Two Photos Today.....

My good friend Downey seems to established himself at my feeder.  I think that he is going to need a fresh cake of suet with seed in the near future. I don’t seem to have any other kind of woodpeckers out there.  Usually when on bird feeds it helps to attract others of same or similar kinds. Notice the spots above his beak in the first photo.  I don’t remember seeing them before but I have never taken a photo like this so close before.  He is in the window about five feet from me.

Clear and Frigid......-30 C.= -22 F.

The sun comes up on hot days and the sum comes up on very cold days.  The clear sky makes it colder.  I see we are tilting back, the earth, as I can now see the sun again.  It has been behind the houses for a while now. The temperatures are all relative after it gets so cold. I think -21 F was our coldest.  I know that Barney and I did not stay outside for very long.  I could feel my cheeks burning instantly once I was out the door. Red scarf time for sure.

Warm Impression......False in the Reality.

The sun patterns on the snow is deciding. The weathers report shows us that we are sunny with 1 degree F. temperatures. It shows that we are going to drop a couple of degrees every hour on the hour to negative temps.  The vortex is upon us and it will stay on us thru Wednesday. Anyone in the eastern part of the United States are feeling this also.

Backyard Trees.......

Across the way their is a house that has these red trees in their back yard.  I don’t know what kind of tree that the red ones are but they are good looking in the winter. I don’t think they are fruit but they may be. The zoom on the camera brings the view to me but the house is three houses down from  ours.

Big Red Bird Country......

I saw him first down on the ground and I snapped him looking up.  I thought that it may be the only shot I will get of him, but fifteen minutes later he came back to the feeder. He at first world leave with one seed and go eat it in the blue spruce.  Then he decided he could just sit on the tray feeder and crack open the seeds.

A Downey Day......

The first woodpecker to visit my suet cake. The suet cake has been out for a few weeks but no bird seemed interested.  We are getting more snow and it is cold.  The downey is eating vigorously  and his red notch bounces back and forth.

Forming in the sun......

While the sun heats up the snow the ice formations develop.  I don’t understand how any melting takes place with we are sitting at below zero temperatures.

The Start of our Day......

A warm glow for the start of the day.  The temperatures are at 18 degree F. and will drop all day.  By the middle of the night we will be at -11 degrees F.  I enjoy the jets vapor trail as it reflects the sun’s rays from beyond.

Shadow Line......

A photographic post of modern art composition. The shadow of the house casts a wonderful blue color and the feeder and bird water are like chess pieces on the board.

Blustery Day.....

The wind from the southwest was blowing into town.   Those clouds were moving by quickly and the sun was reflecting on the clouds. The jet vapor trail is being held in position as it was behind or higher in the sky than the clouds. The air that is blowing in is actually warm air from the south.  It will warm us up so we can get some freezing rain.

Cold Air and Clouds.....

The sun tries to come through in the afternoon but it would not warm us up very much. I don’t think we got any more warmer than 12 degrees F.  A winter coat really was not enough coverage to keep me warm when I was outside with Barney.

The Big Moon is Back.......

There are excuses when you don’t get the most perfect shot.  It is too cold to stand outside with a tripod.  I guess I could buy coveralls so that I can take the perfect shot. I actually took this shot with the sliding glass door slid open, me standing inside, freezing out the people and dog with breaths of frigid air.  It was a high of 14 degrees F. today.  When I was snow blowing outside earlier this morning it was 10 degrees F.

Snow Fall.......

The two steadfast geese help to show how much it has snowed.  Five inches buries the head of the female Canada goose and it builds up on their backs too. A sunny day makes great shadows on the back yard’s blanket of snow.

Friday.....

The snow scene from the village shows a girl at the top of the hill yelling down to others.  I had never notice that before until I took a photo of it. It is an interesting kind of piece to put with the village.

Signs that I am at work on something. I like having a portable, battery powered circle saw but I don’t get very good straight cuts with it.  I need to clamp a piece of wood or metal to help keep it guided as I cut.  I make do with it but sometimes have to cut a third piece when I am trying to get two identical lengths of something.

The beginnings of a made-from-scrap bird feeder is shown here. I am not completely done with it or I would show it.  I did get it done and placed it out in the yard but decided I wanted a roof over the tray.  When we get four or more inches of snow tonight ,  the feeder will be buried. I had a two tired feeder at the old place and I decided to let it go to the landfill. I am going to make a top piece that will set on top of the tray and will decide if I need to attach it or let it just be held by gravity.

My challenge for this is  "the nails that I don’t have."  The old place has every size of nail available but none are at the new place.  I have been digging through different jars and tool trays to pick up used ones and now I am down to using screws.

Another view of the collection of four. I should have shared it when I shared the two smaller ones but pictures get buried in the file.

As we wait for the storm to hit we seem to be comfortably stocked with food. I finally succeeded in getting my new, used snowblower started.  My son had picked it up from a neighboring curb where he lives. It was among lots of stuff headed for the landfill.  I didn’t know much about the machine, and probably flooded it.  I went to my Ace Hardware and bought a new spark plug. I replaced the old one and it started off right away. I thank you all for stopping by today.

Resting....Napping.

It  is mid morning and I am easing back for a while and Barney is napping.  All is peaceful as the dog is quiet and I am quiet too.

Revived......

It isn’t as dramatic as the ones you could have bought at Christmas time.  This was a carry over from last year and it is continuing to add the red leaves without any special treatment from me.

Directions......

The man who checked out my furnace suggested I buy some of his expensive air filters.  I said I would buy them.  He installed the first one for me and then left me directions on the vent as how they are to be place in the slot. He also wants me to replace that metal vertical tube.  It was explained to me that the furnace isn’t getting the return air fed through it fast enough. For a thousand dollars I can replace it then I will have faster and more air flow.  I did ask why don’t I just allow the furnace fan to run twice as long and think about that replacement another year.  Its the original furnace installed in the 2003 house and they did cut corners on the furnace on efficiency.  Also 15 years has given the industry time to develop better furnaces.

Chilling on the Patio Table........

A pan of seed is buried in the snow and the seed in the pan is frozen into globs.  He stood there and twirled the iced piece and the seeds were spinning and flying around.

Inside and Outside....

The blending of the two is unusual.  The blue spruce and its snow is pretty natural and the fake tree inside looks like it needs some fake snow.

New, Old Decoration.....

This is a ceramic piece that has been held in exile in our old house’s basement.  We have not displayed it for years and now that it is in the new house I pulled it out of the box. It is a beautiful piece.  It looks better than the illustration shown on the outside of box. That may be why I never bothered to bring it out at Christmas time. The piece is a cast piece of ceramics with a hollow area behind it to hold the light. The line detail of gold ceramic paint does make it more interesting. The star shapes are funny to see as I know that they took a clay knife tool and free hand cut them out.  They are in the back too, helping to allow the heat from the light to leave the piece. I like how color is created by the light shining through the translucent clay piece.

Snow on the Blue.......

I was so glad to see this blue spruce in the back yard when we were looking to buy the house. Stories told on the former owner that he had planted six or more of them but the grandchildren who more the yard kept cutting them down.  I am glad this one survived.  Our snow started late evening aud  it is suppose to keep it up until early Sunday morning.  It is our official first snow for winter.  As I photograph the tree, the whiter it is becoming.

An extra view out our living room window shows the neighbors two trees making it seem like a little forest.  No tomatoes are now growing in the garden now.

Tree Sitters......

I know what house finches look like but these just seem to be too red to be house finches.  I don’t think they are purple finches as their body shape is thinner.  The two never came to the feeder so I couldn’t get a closer look.

Afternoon Daytime Moon......

The moon shows up late afternoon.  The weather site says it comes up at nine in the morning but it isn’t in view for me until the afternoon.

When I use a filter on the computer to darken the sky color it helps to make the moon to be seen more clearly.

Winter’s Mysterious Ways.....

The sun cast a glow on the trees in the distance behind our development area.  I am not sure what trees still have their leaves but I know some do not lose them until spring.  The sun in the opposite direction of this photo and it was putting out a strong reddish glow.

Scarce Birds.....

As long as there is not snow on the ground the birds are finding food elsewhere.  They did come around for a while when it was extremely cold but to the most part there are not many.  The juncos showed up for a couple of days and now they are gone again.

That stretched neck look is what I get sometimes when I am in the window looking at him. I don’t know how good the eyesight of a bird is but they do look a little strained when they see me with the tripod.

Glass Gazing Ball.....

The only way it can be photographed is to take a photo of it from a far distance.  Notice the strange guy standing in the reflection.

Sliver of a Moon.......

As seen a few nights ago it was diminishing to the slimmest sliver.  I assume that it is gone for the sky is clear at this point when I go outside.with the dog at night. I will have to start watching for it in a few days more.

Soon to be History.........

The temperatures are leaning towards 60 degrees today and it seems strange to have the tree up now.

Flipping Back......in Time.

Stack them in a drawer when they are not on display.  A year ago I took this shot while they are in storage of the toy cabinet.

It is sort of a lot like  a car show in miniature.  Blasting back a whole year and these displayed are probably not looking this same way today.

Morning Sky.....

The sliver of a moon was fading by the time I got back in with Barney and my getting out on the deck.  The Air Force jet was drawing a line in the sky but it too was pretty faded in the morning sky.

Cloud Painting......

The very cold air helped to create this pattern of changing temperatures.  This was taken late afternoon looking northwest.

Inside/Outside and all around............

Happy 2019 to you all.  Looking out with this view this morning,  you can see there is very little snow.  I do know that you can’t see how cold it is out there.  Taking the dog outside this morning meant many layers of clothes to stay warm.  I can imagine this scene as a Sesame Street  episode with the different ways to compare the two trees. Finding the similarities and differences would challenge young children.  I truly would like to decorate that outside tree but it is too tall to allow me to put lights on it. It certainly and inside/outside theme for the first shot of the new year.