Winter in Woodward........

We shovel walks just like everyone else, even though absolutely no one but the meter readers and the cats walk on them. This is looking south after I finished doing my one side of my property. I actually did the front of the neighbors walk on down just because I could.    My late brother bought one of those expensive shovels that don't hurt you back when you use it.  It is a very good invention as I could shovel longer between rests than with the old fashion kind.

This window view is looking out at that shoveled walk. In an earlier blog we could see sunshine out there.

I almost got him taken to the basement but the dogs distracted me so I set him down on the shelf.  I will fetch him off the shelf and take him in the next time I go out to feed the birds.

It is extremely cold here again and the weatherman says we are running fifteen to twenty degrees cooler that what our normal should be. This is one of my freeloading cats that come to the side door for food. It is a sweet Siamese and I saw him trotting this way up the street while I was clearing the walk. I am very glad to help him out if it keeps him warm with a little dry cat food in his stomach.

Thanks for stopping by, stay positive, and think spring......

No words to say when the photos say it all..........

 

Thanks for stopping......by

Wood crafting time...........

I made a new tray feeder and stand last year and the tray part was made out of used wood that didn't weather well.  Right now I have an old kitty litter pan on top of my stand for the tray feeder.

I was inspired by a feeder that I saw on The Retirement Chronicles blog with evening grosbeaks feeding on it.  It gave me the idea to create multi-levels and the rest is history. The blogger is a kind friend who I know would be pleased if I reinvented from her husbands idea.

I again used old scraps of wood but this time I used solid scrap and no plywood.  I will install it tomorrow and see if the post will hold it up straight.

Our birds have been hitting the feeders hard because of all the snow cover. I plan to feed the mourning doves on the top level.  It will be fun to see how the birds feed from it.

I was digging in the junk room and found some more old Christmas balls.  I know the subject is getting old but I filled up this glass vessel with them and the colors are wonderful.  I have the dining room light turned on above them so I get a lot of reflections.









It just keeps snowing and I am use to it now.  I went out and put a heater in a animal watering trough today so the neighbor cats can have drinking water.  I had the tank heater in my fish pond and the water was so low that they were just hanging around wishing that they could get a drink.

I am really frustrated with the neighbors with so many outdoor cats and they have never watered them.  I throw out extra food once in a while and I get a menagerie of cats out there eating.   I saw a large Persian cat out there today that I had never seen before along with another very large gray cat. I feel better that they have water to drink.

Thanks for checking in today.  I just couldn't take snow pictures again today even though I was out there.  Maybe tomorrow when the wind blows up some great drifts.  Take care everyone.......

Yardsticks and more........

I am not making a conscience effort to collect wooden yard sticks but I won't throw them away. I guess I am collecting yard sticks.  I have brought home eight or more now and most of them are old.  Some antiques and some are from now closed businesses in Osceola, Iowa.

I am not having success in taking photos of my downstairs basement aquarium.  I may have to rig up some special lighting to get better shots.  This goldfish is one of my twelve cents fish that I have grown into a big guy.  You can see the koi's tail to the right.

I have blogged about this autograph book on my Sepia Saturday site.  It is one that belonged to my Great grandmother Wheeler.   She was 16 years old when she had her first autographs penned into the book.  The year was 1890.  If you want to know more about it, I will be posting on my  Sepia Saturday site for two different Saturdays. Click here if you are interested to explore my find.

Monday is suppose to be a snow day for us.  We sit on the border line of the predicted heavy snow so we will see if it stays put on the west side of the line.

Thanks for stopping by.........

Sunday's tattle........or should I say prattle......

You might remember me posting about this cupboard that I rescued from the back of a furniture store.  It was filled with old cans of varnishes and stains.  I couldn't figure out what it was but had made some guesses. 

Well now that I have seen this old clock I now know that the cupboard was originally a clock base with a new door attached to the front and also shelves added.

This clock has the bottom slots to allow the weights to hang down below the clock. The clock here is sitting upside down.   The cupboard above has slots in it with the original pulleys still in the slots.  So it must have been an old Seth Thomas clock too.

In case you haven't seen plastic flowers lately, here is a quick fix for you.  I brought home a glass lidded canning jar and it still has my mom's plastic flowers inside.

While sharing my mom's plastic flowers, I will share my fake red ones.  The sled is one more thing that I couldn't throw away.  I know a couple of kids that might like to have it and I sure was not going to throw it away. 
I actually have another one in the basement for some unknown reason.  It  has the name of Johnston written on the bottom of it.  It amazes me  how things travel through the world.  I think it came from a house my Grandma rented 35 years ago and then was given to my parents.  I don't remember bringing it home but it now has a new buddy.

Thanks for stopping by..........and keep warm.

A very cold day.......

Wind chills from arctic air and high winds make life outside miserable.  I ventured out this Friday morning to see why the birds had given up on things in the feeder tray.  I found the entire batch of seed was frozen over with frost and snow.  I fixed the situation and the mourning dove is grateful.

Our plans for Saturday include staying inside all day. No travel plans with it being this cold. We actually had a worse winter last year with a lot of snow and it remained below zero for so many days. That really is not much to make it feel warmer now.  It is still winter in Iowa.

Thanks for stopping by........

Painted patterns..........

I have always appreciated painted designs on dishes and this  one is a fun pattern. I know that some of the work is done through stencil or decals but it still was touched personally by one or many different glaze painters.

I am certain that the line design of the flower and leaves start out as a stencil but the rest is hand painted. I hadn't noticed that the center stencil was placed a little off center until I photographed it. This is one of those pieces that I brought from my parents home, but I really don't know it's history. I may be a family piece but it also could of been something that was given to my mom.

The glaze is crazing on this bowl and they did use a glaze decal or stencil to let you know where it was created.

Thanks for stopping by......