A COLD DAY

A COLD DAY

“Well,” my friend said on the phone yesterday, “I bet you are glad to have a day off from working out in your yard!” With temps in the 30s – maybe 40 – in the warm part of the day, no, I sure am not out working in the yard. Actually, it is more the wind than the low temperatures that keeps me inside. I HATE the wind! I hope I live long enough for my pine trees to grow back enough to block the wind from roaring around the house so hard the poor birds can’t even land on the feeders long enough to catch a quick snack. If only the pines grew as fast as the Leyland cypress.

The camellias look so sad and sorry. Well, from the street they still look like a bright patch of color on the winter landscape, but up close and personal I can see the brown bruising from the below freezing temps.








Debutante opened up a pretty new bloom in the sun today – but see the old bruised bloom behind it?

The windsock… OK, wind parrot, actually, has practically beaten itself to death blowing and snapping in the cold wind.

The cats struggle to find a warm spot out of the wind. God forbid they should go in their nice toasty heated little boxes. Yes, heated – there are vents in the wall to the furnace room so the inside of their boxes are never below 50 degrees even on the coldest days. But, they like to be in the sunshine if at all possible or at least behind a tree out of the wind.

So, I am told, on days like this, I am supposed to curl up in my chair with a good book. So why can’t I just relax and enjoy the day inside? WHY indeed! Guilt! That is why. Working out in the yard is my excuse for not doing all the things I need to do in the house. The cold weather robs me of my excuse for avoiding my inside chores. Rats! (No offence, rhodent!) Even the violets look better from the outside looking in. Well, maybe not.

So I try to sit and read for a few minutes… and then I get sleepy. We can’t have that – so I grab the camera in one hand, the cane in the other and go out to get up close and personal with the cold weather. It is really going to snow today????? I walked out on the east end and noticed I can actually see my next door neighbor’s house and barn. See it over there?

I guess I really need to fill a couple of those feeders, especially if it is going to snow. The cats’ favorite bird feeder is the shelf feeder I built outside the big bathroom window. The piece of wood just prevents the seed from clogging up the track on the storm window. The wire keeps the birds safe from the hawk that knows there are lots of little snacks on this shelf. There is a shelf inside usually occupied by Rascal where he sits and chatters to the birds.

I planted this Acuba and Nandina when I moved here. I have to chop the Acuba almost in half every year so I can get to the feeder. A small colony of sparrows lives in the Acuba. It is more private than any curtain!

The greenhouse plants look warm and cozy. It is 38 outside, 74 in the greenhouse.

I am so glad so many of you enjoy sharing my yard and cats with me. How cool to be able to share the day to day moments of life with complete strangers hundreds and even thousands of miles away. Thanks for looking and thanks for letting me know you like my efforts!