Monday 15 February 2016

It is February after all!

It is February, after all!


Saturday morning I woke up to frigid temperatures.  -27 C straight temp with a -44C wind chill.  I went to let the dogs out and for the first time ever, Rex refused to go.  I guess at 9 he is starting to feel his age too.  Both dogs returned to their respective beds, Murphy on ours and Rex in the spare bedroom.  What a life they have!

I have a man down; Hubby has been a little under the weather with flu-like symptoms for three days but is feeling better thankfully.  If only I could get him to drink lemon water like I do.

Early morning walk to get the paper revealed a chance for a good photograph just a few metres from our mail box.  I'd noticed this on my morning drives and made a mental note to try to capture it with my camera sometime.


I kept my mitts on so was a bit wobbly pressing the tiny buttons.  Those mitts were not coming off not even for the cause of a perfect picture. And as soon as I moved to position the sun directly between those two trees, the light became blinding.  Not sure what real photographers do in that case but my little SureShot couldn't handle it.  Anyway, I wanted to show you how frozen everything was looking.  The Extreme Cold Wave warning issued by Environment Canada is no joke.

There is something about naturally formed treed arch ways that appeal to me as they always catch my eye.  And I always think of the Tennyson lines, " I am a part of all that I have met.... All experience is an archway where through gleams the untravelled world." Some things just stick even from grade school.  Now ask me what I did last Wednesday and I'd probably draw a blank.


Anyway, I had to wrap a scarf around my face.  I frost bit a section of my cheek when I lived in the far north and it still reacts to extreme cold.  I also have mild rosacea (like Mom) which gives me an unnatural red glow on my cheeks if I get them too cold.  Oddly enough, same thing happens with extreme heat as I found out when I got to visit some tropical islands on a cruise.  Luckily, it does not hurt and is a purely cosmetic issue.  At this point in life, I mostly couldn't care less.


Later in the day, when it had warmed up to -21, I took the dogs for a quick walk around the swamp and barn.  I was rewarded for my efforts with a rare sighting of one of the grouse that live in our woods.  It was sitting very calmly in a tree and did not react to the dogs at all.  These birds are usually on the ground and Rex gets to flush them...no photo then just the sound of heavy wing beats.
 Just love how well camouflaged it is.




Shy creatures, they do not come near the house except that one time when two of them sat in the big tree in the back yard munching on something and I took several photos through the bedroom window.


They had their feathers fluffed to keep warm, I assume.

Speaking of which...kitchen living these days staying close to the heat.



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