Frosty February 8

The wind has calmed down this morning so our -6 temperature was quite pleasant. It helped that the sun came out too.



From inside the barn I found this tree-like frost image to be quite beautiful.



On the outside of the barn, there were lots of icicles. I turned this one on its side as the shape reminded me of two individuals getting ready to descend a bobsled run. Perhaps I have winter olympics on the brain?



I almost forgot to mention that I just updated my Wild Flower web site. There were eight (8) flowers found last week in our area.

Wind Chill

We had lots of wind all day yesterday. It ranged between 35 to 45 km/hr most of the day with gusts to 65. It continued all night and is still in the 35 to 50 km/hr range this morning so wind chill has been a constant factor when going outside. If it had been a normal winter, it would not feel so cold but since we have been above freezing for most of January, the winds of February are digging down to the bone.



Jupiter is still high in the southeast in the early hours of morning. According to
the Space Weather web site, Venus should be showing up brightly in the east also. Since we have trees on our eastern horizon, and clouds too this morning, I did not see it yet.

There were lots of fox, deer, and rodent tracks in the fresh snow this morning but by the time I got Calla on the lead and was out where I could see them, my fingers were too numb to take photos. I did stop at the door and take a photo of some small drifts and the snow in the back yard but when I looked at the photo, I decided to crop out the tiny drifts and just show my developing sculpture and the back shed where the dog and cats stay out of the cold winds. The sculpture still has various parts to be added but so far there are two circles of stone, an old truck motor, a circular rim and some bits of metal that have come together. That, plus the old shed with bones and antlers on it looked more interesting to me than the tiny snow drifts. I'll look for other drifts on the road when I get out.

Snow Again

We are finally getting some snow again and the birds are busy in and around the feeder.



The snow on the raspberry canes caught my attention this morning.



And this moose is for my daughter who likes moose. It seems to have escaped from a kitchen up north somewhere, or so the story goes....

Fungus & Flowers

It's still warm out today. Below is a photo of some mushrooms that Calla and I found on our lunch hour walk.



A bit further along the trail, we found this fungus growing on a tree branch.



Below is a photo of Ruby Glow Witch Hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia). It was one of the flowers that I found blooming yesterday in the Woodland Garden section of Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens.

Spring Flowers in February?

Yesterday I saw 7 plant species in bloom and had another one reported that was growing north of where we live.

There were three cultivated plants and five wild flowers. Actually, all of the wild flowers are those that bloom off and on all winter, if the snow is not covering them, but the three cultivated plants are all spring varieties that are blooming early. Following is a list of the flowers that I found or had reported blooming:

Wild
Common Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Common Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris)
Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)
Storksbill (Erodium cicutarium)
Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

Cultivated
Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis)
Ruby Glow Witchhazel (Hamamelis x intermedia)
Brevipetala Witchhazel (Hamamelis mollis)

I checked the Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) and found some pushed up out of the mud and water fairly far but none had blooms yet. Under normal circumstances it should not bloom until early March when it can produce enough heat to melt the snow around it. I wonder what will happen this year.