Cold Days And Critters Too.

Good morning out there wherever you are reading this Monday post!  And it certainly is Monday.  Things tend to happen Mondays which don’t seem to happen on other days.  Have you noticed that too or am I the only one?  Feel free to answer that question, I really would like to know.  Sigh.

We had a couple very nice days.  Saturday the temp reached a warm 43F.  You must remember, we are in the far north.  So that is a nice temp for December.  However, that warmth was short lived.  Today we are back to cold.  Hard to believer the difference.  But it’s normal now.  Sigh.  There wasn’t many birds around the last couple days.  Back today though.  And very busy.  Back and forth to the feeders.  All day long.  So nice to watch.

It really brightens these cold days of winter.  And there is lots of winter left.  Sigh.  This morning there was a nuthatch on the suet and a raven on the feeder right above it.  What a size difference.  That little nuthatch isn’t as big as that ravens beak.

Was shopping this morning.  Kind of busy at the store.  Was following behind a lady who was going rather slow.  But I couldn’t get past her at that point.  Then she suddenly stopped.  I was watching.  But I guess I was a bit close.  She went OOOOOO!  I apologized.  And left quickly.  Sigh.  Picked up some bird seed.  Now, why do they put bags of bird seed on the shelf when they have holes in them.  The bag that is.  It had less seeds in the bag when I left.  Much less.  As I put the bag in the cart the seeds departed.  Onto the floor.  I tried pushing them out of the way so no one would slip on them.  Found an employee (which is hard to do at this store, they all seem to vanish when they see me coming, very odd), and said, “there is a big mess on that aisle”.  She went to check.  I vanished.  I continued shopping.  Heard a voice, “can’t you walk faster?”  I said, “no”. There was lots of room to go past me.  But she didn’t.  Odd.  I kept going.  I can only walk so fast.  Slow.  Sigh.

At home I needed to make some more suet cakes for the birds.  They go through that stuff fast.  Especially when it’s cold.  Did I mention it was cold today?  It was.  And is.  Sigh.  Anyway, I got everything out and began melting the ingredients.  Brought out some lard.  It was soft already.  Cut a chunk and picked it up.  It slipped out of my hand.  And landed with a splat.  I looked down at my foot.  What a mess.  Sigh.  Oddly, Muffin didn’t come to see what happened.  I think she realized there wasn’t anything good to eat.  After cleaning up I continued.  No other mishaps.  Sigh.

The gray jays were around this afternoon.  All 3 of them.  And it was sunny.

I tossed some bread out for them (they like bread better than anything) so they would stay around longer.  Then I got my jacket on and grabbed my camera and, and…they were gone.  Sigh.  One of these days.  Usually gray jays are an amazingly friendly bird.  Not these ones.  Odd.  I would have tried taking a pic through the window.  But I have tried with other birds.  Doesn’t work.  These are old windows.  Pics don’t come out clear.  Oh well.  There is still some time.  I have to get a good pic before they start nesting.  That only gives about 6 weeks.  Not much time for me.  Sigh.

Muffin is starting to wake up.  Kind of early.  She usually sleeps until 7.  It’s only 6.  She is usually very regular with her sleeping times.  Must be nice.  I used to be.  But things have changed.  Now I’m not.  Sigh.  Speaking of squirrels.  The cold certainly doesn’t seem to bother LB.  He was out playing around in the snow this afternoon.  Really enjoying himself.  Now if he hadn’t chased all the other squirrels away, he could have someone to join in the fun with him.  Mama (deer) was here today too.  The cold didn’t seem to be bothering her either.  The cold bothers me.  Cold weather and I just do not mix.  Sigh.

Enjoy your week and God bless!  Christmas is coming!

Steve and Muffin and critters.