Starlings are beautiful........

So another post on birds, today the big ones came in. Blue Jays included. Yesterday it was all the little ones. It is a bright sunny and very cold day. Sun enough to get the birds out anyway. I shoveled the deck so I could get food out. I miss the Crows who used to come all the time, don't see them now.

That powder blue sky. I just love it. The Starlings are so beautiful in the sunshine.


You could tell they were really cold though, they were fluffed and had feet under their fluff.


The Chickadees were here as usual also fluffed up.


In the garden the snow created some lovely sculptures

The Pine trees looked beautiful. We had a load more snow overnight


I made some fatty treats for the birds today. I had some rice krispies that were stale and so mixed them with Coconut oil that was solid and some lard and peanut butter. That went over well. Birds need fat to keep them warm. It will freeze solid and be gone before it can go off. I usually put a bunch of seeds and nuts in it but this time I wanted to get rid of the rice krispies.


The girls have been so cold when they go out. Poor Brea could hardly walk back inside, she came on 3 legs. Here she is warming up.

Laying on a grey fluffy blanket with a heater under it, it's hard to see them sometimes

Here is Bella



Everyone is so hungry. The squirrels had gone for a nap so the birds come in when that happens. I feed them well.

The roads are ploughed but the snow banks are growing.

I love this picture

They came back today..............

woo hoo, today I got a bumper crop of birds. I think just about everyone except Blue Jays showed up. That is unusual. I normally do these posts on my Garden blog but I think I will give my other two blogs a rest for now. Not enough going on to keep them up.
This was the first guy to grab my attention. In the 2nd picture I think his tongue is out?


I took a lot of pictures of him and then went to get my other camera set up. When I came back there was another woodie there.



Two kinds of Nuthatch showed up


The Chickadees were very happy. This is one reason I keep the grapevines growing. They keep a shelter for the little birds where they can take their prize and eat in peace. Bud next door thinks I should pull it down. He likes to see down the road but too bad. I like it and the birds love it.


They are more vulnerable in the trees or at the feeder with bigger birds. Not that anyone seems to fight.

One of my favourites is the Tuffted Titmouse, I just love them

This guy liked the bread I threw out for the Starlings

I got a few in flight I wish my camera could handle motion better


The Cardinal showed up

So did a few Starlings who looked very cold


The snow buntings

I turned around to find Bijou watching me, I wonder what she was thinking

She barked at me and left

Well, there was a lot of food left so I hope the Bunnies or maybe Possom's find the bread. I threw plenty of seed on the floor but the snow will have covered everything. They have good noses so I hope they find it

Winter Blue's...........................

Oh what to do on cold snowy days. So much I could do but very little I want to do. It's too cold really to enjoy a day out and I only go when the roads are OK. I wanted to go out today to check out a couple of new stores but himself did not want to go. He had to shovel the deck. Naturally he did that after I went out and filled the bird feeders. So far this year I have seen very little birdie activity.
The girls are not thrilled to go out either their poor little tootsies get sooooo cold.

They go out quick as they can and shake the paws that get so cold. They hate it. Normally they really don't mind the snow but this cold spell is something else. They wear coats since having hair cuts.
They need new coats

Gerry went out and did some shoveling, he didn't bother getting the snow blower fixed. I don't know how he does it but seems to wreck them every time he has one. I think he probably sucks up the leaves that did not get raked up when the first snow flies. Anyway, in order to get the van out, the drive has to get shoveled.


The snow is very pretty and I don't mind it at all, but the ice under it is what bothers me. Especially being on roads.

So what to do on these days.

While tidying my cupboards I found an old file of stories I wrote or started to write. I have been putting those on line in blogs. I don't know if they are any good or not I am not a writer. It's fun though and I guess that's what matters really (for me) I have two unfinished stories that I have no idea where they are going. Then there is one that I just recently wrote that just flowed from me. That's not to say it's good or even readable but I enjoyed it.
It's called Alice's Story I have another called Short stories by Janice that I will be adding to. Next a short story called The Old Oak.

The thing is it won't matter if anyone reads them as they are just on here. If I could make them palatable I could illustrate them. I could use some input. I am not good at language or spelling. Ah well, like I said, doesn't matter. Just something different to do on a cold winter day.
I did finish my quilts and the sewing machine is still sitting waiting on the table. I have this problem though. When Gerry is home just sitting around I lose all enthusiasm for doing anything. I am tired of sitting around. I am still working on getting my blood pressure under control. I really need to get out walking. Tomorrow we will check out a new market and see when Hobby Lobby opens. That will be a fun store to look around. As soon as the roads clear we are going out to the beach. Got to get OUT. Cabin Fever................

Brrrrrrrr minus 20........................

Not quite as cold in town because we have the Bay, never the less it was bloody cold. Laura H called last night because no school today. They had appointments so asked if we would have Tristen. Well YES heck yes. He asked her if he could come early rather than wait for the appointment time.So he got here around 10.30. We had hoped it would warm up a bit. So Cooper came up and they played for a time on the computer and upstairs in Tristens room. He found all his old school papers in the desk and had fun going through those and his old pictures from school. Cooper has one of the teachers Tristen had so they had that to chat about.
We went out and bought his Christmas gift finally. A nice little camera that he can take on our trips and put them on his computer. He never wants to take any of the things we get him back to Laura Hs house. Not sure what that's about.

The camera is waterproof and supposed to be strong. So after lunch and getting the camera charged off we went.


We went down by the Bay hoping to see some waterfowl but apparently it was too cold. None around.



So on our way to Logan's Landing we stopped by the river. We parked at the old library where there are steps down to the river. Well on one side was ice and they spent some time sliding down on their rumps.



We didn't stay long because it was so cold and wet bums and all that so off to Logan's Landing. No wildfowl there either. Then some geese flew in and I wish I had my phone ready but alas I didn't.


We had to be careful not to step in the water as it was not possible to see where land ended and water began


I love the textures.


Out of the cloud-folds of her garment shaken,
Over the woodlands, brown and bare
Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
Silent, and soft, and slow
Descends the snow.

~~By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.~~

Bunny tracks

A picture Tristen took of me. You know it's cold I am wearing a hat and gloves, I never wear gloves.

It was just too cold to hang about but at least we got out for awhile and Laura H was picking him up at 5 so after some strawberries, (he didn't like the veggie burger haha) it was time to go home. He asked us about the weekend but Laura said wait and see..........so we will wait and see