salty 'flakes and birthday cakes

 It has been a busy month indeed.  I turned 50!  Todd worked in the freezing cold after I'd gone to bed to install a big plywood sign on the porch so that it would be the first thing I saw when I woke up.

We had plans to hike at a national wildlife refuge about 90 minutes away, but the temperature dropped.  I don't mind winter hiking, but it has to be at least 25 degrees!  Now we have to consider Pepita as well.  She has a double coat, but her feet get cold quickly.  

The roads weren't great either, so we decided to stay in.  We made salt dough ornaments...

...played board games, listened to podcasts, and in general had a great snowed-in pajama day, complete with my usual homemade birthday brownie (and Todd had tracked down some Ben and Jerry's Oat of This Swirled ice cream!).  

By the way, I highly recommend salt dough ornaments.  I used this recipe and it was so easy.  And look how pretty the ornaments are (you can see one of the big snowflake ornaments at the front of the Christmas tree)!

We were able to get the tree just before the weather turned...the very same day that the storm came in.

Pepita was unimpressed...

See her on the couch in front?

...but all the pets like to congregate in front of it.

Especially the cats.  We've got our bird feeders filled and they're permanently camped out at the window!

Todd is our feeder filler.

Besides filling the feeders, we are keeping big piles of cat food around the property.  It's cold and there are a lot of strays out there.  We put a cat shelter (plastic tub with straw inside) in the entrance of our white barn and I was delighted to see (via trail cam) that not only are cats staying in it, our cat food has attracted possums to shelter!

The snow is so pretty...it's been very wet, so it clings to the bare tree branches.  

terrible cell phone-in-a-moving-car pic

We generally have bright, sunny days after snow and it's just perfect.

Lots of sleepy cats...

...and pups.

In quiet moments, I've been reading and working on puzzles.

the latest

I've completed 16 puzzles and read 88 books (35,452 pages) this year.  It's down quite a bit from last year's 110 books and 46,166 pages, but I lost a lot of free time with Pepita's midsummer adoption.  I'm just now starting to get free time back.  I haven't really worked on many textile projects this year, either...little knitting, embroidering, sewing, or quilting.  I'm hoping to make some big progress in many areas next year.  As this year winds down, though, I'm going to stick to my usual quiet comforts.

Have a great week!  
 

the ice-ing on the cake (brrrr!)

 It's 3 degrees outside, down to -4 tonight!  Brrr!  We are having periods of flurries, and still have snow on the ground.  It's so pretty.

back pond

lots of sunny days...

...and beautiful sunrises.

I love them!

The initial snowfall was pretty powdery, and we've had a little bit of melt, so animal tracks have been  hard to identify.  There are four separate lines of tracks below.  At least one rabbit, not sure of the others!

at least this one's easy!

Even in the cold, bright sun makes icicles.

The tree branches are covered in a heavy frost.

The kittens have been glued to the windows, watching the birds.

Animals are still active outside.  Sometimes we see them...

...and other times we catch them on the trail cams (you can expand these videos to make them easier to see!).

bobcat

coyote going out on the back pond ice!  

We've got plenty of food out for the strays and the birds, including a heated water bowl.  We're hoping that it's cold enough to KILL ALL THE TICKS, but not so cold that the animals are injured!

Meanwhile, we're staying inside as much as possible.  We've just celebrated our 2nd "fun" holiday of the month, Nothing Day.  We had to watch a show about nothing (Seinfeld), learn about something that we knew nothing about (competitive dog grooming with dyed fur), and bake with an ingredient that I knew nothing about...in desserts, anyway.  I chose sauerkraut, and make an old Depression-era recipe:  sauerkraut chocolate cake.  Looks normal enough...

...until you look a little closer.  That white shred is a long, disgusting strand of sauerkraut.

The recipe recommended pulverizing the sauerkraut, which I didn't do because my food processor bowl was in the dishwasher.  I will admit that you could not TASTE the sauerkraut, but the long strands threw me off.  If I had pulverized it, I think it would've been an amazing cake.  Todd loved it!  Another successful holiday!

Until the cold breaks, we're staying inside.  Working inside, exercising inside...

I'm on the exercise bike, and Barnabas is waiting impatiently 

to be fed.  I'm getting the long stare...

...and enjoying the OUTSIDE views...from the inside.

Stay warm!!

(G)Oz Fest

It's been quite a week for our feathered friends.  Finally, birds have found our clear trough feeder!  I love to watch them.  So far we've had house finches, cardinals, sparrows, and titmouses (titmice, apparently, is frowned upon in the avian community).

Not to be outdone, squirrels have finally cracked the code, too.  First, a cautious look from a safe distance.

Then, the eyeball.

Finally, the leap of glory and ultimate reward for daring.

But alas, the stinkeye, given after he'd been rousted from the feeder.

In other "feather" news, I found these cool red-tipped ones outside while working in the yard last week.

Aren't they pretty?  They're secondary feathers from a cedar waxwing.  It's not known exactly what they're for, but apparently they're likely used by males to attract females.  They're the most beautiful birds and I'm so glad to find evidence of them around the yard!

Finally, second-generation "goz" have just entered the picture!

Sadly, the parents have nested at the far end of the pond, so I've only seen them once - with the wrong camera lens on hand.  Still, we hear the geese calling daily and I'm hoping that they'll start making the trip down to our end of the pond soon!

I almost walked past this mating pair of anoles on our porch this week.  So much of their activity takes place in the shadows, so this was an amazing treat.

There's always a bit of tension when it comes to nature photography.  I want to get the close shot, but I don't want to disturb my subject.  I tried to be as unobtrusive as possible, but once the female started dragging the male away, I had to back off and forfeit the great close-up.

Later, I found a sole anole in one of my ferns.

I love their tiny scales, beautiful coloring, and strangely intelligent eyes, but I know that when I get close, they get anxious.  I can see their sides expand and shrink like tiny bellows, and I try to get a shot quickly, sometimes sacrificing a really great and crisp shot, so that their stress is minimal.

Another example is our turtles.  There are a seemingly endless number of them, sunning on fallen trees.  I love to photograph them...

...but when I get close (and not really even that close), they do perfectly synchronized dives into the water.

I am constantly refining my technique, but ultimately my goal is to get a great shot, but not at the expense of my subjects' safety or comfort.  Hopefully I'll get better with time!

Our last little bit of wildlife from this week:  Todd called me from the driveway yesterday, muttering something about "hounds from Hades."  I went outside and found this little fellow:

It's just a black rat snake, totally harmless.  This one was about four feet long ("Six! Eight!" Todd insists), and moving slowly into the woods when he was spotted.

I love their skin.

Real beauties, and great to have around.

Looking forward to many more months of wildlife around here, now that we've got hot weather (low 90s all week, ugh) and the sun is officially OUT for months.

Have a great week!