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I made a snowman round and fat
And on his head I put a hat,
He sat out in the sun all day
And slowly melted all away.
But I can tell just where he sat,
Because he didn't take his hat.
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Nothing epitomizes domestic tranquility more than a cat warming itself in front of a cozy fire. As the temperatures dip down into the teens, we lit our first of the season tonight.
We're getting stuff ready for decorating the mantle, and our whimsical four-headed snowman figure works perfectly for this week's theme.
sleet [sleet]
–noun
1. precipitation in the form of ice pellets created by the freezing of rain as it falls
sleet (slēt)
Precipitation that falls to earth in the form of frozen or partially frozen raindrops, often when the temperature is near the freezing point.
But, but... the temperature was only 43 degrees. Weird!
... as predicted, and left a layer of shimmering, frosty beauty on everything in sight.
Being the wuss I am, and sooo unwilling to face the wet and cold, I took today's photos (with that cool new telephoto lens!) from inside, where it's nice and warm.
It's another one of those cold and dreary "not sticking my nose out the door" kind of days for me, but fortunately Lew did, and now we have plenty of kindling and wood for weekend coziness inside.
I'm not wild about winter anyway, but when there's no sun to counterbalance the cold, everything just seems so... empty. So, when I saw this empty bird nest in its empty tree on the way home from the dentist, it just epitomized the dreary, empty coldness of the day for me. I hope the former residents have flown far, far south for the winter to somewhere nice and warm.
"Many rhododendron species protect themselves by turning their leaves downward and rolling them parallel to the midvein when it is extremely cold. This protects them by decreasing the area exposed to the sun, which keeps the leaves from warming up and losing water." (Pamela S. Mercure, Univ. of CT)
Even the front yard rhododendron have hunkered down and snuggled together to stay warm in the bitter cold we're having. Taking a teeny-tiny clue from nature, I didn't even attempt to stick my nose out the door today... wellll, except for sticking it out the window to take the pictures!
The winter we didn't have last week decided to show up today, bringing with it the expected colder temps and a fluffy, softly falling snow to cover the landscape. A dramatic change from two days ago. See another photo here.
My feet get colder than the proverbial witch's whatsits, so for me, socks + heater = warm feet in winter.
In the winter, the local farmers spread manure - lots of manure - to prepare the fields for spring planting... charming odor!
Where we live, winter means having to bundle up when you go outside...
but not this week!
No little voices fill the air with giggles and laughter on lonely winter days...
Not a flake to be seen anywhere. Since you can't shovel sunshine, it looks like our standard winter snow equipment will stay in the garage for awhile.
Winter (when we're not having record-breaking temperatures of 73!) in my neck of the woods means bare-naked trees. After the leaves and acorns drop, the squirrels scurry around gathering their winter stash of nuts, and some of the leaves end up back in the trees in the form of squirrel nests. This one lives up at the tippity-top of our maple tree.
P.S. Lew bought a new camera - a Nikon D40X - with an awesome telephoto lens. 'Course I get to use it too - provided I can hold the stupid thing steady - and with the help of a tripod, I got this waaaaay up there shot. Wheee!
Hardly the winter temperature we normally have!! We're experiencing dramatic unseasonably warm temperatures in our area. Tomorrow we're supposed to get more of the same... I may have to pull out the sun block!
(I posted two for today so I can get on track with the weekly theme at the beginning of the week instead of on Tuesday.)
This tiny little patch is all that remains of the six inches of snow we had the other day. A couple of days worth of warmer temps and today's rain made it disappear real quick. Now Lew has to wait for everything to dry out so he can finish with the rest of the leaves.
A good bit of the snow had melted by this afternoon, but there was still enough on the car to warrant a good brushing off before getting on the road. Nothing worse than having the snow on top of a car ahead of you blow off and smack you in the windshield!
It's arrived a little early for our area, but our first snowfall of the season has been at it since about 8-ish this morning. The grass is still peeping through, but there's probably about 2-3 inches out there right now. Might be enjoying our first fire of the season later too!
the fountain is still, the lake ice-covered...
most feathered critters have migrated elsewhere...
the benches sit in their lonely emptiness...
waiting, patiently waiting...
guarding the still beauty...
until the warmth of the sun and friends return.
