After exhausting myself clearing snow yesterday, and with no snow in the forecast, Harry brought me a cup of coffee first thing this morning with the news that… it was snowing. Not again!
Bird footprints in fresh snow
It snowed all morning. I have pretty much given up on trying to keep paths clear, and after hearing weather news from my friend in northern Missouri, I have nothing to complain about during this spell of cold, by comparison. Here is the view from my desk.
A beautiful view
And, of course, out on the back deck there are many birds, always entertaining. I had a big rock in the bird bath, and the flocks of starlings have been pooping in the water so much, that I decided to try removing the rock. Well, that made it much easier to bathe – but who on earth would bathe at 12 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s MINUS 11 degrees Celsius)!? Well, starlings, that’s who (and they still poop in the water). For all that, they are funny birds, and we like them.
The doves are not as peaceful as they look – they can be bullies! 
The wren grabs a seed 
Pileated woodpecker joins cardinals at the feeder 
Off he goes! 
Starling bathes at 12 degrees! 
“Come in in! The water’s great!” 
A house finch (maybe a purple finch?)
On the other side of the house, I have put out several feeders, because it’s so cold and there are many birds. Today, I saw a rufous sided towhee out there, but didn’t have the camera.
A downy woodpecker and a tufted titmouse
In the house, Roscoe lounges in the big purple chair, his throne. Meanwhile, poor Marmalade is camping under the porch. I have tried to entice him into the barn, and the warm tack room, but he and Licorice will not be tempted from their wild lifestyle. I am feeding them canned cat food twice daily instead of only at dinnertime, but I don’t know how they will cope with this sustained cold.
The Maltese King on his throne 
Marmalade
Also in the house, the Meyer lemon has started blooming, adding a heavenly tropical fragrance to the room. I have given the tree some iron chelate to help with the yellowing leaves.
Outside, the horses vary between miserable endurance of the weather, and romping like maniacs. I prefer the boring “grazing and standing around” phase, but the romps make for more entertaining pictures.
Peaceful and picturesque 
The Pearl Brothers 
Stone and Bart 
Ouch!
Stay safe, stay well. Peace
Bravo! You do stay busy. Not me, unless you consider reading and exploring the wide world of life as we yearn to know it — work. I’ve read most of Paul Theroux’s extraordinarily illuminating “travel” books enabling me to visit the slums, the poverty, the ingenuity, the squalor, the enterprise, the beauty, and the starkness, of the world from Ethiopia, and much of the African Continent, to Central America, the Deep South, South America’s Pacific coast, and The Happy Isles of Oceana. Never a dull moment reading Theroux, then once in a blue moon I’ll peak at the NYT’s, every headline bad news. Why does anyone subject themselves to this fruitlessness? Your birds, Anne, are far more interesting, as well as Roscoe and Weedy, and the “Pearl brothers.” You and this blog are a relief. Not to mention what I am learning about birds!