Sand/ Ice Dunes

These are what the sand/ ice dunes look like on the shores of Lake Erie. The wind blows the sand up into high piles, and then the water freezes on them, and is then covered with snow. These dunes are popular spots for beach walkers, but are very dangerous. You can miss a step, and fall in a hole many feet deep. Pretty but stay off !

Beautiful Day

What a beautiful day ! The sky was clear early this morning, and the sun out in all it's glory. We drove to Erie for a while and took a trip out to the Penninsula. There has been quite a bit of damage from the high winds we had yesterday, and there are limbs and downed trees everywhere. Nature's way of prunning I guess.

This is Tauqua, our rescue dog. We have had him for over a year. One of his favorite places to lay is in front of this stove so he can warm his tootsies !

SUNSHINE ON A GLOOMY MORNING

Yes, sunshine on a gloomy morning !
The temperature at 1:30 this morning was 43º. Now at 8:30 AM it is 14º and falling. High winds and some blowing snow. Thankfully we haven't lost the power yet. We are prepared though with a generator if we need it. All the ice on French Creek has gone mostly from all the rain we had last night, and the water is high and running very fast.
I think I will make bread today and some home made veggie soup.

CAPTAIN OLIVER

This is Captain Oliver. He guards our home during the night time hours, standing at the helm of the ship, with light from his lantern that he holds in his right hand. Actually he gathers sunlight from a sensor in his cap, which in turn energizes the lantern. Gary's great grandfather, Captain John Oliver was a Captain on the Great Lakes( circa 1800's) hauling iron ore, and this is where this fellow gets his name. On a bright sunny day the lantern will store enough to stay bright all night !
It's been a beautiful day with loads of sun. Right now there are clouds sneaking in from the West and there is rain expected.
I'm up to my old tricks again ! Last night I was in a hurry and accidentally deleted ALL my pictures from my picture programs ! I tried everything I know, which isn't much to get them back, but no luck. I have inquired to a couple of knowledgeable friends, and they say TOO BAD ! I will be more careful in the future...

Terrarium

The terrarium is finished. We went to Potratz Greenhouse in Erie yesterday and got all the necessary plants to get this going. What a beautiful experience awaits you. There are several greenhouses all open year round, and you can walk forever just imagining you are on a short vacation to Hawaii ! ! Any kind of flower and plant you can imagine.
See if you can find 3 turtles.....

Mrs. "Harry"

This is the female Hairy woodpecker. Bigger than the more familiar Downy, this is the first year we have seen this gal. Usually it's the male that shows up here.
It's been a Ho Hum day. The sun tried to show up around 10AM, but couldn't quite get through the clouds. Very light flurries, and 36º.

Redbellied Woodpecker

A frequent visitor.

Two Bald Eagles sitting on the ice in French Creek.

Friday afternoon

This picture was taken this afternoon down on French Creek that runs about 150 yards behind our house. We were sitting eating lunch, when I looked toward the creek and spotted 2 large brown birds that seemed to be fighting over something out on the ice. They had huge wingspans, and were jumping up and down. I got the binoculars and discovered they were Bald Eagles. We had seen one fly up and down the water paths for a few years during the summer months, but have not noticed any during the winter, and then to see two in one place. What a treat. I got lots of pictures but I couldn't get close enough to get very good ones. They definitely were eating something, and after they left we took a walk to the creek to see what it was. The only evidence was a hole in the ice and footprints where they had been walking in the snow.
It was a beautiful day here today ! Even though the temperature never got above 17º, that sun made up for all the cold. I did work on my terrarium project a bit, but the big bag of dirt I had bought, I left in the garage, and it was frozen hard as a rock ! I did manage to get it into the house, but after all night and all day today it still hasn't thawed completely. Maybe tomorrow.

Another beauty in bloom
and fragrant too !

Cooper's Hawk

This guy spies on my birds around the feeder, and when he sees one that would make a good dinner, he flies at warp speed toward the unsuspecting victim. He rarely misses. This picture was taken this afternoon from our living room window.
It's been another snowy day accumulating about 3 1/2" here, but much more toward Lake Erie. We did manage a bit of sun too.
I am putting together a terrarium from a large aquarium. I will post pictures when I get it done.

IT'S A MOLE ! CATS DON'T EAT MOLES. LUCKY FOR THE MOLE !

AZRAEL

Blooming Orchid

Tuesday evening

Well, it's been a long, long day. We've been busy since 9AM going through the proper proceedings that deal with Identify Theft ! I hope you all never have to go through this ! Fortunately it isn't allot of money, but still the trouble I had to go through notifying all involved, and talking to the police has taken the entire day. It will be possibly months before I find out all the results.

On to a lighter note, we have more snow again ! LOL

4" at 6PM additional. Possibly another few inches over night tonight. I'm feeding the birds twice a day now to make sure their tummys are full when they go to sleep. It can be very hard for them to find any food with all the deep snow. Yesterday morning I discovered that an animal had been on our property during the night Sunday. It looked like a dogs footprints in the deep snow, but could also have been a coyote ! I haven't heard them howling for quite a while, but they could still be around. At any rate the trail covered all the way around the house, back yard, down to the creek, and then over to the neighbors. I haven't noticed any stray dogs around lately. We did have a coyote in our back yard last year. We found a dead Canada Goose one morning under one of our Evergreen trees with nothing left except bones, and a road kill deer disappeared within two days just up the road...

You will notice some of my orchid pictures in here from time to time. Enjoy.

Monday Morning

The snow has quit for now, and the sun is out. Yea ! In the winter we don't get that much, so everyday with sun is a wonderful sight. One time a few years ago during such a day my husband and I took our lawn chairs out to the driveway and sat soaking up the sun for about 45 minutes or so. Yes, there was snow on the ground, and I bet the neighbors thought we were crazy...We have around 20" on the ground, and the weather folks say we'll get more in the next few days.
I spent this morning working in my greenhouse. I have several orchids blooming right now, and this makes one think of spring.

Winter wonder land

Hi Everyone;
Here is SW New York state countryside it's a really cold blustry evening. We're in the middle of a snow event, and could possibly expect up to 2 feet of snow by Monday morning. We'll see though. After all it is January, and we are quite used to this. At least it is staying daylight longer in the evening.


Our home is quite cozy even though the outside temperature is 15º. We heat in the winter with wood, and if any of you out there use wood you know what cozy is. It's somehow a different warmer heat.


I live with my husband Gary, and we are both are retired.


He has a very large O guage digital control model train layout in the basement, and spends a good bit of his time making railroad related buildings from scratch.


Last summer we built a small greenhouse attatched to our living room, and I this is MY train layout ! LOL Right now I am growing orchids along with African Violets.


In good weather we like to watch trains. We are both avid train watchers, and are fortunate to have an area with-in a half hour where we can drive to and sometimes taking our lunch, we can spend a few hours waiting for the Big Power.


Having raised milking goats for years, we decided since our retirement we might like to travel some, so now the only animals I have are 2 barn cats, 3 laying hens ( can't bear to buy store bought eggs ! ), one rooster by the name of Cogburn, and one rescue dog Tauqua.


Till the next time, have a good evening, and stay warm.