Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Almost Full......


It is like a volleyball that is just a little low of air. The indention makes it look not so perfect.

It will be a complete round sphere soon in a day or two.  I will try to take another one if there are no clouds.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Blind Shots.....



As I was walking the backyard this morning I could hear flocks of geese going overhead.  It wasn’t the local geese that live here year round.  They fly lower, as they keep moving from rivers to lakes and farm fields of grain.  These geese were snow geese headed north in large branches of V formations. They were flying high to catch the wind currents.  When it is so bright, I have to just blind shoot up in the air, not being able to see anything in the view screen. The best shot is our of focus.  The second best shot isn’t so great either, but the viewer can get the idea of what was high up there in the sky.

They aren’t the locals as they are not Canada geese. The locals fly low and I can get them in focus. These all were resembling all the formations that I would see as a kid as the flew over southern Iowa heading to Minnesota and Canada. The sound to me is always so great to hear. The idea that they are headed north means spring is coming. I was pleased that I ventured out into the iced over backyard.

I seem to have a lot of redundant sentences.  I guess they will all stay as I think repeating myself  is my way of life theses days. I don’t have the know how to consolidate them into one paragraph today. Did I mention that I keep saying the same things over and over again?

Monday, February 26, 2018

Guest Photographer......


Our neighbor at the old place took shots of our old place on Saturday.  She posted them on Facebook.
She remarked how she can always get a good landscape shot in the winter time when she looks across the street. .

Another shot to the right of the last shot, includes the view of the garden shed. We still own the old place and by spring I should be able to get it on the market. I planted many trees and shrubs on this property and I have plans to plant more trees on my new property.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

Feeding the Birds and the Squirrel.......


The squirrel likes the new arrangement with my bird feeders. He can reach both of them and is filling up on the seed. I researched it and the squirrel doss not have pouches.

He discovered that he could lean out onto the standard shaped feeder but the one above in the photo really is the best for him

Friday, February 23, 2018

Friday.....


Barney takes Friday’s in stride. He has his favorite spot on the hardwood floor. If he gets warm he moves closer to sliding glass door.


Outside the sliding glass door the birds are appreciating the warm up of temperatures. The ice will be melting today.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Three Musketeers.......


Every morning it is the royal performance of the opening of the curtains. The three musketeers are excited and  they squawk to great the morning. There can be the making of warning calls to any squirrel or morning dove that looks threatening to them. They are brothers and sister that were hatched in a nesting box attached to the side of an old cage18 years ago. The parents nested willingly when I put the box up and they had two batches of birds within two or three months. I did have to tae the nesting box off the side of the care.  I gave two of the five new birds away and these three have always been together.  They are bonded and I will never separate them. Even in the large cage that I bought for  them they still sleep very close together. I have never named them but the female has different pattern on her tail feathers and I could easily know who she is and name her. The two guys really look exactly alike. One of the guys will come close to the cage and just chatter at me.  They do like to fly in their new cage but they prefer to crawl up and down the sides of the cage with their feet and beak.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

A Junco Way of Life......


We still have ice coating everything. The sidewalks are covered with a thick glass-like coating. Barney fell down yesterday so he is taken out with me guarding him a lot more closely. The very crunchy stiff grass also bothered him so he doesn’t go too far anywhere in the yard.

The feeders also were frozen over so I had a makeshift solution the past two days.  The sparrows once in a while hit the fry pan and scattered seeds everywhere.  I help to get seeds on the table and different kinds of birds now feed. The deck is a solid glare of ice so I really can’t go out and maintain anything. There is sun shining and we will be 25 degrees F. which might take away some of the ice.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

We Have Ice......


Around midnight the rains came and the temperatures dropped to freezing. It is not the worse ice storm I have experienced but I won’t be walking freely down the drive or on the sidewalk today.  The ice did close down most of the schools in our area.  By the time the ice starts to thaw school would be starting at noon. The sparrow really did have a little trouble with the ice on the rail even with those claws. The bird feeders are partially frozen over so the birds are just checking things out more than eating. I creeped out on the patio and placed a tray of seed on the table that is not frozen over.  I am awaiting for them to figure it out that it is there.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Overhead View.....


It was a sunset that went up over us giving us a colorful ceiling. This is what we saw last evening looking east out on our front step. Their were hints of the color going on when we looked out our back deck, but this was an amazing sight. Our warmer weather is mixing with moisture from the south.  We are predicted to drop in temperatures today and freezing rain is in our future.

Sunday, February 18, 2018

House Finch Pair.......


I had three or four pair of these birds at the feeder this morning.  They came in as a flock of many and then took turns getting to the feeders.
















The wings of the male and female are so similar but then the rest of the coloring is distinctly different. The bottom of the female has the stripes of a nest making it harder to see when she is on the nest.

Saturday, February 17, 2018

Tropical and Wet.....


The fish are doing well considering they have a  two green sided tank.  I keep changing their water by removing and replacing a third of it at a time evey couple of weeks.  I need to address the glass walls though to remove some of the green.  I don’t know what the white reflection is in the photo because the tank is filled with water to the top. I have a smaller tank that I can transfer them into and maybe get that tank sparkling clean again.

Friday, February 16, 2018

Sled with Memories.....


We warmed up enough the last two days that I was able to hose out my garage floor. The snow builds up on the car and you drive it into a garage. Eventually all the sand, gravel and snow ends up on the floor of the garage. Having never owned a garage it was fun to clean in out by spraying it out the door and it all goes down the street. I rinsed off the car but it seemed a little to chilly to take the time to wash it properly. This morning, we ended up being 9 degrees F.  A 32 degree difference happened over night making the morning to be a crusty snow and ice kind of a day.

I took this shot for the sake of the sled.  I did throw one of them away when I moved but it was is bad disrepair. This is the kind of  sled that my brothers and I used when we were kids. Nothing plastic existed when I was a kid to use for a sled. I do notice that my lawn mower sits directly below the sled ready to go.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Flowers In Season......


We do not grow them here in the winter but they are in season every where you shop. I remember it being shared that South America grows them for our florists, shipping them in large boxes of dozens per box. They could be considered the first blooms of February.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Sunshine with Cast Shadows.....


With our house siting northwest to northeast, we have cast shadows of the sun coming from the roof of the house to the back of the house. This was taken in the afternoon yesterday.

This morning  I ventured into the backyard to get this shot. The sun I am facing is at the southeast end of the house. By summertime we will have more of a early morning solar collection time before it passes over to the front of the house.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

It is a blah day..........


There is not a commitment from the sun today as we get this light gray haze, called daylight.  I am tired of taking shots of snow and at least the sky could be more interesting.  They changed their minds on our warm up so no snow will be melting today.  I took seven new shots this morning in which only two are presentable. The trash is getting full on my computer as I throw away more shots than I save. The sky does have a subtle pink in it if you stare long enough at it. I am surprised that there are not Canada geese in the shot as they are continually flying around now looking for food.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Perfect Couple....


The male and female house finch are posing for me in the sunlight. The stripes of the female do camouflage her on the nest with the soft blending browns in color.  Her stripes are striking and so different than any of the other birds at the feeder. I seem to have two more male house finches at the feeder this morning but I have not had time to figure out their partners.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Peaceful Feeder.......


I have a mourning dove feeding below my hanging feeders.  I saw one a few weeks ago up on the deck but never was able to take a photo. I have placed a tray of seed on the roof of the garden storage shed now to encourage more of them to come to eat.

Saturday, February 10, 2018

Just Like Clockworks.......


It is the innards of an old clock that my dad had saved from an old house’s attic.  I am glad to find things like this but it is a choice of what to do with it. On a good day I may restore the clock into its better condition. I don’t think I have the knowledge to make it a clock again. For some reason I have a face of a clock like this so I can reconstruct its basics.  I even have the frame with the front door with one piece of the glass still intact.  I still enjoy seeng the clock’s parts and will think about cleaning that metal.  The piece of sculpture sits on an old tobacco can.  It has holes in it to let the tobacco in pushes to breathe and not rot.

Friday, February 9, 2018

Wintering Over.......



After the last snow, the angel guy seems pretty much fascinated with all the snow gathered on the tree. Our snow yesterday lasted a long time, but it was so fluffy and light that it was almost not measurable. We just had a clean coverage on our dirty snow.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

At the Feeder.....


A male house finch seems to be enjoying its seed.  The feeder is a new one that lets him sit in a tray to pick up his food.


The female sits on the other side.  She is busy digging to find the best seed in the batch. I can spot them out there as a pair in the trees, which is something new that I had not seen before. We rarely had them at the old place as they preferred eating at the grain storage silos at the other side of town with shelled corn. The new feeder is a cobbled together, recycle wood one that I put together yesterday afternoon.  I threw away that plastic thing that the birds could not land on and eat from.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Looking Around......


They have snow on their roof and they don’t seem to be too worried about it coming down on them. I am not sure what their "looking around" is about but I do know they kept looking over to the big spruce tree behind them.  I suppose they need to know their means of escape at all times. I had a chance to see four birds in a row but the cameraman is old and slow. The feeder was so busy yesterday that it was emptied.  I am thinking though that while we were buying groceries that maybe the squirrel figured out how to get to the feeder.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

We Survived.....






The female Canada goose has her head buried in the snow.  It is the most snow we have had at one time for a couple of years.  We have had plenty of snow threw the years but it just didn’t snow like this, solidly for seven straight hours.

Monday, February 5, 2018

Snowstorm Day For Us..........


Judging by the snow buildup on our squirrel and the school closings we see on television, I guess we are having a snow storm.


I dumped some seed on the ground from up above on the deck and this guy keeps feeding. I have to make an effort to see him from the downstairs windows as we can not see him out our second floor living room windows.

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Cold and Windy....


I miss my old three tiered bird feeder. I have to rethink what I am doing with the feeding. I am on a second story level and I can’t use a tray feeder without having a mess all over the deck. I am low on energy and photos so this is the best I can do.

Friday, February 2, 2018

Sunoco......


My brother and I had a train set given to us in the late 50s.  The two red cars are from that set.  The oil tank car was from a train set that belonged to my two older brothers.  I really can’t say the year they received theirs but they are 8 years older than me or more. It is the only car that survived from that set.  The engine to the set may be in ownership of one of my brothers. I remember my mom having discussion with me about what to do with that old engine. She was going to toss it and I do think I told her she should talk to the guys who did own. That engine was such a heavy one compares to the engine of this set.



The company logo on the side is Sunoco. I see by a net search that is still exists as a company in about 25 states yet today.  We do not have that company in our state of Iowa. When I brought the box of train cars and engine home with me, while cleaning out the parents home,  I set the box in our framing studio.  A neighbor up the street came to have something framed and he saw that box and went crazy.  He collected oil station things and he thought he had found a gold mine tank car.  He was disappointed that it was a Sunoco tanker. I don’t think I would have sold it to him but he would probably have quoted a large bid if it were his company that he collects. The car still represents a piece of history in our family and I value it for that.

Thursday, February 1, 2018

February First.........


I took Barney out this morning and it was very cold.  We were at 7 degrees F. this morning and the full moon was still in the east.  I went back to get my camera and tried another shot. The camera picks up the extreme contrast of the moon to the sky so it makes the sky look darker than it really is.




My camera is a Nikon Coolpix. I have never owned a camera that would pick up a shot of the moon in focus.  I have shared shots on my old cameras that would show small spheres in the sky that never showed any detail. I have not tried it when it is completely dark but will do so when it warms up again.

Big and Small...

 The miniature daffodils are so petite compared to the normal sized daffodil. I don't think I have ever brought the small ones inside be...