Preparing For the Worst

I have taken lots of bird photographs of late because they have shown up big, and as you well know, I can't help myself. In spite of the twenty mph winds yesterday afternoon, along with the thermometer reading about 28, while going to get the mail I saw scads of birds in a ratty looking tree/bush right across the street. Hoping for the best, I marched inside, grabbed my camera with the longest zoom and marched right back outside again. I probably should have had gloves on because baby, it was cold outside! 

Nonetheless, when a flock of birds shows up, I'm your girl.

These are Cedar Waxwings feasting on really tiny berries. With any luck you will be seeing them again now that I have had such a good opportunity. For the last few weeks I have tried and tried to get good shots, but they have been so high up in the trees it has been impossible to show off their beauty. 

With any luck they will come back for seconds this afternoon!

Last week was a strange one for us as we experienced what it is like to prepare for a winter weather event. After I wrote my blog post we went to the grocery store and there were a lot of people there on a Tuesday afternoon which seemed strange until I realized that they were buying for the upcoming storm which was billed as catastrophic. It was fierce for some places, but we were spared pretty much all of it if you don't count the extreme cold. Anyway, Bruce retrieved all sorts of things from our camping gear to prepare us for whatever came our way. The generator we brought here started on the third pull which is really saying something because it had not been started for many years. Gotta love a Honda. 

Meanwhile I am in bird heaven. Each morning, around 8:00, I set my phone to record the bird sounds and some days there have been as many as 17 different birds, including a bird that I rarely see, and I do mean rarely that showed up in Sandy's yard across the street.

This would be a Northern Flicker should you be wondering. One thing that has struck me when I write the names down, and really shouldn't I have noticed this before? Almost every bird seems to have a first and a last name and sometimes they even used their middle name! Think Northern Cardinal.

Northern Mockingbird! 

Eastern Phoebe!

All these pretty birds were in our yard which makes taking their picture so easy!

Because of all the drama associated with the impending doom from the storm, the week dragged on. One day it was supposed to hit on Friday, the next Saturday, and the severity of it kept changing. Sound familiar to the Floridians reading this? Inches of snow, then it was ice, then it was rain......

One evening we spent some time at the wine shop just to get out, even though nothing had really happened. That being said, the sky was filled with big fat clouds just after dark with a sliver of a moon visible.

Mind you it was cold, but it was to get colder and I am here to testify that at least the weather folks got that right.

Saturday morning a fairly new downtown place posted on Facebook that they would be open until 2pm with the storm now predicted to arrive around 5:00; an out of the way place that I figured could use our business, so after some chores, we went over. After having a chat with the folks who are opening a new market, we went in and found two folks at the bar.

I just loved the cute little coasters although it looks as if this one could use some glue to tidy it up. Anyway, the couple was delightful, were in town to attend a class at the folk school, and were staying across the street from us at Sandy's bed and breakfast!! Their home base is Nashville and the woman kept receiving photos from her co-workers of the massive snow storm they were missing in Nashville. When she told me that she worked at Ann Patchett's bookstore there, I was freaking out. If that name does not ring a bell that is understandable, but for this fan girl, she is one of my favorite authors. Anyway, they were very interesting and it was a good way to pass a few hours.

So what IS the bottom line? We got rain and it went on for about 24 hours and then the sun came out, weakly, but it did come out. I took off for a walk. I do so love the fog in the mountains!

I neglected to mention that church was actually canceled because of all the uncertainty. That, my friends, is a very rare occurrence in their 102 year history. Walking down the main drag towards the river, the puddles were minimal.

My mission was to see how high the river was and indeed it had risen. The clouds were so good!

More importantly after some pretty gloomy weather it was great to see blue. 

As it was getting later, my walk was not terribly long, but it was good to get out. I took the back way home and watched the sky take on a bruised look, although there was a wee bit of red in the sky, it was hard to know what was going to happen next.

I'd gone up early to read in bed, and when Bruce came up he said his phone was telling him that there was a one percent chance of snow overnight. 

Here's what that looks like.

While I am on the subject of snow, I came across this photo of our family when we lived in Buffalo, NY. Can you even imagine?

Nancy is in my Mom's arms, Carol is beside her on the right, Maureen to the left, Pat and Gail, far right. Lisa comes into the picture a few years later after we moved to Orlando. I do not mind the cold at all, but the amount of clothes that pile up is definitely something I am still getting accustomed to.

Back to Murphy, all morning long the flurries came down.

The wind whipped it every which way and when I say it was cold, I am not exaggerating one bit. The temperature never rose above freezing!

The good news was that the sun came out, melted everything that was not in the shade and everyone's spirits lifted! 

Bruce went to the basement and braving the cold which when he is working on something, barely notices. He wanted to plug some gaps that he did not like to look at and were responsible for letting in a lot of cold air. 

I love this picture ! It is so crazy. He is in the crawl space and climbed through that opening to get there!! It all looks neat and tidy which won't surprise you in the least. 

Meanwhile I was finishing this upstairs, 

and making bread on the middle floor, aka known as the kitchen!

I would give the bread a C grade, little taste and nothing to recommend it, but I would give the loaf of zucchini bread from our neighbor Becky, an A.

If possible, it is even colder today with the heater running like mad all morning long. 

Bruce had parked the car in a position so that if we had snow he could drive straight down the driveway, thus much was in the shade. When we were off to do a few errands around 10:00 this morning, the windshield looked like this.

It was quite the challenge getting the ice off the windshield but the temperature has soared to 30 degrees so maybe tomorrow it will be 40?

Nope, if the forecast is to be taken seriously, we will have to wait until next week. In the meantime winter is a good time to catch up on things which in my case, involves reading more novels! And who knows, after talking to my sister who takes more exercising classes than anyone I know, maybe I will try drum fit at the senior center. After all, this is a year for trying new things. 

Just don't think I will be giving up my birds anytime soon!

Hope your day is full of joy!

your friend,

Gail

It's Been a Cold Week

I think last year at this time we had returned to Florida for Danny's memorial which meant we missed some really cold weather. This year during the middle of January it has been crazy cold although we have had no snow.  Because David and DAnna are 1000 feet higher they woke up to a white yard. So while we have had no snow, we have had are some interesting skies with all kinds of clouds;  having been out on walks many of those cold days I have seen them first hand! 

On this walk, the temperature was low, the fog was heavy, and most folks were not out walking, however I am committed to doing more, so I go in spite of the cold

Rarely do I take selfies yet when I looked down and thought, I'm sending this to my daughter-in laws because they were responsible for my hat, coat and bag. I wanted them to know that I appreciate their generosity.

Do I look cold or excited because I had just seen a Pileated Woodpecker?

Truth be told, probably a little bit of both. Scanning in every direction, I look for contrast or movement and in this case I found contrast. A little research told me the largest of these is an oyster mushroom. How cool is that? My first find of this kind.

Along the river I need to keep my eyes open hoping to find a beaver because if I had to guess, that is what was gnawing on this tree all the way around.

Friends, I have got a lot to share so bear with me will you?

Foggy sky--check. Red sky, and I do mean RED, purple, orange, blueish, at night, a rare occurrence -check.

We are having a heck of a time with our mail delivery, sometimes coming at 7:30 at night in spite of the fact that we live two blocks from the post office. I was getting my jacket to check around 6:30 and the sky from the front porch looked like this.

As you can see it kept getting more colorful. So good and a wonderful surprise. I believe that snow was predicted for overnight but I did not expect it because, as we all know, "red sky at night, sailors delight."

With that mail info in mind, I heard from Ann who told me that the Christmas card she sent was returned because she had a minor mistake with our address. I suppose without a regular carrier that can happen. I am so delighted that she persisted and sent another because it is a winner. Both she and Cynthia made their own cards and both were terrific. An interesting collage from Ann, while Cynthia's is paint and more?

I have some super talented friends!

Speaking of talent, that husband of mine has talent in spades. At a meeting in the fellowship hall, early last week, there was discussion about a table that needed to go away. A local charity was going to charge to pick it up was what we learned. While we were in Orlando we looked for a sewing table for me while we were shopping at Ikea, but nothing seemed right, so when I heard this, it caught my attention. Showing it to Bruce I asked his thoughts and his thoughts were positive. It was covered with water stains, had gum stuck to the sides, along with tape and in general did not look great, however, with difficulty we got it in the back of the Subaru, into the shop and he went to work.

Unfortunately I did not photograph the worst of it, in part because he got to it so quickly. It was meant to replace the folding table we bought as a stand-in and while it was serviceable, when sewing with any speed it shook like crazy. Note the table in this photo taken during Saturday's session to tidy up my fabrics. 

Which reminds me, did I show you the new quilt that I finally completed?

Much softer than the other one and it is keeping us plenty warm on the cold nights, some going down to 19 degrees!!

When I want to make something I dig through the baskets because if I can't make something out of what I have, well, it is just silly. I just have to get creative as I did with the pillow covers I made for the front porch using fabric from what is fondly called in the sewing community, "my stash". 

Before too much longer it will be time for spring pillows but for now I wanted something a little less cheerful.  Covering the Christmas pillows is how I made it happen.

Oh look, my Uggs, which are getting their fair share of wear this January!

So back to the table....while I was sorting and organizing, Mr. Peck was sanding and I do mean sanding for hours and hours. Then he stained it and after recruiting another fellow after church on Sunday, they managed to wrestle it up the narrow staircase and here we are. On a side note, the fellow is a local and was actually happy to come inside as he said he had seen the house countless times and wondered what was inside. 

And look who got to use it yesterday morning! (refer to photo above of quilt)

I ran the machine fast and that oak stood strong!

I think it was last Monday after we did yoga that DAnna insisted on taking me out to lunch for my birthday. Since a few of the others were going to play Mahjong and have lunch, we tagged along, neither of us having ever seen it played. Linda took this photo of me with the birthday cake. 

I have to admit, that was fun having folks sing happy birthday to me. Our food was delicious, our company great and now we have seen it set up to play. The lady sitting beside me owns this set which is 100 years old.

In this year of doing new things, maybe I will try it? Third time at yoga yesterday and oh my word....tough sledding for me! On the other hand, I do know how to walk and I am getting better at the terrain although, trudging up this hill was still hard. I was standing at the bottom contemplating and a couple asked me if I needed a ride which I declined. Here's a fun fact I learned about this hill today and that is the locals call it "laundry hill" because it leads to what is now a decrepit laundry. It is so good having local friends who know the lore!

I'm including this because lemon poppy seed muffins and oranges just look nice together and taste even better.

Here is some food that looked strange, but was super yummy.

What are those rolls you ask? Not a cut of chicken I have ever seen before but after cutting one in four pieces I arranged it on the bun and it was surprisingly good! Bruce enjoyed the other one. We were eating here because I needed to use the restroom and the only way to do that was to eat here.

Bruce had french toast and he raved and raved. Decorated with old records and covers, I got a kick out of seeing the old Herb Alpert cover which my parents owned. That cover must have been seriously scandalous at the time. 

We were in Andrews to play pickleball indoors because it was only about 20 degrees. The drive there never fails to delight me with frost on the ground, fog in the mountains, bare trees, and weak winter light. 

That said, when we came out of the gym the sky was gorgeous and remember what I said about clouds earlier? Following our impromptu lunch, I had to check this place out. Look at that cloud? A flying saucer of a cloud!

So cute and to add to the excitement I was feeling, across the street were horses!

And weird goats with wild horns!

If you were this horse, do you think you would wonder if others were better looking? 

Just a silly thought!

I took a lot of photos last week of birds, people, landscapes and food and you are seeing only a fraction of them because you will hate me if I go on for much longer! That said, you just have to see this crazy plant!

Beale's barberry is what AI is telling me, although quite often it is wrong and how do I know this? Because I can identify a number of birds and oftentimes I get the wrong identification. But you take what you can get. I tell you what the closest I am getting to this plant is with a camera in hand!

Final thoughts:

• What a game last night! Rarely do we stay up and finish watching a football game, but that one was so compelling for lots of reasons. Congratulations Indiana!
• Days are getting longer!! 5:00 pm comes and goes and there is still light in the sky.
• Detecting some tiny, and I do mean tiny buds on some of our plants is a joy.
• A dear church friend's sister was killed in an automobile accident Friday. Obviously we are sick about it as she was very healthy. 
• Bruce is doing well concerning Cris. Staying busy and focused helps.

So there you are, but before I completely say goodbye, another sky photo! 

And to think that all those bare branches will be drenched in leaves in just a few short months! In spite of times of sorrow, there are still the joys of everyday living.  May you have many such joyful days!

your friend,

Gail