Spring SNOW!

It began as rain, but around 6AM the snow came down, and by 6Pm this evening we have over 6.5" of heavy, wet snow. The wind occasionally will pick up, but so far no damage.

This was my flowering crab tree yesterday.

This is what it looks like this morning. The branches are loaded with heavy wet snow, and are bending down to the ground. Good thing I took pictures before all this..

A disgusted Chipping sparrow doesn't like the snow

The chicks are now 1 month old. They are doing well, and will soon be moving to their new digs out of our garage. The chicks head with the X on it is Crush, the survivor chick.
Have a great rest of the week.

Thursday

Look what we woke up to this morning. 2.75" of heavy wet snow. That brings our total seasonal snowfall to 100". Way below last year.. It is really pretty, but I can say that this time of year, because it is already gone!

As we pulled onto the main highway this morning an Amish horse and buggy headed toward town.

All of a sudden this week, there has been a large flock of Brown-headed cowbirds invading my feeders.  Soon they will be more interested in cows than my lunch bar and will move on.
Have a great rest of the week. We're headed for some warmer weather...

Skywatch Friday

Not much of a sky shot but it's all we had today. About an inch of heavy wet snow fell last night and with no wind it stuck to everything. It really was pretty. Click on over to http://skyley.blogspot.com to see more sky pictures.

Sunday

While driving through a neighboring town last week, at a stop light I noticed this kitty sitting in the window of this apartment. I'm wondering if it wants outside.

The local ski resort Peek-n-Peak, is excited for all this snow. They still make some of their own.

It makes for some cool pictures on the slopes.

Also on the tree branches at the top of the ride.

At the bottom of the hill, this stream is nearly frozen. Guess what? The temps near mid week might reach 50 deg. Can you believe it?
Have a super rest of the week.

Just another Tuesday

Well, the snow arrived with a vengeance all 14" of it, and we had a beautiful day yesterday, lasting until noon time today, then the clouds rolled in and now it's raining. Yesterday we had -11 deg early in the morning, and this afternoon 36 deg. What a crazy winter. More snow coming Wednesday.
  Here are a couple shots of our granddaughter Jalyn and her snowman/lady. It's so cute, just like her!

Finally she added gloves, and it was complete.

Keeping a watchful eye on the entire project was Fuzzy. She just loves the snow, and would much rather stay outside. She's a tough old girl, once beating up on a big English Mastiff that strayed too close, but hates thunder and gunshots, and then she'll run and hide!
I hope things are going well for everyone. Have a great rest of the week!

Snowy Sunday

The sky yesterday afternoon ( Friday) began innocent enough after sun most of the day.

Last evening around 10PM the clouds negan to thicken even more.

By morning we had 3.5" on the ground, and another 1" by Saturday evening. By the looks of these Rhodie buds we'll have lots of flowers next Spring.

Lots and lots of little apples on my Flowering Crab tree but no birds have eaten any yet. Waiting for the Cedar Waxwings

Not a very good picture because of all the snow in the air, but Mr. Cooper's hawk is here for the winter.
Have a great rest of the weekend and stay warm...

Ruby Tuesday

We got 3.5" of snow Friday and being Veteran's day the kids had no school. A perfect time to build a snowman. Here is our 2 granddaughters, Jalyn on the left, and Becca with the pink pants along with our neighbor friend Natalie attempting to add some color to their snowman with spray bottles filled with diluted food coloring.
Click on over to http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com to see more RED.

Sunday

This is another shot up the Allegheny river above Warren, Pa where I spent my summers when I was young. What a beautiful area.

This plant growing in the crotch of this big Willow tree caught my eye.

We did have some blue sky this week earlier, and there are a few pretty leaves left.

Mama Cardinal stopped by for a snack. She looks ready for winter.

I have this Toad Lily growing in a dark corner of the house where it doesn't get much sun. I almost forgot about it, so I snipped off a stem, and brought it inside to enjoy..

Check out what we had Friday afternoon! Not what we wanted. Fortunately it is all gone by Saturday evening.

Winter hangs on!

Once again Mr. Cooper's hawk came for a visit Wednesday afternoon. He was right outside my living room window, and I couldn't resist another picture. Those beady little eyes are always watching. He flew into one of the evergreens, but I don't know if he caught a bird or not. We took a drive today not far from the house around Findley Lake. They have more snow than we do, and it's only 5 miles away, but secluded in between hills..

Along side of the road was a huge flock of Starlings. I love how they all take off at the same time and all fly in the same pattern.

Swinging by the ski resort the snowboard trails were busy.

We waited for a while but no one came by the big jump.

Back at Findley Lake some of the cottages are completely snowbound..

There are snow covered shrubs outside of a lodge.

How about some serious icicles.

We had a beautiful day Wednesday. A rare one indeed, although it didn't get very warm, it was warm enough to melt some snow. You can just feel the added heat from the sun now. I also heard a Spring song from a Cardinal yesterday. We must be patient a little longer. We have to get by St. Patrick's day you know, and then we're home free!

Birds , Coyotes, and Winter

I really don't have much to add for today. It snowed during the morning hours, and then the sun did shine for a while, and tonight it is snowing again. The wind has picked up today and there is now drifting in places.

I have 2 pair of Titmice, and they are always close enough for a few shots. I like the pattern of the white spots on this male Downey woodpecker.

Even though I forgot to put peanuts out this morning, the Blue Jays made it known that they weren't too happy!

Dirty snow, and windy conditions causing some drifting on the roads.

Gary's name for these are streamcicles.

I'm not sure what is going on here, but when we went to town we saw all these Coyotes hung on this front porch. I had to take the picture from a moving vehicle..Apparently someone in this house is hunting them, and several of the neighbors and town residents have written to the newspaper voicing their disapproval.

23º -4C here right now, and we're supposed to get a bunch of snow in the next few days, and really cold temps..

I guess I didn't remember to cancel the remainder of winter.

Have a wonderful rest of the week.

Another Sunny Day!

We had another gorgeous winter day Saturday and when it's like this we don't want to stay inside, so we went for another ride in the country.
I'm sorry there aren't any new birds to photograph, just the same old gang everyday, so we went in search of other critters.
I just love the shot of this doe. I hadn't seen her tongue till I got home and uploaded all my pictures. We came across this small herd of deer coming back from a drink in the stream.

Sort of out of order, but this is the creek behind the house. There is some open water now, but the snow is really deep on the trail, and I probably won't go down again till more of it melts.

A view from up on the hill of Lake Erie showing plenty of open water here. All this warmer water will help bring us in the snow belt plenty of heavy snows if the conditions are right and a cold wind blows across the lake.

Back at the corn crib where the doe was I saw this bunny. It's the first I've seen in a couple years. When the Coyotes entered our area, the rabbits disappeared. This guy is either lucky or there aren't any Coyotes or Foxes around .

I just had to laugh when I saw this house with the turkeys waiting outside the windows. Apparently they aren't wild turkeys, and are watching the house waiting for someone to come out and feed them. When I stopped the van to take the picture, they all started gobbling and walking out the driveway toward me.

This is really a pretty drive.

In the summer there is more water in this little creek and it's full of wildlife. Wood ducks, woodpeckers, lots of bugs, butterflies, beautiful flowers and Dragonflies. Right now it is so quiet.

We are expecting warmer temperatures on Sunday followed by rain! Ugh! At least some of the snow will be gone, THEN back to reality. More snow and colder temps this coming week!

Cindy, If you are reading this, email me. I can't access your Blog.