singing the blues

The bluejays were riding out the storm yesterday and brightened up all that winter white.

the colours of winter

Winter might seem to be a lot of grey and white, but that background just helps the tiny dashes of colour to pop. These red rosehips and stems have been hiding in plain sight - the birds haven't found them yet.

The grey and white landscape can be good camouflague for those wanting to hide.

getting through the winter

We all have our ways of getting through the winter. When I'm not huddling inside waiting for the cold days to go by, I try to get out and do a bit of cross-country skiing, listening to the birds singing, and checking out the light sparkling off the snow. The animals around me seem to really know how to spend the winter in style.

This is Whitey, our third cat - the one we never planned for. He adopted us last summer, hanging around and being adorable. We tried to resist, but he bounced in and captured our hearts.

Here he is sitting up on the corner of the deck, right beside a piece of driftwood. Every morning, I put peanuts in the grooves of the wood for the bluejays. I guess Whitey is thinking he will grab himself some breakfast just when the birds are grabbing theirs!

This is a lovely downy woodpecker who visits the suet block every day. Here he seems to be playing with the snow, flicking it around just for the fun of it. We are sometimes lucky enough to see a beautiful flicker visiting the feeder. It's a larger woodpecker - brown, with a white belly spotted with black, and a red crest behind his head. But he is gone in a flash, and I have never had a chance to get a picture.

Here is a recipe for home-made suet that the woodpeckers, chicadees, and bluejays just love:

melt together: bacon fat, peanut butter and lard and then mix in cornmeal, whole wheat flour, peanuts, raisins, and sunflower seeds. Pour into the plastic suet containers saved from the ones you have purchased. Freeze till ready to use. I always think this is better for the birds than the bought stuff.

Gardening in the winter:

Check out this beautiful amaryllis! Even when the weather outside is frightful, you can still watch things grow and bloom. It makes me realize that spring is just around the corner.. Well, maybe the corner is far away, but we'll get there!

This is how Avery the cat chooses to get through winter: stretching out on a sunny windowsill, while the snow and cold is left outside.

the birds are back

Here's the bluejay I was trying to attract to the feeder. They are incredibly skittish, and can see me through the window. Their beady eyes are always on the lookout, and they disappear as soon as I make a move.

When I try to explain that hey - it's me - all I want is a good picture - it doesn't make a bit of difference.

We had some serious snow over the weekend, and the birds welcomed a snack. The peanuts are a real favourite.

racoon bandit

This morning I looked out at the bird feeder, hoping to see a blue jay or a chickadee, and found a much bigger visitor. A big, very fat racoon had his head in the feeder, chomping happily. I am always surprised that they can eat sunflower seeds - the hulls must be pretty dry and hard to swallow, but they manage.

After getting a few shots, I opened the deck door to get a closer look. Mr. Racoon slowly gave me a look, and wandered along the top of the railing, around the corner, and down the deck steps, eventually ambling out of sight among the trees.

He sure took his time, and not one bit scared, just slightly annoyed and resigned to the fact that he's not really welcome anywhere. But I feel lucky he put on a show for me.

Pumpkins popping up

In July, I found a cute little volunteer plant in the garden, no bigger than my thumb.  I went on holidays, and when I got back, pumpkin vines had taken over the whole garden, with leaves as big as my head!  I ended up with 12 big beautiful pumpkins, which did a whole lot better than the tomato volunteers, which bravely produced fruit but then were hit by blight and went rotten.  The parsley volunteers (pictured) are doing just fine.

My theory is that because I make my own compost and put it on the garden each spring, seeds that have over wintered in the warmth of the compost bin are ready to sprout in the spring.  Because I don't cultivate with a rotor tiller, the seedlings don't get mown down. 

The 12 pumpkins made a great display on my front steps.  They did become more yellow, but never achieved that bright orange I was expecting.  And that's the thing about gardening.  You don't always get what you expect, and there's often a surprize.

the colours of fall

The sky might be grey, but it sure makes the colours pop!  Here's my honesuckle.

 autumn crocus

Cosmos always takes a long time to flower from seed, but it sure is bright.

 perenial mallow surrounded by black eyed susans and sedum

Monkshood from Carolyn adds a stunning purple-blue.

Cllimbing rose "Blaze" is still going strong.

This picture doesn't do justice to the fiery colours of sumac.