Skywatch Friday

It has been so gloomy here for the past week, and really no good sky shots anywhere, so I thought I'd look back through my files and found this cloud shot I took last year when a cold front blew off Lake Erie. It looks like the Swiss Alps ? ?
Click on over to see lots more Sky photos HERE
and thanks to all who work to make this meme lots of fun.

And now freezing drizzle

These shots were actually taken Tuesday when it snowed all day again. This female Cardinal sat for a few seconds so I could get her picture. While I had her in focus, she took off, and startled me and I accidentally pressed the exposure button down. I was surprised at the outcome. You can see the beautiful red color under her wing.

Of course those beady little eyes of the Cooper's hawk are always watching from the trees.

Just a shot of snow flakes. All the shapes interest me. I'd like to do more macro shots..

Now the split this American Tree sparrow is doing takes some real talent.

Wednesday morning we got freezing drizzle on top of all this snow leaving a hard crust to try and walk on.

There is at least 1/8" in most places and 1/4"of ice in some.

The Cardinals always wait till dusk to feed. That way most of the larger birds have left for the day, and they will be back before dawn the next day too.

I hope you all had a wonderful and productive day.

Remember Whensday

Going back to 1951, this was taken of me in the summer at my parents camp. It was in the woods not far from the Allegheny River , and a great place for lots of adventures . There was fishing, catching butterflies on the Tiger Lilies down by the river, hunting for turtles, and who could forget going to the outhouse in the dark not knowing where the spiders were.... Probably my favorite was helping my Dad feed the Raccoons and Skunks that came out at night. We would set out a plate of Oreo cookies, and any leftover food from the day. The animals would be there after dark, and my Dad had rigged up a spot light so we could watch them. Sometimes when the Skunks showed up the raccoon's would leave...Wonder why? LOL
One summer my Dad got the mumps, and couldn't go to work for a few days. To keep busy he made a sign to hang up on the front porch cut from small twigs mounted on a board that read WOODYNOOK. That was our camps name, and where I got the name of my Blog.
You can Thank Sally for hosting this cool blog. Drop on over to her site HERE and see more oldies.

Ruby Tuesday and Today's Flowers

With all the deep snow flying all around us, there is a bright spot I that I have 2 identical Phalaenopsis Orchids blooming at the same time. These Orchids have no scent, but their beauty lasts several weeks.
Thanks to Mary/the teach for hosting Ruby Tuesday and you can click HERE to see more RED , and Thanks to all who make Today's Flowers such a cool site. Click HERE and you'll be treated to more gorgeous flowers.

DEEP FREEZE!

OK, now we are paying for the good weather we enjoyed before Christmas! It began snowing Saturday morning, and hasn't stopped. Sometimes 2" per hour. Temp. 11º Sunday morning.

This first shot is the hitching post outside the barn at 8:30 Sunday morning. The height of the snow on top of the rail then was 18".

When I went to the barn at 4:30 in the afternoon it looked like this.

There are drifts over 28" deep now.

This is a shot of the front of our house at 4:30 in the afternoon. As I type this near 10PM another 10" has fallen!

I didn't see till I uploaded the picture that Azrael was in front of the door. She wanted out of the barn this morning, so I let her out, but she can get in the garage if she wants out of the weather.

A shot in the morning using the flash.

Our son Steve snow blowing a path from the house to the barn.

We don't have our snow blower on the big tractor yet, so he comes over and keeps us cleaned out with his tractor. Gary has been clearing the driveway with a back blade, but now there is no place to push the snow. Well, this snow event is to keep up till sometime tomorrow. Who knows how much we'll have by then. I'll keep you posted. It is strictly lake effect snow from Lake Erie. There is a cold front coming down from Canada bringing cold winds across the warmer waters of Lake Erie, which in turn dumps all this snow on us.

In the meantime we're all warm and hunkered down for the duration.

Saturday

We've been snuggled down this week-end so far, and according to the weather folks we're in for a real doosey over night and tomorrow. I'm not sure just how much snow we've gotten so far, but at 6PM Saturday night I had measured 9" of new snow, and that has increased by 5" since then. The temp is 11ºF ( -12º C) and the winds are howling. Not fit for man nor beast out there!
We did venture to the feed store this morning to pick up more bird seed. I've been keeping the feeders filled, and the birds keep emptying them! They are going through the peanut butter like there is no tomorrow! The Chick-a dees are so cute with their tiny beaks.

It was really difficult to get a good shot of this Cardinal with all the blowing snow.

Oh yes, while we were away this morning, Frosty girl got into the Christmas tree. She tried to blame it on the dog!

It's coming down tomorrow!

This American Tree sparrow was kind enough to sit still for a picture. You just can't believe how many I have around here this year. Sorry I missed all of the tail...

I hope all of you in the deep freeze are keeping warm tonight, and all those of you living where it's warm will know you have plenty of folks willing to trade places with you right now. LOL

Weekend Reflections #15

For Weekend Reflections this week we have the first meeting of Frosty our new house kitten and Azrael the outside barn cat. As you can see by Frosty's tail and the raised hair on her back, she isn't all that happy about it either!
Join in Weekend Reflections and click on over to James' site HERE and you can see the meme he hosts. It's really cool!