As Our Life Goes On

Our neighbors have started to salvage wood from their old granary next door. The weathered boards are more than likely better wood that might be found at the lumber yard. The boards are being used to repair other outbuildings on their farm. The shed is leaning more each year.  The buzzards are still living in the old shed and they circle overhead each day casting large dark shadows as they soar. 

May your Easter weekend be filled with prayer, family, love and peace. 

The ripples in the water in the wetlands indicate a windy day. This pair of Canada Geese are unaffected by the cold breezy day. A bright sun lends some warmth the the air but a light layer of snow remains in the woods. The geese dive from time to time and only their tails can be seen. We like the calming effects of  watching wildlife in the wetlands as we walk along the bike trail behind our house. 

Nothing more to say About Spring in Ohio Unpredictable -Caroline

Last March we had temperatures in the 70s. The Spring peepers were singing loudly all day. It is a wonderful sound that I long to hear. This March the temperatures are below normal. Freezing overnight temperatures continue and there will be no immediate end to that. The sunny blue sky is a bit deceiving. It is cold out there.  The wetlands still have a light layer of ice and those tiny frogs are not about to start singing until things change a bit. When they start chirping we open a window at night so that we can hear them. It is a good sound to send a person off to sleep. 

I can't think of much to say about this continuing cold Winter weather. Spring arrived on March 20th but we seem to be stuck in an unending pattern of cold temperatures and snow. I am keeping busy by cleaning out closets and drawers.  Items that are no longer needed will be donated to Goodwill. 

Canada geese mate for life.  At this time of year that seems very evident. The first picture was taken a day before the second picture. The weather can change from sunny to snowy so fast in this area of Ohio. It is still very cold and there is no relief in sight from the cold and snow. Brr! The geese can start building their nests in mid-March but I have not seen them building any nests yet. I see some pussy willow branches in the foreground in the second picture. It really does not seem warm enough for the soft gray flowering catkins to appear. 

This is a small drainage ditch that runs from a city owned lake in the nearby park.  It exits  into the lower parts of the wetlands after passing under the bike trail  through drainage pipes . Russ has found that walking the trail to get to work one mile down the road is much safer than trusting people not to run over him. The icy water has formed some icicles on the overhanging branches. He found this to be an interesting sight on his way to work this morning. We have to look closely sometimes to see the beauty that is around us. 

Sleet, granular snow and rain fell yesterday most of the day making the cold day miserable. It just chilled us to step out of the house to do any of the chores that needed to be done.  A mallard drake closely followed a mallard hen around the front yard. The large buzzards roosted across the street in the tallest trees for a while and then soared into the sky searching for road kill. Canada geese flew in and out of the wetlands honking loudly as they flew. A chipmunk just out of hibernation looked into our front window to see what was happening. The natural world is a wonderful thing.  Be sure to observe and preserve our earth. 

It amazes me to see the work that it takes to properly restore old buildings. The foundation stones have been straightened. A new wood base has been set. Any sound wood has been saved. We are so glad that the neighbors that moved into this old homestead down the road have taken such care to preserve and restore the old farm buildings. 

The temperatures may be very cold but the length of  the daylight hours is what determines many things. The buzzards have returned to the old shed next door and they circle overhead casting large shadows. The familiar sound of red-winged blackbirds echos from the wetlands. Coots, mallards and Canada geese call as they look for a mate. Now all we need is some warm weather. The first day of Spring will be arriving in a few days but the forecast is for snow and cold over the weekend. Brrr!

It is cold and windy Metal bench could freeze my rear Not sitting there yet March winds are fiercely blowing When will it be warm again -Caroline

I may have written about how I deal with the daylight savings time time change before. My body does not accept this one hour change very well no matter which way it goes. This time we lost an hour and in the Fall we gain an hour. My brain may take a week or so to get use to this. Today was another day that seemed out of whack. I feel tired and distracted. The days will pass and eventually my brain will be in sync again.  The yard is very wet and mushy and it is cold. The flower garden on the other side of the iron fence has been raked and cleaned. There will be some revisions made once the plants grow a bit. Green perennial flower sprouts are showing already. 

It was a gift to be able to go out into the yard today. The sun has warmed the temperatures to the high 50s but the sun makes it seem warmer than that. The deer have strewn corncobs around the yard. The neighbor fed the deer this year and the cobs ended up far from the feeding station. Blue jays have shed their feathers under the shrubs and the leaves that I have raked from there have revealed some colorful surprises.  The daffodils have been covered by leaves that we blew onto the back edge of the property. This was a good day to uncover them so that the plants can harden off. Note the yellowish color of the plants that have become blanched and pale under the leaves. There are a lot of buds on the daffodils. I love their colorful blooms. The hike and bike trail had a constant flow of hikers and bikers. A lot of the younger persons wore only t-shirts. 

We think that it is just great that a neighbor is restoring the old buildings on their property. They have taken great care to make sure that it is done correctly. The old building has been raised to support it while large hewn wood beams have been put in place to support the big structure.  We have only restored a few old small sheds. Some of them needed quite a bit of work so it is hard to imagine working on a building of this size. 

This pair of Canada Geese are standing on an old beaver lodge. This might be a good place for them to nest. It is in a small pond beside the bike trail and far enough from the trail and pond edges to keep them safe. 

If you are taking a ride in the country you might view this very large unkempt barn as something that is picturesque. If you live next door in a beautifully restored home you might think that it is a dangerous eyesore. The people who have restored the farmstead next to this barn would have liked to have seen it restored but unfortunately the property seems to be destined to sit in limbo until the barn falls to the ground. The people who own the small property and the barn want more for it than it may be worth. At this point it just looks like a large liability. The roof has leaked for many years and the upper floor has rotted and fallen into the bottom of the barn. The important framework of the barn has also decayed so that a fix up would probably be impossible. It  has been a home for barn owls other wildlife but just look at the mess that surrounds the base. The old restored brick home seen in the background of the first picture is a stark contrast to the neglected barn. 

We were so happy that the people who bought an old family homestead on our road were restoring all of the buildings. They tackled the old brick home first and now it is a beautifully restored home that faces our road and is backed by the golf course. That is a golf cart path in the foreground. The smaller outbuildings and newer garage were restored next. A larger barn, seen at the left in the picture, was carefully restored before the building that is seen in the picture was started.  It has turned their property into a showcase of what can be done by repairing and restoring old buildings. There is only one eyesore in the same area that I will show in my posting tomorrow. It is next door to the above property but the neighbors who are working on the project above do not own it. 

These Canada geese do not have to worry about falling through the thin ice. This pair was walking on the ice that has formed over the wetlands area next to the bike trail. Russ took the camera with him as he walked the bike trail to get to work. It is a mile to work and walking on the trail is much safer than walking next to the road.  The sun was shining brightly but the air is still very cold. Walking briskly in bright sunshine can warm a person up quite well.  I need to give the camera to my better half more often. He takes great pictures. 

How pretty!  It has snowed lightly most of the day. The very cold air has set up the Lake Erie snow machine. A light breeze makes it feel much colder than it actually is. I am very content to work on projects inside of the house today. BRRR! 

I tend to keep more paperwork than is necessary for too long of a time. Today I launched myself into shredding and throwing away a lot of the unneeded old bills, statements and booklets that had been saved. Some of it seemed important enough to save at the time but as I went through each piece I asked myself why I had even put some of the things anywhere but in the wastebasket. I made great  progress and as soon as it warms up in the basement more saved papers will be weeded out. My trash can is full and pickup day is not until Monday. I felt good but tired of looking at papers by the end of the day.