Bird song

Just last week we had what could be our last blast of winter. Still more cold weather to take us through March for sure, and probably April, but the birds have started singing, and that means spring is on the way.

In addition to the usual winter visitors at the bird feeder: woodpeckers (downy, hairy, red-bellied) and nuthatches, chickadees, blue jays, cardinals, juncos—we are now getting sparrows, blackbirds, grackles, finches, and, just yesterday, the first lonely robin. Don't let me forget that darn squirrel (named Steve after our "friend" Steve dumped him here!)

This little guy looking through the fence>>> was playing with his big daddy Walter (on stage in the blurry background) until Woody and I walked by. I couldn't get the camera out fast enough to catch his bouncy dance across the yard to come visit.

March winds do blow

You will all be pleased to know, or at least I am, that in spite of the crazy wind and snow yesterday, Miss Tara of the TFJ managed to find her way back to beautiful Upstate New York. Just a little reminder from Mother Nature that it is not yet spring.

While I was out walking dogs the day before the snow, when we still had some snow, I saw some mysterious footprints. Melting snow sometimes makes footprints appear larger. Hard to get a good pic when Cyrus was making his own right on top.

The mysterious part is that there was a pattern of 4 little feet all together. And repeating every foot or so, another group of 4. They don't look like bunny prints, so what critter was doing that little dance out there? They are all covered up now. I'll never know.

Mean words and margaritas

I may have texted a few mean words to Miss Tara when leaving The Freeman's Journal on Tuesday night. There were only 3 of us left here in the cold to get the newspaper off to press while she was off vacationing in sunny California. Not only did she feel the need to let me hear the margaritas blending in the background, but she had the nerve to send me this photo at 8:45 p.m. as I was walking out to my car. >>>

We got a decent little snowstorm yesterday which covered up all of the recently uncovered grass. At least it made the house look really pretty! Today, the sun is out and the grass and mud are making a comeback. 

Just in time for Tara's return to the North Country, an even bigger March snow is expected on Saturday. Don't you go planning on staying there longer, Missy!  The 3 of us at TFJ need you back!

 

One year later

It was 1 year ago that the WoodMan was diagnosed with a tumor on his spleen and given, best guess, 6 months to live. We had the option of euthanizing him right then and there, or doing surgery (not recommended), or taking him home.

We chose the third (only) option.

Woody celebrated his extended life by napping on the sofa for a bit, and then talking a nice walk through the swampy yard on a gorgeous spring-like day. He is certainly not acting like a 13- or 14- year-old "sick" dog.

We took a moment to visit the goats through the fence, although only the kids were brave enough to meet him face-to-face.

A whiter shade of pale

I should (but probably won't) stop talking about the weather and just post photos of the Adirondack chairs taken from my spot on the sofa in the living room. This one was from yesterday afternoon as we were considering going out to play some music with friends.

This morning we have bright blue skies, and cats sunning themselves on that very same sofa.

Rest in peace, Gary Brooker.

 

Stream monitoring and 2 more kids

I missed doing my stream monitoring in January because the creek was halfway iced over. I couldn't tell which part was safe to walk on to get to the middle where I am supposed to collect water samples to be tested back in the house. That, and there were below 0° and single-digit temperatures through the weekend.

In early February we had several of those frigid days, and then a warm spell where it made it up to nearly 50° (my last post). This led to lots of snow melting, some flooded roads, and a raging river in my backyard with big floating chunks of ice, just in time for this this month's monitoring. We're taking a pass on the monitoring again this month, sorry Jeff!

As I am writing this post, I think about mentioning the crazy wind the past 3 days, and I look out the window to see the sun has disappeared behind a little snow squall (second photo). All of this is pretty darn normal for winter up here, but I think climate change may be to blame for the repeat occurrences of below 0° with some nice warm days in between.

And, please tell me iPhone weather wizards, how and when was there a 55° high yesterday when all I could see in the 24-hour forecast at 10:43 a.m. was 20° or below. I was waiting for my chance to go out and catch some sun...

Sorta kinda but not really weather related: 

Rain had 2 little white boy kids this morning. Her sister Snow had 2 little black girl kids 2 weeks ago. For a cute kid video if I haven't already sent it to you, check my Facebook page under this post.

Feels like summer

So after a few weeks of too cold weather, summer has arrived! Sorta. It is 46° right now at 3:30 in the afternoon.

And as proof to Little Sister and other disbelievers, I took these photos as the sun was rising this morning.

Sometimes I actually do wake up before noon. Frequently. Always as a matter of fact.
 

Winter toll

There has been a lot of activity here with kids being born. Unfortunately most of the births have been on the coldest days. Sadly we have lost a few of the kids, but we are pleased to have 10 healthy and getting bouncy kids to cheer us up.

It is always interesting to see what color the kids are going to be. We have quite an interesting combination this year, all from the same buck, Walter Becker, a brown and black Alpine.

Rosie is the white Saanen mom in the first pic. Snow is her daughter, the mom in the second pic. Unlike all of the others so far, I love that they both had 2 black kids. I don't know if that goes back to Rosie's mom Lucille, or possibly to previous black and white bucks David Bowie and Johnny Cash. Or maybe color isn't handed down like that...

Snow's sister Rain is still due, and possibly the youngest lady Gracie will bring us one. We are hoping and praying they wait just a bit longer for warmer weather. You know it's a cold winter when temps in the 20°s and 30°s are considered warm.

6 and counting

So far all 6 kids were born while we were out, sometime late in the afternoon. Red Betty gave us 2 on The Husband's birthday (and yes, Brian, one is a boy). But Red Betty decided she only needs to feed 1 of them, so Hub is doing his favorite thing and bottle feeding Red's little lookalike girl. >>>

The other 2 colorful kids came yesterday afternoon from Bella. The one with the brown mask in both pics is a boy (I think) with his multi-colored sister in the top photo.

All 4 of these kids were born on the worst possible days, when even with the sun it was single-digit cold, and at night below-zero colder. All we can do is help mom dry them off and hope for the best. 

We are all thankful for the sunshine!

Yesterday afternoon, while Bella was kidding of course, we were visiting Steve and Deb up on a very frozen Oneida Lake. They built this beautiful Wiehlhouse all by themselves! And Deb made a matching gingerbread house inside. :)

Boys in the back, birthing and a birthday

During kidding season, the boys struggle to stay in the picture(s) literally.

Especially when frigid weather keeps the photographer inside for as long as possible. The setting sun and posing dogs combined forced me to capture them through a dirty window.

So far we still only have these 2 little girls out in the goat barn. The weather has warmed just a little, so we are hoping Molly goes today, on The Husband's birthday.

Go Molly!

Happy Birthday, Husband!

Goats (and cats) in coats

Well at least Susan Sontag didn't wait for the next cold snap tomorrow to give birth to her 2 littles. I think we have 2 girls, but they weren't too happy being zipped into their coats and checked for spare parts underneath. Thus the look from mom. Or maybe she doesn't like plaid.

But it is Molly Malone who looks like she is about to burst with a kid volcano. She can barely stand up, and has been that way for a few weeks. She is probably the one who will bear us gifts on one of the next 2 nights when it is supposed to be -6°. At least that's better than the -10° they originally predicted.

So I came in from the photo session with the goats in coats, and I couldn't help but notice the Willie in a perfectly sized cat coat. He was looking quite handsome himself, and would like to know why everyone is making such a fuss about goats?