As Our Life Goes On

Please come sit by me Sit real close and hold my hand Stay with me for now The time will go by quickly I may not see you again -Caroline

There is a deep heavy snow cover around our yard. The deep wet snow is good for exercising as one must lift each leg up high to take each step.  I did make a trip around the yard to feed the birds this afternoon. I hope they like corn because I put lots of that in the feeders. I am rationing the black oil sunflower seed. The birds and squirrels really like the sunflower seed the best but it has escalated in price so that it is more than double the price that it was a couple of years ago. Shell corn has also doubled in price but it is almost cheap compared to the other bird feeds. It has been a great day for catching up on paperwork and other jobs that must be done.  

I was glad that Mr. Fixit put up the bird feeder behind my office window yesterday. It had been stored in the shed all Summer and the expectation of heavy snow gave us a good reason to erect it for the Winter.  The wind is blowing fiercely today and very heavy snow is falling. We do enjoy watching the squirrels, birds and deer that visit the feeders when it is too difficult for them to find food.  The birds chirp in expectation as we exit the house carrying a fresh supply of shell corn and sunflower seeds  to the feeders. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Twas the day before...... Snow sparkled in the sunshine Christmas was coming Love, family, friends, peace are the most precious gifts of all MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! -Caroline

The auxiliary woodpile is against the woods on the East side of our property. The freshly cut wood needs to dry until next year. The freshly deposited snow lends beauty to the landscape.  It covers things that may not be pretty with its soft sparkly white coating. Only deer tracks break the smoothness of the surface. It puts me in a quiet peaceful state even though our World is turbulent. 

It is difficult to hear noises from the outside when we are inside of our house. The older well insulated brick faced house does filter out a lot of the noise from the street and elsewhere. Last night we could hear the fierce winds blowing as the cold front moved in and dropped the temperatures by about 20 degrees. Brrrr! It is cold out there compared to yesterday. The wind is still blowing  and snow is falling. We are lucky to have missed having deep snows and it is easy to drive around to accomplish those things that must be done.  This is the first official day of Winter and it is definitely here. 

Split wood neatly stacked The yard lays muddy and wet Snow will be here soon Radiant heat warms us now and throughout the cold Winter -Caroline

Winter begins officially on Friday and according to the weather forecast the warmer weather that we have been experiencing will be changing drastically. It will be about 20 degrees colder than Thursday and the snow will begin to fall. Time to get the snow tires on and to put the snow brush where it can be easily reached. 

Black and gray squirrels love the seeds from the pine cones on our trees. Many stripped cones lay under the tall trees.  Black squirrels, a variety of gray squirrels, were brought  to the Kent State campus in Kent, Ohio from Canada in 1961. They seemed few in number but they multiplied quickly. The spread of these darker colored squirrels was helped by my dad. He had two Chinese chestnut trees in his back yard and the squirrels were numerous in his yard. They ate holes in the soffits of his house and moved into the attic areas. He felt that there were way too many squirrels around.  As an independent businessman dad worked in many of the surrounding towns. He set Havahart traps in his yard and transported the black and gray squirrels to different towns as he did his business trips for the day. The black squirrels would have certainly spread to other areas on their own but certainly his actions caused them  to spread  much faster. It was probably not legal to do what he did  b

Soft fragile petals Vulnerable, beautiful Take in their beauty Love them in the present time Remember them forever -Caroline

Winter starts on December 21st and I find myself longing for Spring again. Perhaps looking at pictures of flowers will make me think of warmer weather. Actually, the weather has not been too bad yet and perhaps we will have another mild Winter. The sun is shining today but the air is cold. I am a person who needs the sunshine to stay in a happy optimistic mood. Today is a great day. 

Shorter days are here Long Shadows fall early now Each night seems longer -Caroline

When we moved into our house over 40 years ago a large Eastern Milk Snake lived under our garage floor. That big snake would sun itself on our back step and shed its skin on the shrubs next to our breeze way. It would sit in the crack between the concrete driveway and garage floor. Sometimes it would startle me to see it resting where it was so obvious. It lived  here for many years and during that time we did not see mice near or around the garage area.  Yesterday there was a dead mouse with a white belly laying just inside the garage door and today this recently departed all gray mouse was resting on the bottom shelf of the wicker TV stand on the porch. Yuk! This makes me feel dirty. Two mice in two days means there must be a lot of them around.  My Christmas wish is for another large snake to move in around here next year.  

Ohio in the Winter ~ Dark Days Save me from dark days Nights and days differ little Dreary wet dark days -Caroline

It is almost hard to believe that there was an extreme drought in this area last Spring and Summer. The wetlands have filled with water. The vegetation that grew when these wetland spots were dry now turns the water murky and dark as it deteriorates. The different varieties of mosses in the yard have turned bright green and seem to be spreading a bit even though the weather is cooler. The ground is mushy and there are numerous puddles that I must go around on my walk. Rubber boots protect my feet but mud splashes up on the bottom of my pants. I am thankful for the ability to get out and walk around the yard  no matter what the weather is. 

There's a leaf eating monster in my yard  digesting moldy wet leaves and glaring through his wooden eyes threatening   all who pass by his lair. His heavy gray eyebrows are menacing. Don't mess with this grinch. 

We still have a pile of odd shaped stone pieces that we may want to incorporate into this area. Perhaps a stone pad will be placed in front of the shed in the background or maybe there is enough for a short pathway somewhere. The iron fence, old streetlamp and brick path were all large projects. The rest of the work will be left until Spring when revisions will be made in the plantings that are present in the garden also. We are really pleased with how this looks. 

Weeds grow anywhere Just a little dirt needed Seeds find their way there.  -Caroline

Mr. Fixit believes in wearing ear protection when working with noisy machinery. One day a few months ago he declared that the telephone was not working and there was no dial tone. I listened and told him that the tone was back now and handed him the phone. He listened again and then started switching the phone from ear to ear. He was unable to hear that dial tone in his left ear. He could hear some sounds but not the dial tone.  He was due for a checkup and though the family doctor slightly addressed the problem he did not suggest doing anything. We doctor shopped as the great ENT that we had years ago had moved out of state. There are still some more tests to be done and we realize that there are some things that can be fixed and some that can't. We will see. It has been a hard adjustment to make. What I thought was selective hearing was actually his not hearing much when I talked to him from the left side. His right ear seems unaffected. That is a good thing for which we

Lone Vinca flower Pretty,  Not everlasting. Come back in the Spring. -Caroline