Middle of the Week....

 A Christmas cactus which some call a Thanksgiving cactus was for sale at my grocery store. I didn't have this color so I bought it.

The blooms are wonderful.  I see by the label that they were grown in a local greenhouse and our grocery store bought them for sale. 

A blank canvas awaiting some added dabs of color and texture. I have had it up a couple of days.

The color and texture await their being placed on the tree.  It may take a couple of days but I am sure it will be decorated soon.

We are in the deep freeze today.  I will venture out to get the mail but that will be it.  I have some lights to put out for decoration but that will wait for a warmer day.  Thanks for stopping by today.

The Wind Does Blow....

 Strong winds outside with a few flurries but it is nice and warm inside the tropical fish tank.  The evil killer angel fish at the bottom left has calmed down and isn't trying to eat the white angel fish anymore.   I returned the white one to the tank and he at first was aggressive but that all died down.  The three of them in the tank are all getting along now.

When getting the white one out of the guppy tank I mistakenly captured a guppy.  I think the guppy can survive in there and won't be a part of the food chain. The guppy will grow larger in the tank and can live in the castle if she feels like she is in danger. 

I bought gas for my car this morning and also picked up gas for my snowblower.  The weather was in the 40's at the time.  By noon the weather extremely changed and it dropped to 26° F.  It is in sharp contrast with the windchill blasting away.  We will stay in for the rest of the next few days.  Thanks for checking in today.

Monday's Memories.....

 

The display of houses will be on until spring.  They don't really need to weather out in the snow. 

 

 Snow is coming  our way Tuesday afternoon.  It won't be a heavy amount and that is good. Thanks for stopping by today.

Sunday PM......

 The sun comes up behind the neighbor's house now but we can see the sun's rays down the way across all the backyards. 

I am not a fan of plastic ornaments but they do photograph well. The shiny gold with smooth surfaces contrasting to the textures make a good looking design.  Plastic does work best on the outside tree. 

Gold glittery ones are good looking in a visual shot.  They are not a traditional looking ornament but the look good on the tree.

A photo from the past is the one of two Eurasian ring-necked doves.  We had this variety at our old place and rarely saw the smaller morning dove at the feeders there. They are an import bird and some dislike that they have invaded the mourning dove territories.  I had forgotten about them these past five years and was surprised when I saw all my photos of them. 

It is a quiet Sunday around here.  It is 44° F. as a high and I was out looking for something in the shed this morning.  Sunny but cool isn't as bad as the very cold temps.   Thanks for stopping by today.

Saturday's Stuff.....

 The earth has tilted so much that we don't see the sunrise anymore.  It is behind our neighbor's house and will stay there until we start to tilt back again. 

The birds were perched all along the railing giving me the hungry eye.  So I filled up both of the table feeders and they feasted. 

At the old place I had a home made feeder with a roof on it.  The birds would show up and take shelter as it was somewhat partially enclosed.  This feeder does work but it seems to be too close to the house.  I haven't seen a cardinal for a couple of months and I did see a blue jay at the top of a tree but never at the feeder. 

While looking for some Christmas things in the chest of drawers I found some samples of my mom's salt and pepper shakers.  I think I kept a half dozen of her collection but most of them I gave away to family or tossed them.  These melon heads are very old as I do remember them as a kid.  My mom was always picking up the shakers when we would travel west each summer.  

We are have a warmer day today.  The sun is bright and it isn't so bad to step outside.   Thanks for stopping by today.

The Forest....

 

Thanksgiving Day......

 

 

 

 It is 50° F. on Thanksgiving day.  Almost all of the snow is gone. The grass looks greener than it did before the snow.  I hope you all have a great day.

Pre Thanksgiving Day..

 

 

 

Non related things to fill the blog today. We are melting some more today.  It still feels cold at 52° F. but one doesn't have to wear the heaviest winter coat.  I made a last dash to the grocery store today to pick up a few things for the next few days.  Our planned company from Chicago   are not coming as we are still recouping from the virus of the day.   We both are stronger but not able to really deal with anything too complicated.  Our energy levels are just low level.   We will have a low keyed Thanksgiving with pumpkin pie.  I was at the store when the guy was unloading about fifty pies from boxes.  He was a friendly sort,  knowing he was putting out people's favorite pie of the season. Bought the cool whip already last week. I will get a very thin slice but I will have some.

I wish you all to have a great day tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by today.

55 Degrees F. ......

 

 

 It is amazing to have the snow melt.  We are warm and it feels good.  The grass is green now under the snow.  

Thanks for stopping by today.

Monday and Melting.....

 Google likes to pull up photos of the past.  This photo was taken seven years ago when our much loved border collie was alive and well.  He loved patrolling the back yard at the old place and was watching for enemy walkers or cats.  We miss him so much.  We lost him I believe more than three years ago now. 

 

 

I miss my birch tree from the old place.  It was big and beautiful.  This is my now neighbor's clump birch that is across the street.  Most all of the snow is melted off of it now as we are 41° F. right now. I have been watching water dripping off the bird feeders as the snow melts away.

Our neighbors up the street have five or six kids.  They got out and made this snow man back when it snowed.  There actually was a head on top of the two parts here but it melted away yesterday.  It is a rough looking snowman as I don't think they did any rolling of the snow to make it.  The need to attended a workshop on how to make a proper snowperson. 

The warming trend is turning our backyard into a tundra looking place.  I am ready for it to be melted.  I did walk around out there a little bit today as it was so warm compared to the past week's temps. It seems to be a good Monday.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Sun with Heat, Sort Of.....

 

The female downy has a sleek body shape. It clutches onto the suet rack tightly as it readies itself to dig into the suet. We are above freezing now and snow will melt a little.  I think 44° F. will be the high for today.  It is welcomed as our cold has really been bone chilling. 

 

 

The male downy was the last to visit the feeder yesterday. They fly in without much fanfare and immediately position themselves securely.  I like laying the suet out flat so the bird is easier to see through the window.  

The red cap of the male is so bright and showy.  The cap makes the head to appear a different shape than the female.  The female head seems to be more streamlined.

 The season is starting in our neighborhood.  When it was warmer,  lights went up on some of the neighbor's houses.  I dug out my fake tree to put on the deck.  I really wanted to get it out of my shop area as it was taking up room.  I fastened all the ornaments on it semi permanently so I don't have to take it down each year.  It is just instantly ready to be put up after I take of the sheet that is draped around it. 

Have a good Sunday.......

Saturday Snow Scene.......

 It is 21° F. and suppose to feel like 11°.  I have no plans to venture out even though I did go out onto the deck for a second.  We are suppose to warm up tomorrow to above freezing.  That will be so great.

I was trying to get a shot of a downy woodpecker.  All I got was this sparrow instead. The woodpecker just didn't want to stick around.  We are having a bright sunny day right now and the sparrows are a mob at the feeder. 

My deer do not look so great sitting in the downstairs but when lighted at night they look great. I am anxious to get them out of my workroom and plan to put them out way early of Thanksgiving.  We have neighbors in the neighborhood that have their Christmas lights up on the houses already.  They are turning them on too. 

We are having a quiet Saturday with lots of resting taking place.  I am sure we will feel better sometime in our future. It has been two weeks now since we were infected with this virus while attending a funeral.  I will always have negative feelings about Southern Iowa now knowing how badly we felt after the visit. Thank you for stopping by today.

Friday's Report.....

 The sky is not showing that it will be a record low day in temperatures.  The wind chills are in the minus numbers. The sun shines a bit in spite of the temps.

It is crowded at the sparrow feeder as they eat to stay warm.  When I think there could not be any more birds at the feeder a few more fly in and crowd around the seed. 

The junco ignores the sparrows and flies in whenever it wants.  I don't think that are more than three of them out there yet but more will come. 

The last of the birdhouses are now all been brought inside.  I usually let the plastic geese stay outside but I am thinking I could bring them into the storage shed. The wind shifted snow around yesterday and we did get a light snow sometime during the day. Today it is just blowing snow around again. 

The bird sculpture stays warm as the daylight glows on it. The sculpture was probably intended to go outside but it never will. 

I made a major step forward by digging out the snowblower.  I now need to buy some gas to put in it and try to get it started.  It is too cold in the garage to even mess with it but I left it out t here to remind me of a job to get done. I am still dealing with the effects from the virus crud so my energy level lasts only so long.  We both are so much better and yet we are still living under the weather.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Snow Still on the Ground......

 The buildup of snow remains as it isn't warm enough to melt.  The winds do shift some of it around and chunks can fall from the limbs because of its weight. 

The angel has now been thawed out and is sitting in a warm spot next to the furnace.  He got to melt off the snow in the bathtub before being placed in a warm place. 

Our snow stuck to the trees like frosting.  The leaves had just recently fallen from these same limbs before they got plastered. 

The second junco showed up this morning.  This is the dark eyed junco.  There should be a lot more of them as the winter progresses. 

Is it inflation caused or is it truly recession.?  I used to buy my sugar free jello in one bigger box to make a four cup bowl of jello.  I now have to buy the two small boxes to do the same thing.  I am sure glad that there was some available as the jello pudding and gelatin market has been hit hard the past two years.  I went for a year being unable to find any sugar free puddings in the store.  I could find a few pudding mixes that I could buy but they were also really limited.  I actually think the plastic cups for pudding were stuck out on the boats being not unloaded. 

Shoveled some snow around on my deck this morning.  I didn't do a great job as ice was formed in different areas.  I am staying inside again today.  Thanks for stopping by today.