Thursday, December 11, 2014

Snow day

That's right skiing sock monkey... only 14 days left!

And it's looking like it might even be a white Christmas.
That Nor' Easter everyone has been talking about finally made it's way to us, bringing several inches of snow and coating the cedars out back in pretty white frosting (please ignore the fence that came down in the last wind storm... it will probably be spring before property management gets it back up...)

That means working from home for me (otherwise, it's at least two hours to get to work) and that means extra knitting time because I don't have to commute. (Pics of what I'm working on to follow in the next few days.)

It also means I get to keep an eye on the backyard. The sparrow mafia has been back and forth to the feeder, but we also had a new visitor
(Not the greatest picture - it's grey and snowing, he's grey and far away... and I took the picture through the window). If my internet sleuthing is correct, he's a Dark-Eyed Junco. They are a type of sparrow that lives in the Rockies, but during winter spreads out across the slightly warmer parts of Canada.

He wasn't shy, but definitely cautious. It took him a good 15 minutes to move from the fence to the feeder...
...where he ate his fill and flew off.  I bought the bird feeder for the entertainment of the cats.... but I think I enjoy it far more than they do!

Speaking of  cat entertainment... someone else decided that since I'm home, I should be opening the door every five minutes. The first time I went out, he put on paw in the snow on the back step and immediately went back inside. I shoveled off the back patio, but he refused to come out and left for a three-hour nap.

Refreshed, he came back down to howl for the outdoors again, so I obliged.
By this time, the patio was snow-covered again,  but the step and small patch up against the house were protected by the overhang of the eaves. He refused to budge from that area... even to come back inside.

Now it's far too cold to leave the door open all afternoon while he surveys the yard... so I did what any good cat-mom would do...
Have you ever seen a sadder face?

But he hasn't bugged me to go back out since....

5 comments:

kathy b said...

Our junco's eat on the ground ....I've never seen one at a feeder. I think they are lovely birds. WE get them in Chicago around Thanksgiving until spring.
Poor kitty....they want to be out, but they are smart enough to want to come in

Unknown said...

Very entertaining bird and cat stories. Love it.

Unknown said...

My dogs love the snow, but they don't stay dry! And when their hair is long I have fun blow drying the snow clumps out of their hair (they are doodles who have hair not fur).

Araignee said...

We had our first snow showers today and it was lovely. I was so jolly that I put up the tree which is very early for me. We may not see another flake this year so I needed to take advantage.

Anonymous said...

Oh my ....that IS a sad face. He sure knows how to pull the old heart strings, doesn't he.