This post was written Tuesday night when it was quiet and a few stars were out. Now at 05:44 on Wednesday we are having blizzard conditions with high winds again. Welcome back to winter.

On a recent drive we saw this pair of Canada geese relaxing on Findley Lake. There was a small section of open water,and they were the only birds there.. This Cardinal showed up this afternoon under one of the feeders. I haven't had many birds lately. Not sure why, but today I was over-run with sparrows.

A lonely Chickadee was opening a sunflower seed.

My goats Honey-Bun and Savannah were out enjoying a rare couple hours of sun.

I managed a walk on the Creek trail this afternoon, and saw lots of branches down from the high winds we've had the past few days. The Creek trail had been almost entirely under water too, and the trail is left with mud and ice. This shot is of the weeds and grass on the ground covered with a very this sheet of ice.

A puddle that isn't frozen with ice on the sides.

In the morning a flock of Crows showed up at our burn pile. We always put something out there for them to eat. They are very spooky and will have one or two of their buddies up in the trees as look-outs while the rest eat. There is a multi-colored one in this batch, and although I don't recall ever seeing any like it, I'm sure it is a juvenile. It resembles all the juvenile Grackles that were here earlier in the Fall.

This will be the last post for 2008! I can't believe how fast this year has flown by. My New Years resolution for 2008 ( and I made it simple cause I don't do resolutions) was to take at least one picture every day, and I have kept my promise! Some times I over did, but I sure had fun along the way. I think I'll try again this coming year, and maybe to improve on my images.

If you are partying tonight, please take care. We want everyone back in 2009! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Ruby Tuesday

This is Tauqua again showing off his RED scarf. He is our rescue dog.
You have seen him before snoozing in front of the fire. Now he's in his bed trying to get comfy. He doesn't lay all curled up very often. He has to stretch out those long legs.
Thanks to Mary/the teach for being the host to this fun site.
Just click on http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/ to view lots more REDS.

Today's Flowers

Today's Flower is a white Phalaenopsis. It is blooming right now, and has many more buds to open. Graceful, showy, and long lasting. Pronounced fal-en-opp-sis, it has no fragrance. Thanks so much to Santilli, and Denise for hosting this beautiful site. Click on the Today's Flower's side bar to see more gorgeous flowers.

UP-DATE ON HIGH WATER

An up-date on the high water situation. I was up 3 times in the night 1:30, 3:30, to check on the status of our sump pump, and then I got up at 5:30. I did "sleep" in my recliner chair where I could hear the sump pump running. If it had quit our basement would have begun to flood before we could have gotten the generator hooked up.
I went down to the creek edge about 11:30 PM and put this pine branch where the water edge was. By 3:30AM you can see the water has already started to recede. The entrance to two of the trails. No walking here today.

Also this was the sky around 7:00AM. Hmm, more rain?

Sure enough about an hour later, a downpour! Only lasted 20 minutes though. The wind is very high!

It's hard to tell where the creek really is at this point. I took a walk on the llama trail which is high and out of the water.

As I walked along I suddenly saw this huge Beaver. He spied me and quickly swam away. My pictures of him weren't very good. This is the first beaver I've seen in a couple years. They had a dam down on the creek, but that's gone now.

Around 9:30 AM we headed for Wal-Mart and the sky suddenly had big patches of blue. The sun was out for about an hour. These clouds are really different. Still the winds are so high.

Now it's after lunch and the clouds have returned. The sump pump is still perking along, but has slowed which is a good thing. The outside temp. has gone from 59º this morning to 36º With the howling wind we have decided not to fire up the wood stove.

These are some of the fun times we have living here. The good part is the snow has almost left us, but with winter just beginning, there will be more to come before you know it.

Have a great day, I hear a nap calling me!

This is a shot of French Creek from the bridge about 1/8 mile from our house. There was an ice jam plugging the water at this point. Picture taken 1PM on Friday. After it poured all night Friday, the jam cleared about 3 o'clock Saturday afternoon.
As I write this it's 10PM Saturday night, and the creek has risen 5 feet since this afternoon. There is now low land flooding, and our sump pump has been running every 17 seconds all day pumping water out of the sump hole in our basement, BUT the basement itself is dry.

This is the creek from the opposite direction. Normally colder weather will help check the rising water, BUT right now the temp is 58º. I see by the radar there could be more rain coming too. It promises to be a long night. I will be up every few hours checking on things.

A collapsed barn from all the heavy snow we've had. There are lots of these barns around this season.

Another barn just a few miles from our house.

I didn't realize part of the window was in the view.

OK, it's now 10PM, and I'm going to get my high boots on and go down to check on the status of the rising water. When I fed the animals tonight the water was with-in 10-12 feet from the back of the barn itself.

Have a good night all, and I'll update you tomorrow. ( Sunday).

Camera Critters

We spent Christmas day with my sister. She has 3 cats. This first one the calico, and was a feral cat. A youngster she began hanging around Judy's home last summer. Judy noticed how thin she was and began feeding her. "Callie" as she is called gradually became more tame, and eventually Judy was able to get her into a cat carrier and to the vets for a check-up. Now many months later she is been spayed and has turned into a beautiful house cat. But don't ask the other two felines, they are still a little iffy about the whole new cat thing.
The first collage is Sadie, and Dolly. Dolly is the brown cat in the rocking chair, and Sadie is the grey one. She loves Christmas ribbon and especially the Christmas tree., and wanted to be the center of attention that day.

Thanks to those who host this really cool site. Just click on the Camera Critters side bar to see more great photos.

SkyWatch Friday

This was the sky looking East last Tuesday morning about 6:45AM. It only lasted 5 minutes, and then it was gone. Later in the day it began as freezing rain, and then turned over to all rain. That rain lasted through Wednesday night, and sometimes it really poured! The old saying " Red in the Morning, Sailors take Warning" certainly proved true.
Thanks to all those who host this fun site.
Click on http://skyley.blogspot.com/ to see lots more great sky photos.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Good Morning, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to everyone. This won't be too long, as we are waiting for our son, daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters to come over. We will be leaving later to drive 45 minutes to visit my sister for Christmas. We will have dinner with her and exchange presents.
The weather is less than desirable. It poured all day yesterday, and then the temperature last night dropped to 24º and everything this morning is a sheet of thick ice.
You all have a wonderful day and be safe. Talk to you tomorrow.

MERRY CHRISTMAS-HAPPY HOLIDAYS

We hope your days are filled with many happy memories and thousands of treasured moments. Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to all our Blogger friends out there, and Thank You for letting us into your lives this past year. We look forward to many more visits.
Becky and Gary.

Ruby Tuesday

Last Saturday Santa and Mrs. Claus took some time out of their busy schedule to stop by the Fire hall to see the children. This is our youngest granddaughter Jalyn. It took her a while before she would sit with them, but eventually she did.
Thanks to Mary/the teach for hosting this great site. For more Red photos, click on http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/ Merry Christmas to all our Blogger friends and their families. May you have a wonderful and safe holiday.
As we thank God for his many blessings this Christmas, let us also pray for Peace on Earth.
My regular post for Tuesday is below...

Well, we got that storm that was predicted! It dumped 10" of new snow on us, and was so windy all day. Plenty of white outs. I'm so glad we didn't have to venture out. I was sitting at the computer before daylight and noticed this spider web in the corner of the window all covered in snow.
Our TV antenna blew off the roof early this morning too. We do have cable, but use an antenna to pick up the signal for the TV station that I send in the weather reports. That wind was so strong. My Christmas lighted reindeer is barely recognisable.

This is a shot looking down the road about noon.

Part of our front yard.

OK, now onto some bird shots. There were lots of birds all ready to pose today. I filled the feeders early, and by dusk some of them were empty.

I like taking images of birds in flight.

Plenty of House Finches.

This Junco was sitting on one foot warming the other.

And they sang " O Holy Night".

I have 3 Mrs. Cardinals, and they were all here at the same time.

A Goldfinch sampling the thistle seed.

This lady Cardinal seems to be checking on the Sparrow making sure he doesn't take any of her seeds.

Standing up straight, looking for Mr. Cooper's hawk.

She is just the sweetest thing.

Good Monday morning all. It's about 2:11AM, and I am up taking care of the fire. We're having some pretty nasty weather with high winds, and I didn't want to put too much wood in the stove just in case we lose our electric, SO I get up every couple of hours and feed in a few more logs. Right now it's -1ºf, ( -19ºc) and snowing. The wind is howling, and the weather folks say we might get 1-2 feet of snow before it's all over. We have plenty of food, and plenty of wood, so "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!"
I was able to get out on the trails for a walk Friday. I put on my hiking boots and walked on top of 3" of hard packed ice covered with 1" of snow.
These Rose hips are looking good. Pretty against the white snow. The old tree up the creek looks like it might have fallen into the water a little more.

These are the 2 stumps we sit on in the Spring to watch the Warblers. Oh, where is Spring?

Yesterday was the shortest day, and the 1st day of Winter. Now the daylight will get longer, but you won't notice it for a while.

Cool shadow.

The entrance to the creek trail.

Some ice clinging to the Spruce tree's needles.

I do have more trail pictures, but I'll save those for tomorrow. I definitely won't be going outside today to so any photographs. OK, I think I'll go back to bed. I'll get up around 4AM to check on things again. Have a wonderful day, and stay warm.