It snowed that night, it snowed the next day,
It snowed until the countryside,
As far as the eye could see,
Were no familiar landmarks, where
A fence or bush should be.
(Ethel Fuller)

Our winter of no snow is no more! We finally got a good old fashioned snowstorm complete with sleet, snow, blowing and drifting. It left in its wake, beautiful snow covered trees, slippery roads and driveways & yards to be cleared. Jeff fired up the payloader to start the snow removal and Gabi, Ruger & I took a walk to enjoy the crisp air and enjoy the beauty. This from a woman that normally hates snow but after not having any for so long it really is a pretty site.

My take on "Where's Waldo?" In this scene of black & white - where's Ruger?

Precious Memories...

"Good mornin' little girl,"

and she smiles her precious smile...

"I have come to see you

and love you for a while."

Tiny little fingers

clutch my fingers too...

as we play and rock and cuddle,

my day is full of precious YOU!

(adapted from a C Ellefson poem)

Bookwork, cleaning and laundry can wait because little Alexis is visiting again today. We spent the morning playing the usual "babies" with numerous diaper and wardrobe changes but today we also played "office" like mommy does. There were stickers to place, important things to write and calculations to make. What a busy morning it was....

After all that work and play it was time to relax and watch a little Curious George. Alexis showed me that you don't need a recliner to veg out in front of the tv :-)

Mr. Owl

Said Mr. Owl, sitting in a tree,
"How would you like
To be like me?
I sleep all day
In the bright sunlight,
And look for my dinner
In the middle of the night!"

What fun it was to discover an owl roosting in an old wood duck house today. Looking at my trusty bird book (Thanks, Scott!), I think he might be an eastern screech owl. He was so cute he actually got me outside a second time today for photographs and it is only 6 degrees at noon. Hopefully, he sticks around the garden and we get to see him more in the days to come.

Nature's Valentine...

Frost flowers on the window glass,
Hopping chickadees that pass,
Bare old elms that bend and sway,
Pussy willows soft and gray.
Silver clouds across the sky,
Lacy snow flakes flitting by,
Icicles like fringe in line
That is outdoor's Valentine.

(author unknown)

Happy Valentine's Day! I found some frost flowers, chickadees, silver clouds and icicles out in the garden just for you. Heck, I even found a woodpecker kissing a tree and some hydrangeas that have held up from last fall. I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Sadly, the frigid temperatures and long cold spell we had last week took it's toll. We found my beautiful red bellied woodpecker dead on Sunday.

Frozen...

Frozen fingers,
Frozen toes,
HELP...
I can't feel my nose!


-18F, -11F, -15F -17F
Yes, those are the actual temperatures the last 4 mornings, factor in the wind chill and it is unbelievably cold outside!

I don't know if this little junco was trying to keep his head warm or what?




The feeders are extremely busy places these days as the birds eat more to stay warm. I added some seed to various spots on the ground which led to some competetive bluejay encounters over their favorite spot to feed.
Think Warm! Back in July when the temperature was 90 some degrees we came across these cows trying to stay cool in the creek.

You scratch my...

You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours...
"A favor should be reciprocated: you do a favor for me, and I'll do one for you. The proverb has been traced back to Montaigne (1605), and is first attested in the United States in 'Artemus Ward, His Book' (1865) by Artemus Ward, the pen name of Charles Farrar Browne (1834-76)." From "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" (1996) by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).

Okay, I couldn't help it - it almost did look like the nuthatch was scratching the downy's back :-)
This little downy woodpecker and red bellied woodpecker were nice enough to sit and pose for me at the feeder.
I used these shots as models for the upside down suet feeder I just painted.

Groundhogs & Moon dogs...

Old Groundhog stretched in his leafy bed.
He turned over slowly and then he said,
"I wonder if spring is on the way,
I'll go and check the weather today.
If I see my shadow between eleven and noon,
I then will know that I'm out too soon.
I'll crawl back in bed for six weeks more,
Pull up the warm covers and snore and snore.
But if no shadow gives me a scare,
I know that spring is in the air,
I'll wake my friends and wish them cheer,
With glorious news that spring is here."
(unknown author)

I don't have any groundhog photos for you but if one was around he definitely wouldn't have even came out of the ground today! We have windchill advisories for -20 to -30 degrees. These shadows of summer are much "warmer" to think about.


With this cold weather we have seen "sun dogs" around the sun several times this week but last night was my first time I ever saw "moon dogs". What is a moon dog? Wikipedia defines it as "A paraselene, or moon dog, is a halo caused by the refraction of moonlight by hexagonal plate shaped ice crystals in high-atmosphere cirrus clouds. Moon dogs appear to the right and left of the moon approximately 22° away. They are exactly analogous to a sun dog. Moon dogs are somewhat rarer than sun dogs, because in order to produce moon dogs or other types of halos, the moon must be bright and therefore full or near full."

Roadtrips...

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. (Lao Tzu)
My idea of a great definition of a roadtrip!

Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything. (Charles Kuralt, On the Road With Charles Kuralt)



Arco, MN - in 1936 H. Pedersen bought the Texaco gas station in this tiny town and began to cover it with his rock collection (notice the Texaco stars). When he passed away in 1942 his son took over and created many smaller pieces including the Statue of Liberty. The gas station is now a private home and some of the smaller pieces are displayed in a local park.

Voyaguer along the MN/Canadian border and a Smokey the fishing Bear also in one of the small towns up there. Jeff is such a good sport to pose for me :-)