Middle of the Week's Worth.....

 Feed the birds when it is so cold.  They need to eat to warm their bodies.  I added a tube feeder after I took this shot and I should have many birds flocking in soon. 

We have many hard freezes now so there is not tuning back.  I dug some hardy geranium sprouts that never grew all summer because of the drought.  They were hiding under dead zinnia plants so they did not get frozen.  All other stuff is gone.  

I dumped out a chunk of ice on the surface of the water of a bucket and it has stayed there for two days.  We are up to 40° F. right now towards noon time so it might actually melt.  I drained my water barrel last evening by running a garden hose from the barrel to the blue spruc tree.  The barrel did eventually empty but the hose is full of ice this morning.   I  had to drag the hose out into the sunshine and it did finally loosen up so I could coil it up. 

 

 I moved this little shelf to the new place and put it to use outside.  It looks good but I then felt guilty aout it being outside.

Two winters ago I brought it into the shop and sanded it down.  I think it was originally a medicine cabine shelf but the glass door was gone.  After refinishing it I added the compartments to make it a display cabinet.  It actually worked better up side down.  I found the piece in the old barn at my wife's farm.  It is an old piece as it could have come from the house back when her grandparents lived there.  It has a long history as it had been moved into the cow milking parlor station to be used to hold meds for cows. 

I was bombarded with news from two brothers, a cousin and a hometown website yesterday about the lost of a first cousin of mine.  It all happened in a fifteen minute period of ttime.  He was five years younger than me and lived alone.  People started to be concerned when they couldn't reach him by phone.  I had seen my cousin Gene back in June and he was not well.  His health problems were not being successfully treated.  His being younger than me and me remembering him when he was just a baby 67 years ago makes it a tough thing to happen. 

I got more work done outside while being bundled up.  All the zinnias are now pulled from the ground and I will sack them tomorrow.  I will need to clear them as I will mow the back yard as it will be warmer. Closing things down is sort of a good feeling but I do hope it stays warm for me to finish.  Thanks for stopping by today.