Lake Effect

I got up this morning to a nice sunny morning and said to myself...I'd better get to the dump. Now mind you I live right above this mess you see below. On the way to the dump, as it started to snow a bit, then a bit harder, I realized that all the cars coming my way were trucks and they all had their blinkers on. Hmmmmm...I said to myself, this can't be good. Needless to say, I got a half mile from the dump and turned around. The road was not plowed and you couldn't see very far at all. This is the monster of lake effect snow. It's perfectly fine here but I can't see my normal view of Watertown. I called my mom and the snow is up to the windows of the cars. They are completely dead in the water! This monster dumped all day in the county below us. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the winds head back south.

Sorry you all down there, but hey, I've got to have it Sunny here, don't you know!!

This is getting old!!!

One of these days it'll warm up!

And someone tell that girl to put her hat and mitts on and bring that dog indoors!!!

Brrrrrrrrrr

We are in for really cold air for the next few days and with the snow yesterday I decided it was time to find someone to plow me out. I made a call to the local hardware store who directed me to a nice fellow who came out and plowed my driveway. I should have told him the bad luck that runs in my family so he would have known his truck would break down the minute he pulled in! But in the end he made a semi-quick fix...had another truck come out and wa-la my driveway was bigger than it's been in a very long time! Even after all that he told me to call when I need him to come back. I put a light out to warm the guineas for the next few days and when I looked out last night before bed it looked like the neighbors were still awake!!
Go to bed guinea neighbors!!!!

Trip around Point Peninsula

First I have to let you all know that these are not great pictures. Now I'm not going to make any excuses except Morgan and I had to very nervous dogs with us in the car. We left with them because our realtor was showing the house and we thought we'd go sight seeing and bird watching. But we forgot our binoculars. Luckily I grabbed the camera.

This was the quick shot of the sunrise that morning.

Very cool!

We went over the Isthmus and found open water with Golden-eye, but because I'm not the best at immature ducks, I had a hard time identifying them. Some of the locals for Roy. Mr Ole my Elkhound got a little sniffy, barky when we stopped here. I love this tree and have photographed it more than once. Well, Sharon, here are my turkeys but can't say my photograph is very good. We saw about 18 all together. Morgan and I LOVED this sign! We thought they should have a guinea on there as well! A lovely old Cemetery.We were so excited to see two Ravens. Now let me tell you when I saw these two birds right next to the road I had a feeling they weren't crows so I hit the brake and since all the roads were covered in packed ice the anti-locks kicked in and of course the Ravens wouldn't have any of that, so off they went. I grabbed the camera and got what I could, but Morgan and I could hear their distinct croaking as they flew away. Cropped and totally out of focus. Sorry. A couple more unknown ducks back around the Isthmus. Back on the mainland on endless hard packed icy roads.We also saw three Rough-legged hawks, 4 Flickers and a number of Tree Sparrows. Here is a link to Point Peninsula for anyone interested.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dec.ny.gov/images/regions_images/ppwma.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/40881.html&usg=__JsAj-ez7UvJh11I4HS6S30dPU6M=&h=816&w=624&sz=84&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=KvbOs7tKY8c9yM:&tbnh=144&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3DPoint%2BPeninsula,%2BNY%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Only the Boys...

It's been cold, really cold, and we've had snow, lots of snow, so I was surprised to see Guineas come out of the coop on Friday. Maybe they just wanted to do a little bird watching. I started taking pictures of these two brave young men when all of a sudden there was some flying of the coop! Of course there is always an obstruction while taking pictures of guineas. And it's not an easy task. Neither is landing on a picnic table covered in snow. I think the two under the feeder were happy with their choice of walking. Look out for that big post!It turned out all the boys came out and no girls. Can you blame them, it barely got out of the 10's that day. The boys are all here. Well, there may be one girl here but in the end she decided to high-tail it back to the coop and leave the cold to the boys.

A couple things...

I've been meaning to publicly thank Jenny Wren for the nice surprise I got from her for Christmas! I mean just the package was a treat in itself...who gets a parcel from the Royal Mail everyday...well besides people in England!That was so cool!
But there was even more fun things inside including a beautiful wildlife calendar... this fantastic book of British Birds, which I use regularly while reading Jenny http://wrensnaturenotebook.blogspot.com/, Adrian http://colesbournewildlife.blogspot.com/ and Roy's http://fenlandwalker.blogspot.com/ blogs...and a big piece of organic hazelnut and raisin chocolate that didn't even last long enough to get a picture of....sorry Jenny!!

Thank you so much for these wonderful gifts my friend!


The other thing I wanted to mention was, that yesterday was the day I've been dreading since we sold the tractor.
Luckily I had guilted my birthday daughter into helping me shovel out this nearly 300' driveway. Well there was the guilt, the fact that I blackmailed her by saying "no work, no more gifts" oh and that little problem she has by not owning a Subaru that can drive through any size snowbank! Ha Ha!!!

That took us all day, most of which was cloudy, but this beautiful hint of sun kept us going. Thank you to Rachel, that was fun!In the last few hours the temp started to drop. But the sunset was fantastic.

This morning it's -9 degrees as I type. So glad we got that finished yesterday and it didn't blow in during the night.

Rachel's 25th

Alright I was forced into this post!! My daughter Rachel is 25 today. She starts her new career next week as a Physician's Assistant. My mom got her this very heavy iron skillet because she thinks she is the barefoot contessa!Barefoot something for sure! This is how she'd really like to use this pan... Rachel in work clothes... and in play clothes.Good luck Rachel...you pain in my.....I mean, be good!!

Love, Mom

Horrible Weather vs Snowshoes

The neighbor called yesterday to see if Morgan would like to come take care of Martha. Martha is 2 now and Morgan has been hired to be mom's helper. They wanted to pay her at first but we decided it was a good learning experience and said no need to pay. But the last three times Morgan has gone to help they've insisted on giving her a little babysitting money. She is thrilled!

When she got the call yesterday, even though she usually goes alone in no snow conditions, I watch her one way and the neighbor meets her in the yard, I decided to tag along. On went the snowshoes and off we went.It was actually raining ice and I didn't want her any where near the road so we went through the field between the properties. Now just to let you know she actually has a cute "girly" coat for school and outings. This old coat and snow pants have been around for a long time!I turned around and headed home. The ice was pricking my face and I didn't want to take the camera out very often. A very dreary walk with no birds in sight. On the way with Morgan we spotted this bag. I told her I would pick it up on the way home. It seemed to have a smiley face on it. But in reality it was no smiley face at all. But it must have been laughing at me because when I backed up after retrieving it from the bush, I forgot I had snowshoes on and down I went!Poor guineas.... I went out, closed the door and called it a day!

Said I would post it....

Ok, no big deal, but I forgot to put this leaf in my post yesterday so here it is. I just thought it was a little amazing how it got all wrapped up and stuck on that twig. Must be a tough little leaf. This is another picture from the walk. This bench has been out here for years and is covered with lichen, but when you need a place to sit, it's as good as any out here. I thought I'd fiddle with the picture this morning. Not an amazing work of art but hey...it's early!! Ha Ha!

We're all closed down here because of ice and snow so it will be a stay in and enjoy the comfort of home kind of day.

Sunday Walk

This past Sunday Morgan and I went for a walk with the dogs. It was bitter cold but no real wind so we didn't mind too much. The sun was out so that helped. I brought my Canon G9 knowing that my 5D would probably not like the cold. To tell you the truth the G9 didn't like it much either and my fingers liked it even less!

First shot...this old milkweed pod caught my eye.It really amazes me the number of hidden treasures that we pass right by all spring and summer long, never knowing there is a family right beside the trail. This is just the first of many nests we passed within reach. Morgan spotted this "Thinking of You" balloon that had landed on our property, so we gathered it up and deposited it where it belongs. What's funny is when I went to visit Marvin's blog http://elmostreport.blogspot.com/2008/12/mouse-in-woods-eeeek.html I found he'd had almost the same experience! It must be that time of year??? Ha Ha! Heading toward the old fort and bridge with Ole leading the way.Whoops looks like the bridge is creeping west! Daisy Lu always ready for a deer to hop out, she really thinks she is bigger than the average deer. Good thing no one is home! A big ol' Oak tree. A very well used trail. Deer, rabbit, and fox tracks.I'm not sure but I'm thinking this may be a mourning dove nest. It's quite large and made of loose sticks. Another chilly home. There were only a couple interesting leaves. I forgot to post the other one...will do that tomorrow. Then just when I thought my fingers couldn't take it any longer,

we rounded the bend and saw the warmth of home.

Today will be a beauty but tomorrow we're in for another round of who knows what falling out of the sky.

Guess I'll go stock up!