There was grass. And then there wasn't.

Posting this for the Jersey folks who are bemoaning their lack of snow.

C'mon up for a visit! We have plenty and it's almost April.

After a few days of warmth and sunshine, we found the grass and the firepit again. Still a bit of snow where it had drifted, but most of it was gone.

All day yesterday Siri was predicting rain in the afternoon. Even while those big snowflakes were falling, Siri said it was raining.

Our friend Wayne says this is "sap snow". It's sugaring off season up here, and this time of year we tend to get really wet snow with really large snowflakes. It usually disappears just as quickly.

No, Siri, that was not rain. Rain is not nearly that pretty.

Sunday homemade jam

Who knew when we moved here a dozen years ago, that Husband would find even more friends to play with than in his days down by the Delaware River with the Holmesburg Jam folks? 

He is spending his lunch hour playing right now at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown. The SLUMC Coffee House was Saturday. He played on St Patrick's Day at Mel's, I can't keep up with his busy schedule.

I prefer the homemade jams. I can sing along when I know the words, and I don't feel uncomfortable with friends as the only audience.

This incredible home was built by the banjo man, Jeff. Musical talent, a great voice, and he built his own house? How is that possible?

I think the Hub is getting used to me disobeying the rules of the blog. I'll just keep sneaking in pictures of him until I get scolded again. :)

 

Soaking up the sun, and number 12

It's true, the snow is melting. 

Woody took advantage of a sunny afternoon yesterday and laid down in what is supposed to be my garden. The one he digs up every year. The orange day lilies and rudbeckia and weedy hollyhocks are the only plants to survive.

All is forgiven. My old man can soak up the sun anywhere he pleases.

My other old man found himself a much younger woman on Monday afternoon. We were wondering if Stella was ever going to give birth—all of the other does had given up their kids back in January and February.

I had just been out to the barns and didn't see this little one in there. Lo and behold Husband comes home from work a half hour later, and there she is! We ran out of S names for Snow, Shirley, and Stella's kids, so this little girl is going to be Teresa.

And she is definitely a keeper! :)

(I think I am allowed to post pics of him when he is holding a cute little goatie in his arms...)

 

White and green

I managed to make my way through the wavy ocean of snow on one of the warmer days this week. It was time to fill the bird feeders.

It was nice enough that I was able to sit in the chair by the firepit, with snow up to my knees, and appreciate the sun as it was going down. 

A few days of sun melted a lot of the snow, to the point where we started seeing grass again, and then we got another blast of cold today and maybe another inch of white stuff to cover up the "green".

It wasn't really all that green...

There was a lot of wearin' of the green at Mel's on Friday for St. Patrick's Day. I am sneaking in a pic of the elusive Husband as he was playing with his Fast Friends. Cousin Greg and I sat at the bar and had some not green Irish beer.

Much fun was had by all.

Icing on the floor

I wrongly stated in my last post that 16" of snow was due on Monday. Although the storm did start on Monday, the real snow from this nor'easter didn't come until Tuesday. Thank the heavens above I did not have to go into work on this ugly Tuesday!

I think we might have actually received the predicted amount of snow, but it came with so much wind that there is no good way to measure it.

After temperatures in the 40°s yesterday and today, huge drifts of snow and icicles are exploding off the roof. It is going to take more than a few days of this warmer weather to melt all those drifting waves of snow. 

Cyrus discovered what it is like to run through the ocean. He blasted through the snow to chase 2 crows from the bird feeder. He had difficulty making it back to shore as some of the drifts are taller than him.

I do miss the ocean...

Icing on the cake

Winter is still hanging on. We have had more snow in the last couple of weeks than we had all season. Siri threatened us with 16" of wintry mix today, but, so far only a few flurries.

Woody just passed the second anniversary of his doomsday visit to the vet. She suggested we might want to euthanize him when she found a mass on his spleen. She did not recommend surgery as he was too old to go through that.

Our best guess is that he is now 14 and a half. We didn't kill him. We didn't go for the surgery. We got him off all the meds but one, and he probably doesn't even need that little happy pill, but it has no side effects so why not.

His new thing is that he likes to sit in my lap. Not sure what he thinks he's doing other than pestering me. I let him stay until my legs fall asleep, and then convince him to move on.

So I move to a different chair to read my book. Chances Are by Richard Russo. 

Then these 2 join me.

I guess we are still adjusting to mom being home all day.

A bird obsession: Part 4—Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers

On a day when I have had to repeatedly chase not one, but two squirrels from the feeder, I am going to focus on cute little birdie pictures to take my mind off the varmints. There's just no good way to put a squirrel baffle on a tree...and I can't put the feeder inside the dog fence where I want it, because it's not close enough to the WiFi signal.

If you have ever seen these cute little woodpeckers before, you will know how hard it is to distinguish one from the other.

These top 3 photos are of a male downy woodpecker. They are a bit smaller than the hairy guys, and the beak is smaller as well. The bottom three are of a female hairy woodpecker.

I was first able to tell the difference when  I saw one of each at my other feeder, pre-BirdBuddy. There is a noticeable size difference, but only if you can see them together.

Now that I have the magic camera, I can actually see the difference in beak size. Not much chance I would have noticed that otherwise.

 

4 and 20 plus even more birds

Even though we have a fair amount of snow (again) the birds are saying that spring is definitely on the way.

The first red-winged blackbird showed up on February 21. Then word must've gotten out because 4 and 20 of his friends showed up on March 1.

And, keeping an eye on the arrival of these new and bigger birds, was this large hawk. I am still trying to identify what kind. (Northern Harrier?) He only hung around for a minute or so, and then took off for the other feeder. 

I am hoping Dr Pam can help with the ID, but if anyone else has an idea from these bad pics, please let me know.

Mostly dark gray or grayish brown on the top, mostly white underneath with a stripey tail and wings.

And the last pic is just another of the house finches. They travel in a group that is more like 2 and 10. Over 1,000 visits to the BB so far!

All types of birds were 0 and 0 while the hawk was out there. The crows gave the warning signal. Lay low little birdies!

UPDATE: Dr Pam and Becky the Birder agree that this is likely a Northern Harrier, probably a juvenile.