Hello everyone! Happy Friday! It is another beautiful and sunny day here. Earlier this morning the temp was a mild 25F (-4C), but it is now at the melting point again, 32F (0C). Even with the melting temperatures though, the snow is not really melting too much, except on the south facing hillsides. Those hills have the advantage of more direct sunshine, which melts the snow faster.

But it is nice to have this little break in the weather. But there are downsides to this also. And that is simply, ice! It melts a bit during the day and that freezes every night, which then becomes treacherous ice the next morning. For that reason, it would be better to have the temperature stay below freezing. But we have what we have, and I do enjoy it. I guess there is another downside, the lack of birds at the feeders.

The chickadees and nuthatches are still here, but fewer numbers of them. The blue jays are still here however, so that is nice. And, they are staying until late afternoon now. So that helps protect the smaller birds right through the day, which is a good thing. But from about 10am to 3pm, there is little activity out there. The pigeons are gone now, so that is nice. I guess the neighbors have stopped putting out seed for them. I hope the grosbeaks will come back now. We shall see.

My Christmas cactus is blooming now, only one flower at the moment, but it has a lot of buds. It is just a small plant, but I am very happy with it. The flowers are red with white, very beautiful. I had one years ago, but it died on me after several years. I think I probably watered it too much. I just bought this one, so we will see if I can keep it alive this time. Getting it to bloom again can also be tricky with these plants. But my last one did okay for a while.

Muffin is curled up on my lap right now, sleeping peacefully. I will have to wake her up though, so I can get my lunch. Sigh. She will likely claim the chair when I leave. Then we have a discussion on property rights when I get back. Then I run to get bandages while she goes back to sleep. She always seems to have stronger arguments on property rights than I do. Unless I am eating something that she likes. Then she will let me sit down again after I promise to share. We do have our fun! Well, have a great Friday everyone and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2022 Steve McLeod.