Happy 28th to the Fiddler!!

You know, it really hits home when your “kid” pushes closer to that big 3-0.

I. am. old.

Happy Birthday, Dear Son. Here’s to many many more. We love ya!!

Spring Awakenings: Frog Pond

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog break for a springtime announcement.

My long-awaited first sign of Spring finally arrived early this week. Spring peepers and western chorus frogs began their spring songs on our ponds. Ohhhh, how I love this sound.
I made a little audio clip to share. Nothing to look at here – just the audio for you to enjoy the spring sounds. I wanted to give you a snippet of what we are hearing now in case you’ve never heard them before, or are in a location where the froggies haven’t awakened quite yet. I crave this sound all winter long. It's even my ringtone. Crazy... yes I know :) The sound is nearly deafening at times here, but I still love it! **Update: I had to insert a link here because after 10 hours my video still wouldn't upload to Blogger. Hope this works!

 Listen to Frog Pond

The loud whistling sounds are Spring Peepers – pictured below. (Whoa, this looks painful, huh?)

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Credit: George Grall

If you listen closely to the clip, the sounds which resemble a thumbnail on a comb are the Western Chorus Frogs (my favorites).

I’m still on a blog break. Really I am. Soon I hope to catch up on my chore list, as well as my ever-important blog list. I’ve been sick this week with cold/flu. And no, I do not have our taxes complete. And no, I haven’t accomplished any of the other unpleasant tasks as of yet. I did manage to purge my closet of two very large bags of clothes (so far). Goodwill and Uncle Sam (IRS), look out 'cause here I come just as soon as I’m back among the living.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Happy Spring… see you soon!

Knee deep in...
kleenexes inside, and mud outside...

Big Muddy

Nope, not the Missouri River, aka Big Muddy. This describes the current condition of our driveway, and everyone else’s around us.

How’s the weather around you? We really can’t complain. The temps have been in the 40’s most days, still dipping down to 20 or so at night. But it’s getting a little better every day. The birds are singing their Spring songs. I’m still waiting for those Western Chorus Frogs to sing, but the ponds still look very cold and partially frozen.

I’m taking a blog break to take care of some UNpleasantries. Taxes for one thing.. boo! 

Till then… Cheers to all! Hope you’re seeing signs of Spring too!

Thursday Walkabout: Our National Bird

The Bald Eagle became our national bird in 1782, and is the one eagle unique to North America. The bald eagle's scientific name signifies a sea eagle with a white head. Bald eagles may be found throughout most of North America, from Alaska and Canada to northern Mexico.

Bald eagles were declared an endangered species in 1967 in most areas of the United States. In 1995, the US Fish and Wildlife Service upgraded the status of bald eagles in the lower 48 states to "threatened." In 2007 the American bald eagle was removed from the Endangered Species List. They are still protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen an increase in Bald Eagles in our neck of the woods. They’re literally in our back yards in this area now.  Until that time, I had never seen a Bald Eagle up close and personal. Viewing a Bald Eagle in flight makes my heart skip a beat!  This ‘eagle season’ I’ve had two meetings with them. A few weeks ago an eagle swooped my car (just saying hi?) when I was getting close to home. A few days after that encounter, I was feeding the geese and one flew just a few feet over our heads peering down on us. Awesome! (But, maybe he/she was eyeing my geese?!).

Mr. W and I were able to capture some photos of  “our locals” this week.  In the mosaic you will see an eagle in flight, and one roosting in the tree  – both of those eagles have a mottled appearance. That means he or she is a juvenile. They’re not the best quality pics – lots of zoom and crop here, but not bad! I’ll throw in my favorite shot of the day at the end.

Enjoy your day!

It began as a dreary, gray day… and then…

Well, first let me show you another snow picture or two. We had rain, and lots of it yesterday. Which turned to ice. Last night it began to snow. Again.

And then the sun tried to peek out ----

(It finally succeeded). From this point, the day just got better and better.

I went out to the mailbox and what did I find? A ZSQ!!! What IS a ZSQ, you may ask? Why, it is a Zippy Strippy Quilt. Made by none other than JENNY MATLOCK. It is truly adorable, made in a camping theme, with fleecy warm fabric. Keep in mind that Jenny Matlock lives in a perpetual state of sunshine and warmth. It was pure fate that I won this giveaway, given the perpetual frozen tundra state we seem to be in these days. The giveaway was in memory of her sweet friend Mike. Please read more here, but be warned, there is a famous Jenny PKW (possible kleenex warning) on this post. So sad, but so sweet, and I am completely honored to be the recipient of this darling quilt.

I couldn’t get a picture that captured just how big the ZSQ is. It’s BIG!! And oh so cozy.

Close-up of one of the fabrics. So cute!

Needless to say, it will be loved. Jenny also enclosed the sweetest little card (I think she made that too).

Thank you so very much, Jenny! Bless you. Every time I see or use this quilt, I will think of your friend Mike and the wonderful memories you must have.

Thursday Walkabout: Let’s Go for a Drive

We took a drive late this afternoon, so technically, these aren’t really walkabout pictures… are they?  Maybe I’ll just pretend this once,  k?  Several of these photos are along our route to and from work. A few are just slightly off our beaten path. It was a gorgeous, sunshiny day. We’re still waiting for warmer temps, but the mid-thirties today seemed very pleasant. The local weather dude says that 45 is the average high temperature for the latter part of February. It would be so nice to see that number soon!

A few of these photos were snapped by Mr. W. Thank you, Dear! :)

Roadside Squirrel, Snowy Fields, Wild Turkeys (they sure are making a lot of appearances these days), Sky View

Old Levick’s Mill Log Cabin, Barn, Windmill, Old Lonely Farmhouse, One Room Schoolhouse in a Cow Pasture, Love those Windmills (Note to Self: All we need to make our farm complete -- Windmill & Chickens).

Here’s the Snowy Field in solo form. For some reason, it brings me peace and serenity.  Need to chill? Take a deep breath, and gaze at this photo a few seconds…

Did it help?

We’ve almost survived yet another winter’s week. Hope yours has been a good one!

Thursday Walkabout: Yep! More Snow…

It’s been a daily job to keep the feathered friends happy, but they’re more than worth it.

We’ve had two snowstorms in a week’s time, with more predicted for the weekend. I know we’re not alone in our winter weather, but sheesh, bring on Spring already!

I stepped out of my color comfort zone here and transformed everything to sepia tones with Pioneer Woman’s Soft and Faded action. (Photoshop Actions are so much fun!). We have snowy scenes and some of our frozen fog from this morning.

Enjoy your day! I hope to be back with a Valentine’s post and an update to our 2010 mini-journal  later this week. But if not…

♥ Happy Valentine’s Day, Friends! ♥

It’s a Giveaway! Hop on over to…

another dear friend’s blog - Patti (Osage Bluff Quilter) for a fantastic giveaway. It’s her BIRTHDAY – today!! First, wish her a Happy Birthday, of course. She will announce the winner on February 10th (that gives lots of time for LOTS of Happy Birthday wishes per Patti).

She is giving away a set of Wade seasons collectibles. I won’t pretend to know anything about collectibles (I don’t!), but I can say they look very cute!