Frosty Morning - Part 2

Grocery shopping early this morning I traveled through virtual fairyland of frost encrusted deciduous and evergreen trees. Hoping the frost would last long enough for me to photo them - - - I submit these shots. Clicking will enlarge them.

Frosty Morning - Part 1

Grocery shopping early this morning I traveled through virtual fairyland of frost encrusted deciduous and evergreen trees. Hoping the frost would last long enough for me to photo them - - - I submit these shots. Clicking will enlarge them.

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

In Forestville, Michigan near where I live, we've had a few days of bitter cold and roaring winds which brought down several of my sun-catchers which twirl in the wind discouraging birds from flying into my windows. I'll need to put them back up very soon as I expect more migrating birds fairly soon. They hang by monofilament lines and capture the light reflecting it and spinning it around the inside of my home dazzling the floor and walls. They often accidentally get into my photos as I try and capture the amazing views here. Clicking on photos enlarges them.

 Realizing it's almost spring, the bald eagle has returned to perch at the top of a large cottonwood tree that's near the bluff in the southeast corner of my property. I raced to get the camera but just caught him/her taking off mid-wing-beat east out to the lake towards Canada perhaps looking for fish?

First light and sunrise this morning. Of course it's spectacular. It's hard not to be amazed everyday. So why bother.

I've recently rediscovered Maya Angelou.

"When someone shows you who they are, 

believe them the first time."

My taxes are done for another year. My Social Security went up $2.00 a month. As if! It's a shame that our politicians don't live in our real world, isn't it?

Kria the Icelandic Sheepdog takes a Winter Swim

Kria my matronly Icelandic Sheepdog, who turns fifteen this spring, fell through the ice into the fish pond today. Hearing the splashing I quickly ran to the pond and pulled her out by her collar. The other Icies were fascinated by her fish and frog smell and they all were running around excitedly. Then I noticed that her whole body was shaking uncontrollably from the cold so we raced inside to dry her with towel and the hair dryer. She is the first and hopefully last dog to pond plunge. Clicking on photos will enlarge them. *

The first Flicker, Colaptes auratus luteus, returned today. He(?) was hungrily feeding on the suet which will hopefully sustain him (her) until ants reappear. Unlike other woodpeckers, they do not dig into trees, dead or alive, for food; the majority of their diet is ants which they find primarily in the soil. An average meal consists of hundreds even thousands of ants. We have black wood ants and black and red wood ants in large mounds here and I've seen flickers feasting on ants as they dig into their hills. They also consume beetles and some vegetable material including some fruit from wild cherry trees.. However, even though they don't dig into trees for food usually, they do excavate nest holes about three feet (one yard or one meter) in depth in dead trees for their nests which have from six to ten eggs. They may be our most abundant woodpecker. While most woodpeckers stay year round, flickers migrate as ants are unavailable during the winter. I've always called them yellow shafted flickers because of the yellow on the undersides of the large feathers. Note the spots or freckles on the belly and the yellow feathers.

Some of the ice was tinted tannish the other day. If it had been later in the winter, I might have guessed the color came from spring tree pollen. I saw my first ship too.

*Kria was VERY upset with her photos - - 

so this one is "Apres le Bain"

Good Morning February 19. 2019

Yesterday Meatball, Mika and Joe's huge and lovable rescue cat, appeared on TV after being retrieved from a mess he's gotten himself into; I took this not so good photo of him. My own rescue "I Ching" could be his sister. Attitude! Yes, looks to me like they both have it!.

They say this moon is special because it's closer to earth orbit now. Regardless, it's very cool.

 Good morning Forestville, Michigan. The first lights and sunrises are coming earlier and earlier which I love.

I love the shots showing bands of ice separated by bands of deep blue water. Maybe that's why I like Danish Christmas plates. Hmm.

The virburnum berries are almost gone now consumed by the hordes of migrating cedar waxwings. This bird was caught berry in beak. Compare the number of berries on the bush now with a shot from a recent post. It's heartwarming to have provided food for them on their journey back home to breed.

From Christine: -

“I hate when people say I’m ‘solitaire’ (or solitary.) Yes, I’m solitaire in the sense of a stone from Cartier, a big solitaire,” Lagerfeld told The New York Times in an interview. “I have to be alone to do what I do. I like to be alone. I’m happy to be with people, but I’m sorry to say I like to be alone, because there’s so much to do, to read, to think.”

Bangsi

This note came from Courtney and Jeff who adopted the Icelandic Sheepdog Bangsi after his recent fourth birthday; he was born on February 15, 2015.

Hello!

It has been quite some time since I have sent pictures of Bangsi, so I thought I would pass these along. He is doing very well and is just as smart as ever. His favorite hobbies are fetch, frisbee, and supervising yard work. He remains wary of big dogs and loud children, but as we have neither it doesn't matter much. He will be starting some at home agility training this spring to keep his mind and body occupied. He has made friends with a miniature Aussie and tolerates our friend's lab who comes to stay now and again. He remains, however, an only child. We think he prefers it this way. He just celebrated his 4th Birthday with a cookie from his favorite local dog shop and a trip to the chilly coast. We hope you are well and that you enjoy the update. 

Courtney, Jeff, and Bangsi

First there's a puppy photo from four years ago and then there are the recent shots from Courtney and Jeff.

I do really enjoy updates. It is so nice to hear how my fur kids are doing. That's why I do this!

Kross Gola Kelinn and Vinlands Totty