Flowers and Art

 I don't have many blooms on the inside but the hardy geranium keeps unfolding one flower at a tiem. It has been at it for so long that the cobwebs are forming in the window sill. 

 I noticed my wife's painting of tulips this morning and had to take a shot of it. We are slowly melting off our snow now and maybe we will see tulips in five or six weeks. 

 Two card paintings that lay on my desk are there for my inspiration. Chee is the watercolor artist from Duluth, Minnesota. He at one time was on staff at the college there. He is so good at capturing koi swimming in the water. 

 I have on my art desk another magazine article of an artist that paints orbs. I think that he is the one that inspired my one boat painting to have orbs in it. 

 I painted it now a long time ago when I first quit being an art teacher. I combines lots of styles that I taught to my students. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Monday Mentions

 

The sun sets in the west and as it shines over our hill. It makes the trees in the east glow. The trees that surround us all have this sunset glow. 

 I completed this frame for my wife's painting. We ran a frame shop for over 20 years in our home. Here at our new home I have to hunt up all the tools now to  get a frame job done. It is an amazing painting my wife just finished. One of the first since she had been so sick for over a year and a half. The frame is an oak one that I made from leftover wood from past frame jobs a few years ago. 

 I shoveled on this snow pile today hoping to get rid of the rest of it. I had created a path recently but our warmer days just are not hot enough to get rid of this deck snow. We may have rain tomorrow so maybe that will help to dissolve it. 

It has been a quiet Monday. I headed out to get meds and some stray groceries. It was cold out there and the high ended up being 42 degree  F. Thanks for stopping by today.  

Sunday's Shots

 

 

 

 Thanks for stopping by today.

A Calling Bird

 He called so often daily and finally he found a mate. It seems to be too cold for them to nest but I hope they stay in our territory. 

 She is actually larger than him but she has great subtle colors instead of the bright red. 

 They took turns sitting in out maple tree. He calls yet even though she is here right in the same tree. 

 

 

We do still have snow everywhere. It did melt off some yesterday, out in the open, where the snow was thin. I shoveled off the heaviest of snow off my deck and it help speed up things a bit. We didn't get too far below freezing last night. It still is not a warm day today. I went for meds and groceries this morning and I am glad I wore my winter coat. 

This is the last day of the month. I can't believe things went so quickly. Both of us spent a couple of weeks sick with the flu. I am now over it and my wife is a few days from being at the end of it. It last so many days and the sore throat is the last to go.

Thanks for stopping by today.  

 

 

No Snow Blowing

 We reached 62 degree F. today. Our snow is melting. It isnt such a quick melt but it is nice to see some of it going away.

 Looking down the hill I can see our brown grass. We caught up n our needed snowfall but we missed out on the last one all together.

 I dug out a path on my deck to get a path to the bird feeders. If is stays warm tomorrow I will do a better job of clearing it. The winds really pile up a lot of snow on the northeast side of the house. 

 Looking down the back stairs I was surprised to seed how much snow was still there. I don't have a need to shovel it out.  I am looking forward to spring to see what the tulips will look like along the railing there.

. Did I mention tulips in the last line. There they are coming up in the front yard. It isn't unusual for this time of the year.

 

The two garden spots in front of the garage have the first tulips showing up in the spring. I didn't plant new tulips last fall but I have plenty that will come up and bloom. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Thursday's Things

 It is suppose to warm up today enough for us to thaw a bit. The morning sunrise looked smudgy for some reason but we do now have clear sunshine. 

 The is a view of my hill in my backyard. It is a long story as to why I don't have a flat backyard but I get use to it and then take photos and see the strange lean of the land. I should plow out the land next to the fence and create a giant flower bed. 

 

 The birds leave their tracks as they search for fallen seed from above. The seem to be hungry today even though we just are not  that cold right now. Having been under the weather the past seven days for different reasons, it was fun to step out of the house and take photos while trying not to step into the snow with my stocking feet.

 The catalogue lays open from where I left it days ago. I did not buy new ones this year. I have three or four that I bought last year that I am counting on to be blooming in the late spring. 

 The photographer and editor of the catalogue do such a great job to get people to buy. The know their trade and know color is a big design element to catch people[s eye. I follow the reel of this company and it is fun to see the beds that are developing through the year. 

 I am feeling better and yet still have sore throat residue. I went for groceries yesterday as we were just out of everything.  I was strong enough to shop and yet it was a long job putting things away. My wife has caught what I just had. Each person gets different symptoms but she is sick. She is sleeping it off day and night. I never had this kind of cold that lasted for so long. Each day I developed a new different ailment. One night I had to sleep in an easy chair vertically as my throat was so swollen and my breathing was being impaired. Now I am keeping liquids going as often as possible to get the throat cleared up. My energy level is almost normal now but I am not going to do any brick laying today.

Thanks for checking in today. 

 

Middle of the Week

 The morning sun glowed through for a short time. Most of the day it has been gray and cloudy.

 Patterns are everywhere. The stairs and rafters give off a good pattern along with the railing. Repeated squares are always a winner. 

 

 I am the end of a long cold. I develop new things each day. The sore throat last night was a real winner but I am getting stronger. We missed our oldest grandson's 13th birthday. He will get his card and gifts but not on time. My one brother turned 83 years old yesterday. He lives in Yorba Linda, California. He is looking forward to the Santa Anna winds, to start blowing, to give him perfect weather. I am anxious for any southern wind to blow our way. 

Thans for checking in today. 

Red Returns

 

 I put more seed on the tray and the cardinal showed up this morning. I took many shots and kept three of them. He was in a tree outside earlier and I didn't get a shot as he didn't stick around for me. 

 I have been ill. I was set back from medical test last week and I am just now feeling a little better. I don't shoot new fresh stuff when sick but the birds have helped get me some visuals for the blog.Tomorrow will be the fourth day of being down. I think I will be better soon and then the crud develops into something else. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Rocking Raisin

 

Sunday Afternoon

 At a perfect moment I caught tthis guy in the blue spruce tree. I keep seeing him f rom a distance and just happened to look out with my cameraa.

 I do have a closer shot of him as he was just about to take off with a sunflower seed in  his beak. He looks like an acrobat. 

 

 Inside, I moved the new plant over to the window to give it some more light. It is a tropical plant and all I know don't know how to care for it. I just water it often but not too much.

 The fish are always moving so most of the time I just get a blur of guppies.  They are keeping warm in the heated tank, Outside we started out at 19 degrees F. again this morning. The warm up isn't much. We chose not to go outside anywhere. 

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Birds of a Feather.....Stick Together.

 One hundred paper cranes fit nicely in the plastic bin that my wife gave to me. I have slowed down on the making of them, but I still grab some paper once in a while and fold. 

 I have folded over a thousand now. Their are three of four different kinds of papers that I use so they pile has lots of different patterns. I intended to try to do some with Christmas paper but that hasn't happened yet. 

 We woke up to 10 degrees F. and our high for the day will be 25 degrees F. We did need to go on a cople of errands but we voted to just stay inside. What we needed can just wait. The severe cold froze up all the clumps of snow into hard rocks so it is hard to walk on them. Roads are cleared pretty much and the sidewalks in our area are good. 

 I take shots of these at a distance so the cropped photo shows the head out of focus. They are moving quickly to get to the seed. 

 The junco is a great snowbird that visits only in the winter. It will head north in the summer.. We have a pair of cardinals out there but I was only able to take one photo a few days ago. While putting out my flag this morning a male cardinal was calling in the front yard area. I think he was across the street in neighbor's tree. I never saw him but did hear him.

I had a clinical test on Thursday and am still resting from it all. The appointment seemed to mess up the whole week. Resting and doing odd jobs is all I need, or want, to do. 

 

Thanks for stopping by today.  

 

 

Winter White Stuff

 

 The eight and a half inches of snow is blown around on our deck blowing it into a large drift. 

 

 I will eventually shovel out the deck so I can put seed in my feeders. My fix for now is put out this plactic tray on the top of the snow.

 I could have used my snowblower today but two young boys came to door to do the work. I like helping out the neighborhood kids. They were so pleased to get money and also a few snicker candy bars.  The snow was very heavy and the guys were younger so they had some difficulty moving it. We found all the loosed cash that we had and paid them.  The one boy was the spokesmen and he said he lived in the gray house up on the hill. Keegan was a very polite one and even called me sir.  I have paid them for the work a couple of times before earlier in the winter. 

Tjanks for stopping by today.