Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
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.
Snowshoeing Adventures. Part 2.
Greetings everyone! It’s great to be back with all of you again! And a special greeting to all my new readers and followers! I’m aiming for that number 50 in followers and it’s not far away. I’m really quite excited about that so please help me out by telling others all about this blog! If you want. Or not. That’s okay.
We got some more snow last night. Not a lot. About 6 inches or so. It made everything so white. And cold looking. Except it wasn’t cold. It was really quite mild, 32F actually. This has been a rather odd start to January which is normally such a cold month. I’m not complaining though. Cold and I do not get along too well anymore. Sigh. The birds were very busy today.
And Mama (deer) came by for a visit as did Fuzzy (another deer). I think the critters around here prefer summer. Like me. Okay. I know what you are waiting for, so let’s get started.
I wasn’t really sure what to do so I brushed the snow off a rock and sat down so I could look over the situation. I figured the only way off this ledge would be to climb up. But that granite was so nice and smooth, except for some lichen growing on it. Hmm. While I was sitting some chickadees came along from the valley below. A couple stopped for a bit and searched the broken trees beside me for any insects that may be hidden in the bark. The off they flew up to the top of the cliff so effortlessly. Hmm. However, the way they went up I noticed a small twig sticking out of the snow. And a little beyond that a small balsam was also barely showing itself through the snow. Hmm. If they were anchored strongly enough I might be able to pull myself up. Problem. The first one was just too high for me to reach even with the help of my snowshoe. I looked at the broken trees. Just might work. I put one up against the rock, checked the branches to make sure they were strong enough to hold me, then started to climb. I figured I just might be able to reach that first twig. I was almost there when, SNAP! That broken tree broke again. And I tumbled down and nearly went over the edge of that ledge! I mean, it was close. Too close. I rolled away slowly. Unfortunately I hurt my knee, opposite leg to my twisted ankle, which was now throbbing quite badly. I just had to get out of there quickly. No one knew where I was. And it was now windy which made it feel even colder. Hmm.
Well, I looked at the other broken tree. Why not? What choice do I have? It didn’t seem as solid as the last one and the branches were smaller, but it’s the only way to reach that twig. I was hoping that twig was actually bigger than it looked. Right. With the tree in place I started to climb again. Rats. Still couldn’t reach that twig. So I reached up with my snowshoe and tried brushing away the snow. It was working. And that twig had some little branches on it. That was good. Now if I could just hook my snowshoe on there. Did it! Except it wouldn’t stay on. Sigh. Now what? I stood right on the top of that broken tree, hoping that it wouldn’t move, and I could just reach that little shrub. I took my mitt off and grabbed that shrub tightly with my bare hand and pulled. Amazingly it held and soon I had my other hand on the little balsam tree. By pulling and sticking my feet into the snow I managed to get up to the next level which was just a small ledge not much bigger than me. I sat in the snow to rest a bit. My knee and ankle were quite swollen by now and the pain was getting worse.
There was a large pine at the top not far from me and while I was looking at it a hairy woodpecker flew by and landed on the tree. He looked down at me and called loudly.
Maybe trying to encourage me? It wasn’t so steep now as I struggled through the snow finally making it to the top. I sat at the base of that big pine. The chickadees were still around singing their name so cheerfully.
I still had a long walk back. There was no way I could use my snowshoes now so I had to push my way through snow that was nearly waist deep at times. I headed in the direction of one of my old snowshoe trails. Walking would be easier then. Those trails get hard after a bit and it’s like walking on a sidewalk. It was 3:30 pm when I finally found the trail. It took nearly an hour from there to get back, normally it wouldn’t have taken that long but I had to walk rather slowly. And the wind was very cold. But I did get to see a beautiful sunset across the lake as I was walking back. Sigh.
I do miss snowshoeing. Even though I did some stupid things at times. Sigh. There will be more crazy times coming up over the next month or two so stick around for some fun. Enjoy your week and God bless!
Steve and Muffin and critters.
Steve`s Country 