Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Long January Days, And Snowshoes.
Greetings everyone as the light fades in the western sky. The bare branches of the black ash trees next door look fabulous against the darkening sky. The days are definitely getting longer now. Not by much, but it is noticeable at least. But this is when the cold comes. And it’s coming this week. Sigh. I just don’t do well in cold weather anymore. Warm days in the tropics. That’s what I like to think about. Ahh, to be alone on a nice little tropical isle. Muffin would like that too I’m sure. But here I sit, drinking a cup of hot chocolate and trying to stay warm.
Birds and feeders
I bought a new suet feeder since there are so many birds that like suet and there is always a line-up at the 2 I had. Today I put it up. When I went to the window to check if the birds were going to use the new feeder sure enough, a nuthatch was on it already. But something was wrong. He was fluttering around like he was trapped. Out I went again. Yep, his little foot had slipped between two of the wires in a corner that were just apart enough for his foot but once through and he turned his foot he was unable to pull it out again. Poor little critter. So I calmed him down and slipped his foot back out and he flew to the apple tree. And I fixed the feeder so it can’t happen again. Bad design. 
Sigh. But he was back later, no harm done.
Pine Siskins
There was a lot of those pine siskins around today, I figured around 80 of them. So I decided to try getting them to come onto my hand. Took less than a minute for the first one to land. Then another. And several more. Had 4 at a time on my hand. There was 10 at one time on me, on my arms, my shoulders, my head. Didn’t think it would be quite that easy. And no camera. But as usual with these little birds, they flew up into the trees suddenly. Good. I went inside and got my camera and back out with more sunflower seeds on my hand, which was already cold from the first time. The siskins came back right away and I was clicking as fast as I could. They didn’t mind at all.
Once again I was covered with siskins, I think about 15 this time, it was a little hard to tell. But only one at a time on my hand. Sigh. One little bird sat on my camera looking at the screen, probably trying to figure out what was going on. But I got some nice pics anyway. And my hand nearly froze. Couldn’t feel a thing. Until my hand started to warm up. That pain was bad. And it lasted quite a while. My hands haven’t been that cold in a long time. Sigh. But I did have fun. The fingers on my hand are still a bit sore.
More Snowshoeing
It was another January day, the temp was -5F, so not so bad, and it was cloudy. A good day for snowshoeing, I thought. This time I was smart and let someone know where I was going and about how long I would be gone. I had a lot of snowshoe trails by that time and they were nice and hard, like walking on a sidewalk. But I wanted to extend one of the trails so off I went carrying my snowshoes for the first part. I came to where the trail split, one heading south, one north. I was supposed to be going south. But instead I decided to head north. Why? There was some wolf tracks along that trail that looked quite fresh. That naturally caught my interest. So much for letting someone know where I was going. Sigh. I continued along that trail for some time. The wolf tracks kept going. But I stopped at one spot and decided it would be nice to make a new trail heading east.
So I strapped on my snowshoes. About then a couple of gray jays showed up looking for some food. This time I had brought some food just in case. Not for me, for any critters I might see along the way. I put some pieces of bread on my hand and they came down right away and helped themselves. Then off they flew, chirping their thanks. Gray jays always do that when they get some food.
The snow was deep again this year. Even with snowshoes a person still sinks a bit. I came to a nice grove of spruce and balsam. I stopped and listened. Sure enough, there was some boreal chickadees among those trees. That’s exactly where they will be found. They are always such a treat to see. I counted 8, plus a nuthatch. I watched for a bit then continued my walk. If I had been smart I would have turned back at that point. But I decided to continue a bit further. I soon came to a spot at the top of a hill. It was a rather steep sloping hill going down about 100 feet. Too steep to walk down. Hmm, I wonder if I could sort of ski down? Why not? So off I went. It was fun. Until….
Oops!
This has gotten longer than I planned. Will continue the story next time, you will definitely want to come back! Enjoy your week everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin. (The featured image at top is not mine, thanks Candace)
Nooo!!! It’s Back!!
It’s hard to believe. That most terrible of northern plagues has hit once again. It’s the dreaded CABIN FEVER! It can strike when you least expect it. And it can hit anyone, people or animals. No, I don’t believe people are animals. Anyway, Muffin caught it the same time as I did. Amazing. We both came down with this terrible fever the same week. But it usually does strike in January. And it’s absolutely terrible. It makes a person tired. You don’t want to do anything. It’s hard to get out of bed. It can take your appetite away. Or make you eat more. Just depends on the person. Or cat. Muffin generally likes to eat more. I generally eat less. But even though you don’t want to do anything you still want to do something. That one is hard to figure.
Cabin fever hits me every winter. Which is why I decided a few years ago to do something about it. I created International Cabin Fever Day. Never heard of it? Not surprising. I don’t usually tell people about it. Okay, it’s not exactly a formal holiday. But it is a fun holiday. I discovered that there are a lot of fun holidays made up by people that fill almost every day of the year. Sometimes 3 or 4 on the same day. That must to tough. This holiday is on January 28. Why? No reason. Just decided to pick that date. So mark your calendars. Have fun. Muffin, who is presently sitting on my laptop making it very difficult to type this (sigh), and I always have a little party. Cake. Hats. Games. And COFFEE! Lots of COFFEE! COFFEE in the cup to drink. COFFEE in the cake, just add some instant COFFEE to the mix, works great. COFFEE in the cookies, same procedure. Okay, Muffin skips the COFFEE. Except in the cake. She loves cake. Most any cake. Finally, she is on my lap instead of my laptop. Sigh.
Going for a nice long walk through the winter forest was good for helping reduce Cabin Fever. Can’t do that now. Being outside with my birds helps some. Except it’s too cold right now. I wanted to be outside the other day getting some pics of my birds while it was such a nice sunny day. We don’t get many sunny days. At least not this winter. But it was just too cold. Hard to click a pic when my fingers are so cold they won’t move. Besides, this time of year it takes 20 minutes to dress to go outside. After all that time I don’t want to go out. Muffin is now on the desk beside my laptop. Looking at me. With that ‘look’. Meaning she wants food. Or I lose a finger. Food it is.
I like to work on small projects when Cabin Fever hits. Like my birdhouses. These are not meant to be used. By birds. They are table decorations. Like this one here.
Complete with stone chimney. The idea is to change the decorating ideas with the seasons. And with various holidays. One birdhouse. Many possibilities. This one is ready for January. That cold look. Sigh.
I prefer something warm this time of year. Which is why staying indoors and drinking COFFEE is such a good idea. Or going to Hawaii. Like my featured image above showing some of Hawaii’s beauty. Thanks to Candace for allowing me to use her photo. I will be using more of her photos over the winter.
Pine siskins are trying to take over my bird feeders these days.
There are around 70 of these little birds. Unfortunately they tend to keep the other little birds away from the feeders. They are very bossy, and tough little critters. So occasionally I go outside which scares them away for awhile so the chickadees can get some food. Sigh.
Speaking of food. That shrike was around again this afternoon. I heard the blue jays give their warning cry. Muffin and I immediately went to the window. Muffin understands that warning cry too. There was the shrike at the top of a tree. There was nine blue jays. All the little birds were motionless. Finally one of the blue jays attacked the shrike chasing it through the trees. Then a second blue jay entered the fight. Finally two more entered the chase and the four of them chased that shrike for a good long distance. Once they returned everything else returned to normal with all the birds.
And I put out extra peanuts for those blue jays. They are the police force of the birds.
Sigh. I guess I should close. I know. I didn’t really say much. I will be making some changes to my blog over the next couple months, will keep you informed. Muffin wants to play now too. But she does meow ‘hi’ to everyone. I know. It’s that Cabin Fever. More snowshoeing fun on Monday. Enjoy your weekend everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
Steve`s Country 