Cold and Blustery Day at the Birdfeeder!

"What? No more sunflower seeds?"

Hello, all! I hope you are enjoying my happy chatter about my birdfeeder. It ain't much to look at, but the birds seem to be happy. My father has taken a slight interest in our daily visitors, and he has loaned me a better camera for stalking them. It's a Canon Rebel XT (EOS) with a six-inch zoom lens. A little different than my Canon Powershot A720 IS, but I think I can figure it out.

Last night we had a lot of wind come through. I had to reset the pan under the pine tree! Good thing the hanging feeder didn't blow down! The cold wind persisted through the day today, but I did sneak a few pictures this afternoon. Northern cardinal, Carolina chickadee, and an American robin. I hope to meet the "Breakfast Club" in the morning. :)

American Robin

Cardinal watches a little bird rummage under a seed-filled log 

Après la fête, la défaite!

Ah! Christmas holidays! The food, the family, the friends, the festivities.... and then it's over. All the presents have been opened, the kitchen is a horrendous mess, and the little ones are running amok on sugar highs!... and in one week, it will be NEW YEAR'S!!!   oh, happy happy, joy joy...

I had a geology centered Christmas. My friends and family are the best! I received a carved stone jewelry box. I haven't taken a good look at what stone yet, but the carving is of excellent lacy vines. I also received a calcite lamp, perfect to display with my rose quartz bookends. I got a locally made, beautiful hematite and semiprecious stones necklace and bracelet, plus two bloodstone spheres. I love rocks and minerals! :)

My gifts to others were primarily hand-crocheted items. I found free patterns online for fingerless gloves and lip-blam cozies. I also tried to design a few hats and make a matching scarf for one of them... I had to rip out the scarf and restart twice! Grrr! But, it's working out this time... I am more careful with the counting LOL.

Hey, this year global warming (heh heh) brought a snowstorm to the southeastern US! That never happens! A white Christmas in Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh?... Bing Crosby has been dreaming for a long time here! ... I'm not a fan of snow. It's "fluffy rain"... it's cold and makes the roads slick (slicker than just rainwater)... it gets in my boots and sleeves, soaks through my mittens, and if the wind is blowing, stings any centimeter of flesh not safely hidden beyond a pile of fluff and stuff. I look like the Michelin Man (TM) or the Sta-Puff Marshmallow(TM) guy except I don't wear white!

Sure, snow is pretty when it gently floats from the grisly grey clouds... and smooths the landscape with a soft white blanket... Then it reeks havoc on the bridges, and drivers forget how to drive. Next are the weakest tree branches that crash over power lines and utility sheds. THEN comes the melt., making everything all soggy for days! See, if it had just rained in the first place, the water would have run away to the streams and a half week later, there would be no remnants.

I'm the minority around here. Most folks I know are loving the snow. Children pray for it beginning the first day of school. Even the adults seem enchanted by a White Christmas... bah! Humbug! ... I think I must have stayed out too late a few times when I was younger; back when snow was "cool." Maybe I got too cold? Maybe I wrecked my sled, and never shook off the embarrassment? Maybe I was the target of a slush ball to the head? Maybe after I started driving I started dreading the "fluffy rain?"... Doesn't matter... I hear it never snows in Southern California?... and that definitely makes it one of the Top 10 Places I want to live!