A Lot of the Same.......

There is definitely snow on the roof here in Iowa.  The ornamental bird house was knocked down off the railing by the squirrels so it sat on the top deck of the stairs.  As you see the little snowman on the bottom of the house is up to his neck with snow and a white cap of snow cools him down. One can see sun shining in the back ground but it really is minus double digits at the time.  I was letting out valuable heat with the door open to take the shot.

My gallery door decoration is going to stay up for a long time.  I usually put the fake poinsettas in the milk container but this time I clipped branches from the yew shrub.  The angel on the table doesn't seem to mind being there as the roof does sort of protect it.  I will bring him in if the snow gets to be too deep. The old table is from one side of the family.  It was used as a wash stand to hold the rinse water.  The bean pot is from the southern part of the state, maybe my parents, and the crockery milk container was partially buried in the dirt down on the farm.  I rescued the crockery container years ago.  No one complained when I picked it up so it is now mine.

The Austrian pine is so covered with snow that only half of the light bulbs are showing through.  It does look good at night to have them on and I will probably turn them on for the rest of the winter nights. The reindeer in the background wrapped with lights are not so great to see in the daylight.  They look good at night.

I did get the walks shoveled but I didn't get the walk to the front door done.  We seldom use that door nor do people who know us come to that door.  I was going to return the next day to scoop it and I  saw pictures of people with frost bite on the tv screen so I just never returned.  Maybe today when it gets up into the 20's F late afternoon. When people come to the house and the gallery is a literal mess from working in there we do have them come to the gabled porch door.

I was noticing that some of the birds, but not goldfinches, were clinging to the branches and leaning over to get seed from this sock.  I decided to move it into a denser area of branches so they could get closer and eat.  Most of the ones leaning in to get to it were the juncos.  I notice today that the finches can hook their claws into the sack and pick seeds out quite easily.  I was having a hard time getting a good picture as we have low light outside today. 

This finch has darkened in color a lot more since the last time I shots photos of them. I could never get finches to come to the plastic tubular feeders but this one is a winner.  I have it hanging in a large hydrangea bush and they like landing on branches first. The then hop onto the mesh sack of seed.

The weather is the news in this country and it is hard to tolerate its effects after while.  We have, here in Iowa, had such mild winters and yet we have had the same severe cold in the past. 

We will probably get out for a little while this afternoon and pick up a few things.  We could do without but being stuck inside for so long it will be nice to just go. 

I hope everyone is able to stay safe and warm today.  Houses in the south I am hoping have enough of a strong furnace to keep their houses warm.  My families in Arizona and California don't have adequate heating systems as they don't use them once in a blue moon. Take care everyone and thanks for stopping by today.