More Frosty Morning

Happy Valentine's Day!

It seemed appropriate to start Valentine's day with a little bouquet of frost flocked rose hips the birds haven't eaten yet. I mean, roses are a big thing for Valentine's Day, right? 

A nosegay of curly dock with hoary crystals adorning the stems also seemed appropriate for the day. Most of the seeds have been collected - probably by field mice and voles (maybe taking them home like sweet treats for their sweeties?). 

How about Queen Anne's Lace seedheads covered in ice?  

My favorite may be the red sumac berries with white, frosty accents. They'd make a beautiful Valentine bouquet, too. 

Sunrise painted the undersides of the clouds with pink and gold. 

Finally, a tiny, frosty nest stood out in this autumn olive, without leaves to camouflage its location. Somehow, it still looks cozy, even though it's very cold outside. 

I hope your Valentine's Day is cozy, too, and filled with love. Piper and I will find a way to celebrate the day together. It's always good to celebrate!  :)

Dawning Wonder

Piper and I have been going out on our morning walk before sunrise and enjoying watching the world come to life as the sun begins to lighten the sky. 

One of our recent early rambles was absolutely magical. 

Temperature and atmospheric conditions came together perfectly to create a frosted wonderland, with hoarfrost coating every twig, bough and stem. Even old weed stalks became things of beauty. 

It was hard to photograph well in the twilight, but where the world is usually adorned with browns, grays and evergreens against the backdrop of snow, on this morning, all was coated in crystalline white. 

I took quite a few pictures and am disappointed they didn't really capture the effect very well, but I hope they convey a little of it. I'll post a few more in a day or two, showing a few closer views of the frosting. 

The other bit of magic was actually seeing the cloud cover break up for a short while as the sun turned the horizon golden and a few crows flew in from their rookery to look for breakfast. Sunshine is rare here this time of year, so every glimpse is a treat! It quickly clouded over and snowed another four or five inches, but it is winter, after all.  

Playing with Piper

Things are pretty quiet around here, so I thought it might be fun to take you on a morning walk with Piper. We usually start out before sunrise, so the first picture is fairly low light - but typically high energy.

Piper doesn't seem to mind that the snow is up to her shoulders and enjoys getting out for a romp. If I run even a few paces, she chases after me, overshoots and then I can run the opposite direction and have her dash at me again. 

Running full tilt is a bit more of a challenge in these conditions. (I love the flying ears in this picture.) It's a good way to tire an active goofball of a dogster. 

She's always nosing around to see what is hiding beneath the blanket of snow. 

And Piper often sees (or hears) things in the distance that escape my dull, human senses. 

Here she is, mid-leap. She has to really kick off with her back legs to make it through the snow, but she bounds up into the air and lands several feet ahead of where she was - then does it again...and again. Ah, to have that kind of stamina. 

Titmice Toujours!

I do always love watching the titmice. They're charming, beautiful and an absolute hoot to watch when they're feeding their youngsters and teaching them how to fend for themselves. The young ones fly after their parents in an airborne train. If you ever have the chance, stop and watch them for a while. It's very entertaining. 

They tend to be difficult for me to photograph, because they are quick, shy and prefer to stay out of the limelight. I can sometimes catch one trying to decide which peanut to extract, but they don't dither for long, so if I'm not already snapping pictures of other birds nearby, I'll miss it entirely. Sometimes, I just have to stay focused on the peanut feeder and wait for one to come back for another helping! Yes, that's what happened here.

This one, however, perched in my miniature lilac bush and spent more than a second or two observing the goings on in the rest of the yard. Isn't it beautiful? For some reason, the big, round eyes seem more pronounced than on other birds, making them look so sincere - and sometimes a bit like a cartoon caricature.

Speaking of caricatures, I'm thinking that one of these poses might just have to find its way to a block of Tan-Z Kut for a little carving session. I carved one of these beauties a couple years ago, but the subject bears repeating. :)

 

 

Deer, Oh Dear!

There's a lot of snow on the ground at the moment. Piper has to take great leaps when she gets off the trail, because she's buried up to her shoulders (she still loves taking a run, though). So, the deer are out looking for things to eat.  

This young doe came into my yard with several of her buddies and continued working on trimming the shrubbery around my house. 

She looks pretty satisfied with her gardening efforts, doesn't she? 

This last picture is one I took a couple weeks ago down on the family property, before the snow was knee deep. You know how much I love catching a good action shot. This young buck took a dash across the field and I captured him mid leap. He has forked antlers, so he reminds me of the old fiddle tune, "Forked Deer" that I play on the mandolin. My brother reports that he's shed his cute little forked antlers at this point, but he'll grow bigger ones next year (and this year's spike boys will become next year's "Forked Deer"). 

Looking for the Bright Spots

Winter can get to feeling long, gray and dismal, especially when the sun doesn't come out from behind the clouds for weeks at a time. I actually appreciate the snow, because it reflects and amplifies any light that filters through the gray skies.  

I also really appreciate the birds that add some color and life to bare branches. Cardinals are particularly delightful. They are living splashes of brilliant crimson, orange and gold against a backdrop of stark white snow and dark branches. 

They are some of the first to rise in the morning and some of the latest visitors to the feeders in the twilight. Piper and I frequently start our morning walk before the sun comes up and it's always a treat to see the cardinals begin to emerge from their hidden roosts. 

I thought this female cardinal was particularly lovely. I admired her perky attitude and the rosy blush on her breast feathers.

Perhaps they aren't all that uncommon, but they're still uncommonly beautiful. 

Somebunny Thinks the Snow's Pretty Deep

The snow keeps piling up. It's up past my knees and Piper has to take great leaps to get through it, since it's up to her shoulders. 

This bunny has found a place where the tree sheltered the ground a little, making a small spot for a rabbit to rest. As you can tell by the snow plastered to the side of the tree, it's also a good windbreak. 

These pictures were taken of a cottontail Piper and I saw on our morning walk, but we have one in the yard, too. I've been putting a dish of rabbit pellets on my front sidewalk every night and our bunny comes by to clean up all the leftover bird food and empty the dish. It leaves lots of cute footprints in the snow that Piper enjoys following (and would love to follow right up the hill and into the briars). 

Feeling Frisky

This trail camera capture during the December thaw gave me a chuckle and it just seemed fair to see if it might do the same for you. 

In the background, there's a buck running full tilt after a doe that doesn't seem to want anything to do with him. He is quite determined, though. Then, in the foreground and watching the action, is a second doe looking rather bemused by the mad dash as they fly by.  (Click on the picture, if you want to enlarge it.)

I have said it before, but oh, how I love these candid glimpses into wildlife life. :)

3/4

Amazingly, it has been nine months since I adopted Piper and brought her home with me. To celebrate, here are a few pictures of her. 

First, a couple caught by the trail camera earlier in the month. I loved that it captured her mid-leap making a mad dash around the yard at the family homestead. She's incredibly fast and loves to run full tilt. 

The trail camera caught her airborne as she galloped by in this one. She's a bit blurred - it's amazing the picture is this well focused, given her speed, but it also captures Piper in joyous flight. 

This one was taken on an early morning walk in the snow, so it's still twilight. Her left ear stands up more than her right one, giving her a slightly off kilter look. It's quite cute, especially when she cocks her head just so. 

Finally, here she is curled up for a nap on the couch with her favorite blue ball. (I tuck treats into it to keep her occupied with extracting them a couple times a day.)

So, here's to 3/4 of a year! We'll be celebrating 4/4 before we know it! 

A Puzzle with a Solution for Saturday

There wasn't a second picture for this little puzzle, but I think it can be solved with just this clue, if you look carefully. This is right outside my house off the back deck. Can you find who is hidden among the snowy yew bushes?  Eating them? 

Clicking on the picture will enlarge it and allow for a better look. She was really quite bold. I realize there is also a tangle of grape vines and butterfly bush stems to make it more challenging, but keep an eye open for the - eye. Everything should become clear, once you find that. 

I'll put a bit of space between the clue and the solution. 

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It's a yearling deer - last spring's fawn. Probably the one I carved nursing from its mom, since they both hang around the neighborhood. Do you see it? The dark diagonal right in the middle of the photo is its neck and the ears are  pointing back toward its shoulders right above that diagonal. Her right eye is peering out between branches closer to the right side of the picture. 

I had been looking out the back window at her mom when I realized someone was hidden among the bushes right against the house. Her nose is literally an inch from the outside wall. 

I guess the yew needed a bit of a trim... 

Like Mother, Like Daughter

The trail camera pictures from the family property have been fun to post for others to see. I picked the camera cards (there are six of them) up each week while I was down helping my brother and saved a few of the really good shots. Here are a couple more that made me smile. 

This first one obviously got taken during the December thaw. Mom and mini mom looking at exactly the same thing with exactly the same stance and expression (right down to the ear positions) tickled me. That little apple didn't fall far from the tree! 

This second picture totally charmed me. The youngster is fascinated by something up in the tree. Doesn't its whole demeanor express wonder and curiosity? 

Once again, I have proven that I am easily entertained. Seeing animals just being themselves with nobody around to witness their actions is delightful to me. I hope you enjoy a stealthy peek into their world, too. 

I Swear, It was This Big!

Here are a couple more  trail camera captures from out on the family property. I love these, because they're such candid shots!

This turkey looks like it's telling a very tall tale, standing on tiptoe and reaching as far as its wings will allow. "Honestly, it was huge! Like, this big!"

This fellow managed to time his step in front of the lens for a perfect close-up. The red on his head against the backdrop of snow created a very dramatic contrast. 

What's Been Happening?

As most of you know, I've been away and helping out at the family homestead while my brother was recovering from surgery. For some reason, this round was harder than the last one, but he's doing well and is back on his feet (if not quite up to his usual speed). 

There's a lot of catching up to do! I had to close down the shipping end of Stampeaz while I was away, and a few people placed orders and have been waiting patiently for their carving and printing supplies to be sent their way.  I've been slicing Tan-Z Kut, packing up orders and generally catching up on all the things that have been waiting for me here at home.  I believe that most of the backlog will be out the door tomorrow. There are a couple orders that might need a little additional attention, but they'll be on their merry way soon, too. 

So, I finally took a minute to sit down and think about the blog again. I thought a good reboot might be a few spectacular trail camera captures of bald eagles. 

There is a pair of these majestic birds hanging around the family land and I hope that means they'll be nesting nearby.

As usual, clicking on the pictures will enlarge them. 

I particularly liked this one - that wingspan is quite something and I'm just glad that intense predatory focus is not trained on me! 

Happy belated New Year! I hope it brings you health, happiness, peace and prosperity.