Saturday's Short Spot.....

The dove was on duty early this morning sitting on the ledge and watching. Their behaviors of just sitting  makes them an unusual bird. The can be spooked but most times they seem really calm.

J was able to shovel the deck agian this morning. I had just cleared it and then we added four or five inches of snow again.  The cleared the  walks at the old place this morning and then cleared my driveway back home.

We went to the bookstore yesterday afternoon and had a meal out afaterwards.  Then we took back roads through Des Moines and suburbs to get home as the streets started to freeze and cars were spinning and slidding everywhere.  It was hard to accelerate and also hard to stop.  We drove really slow and did make it home safely. I had to remember that we were not in any hurry.

We will have temperatures of low 30's for the next week. It would be nice if it will melt but it won't much do that.  Thank you for checking in today.

New Snow on the Hill....

We had a good melting day yesterday. Through the night it snowed lightly giving us about four inches or so of new stuff. I shoveled it off this morning by hand so by evening it won't be so heavy when I have to do it again.

We bought our house in the winter time so I couldn't really judge that I liked this tree or not. Now that I understand that it  is a locust tree I am very happy with it. It does look a lot better with its leaves on it.

The red twig dogwood looks great in the snow. It has settled in well since I planted it last spring. It fits great on the curve of the sidewalk.

I don't get picky with my shoveling as you can see that the curved sidewalk there is not in view. It isn't very cold today.  Just a few degrees below freezing.  That is 30 degrees more than we have had for quite a few days.

A side note of "show and tell " is this star. Our pastor had given it to us a couple of years ago.  This summer we visited the place where it had been carved. The made all wooden items out of olive tree wood. We purchase a sculpture piece from the same place this summer.  We had outdoor salesmen bother us a lot from outside the store, trying to sell us scarves from Israel. It was really a good memory of them always trying to sell us stuff. I did buy my wife a couple of sets of beads on Mr. Carmel.

It is Friday and it is time to wind down a bit.  I hope everyone is doing well.  Thanks for checking it today.

Thursday's Things......

I shoveled the deck and will wait for the temperatures to warm up some more.  It is 35 degrees F. outside right now so maybe I will see some melting.  I have the drive and sidewalks ready for some melting temperatures also. It would be fun to drag that grill out and grill a steak on it.

It is a railing maze with the stairs and deck railing visually overlap. I hope the birds can pick up more falling seed from the feeders falling now on the deck floor.

The sun room gives off a lot of light but the sky isn't showing much excitement.  It will be a warming day to 35 degrees F. but no sun will shine.

I have good news from the bonsai these past days.  I cut off a lot of large leaves from the shrub and still could cut some more from the stems.  The pruning needs to be perfected. The next photo shows the exciting sight of flowering buds.

I still have not specifically identified this plant but the berries or blooms help me to figure it out. The buds that I can now photograph proves that the trimming back of the larger leaves did help it make a growth spurt.

I see water dripping from melting snow on my deck railing so it will be a good day to have some of it to be gone.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Middle of the Week with Snow....

After they eat they take a break and just sit. I see them set on a fence the same way, sitting still while taking in on their surroundings.

Today will be like our typical Iowa winter days, with light snow for the next three days.  The temperatures are just at freezing and the snow fall is gentle. I took time to fill the feeders out on the deck as the build up of snow is not too bad yet.

The mess is still there on the deck.  I created it and we had melting for a couple hours in the night. It is still there.  Maybe I can get my energy level excited to go out and clear it during a lull today.

A ducking head of the dove gives me an interesting pose. They should be back soon as I just opened a new sack of seed and filled all the containers.

My indoor door garden is great to see when there is snow all over the ground outside.  My pet bunny sat out the window yesterday but I haven't seem him this morning.  The agapanthus keeps me in good foliage all winter. I move them around in the downstairs level as if they are ferns. They don't seem to mind the lower light.

I brought in the sack of topsoil yesterday from the garden storage shed.  It finally thawed out as the moisture in the soil was frozen solid. It won't make great soil for flowers and yet I have some flower potting soil that I can mix with it. I have an abundance of sanseveieria; plants that need to be separated and replanted in different new pots. That kind of plant is not too particular by its kind of soil.
As we continue to watch our weather we will probably say inside all day. I hope everyone is doing well.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Visiting and Working....

Winter weather at the old place is a lot like the weather at the new place, but it was colder. I procrastinated clearing the walks up there yesterday because the temps were just above zero.  Today I cleared the walks a little.  No one had walked on either stretch of my walks but they are now opened up.

It really isn't that much snow except where the wind had created some bigger drifts. This is one half of the full length of the north side of our property.

My Minnesota birch is doing well as it shows off its white bark. The Japanese beetles had chewed up most of its leaves this fall so it didn't have any pretty yellow fall leaves.

I did add a path for the neighbor lady so she could more easily feed the feral cat that lives around our house. She has a box with a hole in it of a straw nest and she feeds it food from a can giving it a luxurious meal. I could see her tracking through my drive way snow so she will be pleased to have a better path.

We are off to get a meal out for supper this afternoon and to buy a birthday card for our youngest son.  If we time it just right we can get it in the mail and to his house in Maine on just the right date. The temps are still cold but 21 degree F. is a heat wave.  It is going to warm up all night so we can have rain in the morning.

Thanks for stopping by today.

A Start of a New Week.......

Walk a mile or two in my old shoes.  It is time to toss them. I actually had tossed a set of shoes that were newer than the ones on the right. The old shoes were moved here and I ended up mowing the lawn wearing them.  And now, the new shoes have walked all over Israel through sand and rocks. They were on the temple mount and Jerusalem streets. The were at the shore of Galilee and the Golan hills. I won't ever forget all those churches we walked through and sang choruses in their sanctuaries. Most memorable are the streets down under that are dated three thousand years old or more with rough cobblestones and carriage wheel grooves.

I keep trying to capture a photo of the bird feeder covered with a dozen or more birds on it.  Every time I pick up the camera the fly away. This one shot shows the two stragglers that didn't get gone yet. They are watching all the other birds flying away and are ready to take flight.

 The markings on the house finch are really detailed when you can see them in a close still shot. The red on their backs isn't so visible while they are moving around searching for seed.

The sparrow seems to be the largest flock that I have as they have all settled into the blue spruce tree.  We are very cold again today and there is a light snow falling.

I am procrastinating on clearing my sidewalks at the old place. I think there is about four inches of snow on the walks but right now we are the coldest area in the whole nation.  I didn't go up on Sunday as the wind chills were unbearable.  Snow is falling up there today but it still is only 5 degrees F. up there and it will be warming up to 7 degrees F. for today. I am going to wait until tomorrow to clear them as it will be warming up to 22 degrees and that will seem like a heat wave.  The last time I cleared my walks up there the only footprints on my one walk were the neighbor's cats. It is too cold for anyone to be walking on sidewalks in Iowa.

I didn't see any thing of the bunny this morning but there were new tracks.  I poured more seed out on the ground for it. We have a light snow right now but it will not be measurable.

Our day will be another one of snow bound and cold bound.  I took a quick journey to the grocery store late afternoon and I froze my fingers off putting the groceries into the trunk .Glove don't keep that bone chilling cold off of the fingers. I hope everyone is surviving out there with their particular weather.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Sunday's Stuff......

It is very cold and the house finch is grateful to find seed. I have more birds than ever as our Sunday temperatures seem unbelievable.

Down on the ground I have a new visitor looking for food. His tracks are coming from the blue spruce tree. He has not been around here for awhile.

He is not tame but the glass between of the sliding glass door seems to keep him from seeing me. He is looking over the scrap bird see from the cockatiel tray that I toss out there each morning.  This morning I put out fresh seed from the indoor birdseed sack. While he was out there a squirrel came over to check out things too.

 I did get a visual record of the two squirrels on the deck at the same time. If they see each other they both take off.  I have not filled the feeders today but there is still time. The birds seem to be attacking the vertical hanging feeder more than anythinng else.

Our windchill for today is -17 degrees F. Our temps are around -3 at the beginning of the day. A lot of the country is very cold right now.  I shared the one sundog on my other blog today.  I am betting there were two as I saw other peoples photo of them in southern Iowa.

I need to go get some groceries but we may have to be creative with what is in the pantry. I am only a mile from the store.  Thanks for checking in today.