AstroGypsies

It’s been a wild November…can’t say I’m unhappy to see it go! I just wasn’t expecting Winter, so soon…sigh…tropical girl here. Not that it isn’t amazingly beautiful! It is! “It’s cold!” Gamora is yelling at me! “COLD!” We feel the same:) I have been fighting a nasty cold since the beginning of the month, can’t kick that cough but slowly getting better, puts a damper on things! This snow thing is becoming a regular November happening!

They make me smile any time of day, except maybe at 4 am when Groot arrives, shaking the bed as he jumps up on it! A bit early for treats, damn he’s a big boy, “Oops, did I step on your bladder Hüman? You must now get up!” Ha!

It seems the weather has been on a rollercoaster ride of weird! Frost, fog, more frost, hoar frost, OK that was wild!

Ground frost forms when the air is still and cold, usually on clear winter nights. Water vapour in the air condenses on solid surfaces, and as the surface temperature drops below 0°C, ice crystals form.

Hoar frost requires slightly different conditions. It forms when the water vapour in the air comes into contact with solid surfaces that are already below freezing point. Ice crystals form immediately, and the ice continues to grow as more water vapour is frozen. On a still night, it can grow well on tree branches, where the surface temperature is unlikely to rise above zero for several hours.

Icy beauty covering everything with spikes and crystals!

Such delicate creations!

Before the fog lifted in the morning….even the canoe had ice crystals on it! Note to self, do not try to kick frozen raccoon poop off the steps, it didn’t budge, duh! I think I might have broken my big toe…Ha! and ouch!! It’s turned an interesting shade of purple that toe…;)

My buddy the otter was out on the ice, and a lone swan swan by, first time seeing just one….I received a gentle honk as it swam away.

We drove into Carleton Place to the Little German Bakery for bread (and other tasty goodies) and the tree tops were covered in crystals! Like an ice fog had settled on everything!

Everywhere you looked, a white misting of ice! We drove back through Smiths Falls so I could pick up my 2026 Calendars and stopped to get a bite to eat at Hanks Fries and BBQ, I wandered off to take photos while Mike ordered. So many delicate patterns!

We had a touch of sun on the treetops as we turned heading home on the Narrows Lock Road.

Something magical when the sun hits that ice!

We haven’t had a lot of sun this month it seems, maybe typical for November but it somehow seems bleaker. Maybe just not ready for Winter and all that ice forming in the bay!

Last weekend I saw the “fish entrails/scales poop perpetrator” swimming towards the dock and sneakily made my way down to the steps halfway to spy on him/her! It’s always such a treat watching it! How quickly an otter can tear apart a fish, head and all, very impressive. They have some serious webbed murder mittens, those claws! They are happy with the new ice shelfs, places to perch and eat!

I watched a pair of Trumpeter swans and their only cygnet swimming around the ice. It is always special seeing these beautiful birds. We also had a small flock of Evening grosbeaks stop by for a quick snack. Only the 2nd time I’ve seen them here!

Such a shock of yellow! A neighbour not far as the crow flies has them every day! He must put out fancier seeds! Ha! It was odd they were already feeding on the sumacs, must not be too much out there this year to eat with the drought all summer:(

…and when mother nature gives you snow what do you do? Put up the shade umbrella, get the deck chair, have a seat and photograph the birds of course! Those Blue jays work for peanuts! It’s all fine and well until the shade umbrella collapses under the weight of the snow showering you with wet slush as it slides off, isn’t life an adventure;) Ha!

Hard to resist these guys! Next years Christmas cards, maybe! Ha!

The chickadees are always ready to pose!

It hasn’t been ALL snow, thankfully! I was happy to see the male Red Bellied Woodpecker show up! He’s been gone awhile! The Hairy and Downy woodpeckers wait for me in the morning to put the suet block out, I can almost touch them they hang around so close to me! Apparently I need supervision;)

When it wasn’t snowing or frosting, one morning we woke up to a thick fog. No sign of the lake on the other side. It was eerie down at the canoe, it looked like it was floating on the clouds, no horizon to be seen anywhere! Mystical!

The cats were not too sure about this “foggy” stuff but upon realizing there was no white stuff involved to step in were happy to wander out!

The fresh days get Groot going! There are leaves to chase! The perimeter must be checked and sniffed! One must leave their calling card on various bushes to let the raccoon and fox know who is in charge;)

So much fun watching these guys! Groot was under the table today as I watched the chickadees…not a fun day he said after a bit, time to go in until this nonsense snow stops! He’s not the best photographers helper, insisting on checking up on the Blue Jays and Chickadees so they were quite happy to see him go in!

It’s a winter wonderland out there and not as much snow as they’d forecast, halle-f-ing lujah! Praise be to the Winter Snow Gods for sparing us this weekend! Could it be Boreas? The Greek god of the cold north wind and the bringer of winter. His name meant “North Wind” or “Devouring One”. His name gives rise to the adjective “boreal” or Marzanna, Slavic Goddess of Winter, Death, and Rebirth…or Itztlacoliuhqui, deified personification of winter-as-death in Aztecan mythology? I’ll say a prayer to them all!

In the meantime, I’ll try to enjoy the outdoors a bit more…the cats have other ideas….

Stoke up that stove and get it warm again Hüman!! NOW! They were not impressed we were out more than half the day at the barn, then out AGAIN, at a lovely friends 65th Birthday party, that was wonderful Chris! Thank you!

So I didn’t get a chance to visit much with the donkeys, stall cleaning and a quick check of Dusty, tick removal time, before I was out of energy! Did I mention I hate ticks for the millionth time? It warmed up enough for them to come out…0_0…Mike pulled one off my back..arghhhh!!!! Hopefully next week my batteries will be fully charged:) Saludos amigos. Looking forward to the sun tomorrow! Yeah!