frost embossed

We've had some wonderfully chilly days lately!  Bright sun and blue skies make it feel like quintessential Indiana winter weather to me.  Although we're currently caught in the "frozen vortex" (temperature this morning when I woke up and briefly considered - and discarded - the idea of going to the gym:  -5 F), there's still a lot of beauty that comes along with the discomfort and inconvenience of the cold temperatures.

Last week we had such a heavy frost that it almost looked like the aftermath of an ice storm on the branches and weeds.

Aren't they gorgeous?  We've had some beautiful sunrises, too...

...that make even the slick ice of our apartment complex parking lot look appealing.

I am not immune to the dark days of January, though, that definitely curtail our hiking...and I do miss seeing a little color.  So I always make sure to buy a hyacinth.  They're amazing! You can probably find one - vase included - at your local grocery store for around $4.  Select one that isn't too close to blooming so you can enjoy it longer.

When the flower dies, don't toss the plant...just clip off the stem with the spent blooms and keep the greenery.  It will continue to live and look pretty for another week or so.  I love it!

We're mainly staying inside and not venturing out unless we have to, and our cats are enjoying every beam of light they can find.

I worry about outdoor animals, though.  At least I can rest assured that some are definitely keeping warm and toasty during this weather.  Before the worst of the cold snap, Todd and I were out hiking and saw plenty of beaver signs...

...and two dams.

They're industrious little things!  Here's a time-lapse video that shows one hard at work.  I miss seeing the beavers that worked in our South Carolina pond...

...but hopefully we'll find a property with a pond this spring, and perhaps we'll have a whole new family of beavers there!  Fingers crossed.

Have a great week!

making tracks

I feel the same frustration when trying to identify animal tracks in the snow as I did this past summer when trying to identify mushrooms.  Often distorted by snow depth, melt, or blow, I rarely have an "Ah ha!" moment when comparing my pictures to internet charts.  Still, I enjoy looking at the various shapes and sizes, and am pretty certain that the top photo is from a skunk (we also smelled one in the area), the middle is probably the front paws of an opossum, and the bottom could be mice.

The only certainty was that there was definitely dog.

And birds.  Lots of birds!

We drove to the IU campus on Sunday for a quick walk with Borga.  She was feeling pretty frisky.

The campus is so beautiful.

There's a warming trend coming through this week, so I'm glad we got to get out and enjoy the snow before it was too late.

Have a great week!

snow whoa!

On cold winter days, Tabitha likes to lay in her kitten hammock and watch us bustle around.  Sometimes she'll look outside, but we're a lot more interesting to her (or maybe she's afraid that we're going to steal her spot). 

We left her behind in her sunny perch this weekend when we got OUR FIRST REAL SNOWFALL IN SIX YEARS and had to suit up for a hike!  I don't know if I have mentioned it here before, but I bought a pair of Nonwe snow pants this fall and they're the best thing ever - warm and fleece-y on the inside, slim-fitting, great for layering, wind- and water-resistant.  Add in wool socks, waterproof boots, and thermal underwear, and I was toasty warm the whole afternoon! 

Boy, I haven't seen this for a long time.  Thankfully a bonus to apartment living = not having to shovel.  Although when we do buy our next shovel, it's going to be the Wovel, for the name if nothing else.  Also, I want to pretend that I'm a snow shoveler in 1856, and the giant wheel helps with that illusion.

Borga HATES water, but she loves snow.  She couldn't get enough.

We've had a bit of rain lately, so it was fun to see the boggy places completely iced over.  So pretty!

More beauty with lacy weed seed heads holding snow...

...and red berries look particularly nice against the white.

I love the look of snow-laden trees.

Since we had about 5 inches and drifts were deeper, animal tracks were hard to identify...but we did see several.

Making his own tracks was my intrepid husband, who manfully caught snowflakes on his tongue upon request.

Snow, I have missed you so much!  More snow is expected this weekend and next week, too.  I understand that snow complicates road travel, and we are certainly not immune to that inconvenience.  But I have such wonderful memories from childhood...taking long walks in the woods in fresh snow, carefully clearing out the bricked-in bird feeder basin beneath our living room window and filling it with fresh seed for birds and squirrels, making snow ice cream, sledding.  And, of course, this meme I noticed a few weeks ago is certainly true:  "If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life, but still the same amount of snow."  So embrace it!

See you next week! 

the most of the coast

I have just a few more photos of our trip to the beach. 

I always take a lot of pictures of the surf, even though a lot of them look similar. I can't help it.  There's always some new angle that appeals to me in a different way than the picture before.

Same holds true for moss...

Fog...

And beautiful light.

Okay, Pacific coast...see you next year!