Snow People Come To Visit

Yesterday while we were awayfor our second Thanksgiving dinner we had some snow people come to visit.  Today while walking the dogs on the trails we were greeted by our guests at several locations along the trails.

Thank You to my sister Susan for inviting them.

Trick or Treat?

Woke up this Halloween morning to a dusting of snow, good for seeing into the woods.  Birds are busy at the feeders this morning.  There is a strong wind blowing and the temperature is 23 degrees.

Since the last post I have raked, blew and burned the leaves covering the yard.  I have also cut and hauled wood and have things pretty much ready for winter, hoses drained, air conditioner put away and gutters cleaned.

Back Home

We have been slow to post, but got back home from our Alaska trip 3 weeks ago today.  We have been busy unpacking and cleaning the trailer inside and out.  Also "moving" back in to the house and doing yard and woods trail maintenance.

If you haven't checked out our Alaska blog click on the following link to see what we were up to for the past 4 months. http://north2alaska2012.blogspot.com/

This morning after getting up I saw an orange glow coming through the shades, taking a peak the sky was orange as the sun was coming up through the "just right" cloud cover.  As I walked around opening shades, when I got to the deck I was greeted with a full rainbow, but only able to get this partial picture.

What a way to begin the day!!!

  

Below Zero

In preparation for our trip we spent the night in the 5th wheel, it was a bit chilly and the electric heater had a good workout ,I had the gas furnace set too low.

I checked the deck thermometer at 6:00 a.m. and we had 28.

Birds & Pond Renewal

 Goldfinch

 Female Rose Breasted Grosbeak

 Male Rose Breasted Grosbeak

 Pat Dixon from Dixon Shoreline & Landscaping, his helper Robert and Ken Getting the pond ready

 The pond was pumped dry, washed, repaired and refilled

 It didn't take long for the birds to find their new bathtub - Male Rose Breasted Grosbeak

The cleaned pond filling up

Flowers blooming at the Cabin & a rose breasted Grosbeak

Life is returning to the woods. We have new discoveries every day on our walks.

We have scillas blooming near the pond garden;

And daffodils are blossoming in the woods:

Other flowers are pushing up everywhere. Lily-of-the-Valley will be blossoming soon. Some of the hostas are pushing up around the pond.
It is so interesting to take a walk.

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

Myrtle Warblers

Our Special Guests Today

Another Unusual Visitor

After coming home shortly after dark I was shutting curtains when I saw movement by our sunflower chip feeder, to our delight we got a glimpse and some pictures of this flying squirrel.

Happy Easter

Waiting For Our Guests

Casper & Spirit find a hidden Easter egg

Snow Way!!!! April Fools!!!!!

Mid April Snow    4-5 Inches

New Visitors at the feeder this morning

Fox Sparrow

Fox Sparrow, Juncos, Robin, Dove

Busy Feeder Today

More Synchronized Napping II

For more napping posts see December 26th "We've gotten more light fluffy snow" & January 16th "More synchronized napping".

Views around the house

Looking North Off The Deck

Looking Southwest Off The Deck - Note Walking Trails

Looking Southeast  - Note Open Field In The Background

How I've been spending my time this winter

It took me several months to create this wall hanging, because I kept interrupting myself with other projects. This is called "Chain Gang". I appliqued the little figures, used buttons to spell out "Chain Gang", and the chain is formed by paperclips. I showed it at the guild meeting in March, and they all said it needed to be put in the quilt show in June.

My quilting guild provided a fat quarter of purple/black material. I matched it with other fabric to create this table topper to fit a card table. I used the challenge material to create medallions for the center and the corners. This will be submitted to the guild's quilt show in June.

My neice just had a baby boy and asked me if I could convert this bright pink child-sized recliner so it could be used by both of children. So I form-fitted this cover. It isn't the best job, but it does tone down the color. I might make a quilt to go with the cover, or maybe just a pillow.  We'll see.

I have a few other projects in the works, but not in a hurry.

A bit Squirrely

We have been seeing many more squirrels lately; grays, fox and today a black one. We were wondering if something happened to the black one over the winter because we haven't seen him for some time, but today he came to visit.  The squirrels are coming to the bird feeders regularly which we try to discourage, but do enjoy seeing them.

We still have significant snow cover, but it is slowly melting.

St Pat's Day

"Corned" three venison roasts for the past 6 days, then made traditional corned venison, cabbage, potatoes, carrots and onions for supper last night along with a lettuce salad, rolls and Pistachio dessert.  Was happy to share the meal with Rosalie, Mom, Dad and brother Phil.  Oh yeah, we shared an Alaskan "Kassik's - Kenai AK Porter beer - a good choice for this meal.  kassiksbrew.com/‎  

Fresh out of the canning jar

After cooking and being carved

Pistachio Dessert

Puzzled

It took us about a week to put this 1000 piece puzzle together, with warmer weather coming puzzling may slow down, but it was something to pass the time in the colder weather.

Check the earlier post for the story of venison pastrami

Check out the earlier post for the timeline and pictures 

Visitors To One Of Our Bird Feeders

Gold Finches, Nuthatch & Chickadee