Red-wings and Ice

            Much to my delight, the Red-winged Blackbirds are starting to migrate back to our area. First I saw one at the bird feeder, then 2, then 3 and finally 4 this morning. Because of the cold winds, ice, and snow, I had not expected them yet but when I checked, I found that they were back on the 21st last year so they are actually a bit later this year.

(Photo by Fleur-Ange Lamothe)

            Meanwhile, walking outside remains a challenge as all of our trails, the yard, and even the meadow areas are covered in ice. I have not been in the ravines for over a week as the slopes going down and coming up are too slippery to be safe. 

            Winter, in general, was warmer during December and early January but late January and almost all of February have made up for it. Snow, ice, and high winds have been our daily fare for a while.

Backbends and Age

            Sometimes I forget how old I am. 

            Yesterday, when doing a bit of running on the Wayne Gretzky Athletic Centre indoor track, I noticed a man and woman in one of the exercise areas. The woman was facing the wall as I was running up the track and then did a graceful backbend putting her hands on the floor behind her as I ran by. I immediately had memories of being able to do that when I was younger so when I came around the track again and saw them still there doing some other stretches I stopped and told her how much I had enjoyed seeing her do the backbend and related that I had been able to do that too, 50 years ago. 
            
            This morning, about 15 hours later, I suddenly realized that although I might have been able to do that backbend 50 years ago I probably didn't. It was really 60 years ago that I was able to do that move and by 50 years ago I was no longer even trying to do it.

            Sigh!

New Bird at Our Feeder

            Today was the first time we have seen the Carolina Wren at our feeder. We have seen it flying about our area and even on our porch but never on the feeder.  Fleur-Ange snapped this photo!

Birds and Weather Comments

            More photos from Fleur-Ange of our bird feeder activity:

            In all of the years that I have been living on this property with Fleur-Ange, I have not had such ice/snow conditions. We had an ice storm on top of snow, then a bit more snow, a 24 hour thaw, then a hard freeze. The result is a very icy snow cover that is very difficult to walk upon. Even my "icers",i.e. cleats that fit on the bottom of my boots, are not gripping the ice. Both the dog and I are doing a lot of sliding and both of us have fallen. Actually, the dog has had more falls than I. Neither of us have been hurt but the strain of careful walking is making my muscles sore.

            Below is a photo of the ice in front of the barn. I had to use a pick to dig some of the ice from under the door so I could get it open yesterday and had to use a pliers to open the frozen lock both on the outside door and even on the door in between the donkey's stall and the goat's stall as the wind had blown snow and mist across the stall to freeze the inside lock.

            Looking forward with anticipation for a thaw and the spring season too.

Bird Feeder Action by Fleur-Ange

            Our bird feeder has had a lot of action lately with all the snow and ice that are covering the fields. Fleur-Ange has captured hundreds of bird photos. I liked this one from yesterday and thought I would share it here. I hope to share more in the near future!

Valentine's Day Icy Walk

       

These icicles met me at the barn this morning.

Looking closer . . .

Sadie on the trail near the east pond

Fleur-Ange got ahead of me on the rail trail Beckett Walk

Friday Note

            There was not much happening in the flower department on Friday outside. The ice storm, quick thaw, and quick freeze did not do any of the flowers any good.

            Underfoot, the ice made walking very difficult. A slow shuffling slide seemed to be the safe way to walk.

            That made moving quite slow.

            Meanwhile, in the Royal Botanical Gardens building, the flower artist had done her work again!

            I saw this poster at the RBG yesterday:

            Seems to work even if it is   s l o w.

Ice Photos

Ice Storm Wednesday

            

           I seldom miss going into town for a gym class on Wednesdays. I usually workout in the gym on the Arc Trainer or the treadmill then do some plank time followed by a bridge for a couple of minutes and then a headstand for another two minutes before going to the machines or weights. Using that as a warm up, I then go to a pilates class. Today we had freezing rain and I decided to stay at home.

            Just for the record, it did stop with freezing rain just before nightfall and the dog and I went out for a short walk. Because it was getting dark already I did not get any good photos but I do want to put up a couple just to jog my memory.

                   You need to use your imagination a bit, but if you do you can see a Screech Owl in the bird box.

            (My computer is not working properly so the other photos will have to wait.)

            Meanwhile, the other highlight of the evening was the sighting of 5 deer in the meadow. Unfortunately it was too dark to get a photo by then.

            More later . . .