Winter is here....

 The first real snowfall of the year...a week or two ago, daughter said they did have sleet downtown Indianapolis.   But this is snow.  I know at one point it was down t0 28° F...it may have been lower but I did not notice it if it was.  This was early morning...I have not paid attention to it otherwise.

This really is not a lot but I am sure the roads are slick.  I did go to Mcds but it was not like this.  I may be staying home in the morning which will not upset me in the least.

I have did some of my chores today...but won't go into that.  Just glad to have done what I got done.  There is always something waiting for me.  I am leaving the garbage bin for daughter to bring in.  I fear falling again and I don't think I could handle another break.  I would not even try to go out the back steps with Copper.  

He went running out first thing and grabbed his big ball that is one of his outside toys.  I just told him no, I am not even attempting to get down and throw it or kick it.  He tried to make me feel guilty.

I guess I will post this and be done with it.  Still have to give meds before my night is over...that is not too far off.

From Thursday

Roger and I went to a nearby town for breakfast, and then went on a little drive...we were checking a fishing spot.  It is a place we almost always see a Great Blue Heron, but did not Thursday.  We have also seen an eagle there two or three times, but again, no luck this time.  However, I did spot this little 'guy.'

I don't think I have ever seen a snowman this tall.  Did I say tall?  I meant small!  I wonder if it was made by a child or an adult. What do you think?  I tend to think it was an adult.  Cause I think kids want to make BIG snowmen.  But maybe I am wrong.

Old photos...old memories

The Lorelei is here now, so trying to hurry and do a post to get the previous one moved on down the page...in the hopes that if I do forget and open my blog with her around, it won't show up!

These have all been posted before...

In December of 2013.  How I wish we could go back to that time...but at least we have our memories.

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I have searched and searched trying to find if I posted about a little drive we did in snow and ice.  I think I told but cannot find it if I did.  I have searched under the labels of snow, and searched all kinds of words.  Anyway, it is one of those memories that I hold dear, but always makes me laugh till I cry.  And one we think of it quite often.

It was a day about like the above...snow AND ice was abundant.  We had headed out on our drive and was going a familiar route.  This route contains a downhill curvy road.    It is the leg part of a 'T' intersection...when our road comes to the other, on the other side of the road is a steep bank DOWN to creek bottoms...and there are fairly good sized trees...at least 7 or 8 inches in diameter are there.

We were turned down that road...we always like to go down it because we used to see wild turkey there often.  So we get to the downhill part, and we don't seem to be slowing down...I tell Roger to please slow down a little bit.  He says 'I have had my foot on the brake ever since we started downhill.'  I am getting tickled...but it is not a laughing matter...the road gets pretty steep...and at the bottom it is a sharp turn either right or left and you can't see if anything is coming from one direction...but the rate we were going, we would not have made the turn.

There on the right side is a little house with a fairly big front yard.  The end of it ends in a steep bank too.  Probably taller than me...it goes straight down to the road.

Roger was at his finest...instead of going over the bank he makes a quick turn into that yard, and just circles around and goes back out the way we came.  There was nothing to hit in the yard, and it was so frozen it would not have tore up the yard....probably barely left tire tracks!  But we always wondered did they see us...did they see our tracks.  Did they realize it was that or a bad wreck?  We would have stopped if we had hurt anything...

But any time it snows, and several times through the year we laugh about that day.

February shots through the years...

I decided to see if I had taken any photos on February 1...surprise of surprises, I had a few.

There was a bit of snow on February 1, 2008....

Again in 2009....notice the snow in the background here.  And not just a skim...it was a big snow.

The above is not from Feb 1, but from the Feb 5, 2010.

Now this ice is from February 1, 2011....

And this is the photo that triggered the hunt for February 1 shots...taken in 2012.

This is the one and only photo from Feb 1, 2013...

The Big White Dog was my first shot of Feb in 2014, on Feb 5 to be exact.

This one is from February 2, 2015....

And here you have February 4, 2016...it appears to have much the same weather we have this day.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of February.

Just a little blogpost

Happy New Year to all who happen to read this after much time away!
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The above photo was taken December 13 in Avon, Indiana where we happened to be at an ENT's office...Roger was being tested for allergies and while we were waiting to see his reaction, I was looking out the window.  He has a chronic cough, and now ends up he is allergic to everything it seems.  Whenever they can get him started, they are going to try giving him the allergy shots once a week.  For the next three to five years.   They have an office in Terre Haute so won't be like we have a horrible drive every week.

We had stressful things happen this past month and I just was not able to blog or to visit...hoping things have settled down for a while. 

Roger is only going to speech therapy now...and the therapist only wants to see him once a week for a few more weeks.  They are supposed to call me to schedule more visits. 

Snowing with wild abandonment

We got up to rain, and as I was in the process of telling Roger I did not think we were going to get any snow at all, the rain changed to snow as I spoke.

It is the kind that sticks....it is the kind that makes me want to get out and tramp the woods...

It is the kind that calls to the child in all of us. 

Into the white...

We had appointments about an hour north of us today...this is the sort of day it was.  I had thought about cancelling, but got to thinking about if it was a normal day we would be apt to be out taking photos.  Only usually we go on back roads.  But the way north is never very busy so on we went.

Part of the time it was not blowing and snowing so terrible bad...

and a lot of the time it was like this...

At the feeder...

It is bitter cold here...did not even get in the teens today.  The birds were busy....

They would all flock in...and all flee at the same time.

Not going overboard with photos...will post a few more another day.

All of these have been cropped and played with.  They were taken through my dining room window.

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It has been an odd sort of day.  The wind has blew all day....it would blow the snow sideways.  And act like a regular blizzard was setting in.  Then in two or three or four minutes, the sun would pop out, there would be vivid blue skies, with big puffy clouds.  I am sure to the north and west was probably clouds...but this window faces south.

Then the sun would disappear and we would have blizzard type weather again.  But only for the very few minutes.  Then back to the sunshine and blue skies.  I don't know how many times it did that but all evening.  I think it stayed sunny just a bit longer than it was blizzard type weather.

Yes, we got snow!

Everything is covered with a deep blanket of snow.  Our grill greets us first thing as we go out the back door. 

Roger shoveled the sidewalks this morn first thing.  That was a lot of snow...he got the sidewalk leading to the garage and also to the side and to the front porch.  I think we got at least 8 inches.

But the main sidewalks, and where we park sometimes to the side of the house, and in front of our garage were cleared by this guy and his dad.

They go around and do almost the whole neighborhood...for free.  Oh, we give them a little something sometimes, but they don't want to take anything.  They have a blast doing it, but it sure helps us. 

We have been so blessed most of our life with wonderful neighbors.  With these neighbors alone, Roger will do stuff to help them or for them...and if we need anything, all he has to do is ask.  Such as when we went to hang the barn doors Roger made for the old garage...they were too heavy for me, and all he had to do was go ask them.

Their grandson needed some help with something with his bow, so he came to Roger for him to fix it.  And their grandson is such a good kid...he has stopped a time or two just to visit when Roger was out in the garage and he is interested in learning how to do stuff.  And part of the time, he would know what tool to hand Roger without him asking for it.
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We are supposed to have low temps again the next couple of days...not even supposed to get above 10º F tomorrow...and supposed to be below 0 tomorrow night....so I suppose we won't be doing much.

Snow, snowing, snowing

I went to bed at 3:00 a.m. and it was not snowing...got up a few minutes past 7:00 and we had two or three inches of snow then.  It has not quit snowing this entire day.   I thought it was going to stop at one point a short while ago but I was wrong.

The birds have been at the feeders all day long...house sparrows, cardinals, juncos, starlings, tufted titmice, house finch and gold finches, some kind of woodpecker which I think was a downy....oh, and a nuthatch or two.  And doves.It is grand central station out there.
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Lorelei made it through her surgery and it has done made a difference in her life.  She always had a runny nose going and usually had a slight cough.  Not like a cold exactly but she would cough a couple times every so often.  We were constantly at her to blow her nose, or to wipe it...she does not have that problem at all now.

She had tubes put in her ears, and her hearing seems back to normal. She did get a stomach flu over New Years but is past it now.

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I am going to try to get back to blogging...now that the holidays are past.  Will be gradually getting back in the swing of things I hope.

O Christmas Tree

I am not sure how this will show on everyone's computer...it looks fairly good on my computer. Let me know if it is dark or light on yours.  It was taken at night several years ago.  The photos I took of this tree remain some of my favorites. 
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I actually started wrapping presents today.  I always think of how we used to be so saving with wrapping paper when I was a child.  We didn't just rip open the presents, not like we do these days.  And we tried to save the best of the paper from one year to the next.  And we saved all the ribbons.

We almost always got a new jigsaw puzzle...it was such a treat to get one.  I think we used a big piece of cardboard to work them on, but I have no idea where it came from.  Or maybe it was a piece of thin plywood.  I really cannot remember which....but was thinking cardboard for some reason.

Anyway, we always laid out all the pieces face up, and tried to put like colors together, then found all the edge pieces and worked that part first.  Next we would each choose an area to work on.   I can remember my brothers getting aggravated at me for reaching across their view. 

I had a habit of when I actually put a piece in and it fit, I would give the board a little tap.   They always teased and said I did it to draw attention to the fact that I had just found a piece.  Who knows--maybe that is why I did it subconsciously.

I still love jigsaw puzzles to this day.  Just as when I was a kid, I have my favorite colors to work, or more to the point, colors that are much harder for me to work.   I find it hard to do anything else if I have one out, so I don't work one too often.  That was part of the reasons for wrapping presents...to feel freer to start something fun.  I wrap presents on the dining room table, but that is also where I like to work puzzles.  Thus, the wrapping needs to be done.

Covered bridge at Bridgeton, Indiana

We went on a drive...took the backroads to Bridgeton, Indiana and on to Mansfield.

Even though it was bitter cold, Roger cast around a few times below the dam a few times.  Did not get a single hit.  The fish were probably frozen too!
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I started getting this ready to post last night but did not finish. It looks to be another day about the same as the past two.  There is just another light skim of snow.  Up where we went yesterday had had more snow than here...I think they had had at least two or three inches.
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The house sparrows come in flocks....it is sometimes hard for other birds to get anything.  Then it will go a spell with not a single one out there.  I suppose they go visit other feeders at that time.

Not sure what this day is going to hold...I suppose I best get off here and get ready for it.  I still have the ham to get...and presents to wrap. 

Winter follows autumn....

Though I love autumn, and wish it lasted longer, I know that winter is on the way.  Even though I get tired of the cold, I so love winter wonderlands.  Ran across this and some others that caught my eye.  I thought I might as well share it while it is still warm enough for us to think it looks good.  By the way, it is not converted to B&W....but you would never guess that, would you?
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Yesterday I kept the home fires burning....well, I had a fire going in the firepit for a big part of the afternoon.  I had so much stuff that it would have taken all of a couple days at least to get shredded.  Plus Roger had bits and pieces of wood that were just too small to do anything at all with, so I got them burned up, too. 

Normally, we save them for having a fire outside at night, but we just had not got to do that but a time or two this year, so I got rid of them for him since his barrel for those was overflowing.  Even though it was something that needed to be done, I enjoyed having the fire. 

I don't know what it is about a fire, but I think almost everyone enjoys having a bonfire.  Some might think I am close to being a pyromanic, but I'm not.  It is just that a fire burning takes me back to childhood in so many ways....

One more shot of snow....

I just cannot resist posting another shot of the snow...I have a feeling we won't be seeing any like this for a while to come.  It is supposed to be in the 50's by the weekend.  I cannot wait...I am just so anxious to go outside without having to wonder will I need a jacket.  I can't wait to sit outside to read....or to have breakfast on the front porch.  Just so many things to look forward to.
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I am slowly but surely working on getting rid of things I don't use, can't wear, or just no longer want.  I keep slimming down on the number of books I am keeping.  I think I am about down to the bone in that regard.  There might be a few more, but very, very few.  Most of the ones that are left are treasured....I have several photography books that I cannot bare to part with though I seldom look at them any more...one is about worn out literally.

Then I have my Alaska books...can't get rid of them.  Nor my diaries and journals of people traveling west by wagon train...or some of them are just journals of people/immigrants after they are living there.  I would love to have some of these in digital format...specially Sod & Stubble by John Ise and Grass of the Earth by Aagot Raaen.  Even though I have the physical copy, I would love to have them on my kindle.

Back to de-cluttering...I keep telling myself if I get rid of just one thing a day, it will help.  But usually, when I go to find one thing, I find a few more.  There have been days when I didn't discard anything, but still my sister-in-law and I are working on this idea together...we report in to each other almost every day and it really helps to keep me motivated.

Scenes from the wonderland...

The scenes I am about to show you no longer exist...all the snow is off the feeders.  Hardly any snow clings to the trees.  I guess that is the one thing about snow this time of year....it generally does not last too long.

Roger did knock the snow off the big feeder when he filled it....but the other is all gone, too.  And it was really clinging to them yesterday.  I tried to knock it off and it just would not slide off.

This old, old chair is always left sitting outside.  I generally keep it right by the clothesline to sit my basket of clothes in.  I am thankful I don't HAVE to hang out clothes in this type of weather.

We did go for a drive yesterday...I had missed being out any in the other snows we have had and just could not resist the temptation.  Did not see any animals at the strip pits...and not many humans on the road.  I guess they all had better sense than us.

But oh, my, this type of weather sure brings childhood to mind.  I almost always had these little cheap snow boots...and they almost always had a leak.   So, mom always saved the plastic bags that bread came in...I would put my stocking feett in  them and then put my boots on and I was good to go.  Most of the time I went by myself...with the companionship of whatever dogs we had at the time.

It was a whole new world to explore...even though I was as familiar with the land as my own hand almost, everything seemed new and improved.  And there was the snow to eat...when I was a youth, I would have been taking bites of snow from any object heavy laden with it.  And I admit, I did take a bite of snow yesterday...but I don't make a habit of it any more.

There just is nothing more magical than a whole new world covered in snow.  And even though I am ready for spring, I really have enjoyed this winter wonderland.

It's a white, white world....

We actually did wake up to a white world this morn...much as the photos here..by 2:00 or so in the afternoon, a lot of it had melted.  Certainly not much left on trees...in fact none on this bush...

And nothing at all left on the birdfeeders...poor babies. They need food.  We had been out for a drive, got home around 2:00 or so...and by 4:00, it was snowing again.  This was the scene when I looked outside about 5:30.

And this is what the tree across the street looks like now.  My tripod is in the Rav, but even if it wasn't, I would probably just have snapped this anyway.  As you can see it is still snowing heavily.

Christmas past and present

This is the first chance I have had to post in a while...I am using this photo from a post in the past...partly because I don't have my computer and partly because I just love the photo. It was taken years ago with my one of my Nikon cameras.

I hope all of you have happy and healthy Christmas and New Year...

I am thankful for many things, but foremost right now is that Sarah just came through her second surgery last week...all is going great in that department. One of these days things will be back to normal.

Lorelei is changing daily it seems...she is just so busy all the time.

She sings Jingle Bells, Happy Birthday, and other songs...

and has just been playing the drums and singing
She loves you, Yeah, Yeah, yeah
She loves you Yeah, yeah, yeah

Over and over.

She now tells me to 'Get up---I need you' She will get my hand and take me all over the place. Otto hardly has a moment's peace...and for the most part he enjoys every minute of it. This morning she went for a short but wild ride on him....unplanned. She was climbing on his back and was astraddle of him and up he got. She hung on for a second or two before falling off. I half expected her to get back up and try it again but she didn't.

Our oldest daughter will be here at this time tomorrow night...along with a bit more snow. I am not sure how much is in the forecast. I am hoping not much.

This will probably be my only post on here for a little while to come...one of these days I will get back to it on a regular basis I hope. There simply is not time to be on the computer...when there is I plan to try to catch up with everyone.

More of the snowy day

I always get a slight thrill when the snow begins to fall...there is always that slight anticipation of school being canceled...or called off as we used to say. Yet how long has it been since I was a kid...longer than I want to admit. And several years since the chance of our daughters getting a snow day. But if I quit feeling that anticipation of school being called off, I will probably be dead.

When I see the snow capping everything after a fresh snowfall, I remember walking along and taking a bite of snow off everything....fence posts and heavy laden branches or anything that would hold a mound of snow. How thirsty it made me! I never understood why I could be eating what is basically frozen water, and be getting thirstier all the time.


Going through the strip pits pulls at my heartstrings even more...I want to be a kid again and take my dogs and go tramping through it all. To see if we can scare up anything. I don't ever remember us jumping a rabbit in all my times of taking them, but there was still that anticipation. I do remember finding a rabbit sitting in a feeding trough at a neighbor's barn, though but I did not show it to the dogs.

I also remember one time my niece and I were out rambling about after a new fallen snow. We were walking along the railroad, where honeysuckle grows. I think she was the one spotted this 'wad' of stuff in the vines about as big around as a softball , but more elongated than round. We got the bright idea to squeeze it. I don't recall which of us squeezed first, but each time we did, a mouse would run out....and we would jump each time even though we expected it.

After seven ran out, no more would come out. We left the nest...we didn't want to hurt them. We just wanted to see. I suppose it is a wonder we didn't try to catch one or two. That memory makes me smile after all this time....

Oh, baby its a white world.....

The above was taken was taken at 12:58 a.m. yesterday morn...it is a handheld shot off my front porch. I like it a lot...and would love to have walked the neighborhood taking more, but it was snowing too hard to have the camera out in it.
These were taken over in Illinois...as we were driving down the road above we were thinking all kinds of titles for it but sadly I cannot remember any except something about Edge of the World and wondering if this is how Columbus felt.
You have to click this to get a better view...although you will still wonder why I posted it...it is just to show how hard it was to see. I have some I took before we were this close, and I fear you could not even see it.
These trees just a bit farther down the road, and this was actually probably not even the length of a football field away. I love the misty feel of it.
And this one was taken late yesterday evening after we got back to the house...at 3:53 pm. It snowed all day long...never hard...but the ground was warm and the snow melted all day long sidewalks and paved areas were warm, and the snow on them melted all day long....but last night I started hearing the crunch of tires as the snow and slush froze.

It is a cold, cold world out there this day...the birds are flocking to the feeders. I see my little Jenny Wren out there...she is a Carolina Wren. I always name them Jenny...I don't know where got that but I heard someone else or read someone else calling them Jenny. So I just give them that as a name. I am hoping she stays here through the summer.

It is so cold the cats are staying inside with barely a thought to going outside. If they do go, they don't stay long, they don't come to the door begging us to come outside either. They come in and are glad to stay inside for a good long while.