Riding the Ontario weather yoyo!
Never did get that last paddle in, had to pull the little red canoe out of the ice and flip it over on the dock for a nice wipe down! Whew, just in time! Where has half of December gone? Holy guacamole batman….! The muscrats have been busy under the floating dock, stuffing the cracks with weeds and grasses…making themselves a winter home. Rocket and Groot have had fun sniffing the entire dock until the lake ice started groaning a few days ago…”Them theres monsters out in that lake now!” says Rocket and he is not going near it…”Cat eaters for sure!” he says!
It does change the whole dynamic of the lake that ice. It grows, and recedes with the temperatures, rain and snow, or all of the above! Howling winds this week as well, no tornadoes like our Southern neighbours but it was a wild ride none the less. Takes care of the those weak and dead trees-one travels our road with the chainsaw! it feels like we’ve been riding a weather yoyo!
Ah, that first white fluffy snow…the cats all come to a skidding stop in the alcove…and look…that stuff again! Both Groot and Gamora, a cause of their wise age and experience let Rocket shoot out into the snow and gambol around while they watch….”Fool of a Took” I can hear the whispering under their breath! Ah, youth and energy…:) Rocket modeled his new coat, we didn’t tell him it was a hand-me-down from a D-O-G….can’t spoil the fun. He thought it was a bit uptown for his tough guy act but we know better…big soft boy:)
The snow was the perfect backdrop to my collection of fancy pants bird feeders and it gave it a wonderful Holiday feel:) The Jays are shameless! Anything for a peanut! The Chickadees are so much more polite…The Woodpeckers have their pecking order, no pun intended;) Hairys at the top, followed by the Downy woodpeckers and last but not least the Nuthatches swoop in for a bite…
Until the Bald Eagle does a fly over…then the yard gets “Wery, wery quiet” said in my best Elmer Fudd voice. Only the Otter out on the ice finishing up his morning fish went “Meh….leave me alone, I’m going to finish my meal!” The Mergansers all very quickly dove…and disappeared, prime eagle food I can imagine.
The yard birds are quiet until it starts to snow then flocks of American Goldfinches descend on the feeders and we had a beautiful purple finch as well, not that common for us here way back in the woods. The Juncos pop by in small flocks to clean up the mess everyone else makes;) It’s those Woodpeckers. We had eight Downys, like a large family gathering if the squabbles between them were any measure, and five Hairy woodpeckers. Another family unit I’m sure. Will keep an eye on them for the next bird count!
…and the weather…up and down and all around! I thought we might lose the ice at one point but so far it has stuck around…glad we pulled the canoe up. With the horrendous winds this week our neighbour’s canoe blew off their dock and was headed down the lake. I trotted over and dragged it back a few meters across the ice…it was solid…! I tied it on for them! ah December. It’s given us a whole month to plan and put anything away that might get blown away!
We spent a few days helping out at the barn, mucking and feeding for our friend Jennifer who went in for surgery, just like old times;) It was a group effort of many involved to cover all the shifts, what wonderful people! I didn’t take advantage of the snow to take any new donkey pictures but hopefully in the next week or so I can manage to get a festive looking donkey! “No Eeyore eyes guys! Look FOOD!” works every time;) But will they wear a wreath, and for exactly how many seconds;) Inquiring minds want to know, they may turn out to be New Years pictures! ha!
I’ll leave you with an interesting look at what I call lake veins, Ok, Ok, cracks..ha! They are so interesting, like veins to me! The reflections on the ice have gotten me out of my warm bed and slip sliding down the stairs on a few occasions in the last two weeks. Not just for the sun, but snow and rain and everything else in-between!
Stay warm my Northern and mountain friends…I could have sworn I heard a fish taco calling my name but no…;) ha!
