The Life of Barney.....

Barnabas would probably have ducked his head if he knew a camera was pointed towards him. He loves the hardwood floor as it is cooler in temperature than the living room carpet.

In his old age, Barney is getting the best of care that his owners can give. He loves the new home and really has benefited from the whole set up of the house. The bad thing about the hardwood floor is the the slick surface. It is hard for him to get up from off the floor. We have bought more rugs than we need just to place them at places to help him get traction. They help him brace his front paws so he stand up easier. When he can’t get up and is floundering his dad pulls forward on his collar to help lift him up. He gets guided by my hand on his collar and now takes steps with me just having my hand placed there.

Almost Full.......

My new camera helped me to get this photo for really my first time. I have taken a lot photos of the moon  but this is the best I have captured of the surface of the moon. This was taken Monday afternoon, late, and the sun was setting at the time in the opposite direction. Notice that the moon is not quite at its fullest yet but really is close.

Bird Lookout......

The birds have started coming to my feeder more frequently but I did notice that the blue spruce tree is a popular place for them to be.  I don’t know if they can eat pinecones but the top of it is covered with them.

Box Craziness......

What is inside of your box?  I have blogged this box off and on for years. I did take a break from it  for a few  years as I lost it. It had been put in the bottom of a cupboard and someone set something in front of it, making it impossible to open the bottom door.  The newly added thing to the box is the mouse trap. I don’t have a clue where it came from and at one time I thought it was old. The mechanisms of it doesn’t seem to be too dated so it may not be that old. I like seeing the picture of a mouse on the front of it to help the mouse know that he is suppose to eat here. The wood is not the usual kind of wood used to make it.

Here is the stuff that I have lifted out of the box. Not too precious but valuable to me. The box is old that I acquired for free from my antique step-family connection. The boys used the box to hold crayons and pencils and they drew things on the outside of it.  The youngest boy of the set of four boys is probably over 80 years old now. The next to the youngest boy who used the box is buried in France at a WW II cemetery, buried there in 1944. It just seems to be a personal item that I really like having around.

Wooden Wonders.....

The African carvings of the different animals were created with different kinds of woods. I don’t remember what country in Africa that the giraffe and rhino were made but the lion is from Swaziland.   When I see things like this I know that they were hand carved. My curiosity more is with the very old croque balls.  We take for granted with products and sometimes don’t think about how they were made. I know that a machine was used to get that round ball from wood but I have never seen it done nor the machine that does it. Those croquet balls are from the late 40’s or early 50’s.  The surface was left as a natural wood and the stripe was hand pained.

I did research the croquet balls for sale on etsy and Ebay. I found only one set of them that were really beat up.  Others were badly restored but the wood seemed to be a different kind of wood.  I have not been able to find the mallets that match this set of balls. Most people don’t have large numbers of them for sale. This set actually came from my wife’s Aunt estate so they mean more than being just a set of wooden spheres.

This Morning’s Glow.....

The sunrise had added cloud formations to make the view more impressive. The earth keeps tilting back as the sun is now moved over and visible for us.  I am glad it is not behind my neighbor’s house. We are having a lot of wind from the south causing the cloud formations.  The Air Force is out and about already this morning.

Reflecting Light......

My wife’s glass curio cabinet has a mirror in the back of it.  The Christmas tree was standing in front of it for a long time so seeing it reminded me I needed to take a photo. The light reflecting in the mirror helps to create an abstract view of it.

Santa.......

A block away the family decorates for all the holidays. Their lights for Christmas followed a theme of ISU colors. The red and gold flashed all night long. The lights are still up but they are not turned on anymore.  Santa though is still on duty through the month. I have all my outside lights taken down now but I have two golden deer that are frozen into the ground.  I could remove the deer maybe but the stakes will still be sticking out of the ground.

Caboose......

This is the caboose from the toy train that was given to me and my brother at Christmas time. I am thinking that it was the year 1957 in which I would have been seven and my brother would have been 10 years old.

The red plastic appears to be as good as new even though it is 60 years old. I am assuming that it was bought at a Coast to Coast store. There was a Gambles Store then as well as Western Auto but I think they might not of carried the train set. I am presently trying to figure out what brand of train that it is. I know it isn’t a Lionel as they put their name on the side of the cars from what I see on the internet.

Four Square Design......

It is a solid table, blocky looking with bracing at all of the right places. It has sturdy wood pieces and the top was made to hold a metal wash tub.  I salvaged it a log time ago, maybe 35 years or more. It was made for the wash room of a basement making the design fit its purpose. I find it useful to use for all the times I build things. It is my sawhorse with a flat top.  I put it out on the patio and set my miter saw on it. I think that there is a saw notch in it when I used a circle saw to cut a board and the table top at the same time. I keep thinking that I want to repurpose it and make it be more sophisticated but people buy rustic things like this at antique stores. They want it  just because of the weathered look. It is a perfect design that represents the long taught design principle that "form follows function”.

Yesterday Morn.......

This Saturday morning's view of the sun coming up on the horizon. The reflections of it on the clouds is all you can see.

Our days are getting to be longer already as the earth tilts back for our future spring.  The wisps of clouds yesterday are great as this morning we are gearing up for rain and snow. We won’t see the sun today.

Breakfast.....

If the sparrows keep coming to the feeder I am hoping the other kinds of birds will join them.  It is warm enough for them to find seeds from the blue spruce but this is easier pickings.

After today there should not be any snow on the roof of this bird feeder.  It is all melting so we will have room for the incoming storm on Sunday afternoon.

Shadows.....

The final finish is taking place and it has been a long journey. Hanging it on the wall is going to be another adventure.

Chalk Marks in the Sky......

The Sac Air Force Base had its pilots out trying out their wings. I saw one of them headed across the sky while I was out with Barney. That jet and another one had left its mark in the sky when I looked out at the back of the house.

I actually had to zoom in to get the shot as in the side photo here you really can’t see the pattern in the sky. The vapor trails reflect the sunlight coming up on the horizon.

Puzzling .......but Necessary.

I needed a plastic cup to use to clean out a brush.  I could not find a thing to put the screws in so the Christmas ornament was handy.  Those larger screws came from an old piano.

Snack Time........

The junco birds are busy eating at the feeders. The only other kind of bird feeding here is the sparrow.
The most exotic looking bird at the feeder was the one time when the house finch showed up. That happened last week.

Too Much......

We received snow last night.  It wasn’t too much but it was sure a plenty. It is too cold to be outside but I did bundle up to shovel the snow. It is winter and the wind is too much so the snow that I shoveled is blowing back onto the sidewalks. The wheel barrow reminds me that I do have to wait for spring before I can go outside again.

There is never too much sunshine in winter. We are dropping in temperatures all through the day. I do know that it will be too much cold tonight with too much wind.

Pretty Picture.......

Sunrise on the Plain.......

Living on the prairie one hundred years ago, this would be visible without houses and less trees. Today though we are in suburbia and my neighbor’s house is blocking the view for now. It is a cold day again but the cold is helping to make clouds move in formation.

Living on the Edge.......

The wind is blowing from the north and the birds find the best place to be on the south side of the feeder. Juncos and sparrows seem to be the only kind of birds at my feeder.  I did have a very large bird at the feeder picking off a bird for lunch.  I could see evidence of it as it pooped on the deck.  The feathers that remained on the floor of the deck gave me evidence that someone had eaten a bird.  I have seen kestrel’s tearing a small bird apart having its meal before in the summer, so I am thinking that was what it was. The amount of bird poop seemed to be more like the size of goose droppings but I am not going to even research that. The markings of the sparrows really seem more contrasting in the winter than they are in the summer.

Tilted Off.......

We are at the edge of a snowstorm. The winds will be strong and it is snowing off and on for most of the day. When I took Barney out this morning it was sleet pelting us with the wind. It made a noise on my hood of my coat. Barney came in all covered with snow.  The wind helped to take the star off of its throne.  I turned on the lights so we can see them during the storm.  I almost took this tree down yesterday as were having warm weather. You can see the neighbor one street over has left his gable lights on from last night.

An Angel Gets Her Wings.......

As I sat across the room I could see a glowing light from the top of the dress.  It took a while to figure it out but then I remembered there are fake gems on the dress. The light of the television screen was reflecting off of it. I knew that the angel had not electric cord attached to it so I was confused seeing the force showing a blinking light.

Looking Through.....

This is the view I noticed as I came up the stairs yesterday.  The pattern of the wood railing with the patters of two different baskets.  The one is a very old family basket from three generations back. The other is probably a basket from an Import store. The colors seemed to blend and the wooden chair was sitting there temporally fits in with the theme. The blur on the right proves that one shouldn’t take a photo while they are walking up stairs.

Flower Extravaganza......

All the blooms are inside in a vase on the coffee table. They do seem be showy and great to have in the middle of winter.

Angel of Four Seasons.......

I have had this angel for years.  Some years she gets to come inside.  Maybe after I got such a great photo of it I should bring her inside.

A second photo today as bonus to show the sparseness of the snow covering over the yard.

Outside Snap.....

I did get the truck all thaw out so I could drive it. There was a glacier of ice on the wipers and snow scattered like smoke as I drove it down the highway.  I had missed driving it for a few weeks.

From the Past......

Five years ago the old place had lots of snow.  We had some winters where there was very little snow fall but that year we had snow making it a long winter. The old balsam pine is one that I planted back in the late 70’s, a small sprout taken from a ditch on my property in Minnesota.  I have another one planted twenty years ago on the opposite side of the house. This one shown has been trimmed up from the bottom now so one can walk under it. Our temperatures today will be the high of around 8 degrees F.  We are suppose to get up to 35 degrees on Sunday which sounds like a heat wave.

New.....

A new decoration that my wife received for Christmas is this one shown here. The newest feature of this angel is that ring around the standing angle can be rotated by a simple move with a finger.  The statue appears to be carved in wood originally and then the replica is cast from a material that takes the paint and stain to make it look like it is from wood.

The bottom photo has a little blur but it does show the different things that have been carved to represent the parts of the event.

Seeing Colors.........

It is wild with red and glowing lights. It is unfocused but it has a big bang for the buck. Well maybe it is just a fifty cent shot. I still like it.

Two Moons or One ?

As one could see in Star Wars, Luke lived on a planet with two moons. It was too cold to open the sliding glass door and I was too lazy to get bundled up for the shot. The full moon reflected itself into the double layered glass door causing the camera to see two of them. Ir picked up the real moon and the one that reflected off the inside glass back onto the outside sheet of glass.

The next morning, today, the moon was on the opposite side of the house and it looked like this while I shot the photo outside.

Sunlight on January 1st.........

The sun is shining this morning on this cold morning. It is -19 degrees Fahrenheit but the sun shines.  I will take it. The shadows on the snow and the glow on some sides of the fences gives evidence to the sun I can't see. The back side of the green house is in full sunlight too.  The wandering fences remind me of the country's colonial days when they would build fences around settlements and then even around their properties inside the settlement. It looks a little like a maze.

The row of houses to the east of us are not built on lots that are perfectly in line with our lots. The foreground fence is actually three feet to the south of the one in the neighboring yard.  If I every get a fence put in on my left side of the property it will be six to eighth foot out of align with he neighbor on the other side.  It will take a full fence section to cover up the neighbors wire fence. That is another reason why we are able to see through two houses to see the next street over one block.