Weigh in Saturday (NOT)

Got sidetracked with snow shoveling and then going out to bird watch.(Christmas Count)

Maybe tomorrow morning I'll step on the scale. Until then...


more animals

It's not supposed to be doing that!

Guess what, it's snowing this morning--again. Nothing in the forecasts from Accu-Hunch (as good a name as any...and family friendly, too) or whether.com (that's not a misspelling) yet it's snowing.

I feel like I'm trapped in a snow globe.



(Ya gotta laugh. It's too early in the season--winter starts tomorrow, fer cryin' out loud--for cabin fever.)

UPDATE:

The local TV weather quack just said, "We're not looking for any snow this morning."

Well, Sherlock, it's looking for you! It's here...now...you don't have to farookin' look for it fer cryin' out loud!

Hallelujah!!

AccuWeather (AccuHunch to some) lived up to its past reputation and got it wrong! The storm switched over to sleet and freezing rain (it was supposed to stay snow) and ended at around 3 o'clock this afternoon. As a result we only received about 6 inches.

Now that's not to say they will be wrong on storm 2 (Sunday) or storm 3 (next Wednesday). They may be wrong right now about those storms but I will give them some leeway as they are several days away from reaching here. But this storm...well they got it wrong from last night to this morning (started several hours after they said it would last night) and from this morning to this afternoon as to when it finished (sooner than expected and, therefore, with less accumulation).

Sometimes I think it would be nice to me a weatherman where your accuracy need only be of the ballpark variety, close counts and if you hit .275 you're a star.

"Oh the weather outside is frightful..."

Woke up this morning at 7 AM and there was absolutely nothing going on outside. As I ate by Cheerios (Honey Nut) at the table, I spied a flock of turkeys rushing to the bird feeders. Unfortunately they saw Terry come to the window when I alerted her to their approach and ran into the woods just as quickly. Later four old Toms came to the feeders from a different direction.

At 7:45 AM you could see the snow moving toward the Aerie from across the valley and by 8 AM flakes had started to fall. I donned my boots and coat and rushed down to the post office to get send out some mail and pick up ours and got back by 8:45.

It's now 10:45 and there's 2-3 inches of fresh powder on the deck. Let's take a look at the forecast...Sh*t! They've extended the warning to 11 PM tonight and increased the expected accumulations to 8-11 inches (up one from yesterday). AccuWeather's maps are a wee bit different but in the same ball park.

And they're showing another storm coming on Sunday/Sunday night following damn near the same path although there's some chance it might, just might slip a tiny bit further north and only add 3-6 inches to what's on the ground.

And then there's the one forecast for the 24th....

Well, I did say I liked the changing seasons and would never consider retiring to someplace like Florida. Anyway, snow beats the crap out of having to sit through hurricanes, 100 degree summer days with 110% relative humidity, and fire ants and such.

Songs of Deer Hunting

Dudley and his son have gone deer hunting in the North Country of Texas. So I dug up these videos for him to enjoy. Of course, he probably won't see them unless he has wi-fi access at the motel, but it's the thought that counts.

The group is Da-Yoopers.

First we have every hunter's dream trophy:

The 30-Point Buck



And then there's a song about the mysteries of deer camp, specifically what happens during

The Second Week of Deer Camp

Happy Happy Joy Joy (NOT!)

It sounds like they've remove the ice from our local storm warning at any rate. Of course, without the ice, we'll have more snow! They now say 7 to 10 inches are likely by late Friday evening. (The Aerie is just to the southeast of Mansfield at an elevation of 2100 feet. Snow amounts increase with elevation. We still have quite a bit on the ground while the valley has seen most of the fields melt clear.)

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM TO 11 PM EST FRIDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A WINTER
STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND SOME FREEZING RAIN...WHICH IS IN
EFFECT FROM 7 AM TO 11 PM EST FRIDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO
LONGER IN EFFECT.

SNOW WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION EARLY FRIDAY MORNING...RIGHT AROUND
SUNRISE. THE SNOW WILL GET HEAVY AS THE DAY CONTINUES ON FRIDAY.
THE SNOW WILL MIX WITH SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN ALONG AND JUST
NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80...BUT IT WILL STAY MAINLY SNOW IN THE
MOUNTAINS NORTH AND EAST OF WILLIAMSPORT.

EXPECT BETWEEN 7 AND 10 INCHES OF SNOW BY LATE EVENING FRIDAY IN
MANSFIELD AND LAPORTE. EXPECT LOWER SNOW TOTALS IN AND NEAR
WILLIAMSPORT...SUNBURY AND BLOOMSBURG...AS A LONGER PERIOD OF SLEET
AND FREEZING RAIN WILL OCCUR THERE. HOWEVER...ICE ACCRETIONS WILL
BE RIGHT AROUND A QUARTER OF AN INCH IN THOSE MORE-SOUTHERN
LOCATIONS.

(Emphasis added.)

Those yobs in State College want snow sooo badly they moan and groan that they will only be getting an inch or two followed by some sleet. They can come up here and do some shoveling and/or walk behind the snow thrower for an hour.

Hey, at least I'll get to try out my new modified V-tail snowshoes. My Alaskan snow shoes (long, narrow with a sizable tail) are up in the Bolt Hole. Those are made of wood and rawhide. I was going to get a pair made by the same company (Faber) up in Canada but the wooden modified V-tail cost nearly twice what a similar pair from Sportsman's Guide in aluminum and plastic cost me and they didn't have metal cleats to assist going up and down steep, icy terrain--an important consideration here on my sloping property. Maybe next time I'll get the pretty ones.

Bald Eagles at Hammond Lake

Saturday the Tiadaghton Audubon Society is going to be doing its Christmas Bird Count. Terry and I are supposed to go over to Ives Run recreation area on Hammond lake and Crooked Creek to do our counting of species and individuals. The weather is not looking real great. Anywhere from 7 to 10 inches of snow are forecast for Friday and Friday night. It's not likely the Corps of Engineers will have cleared the road into the area let alone that we will be able to navigate some of the roads that are not maintained during the winter. (Even with a 4-wheel drive truck, I'm not crazy.)

I went over there this morning to see what was about and found the roads and parking lots cleared to the ground. I'm sure they won't be that way on Saturday. The Lake is still lowered although there seemed to be a bit more water than the last time I was there. Much of the water in the lake is frozen over and only Crooked Creek and the waters at its mouth seem to be open.

And sitting in a tree looking over the open water were a pair of mature Bald Eagles. Whether they were there because it afforded an excellent perch from which to fish, or scavenge any dead thing that floated by, or because from there they could hunt a Canada Goose from the huge flock gathered on the ice and exposed bars on the other side of the open water channel, I don't know. I drove past and turned around before stopping the truck and taking out my camera. The Eagles didn't move. I snapped several pictures from inside the truck (motor off to eliminate vibrations) and then stepped out of the truck to take some more. That's when the Eagles started paying attention to me. One turned its head to eye me and later shifted on the branch to look face me more directly. And I was a good two hundred yards away.

Bald Eagles at Hammond Lake

STS (No, not the jet, That's SST. And not the 60s radical student group either. Thats SDS.)

Last evening, just as the sun was starting to set behind the western hills, I looked out at the bird feeders and spotted something on the ground. My first thought was that it was a Dark-eyed Junco for it was slate gray, but then I noticed it lacked a bird's tail and it certainly wasn't behaving like a bird. I knew what it was immediately: a Northern Short-tailed Shrew, Blarina brevicauda. It was interesting to see it out and about during the day on top of the snow. You can sometimes see the tunnels they make beneath the surface of the snow and, perhaps, this one was trying to dig under the surface but it was too icy and too thin for much success. One thing is certain, this shrew is not a nocturnal critter. Its metabolism runs too high for it to go wasting daylight in hiding and sleep. It needs food and lots of it to stay alive. It must have been famished to risk going out where even a Blue Jay could make a quick meal out of it.

It wasn't moving about much and I thought it might be ill. I grabbed the camera and ventured forth to photograph the little mammal before a wandering feral feline or an avian predator ended what ever it was doing permanently. As I approached I could see that while it looked motionless from a distance, its front paws were digging frantically in the snow beneath the tray feeder. What it hoped to find there, I have no idea. The ground is pretty frozen and, to the best of my knowledge, the shrews eat meat not sunflower seeds. After all, why else would they have poison glands and saliva if not to subdue another animal?

Short-tailed Shrew

I managed to snap the one photo and then reached out to touch the critter hoping to get a better view.(Mean, really, how much do you want to see a shrew's butt? I was hoping for little, black, beady eyes and maybe a hissing snarl showing lots of sharp teeth with their reddish coloring. something vicious would be the ticket!)

Well! It might have been acting sluggish as it dug in the snow but my touch lit a fire under it! It scampered off into the rocks, zig-zagging as it went over the snow's surface, dove beneath one rock which had an edge levered up to create a miniature cave, and that was that.

More Ornaments

Here are a couple more examples of the ornaments on our Christmas tree.

The first is a smocked ball in shades of purple and green on white.



Then we have a needlepoint representation of a Poinsettia that was done on a paper backing.



And finally (at least for today) we have an acorn--in plaid--in what I guess you might say is a version of quilting an/or applique. I really like the way the cloth "scales" drape over the form on this one. (Of course, I also like the red/green/black plaid!)

Exactly!

see more puppies

It's a cat's life.

The cats have been remarkably good about having a tree in the living area. Only Julie had ever seen such a thing before but all three are pretty much ignoring it...so far.

They were even good about all the fuss when we were setting it up and decorating the tree. Chester did get interested when we were testing the lights, however. The dragging cord and general plasticy nature of the wire coating had his attention for a short time. He inspected them closely and then forgot all about them. Perhaps if they were blinkers....


more animals (This is not Chester...but it could have been.)

During the actual hanging of ornaments and such Chester merely slept on the Christmas stockings and the other two disappeared to where ever they go when the play Tallulah Bankhead and just want to be alone. Shadow has since realized there is now a source of water to be found beneath the lowest bows. And Julie has tasted (and probably swallowed) several strands of tinsel. But other than that, they have only cast glances in the general direction of the tree. Which is good.

The sleigh bells jingle and ...

"It's lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together
With you!"

In yesterday's post "Blah! Humbug!" the Rev. Paul left a comment that read in part " Could be worse, though - heavy snows, ice storms, power outages." All I can say is thanks a lot Rev.! Someone must have over heard cause here's the forecast for tonight and tomorrow:

(This from the Weather.com site.)

Winter Storm Watch for Tioga County, PA
from 4 am EST, Fri., Dec. 19, 2008 until 6 pm EST, Fri., Dec. 19, 2008

Issued by The National Weather Service
State College, PA
5:01 am EST, Thu., Dec. 18, 2008

... WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON...

A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON.

A NEW STORM RACING OUT OF THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES WILL BRING MORE WINTRY PRECIPITATION TO CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. SNOW WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION LATER TONIGHT... MIXED WITH SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN OVER SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE WATCH AREA. PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE TO OVERSPREAD THE REGION FRIDAY... WITH A WINTRY MIX OF SNOW... SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN OVER MUCH OF THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS... AND MAINLY SNOW FURTHER NORTH TO THE NEW YORK BORDER.

THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW OVER THE REGION FROM ABOUT INTERSTATE 80 NORTHWARD... WITH ACCUMULATIONS IN EXCESS OF 6 INCHES POSSIBLE.

OVER THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80... MORE OF A WINTRY MIX IS EXPECTED WITH MODERATE ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW AND SLEET... FOLLOWED BY FREEZING RAIN.

And here's the Weather.com forecast for the next 36 hours:


Not to be outdone, the AccuWeather crew have a little more detail on the accumulations.


Please note the accumulation totals at the top of that graphic. That's 15.7 inches followed by winds gusting in to the 40 mph range. At least they took the 0.4 inches of ice out of the local forecast. That's going to happen to the south of us near I-80.

I believe AccuWeather is headquartered in State College, PA. They have, from time to time bemoaned the lack of snow fall in the area. They all should be happy as all get out based upon their long range forecast which shows nothing but snow, snow, snow through New Year's Day. The storm highlighted here is just the first of three heading our way. Should be fun!

Tree Ornaments

I mentioned that we decorated this year's tree using only handmade ornaments, most of which Terry made. There are about 100 ornaments nestled in the branches of our tree and Terry says she counted only about ten that she did not do. These ten came as gifts from others in exchanges at her clubs, from relatives (Jessica and Ruthann), or were purchased from folks in her clubs.

The ninety or so that Terry did are almost evenly split between those which have some form of embroidery and those that are smocked.

Embroidered ornamental sachet.
(counted cross-stitch)

Smocked Christmas Ball in Red and Green.

Needlepoint Angel on canvas.

Did someone say Elf Bowling?

Sure 'nough!

(Man, if that isn't annoying, nothing is!)

If you really want to play the game, you can download various permutations of this game at this link. Unfortunately, it cannot be played on line and there is no version for Macs.

Blah! Humbug!

Yesterday, when we went tree shopping, the temperatures were in the upper 30s/low 40s. There was an occasional rain shower but nothing much. After dark, the temperatures dropped into the 20s and some wind driven sleet arrived followed by snow. That didn't amount to much either as we only had about an inch of white stuff on the ground this morning.

The temperatures have slowly crept into the low 30s today but the ceiling is right around 2000 feet meaning we've been ensconced in a cloud bank for much of the day. There's no precipitation to speak of.... I mean, if it were to precipitate, it would have to fall out of the clouds, right? And we are, well, IN the clouds so anything that were to fall would be...if you'd pardon the expression...beneath us.

So, it's just a foggy, raw, dreary day at the Aerie.

Christmas Tree

This is our third Christmas in the Aerie but the first time we have had a Christmas tree.

The first year we had just moved in and were still putting finishing touches on the interior. In fact, we didn't really have a certificate of occupancy form the building inspector, but since his assistant was our contractor's son and he was one doing the finishing touches....

The second year, Rick was in Guyana and we went to New Jersey to celebrate with the Mom-in-Law, Jessica, and my sister's family.

This year, Rick and Sandy (fiancee) will be coming east from Eugene, OR. They are taking the train to Chicago and then flying into Newark on Sunday. They will stay in NJ for a couple of days and Terry and I will join them there for Christmas Eve at my sister's and Christmas Day at Terry's Mom's. We'll then drag them to the Aerie for a couple of days. Then they'll hop a flight out of Newark on December 29th for Chicago to celebrate the New Year with Sandy's parents before heading back to Eugene. (Or, at least I think that's what's going to happen. I get treated like a mushroom, if you know what I mean.)

So, any way you look at it, we will have company for Christmas. That means we have to have a tree.

We picked up a nice tree (Balsam Fir) from a tree farm west of here (Zimmer Century Tree Farm). They drilled the base to fit the stand and also to display the trees in their small lot. We could have gone out into the larger fields to select and cut our own, but the ground was muddy from the melting snow and I preferred the easy method of pointing and saying, "We'll take that one."

Terry, at 4' 11" ("And a half!" she shouts.) stands next to our Christmas tree.

The tree stands about 11 feet tall and was selected for its relatively narrow physique as well as its height. It fits in rather nicely to the left of the fireplace.(Which will, of course, not be lit for the next two to two-and-a-half weeks regardless how cold it gets.)

Terry s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s to hang one more ornament.

The tree was a challenge to decorate. We have never had one as tall as this. The ceilings in our Morristown house were low enough that I could touch them if I stood on my tiptoes...about 7 1/2 feet. Now we have a huge cathedral ceiling and the sky's the limit! Well, maybe not the sky, but pretty far up there anyway. To get the lights and decorations on the tree required the use of a step ladder. And I must say, Terry did a damn fine job, too!

Decorated tree next to the fireplace.
How convenient for Santa! (Or the Hogfather. whichever.)

All the decorations we (okay, Terry) hung this year were hand made. They are either smocked or embroidered. Terry estimates 85-90% were done by her. The balance were done either by Jessica, members of Terry's smocking and embroidery clubs and acquired in an exchange of gifts, or purchased from other smockers/embroiderers.

Between the Franklin Mint and Hallmark, we still have enough ornaments for two or three more trees. But not this year.

(Actually, I helped with the lights and some of the higher decorations. Even with the step ladder she had trouble reaching the tip top branches cause she's got short arms.)

Bah! Humbug!

Christmas carols have been playing in the mall and at Wally World ever since Halloween. They form a fitting background for the mad shopping that goes on this time of year and most are pretty innocuous. The Chipmunks, however are annoying as all get out. Yeah, their carols are cute the first time you hear them and perhaps they are tolerable the next four or five times, but when you hear them for the 20th or 30th time…well, action must be taken. And so, in celebration of Alvin, Theodore and Simon’s 50th Christmas, I present:

Chipmunks Roasting on An Open Fire



(Boldly stolen from Theo who had it first.)

More birds at the feeders

About the time the NY Jets were marching for their first TD in today's game against the Buffalo Bills, I looked out the kitchen window and noticed we had some dinner guests out by the bird feeders. That's not so unusual but these could have been dinner guests of a different sort.

Wild turkeys are becoming frequent visitors again. A couple of days ago a flock of 15 or 16 marched up the hill without stopping. Yesterday a group of 10 or 12 came over to the feeders but, not finding the snow depth to their liking, they moved on. Today's group, apparently all old Toms based upon their long beards, were happy that I had shoveled some of the snow and scattered seed for the Juncos and Mourning Doves. They also spent some time scratching under the feeders for seeds that had been buried in the ice. They hung around for quite awhile--until Terry sneezed in her sewing room. Then they meandered off into the woods.




Wild Turkeys under the feeders.




The long beards (feather growths on their chests that hang down) indicate that these are some pretty old Toms.


Turkeys are not the only game birds to approach the Aerie's feeders.



Mourning Doves are also abundant at the feeders. Most of them feed on the ground or on the deck where the tray feeder has no roof over it.