Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
February, Snow, And A Nice Cup Of Tea!
Good evening and thanks to all my readers on this first Friday of February, for staying with me all this time! And a special thank you to all of my followers! You are all a brave bunch of people and it’s great to have you along on these adventures and random thoughts. I am sitting at my desk this evening enjoying a nice hot cup of raspberry leaf tea. Not what you might find in a store, if you can find it there, I make my own. It has such a nice delicate flavor, it’s a great winter drink. It’s actually good cold, with ice, on a hot summer day. It kind of reminds me of summer when I drink it. Which is nice. It certainly doesn’t look like summer. But at least it is milder. For a couple of days anyway. And it has been snowing since about noon. Not much. A little over an inch. But more is on the way.
Busy Birds…
It was amazing how many little birds were out here today.
The last couple of days wasn’t very busy. Too cold I guess. They sure went through those seeds today though. Oddly, the blue jays were not around much. Too bad. That shrike was here. Three times today. That is way too often. I went out twice and scared it away. The other time the blue jays did it for me. But the blue jays were not around this afternoon. That shrike knew that I’m sure. One of the nuthatches came over to me the one time I went out to scare the shrike. He knew where it would be safe. Kind of cute really.
It’s February…
So that means 3 months of winter are behind us. I guess that should be 4, since most of October had snow on the ground too. Sigh. It’s been a long winter. But February does give a good feeling. Tomorrow is Ground Hog Day. No sane ground hog around here is going to show it’s nose out of it’s den this time of year. But it’s kind of fun I guess.
But really, no matter whether or not it sees it’s shadow, it means an early spring for us! Ha! Forget it. Doesn’t mean a thing. Just a fun winter pastime. Sigh. Mmm…that raspberry leaf tea sure is good! Better than watching a ground hog any day. Oh well.
And Now…
It’s back to snowshoeing adventures. I don’t want you to think that all my snowshoeing ended in some kind of mishap. Not at all. Most were quite normal. But who wants to hear about something that is normal? Anyway, it started off quite normal. It was cloudy. The odd snowflake floating down to the trillions already on the ground. Not too cold either, which was nice. And this time I was smart. I left a note detailing where I was going. Forgot to mention how long I would be gone. Oh well. Off I went. Walking at first. I was planning to lengthen this trail and turn it into a loop type trail. However, after walking for a distance on the old trail I spotted a pileated woodpecker and stopped to watch. They are such a beautiful bird. It wasn’t long and off he went. Hmm. And off I went. I came to the part of the trail where it split in two directions. I was supposed to go right. However, the pileated woodpecker went left. So I did too. It was snowing more heavily now. After about half an hour I came to a spot where I decided to make a new trail. I looked back. There was about 2 inches of new snow on the trail.
Should I Or Not…
Sure, why not. No one would ever know which way I went now. Oh well. Off I went anyway. The snow was soft and deep in this area. It was not exactly easy going. But it was so beautiful. And quiet. After about 20 minutes I heard some familiar little chirps and looked up into the pines. Sure enough, there was a small flock of black-capped chickadees overhead. When moving about like that they often just give a light chirp, constantly keeping in touch with each other. They kept moving a certain direction, so I followed them for a bit. I wasn’t really watching where I was going. I was watching the chickadees. Besides, nothing here but snow and some trees.
But…
I suddenly got that feeling. Like I was being watched. I looked around. Nothing. Then I spotted some movement in among the trees. I couldn’t believe it. There it was. A huge wolf! Standing. Staring right at me. Animals are generally scared of people. Not necessarily so with wolves. I decided it might be a good idea to change direction. I was getting kind of tired about now anyway. So it’s a good time to head back. I looked behind me. That big fella is following me. Hmm. I kept looking back as I walked. It was snowing very heavily now. Suddenly…
I Need Some Feedback…
Are my posts too long? Would it be better to post 3 times a week instead of 2, but keep them shorter? Is there anything in particular that you like better than other things? Anything you would like me to add? Any ideas at all? You can use the comment section or my contact page if you have more to say. If you use my contact page, everything is confidential, only Muffin and I will read it. Honest. Okay, today was extra long. Sorry about that. There is new items on Steve’s Country Extras. And hopefully two new ideas will show up next week. As long as I don’t run into more technical difficulties like this week. Sigh. I hope you all have a great weekend and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod
Happy Cabin Fever Day!!
A big ‘Hello’ to all my faithful readers on this Monday which is also ‘International Cabin Fever Day’!! Hard to believe it is here once again. Well, not too hard to believe, I guess. Especially since both Muffin and I have that terrible disease called CABIN FEVER! When it hits, it hits hard and doesn’t want to let go. Seems especially bad this year for some reason. But then, it seems to get worse every year. And I don’t even live in a cabin. That’s the worst part. Wouldn’t be so bad if I did. Would at least make sense then.
But that is where the term cabin fever came from. Way back…when people would get snowed in to their houses, which many times were not much more than a cabin. And that was it for the whole winter. No getting out to town. No shopping. No internet. Or TV, or phones, or other people. No wonder they got cabin fever. It’s all about being stuck inside. All alone. Though many had farms and things to do. But it was being cut off from the rest of the world that did it. But, hey, I live in an apartment, not a cabin. And in town. Sigh. And I still get it. Oh well. Muffin and I celebrated the day anyway. Games, popcorn, french fries, bird watching! It was a great day. Sort of. Muffin is worn out, curled up in her favorite chair. Sleeping. I feel like doing that too. Sigh.
Speaking of…
It was actually not too bad this morning when I went out to feed the birds. It was milder. Not mild. Just milder. There’s a difference. But it was noticeable after yesterday’s bitterly cold day. And there was some light snow. But that changed by noon. It cleared. And the wind really picked up. And the temp dropped. A lot. It was amazingly cold out there. Poor birds. Those little nuthatches seem to have a real hard time. Constantly having to warm their little feet. Then back to eating. And that shrike was around again. That means the birds must stop eating. And just stop. They are still. Quiet.
I looked around. Aha! Spotted the nasty critter. So I went outside and that scared him off. Good. I waited for a bit to make sure it didn’t come back. Took awhile, but the birds started to move and went back to eating. And I went back inside. I was frozen. Of course I wasn’t exactly dressed for staying out there so long. Sigh. I think I’m still cold from that!
Deciding to…
This time of year always gets me thinking. Of different kinds of projects to fill the long days of winter. Now, it’s not exactly easy. Thinking. At least for me. Gives me headaches. Plus I end up thinking of a lot of different projects I would like to do. Except, of course, I can’t. This apartment has it’s limitations. Definition= it’s very small. So that limits the types of projects. A lot. Sigh. Finding what I need in this town is another problem. We don’t have a lot of stores. The right kind, at least. I need a certain item. Checked 3 stores. They don’t have such a thing. It’s a certain kind of hand saw. One store had what I wanted. But it came with something else that I didn’t want. And because it’s 2 items, the price is higher. Naturally. Sigh. I only want the saw. The other item would end up in the garbage. Why buy something I am just going to throw out? Sigh. And people wonder why I have cabin fever.
This reminds me of…
This weather is very much like another winter. When snowshoeing was a favorite winter pastime of mine. I didn’t get cabin fever then. Strange. I even had a cabin. Sigh. I usually do things backward anyway. So I guess that fits. Sort of. I think. Now we’re back to thinking again. Terrible. I need to stop doing that. Gets me frustrated. Thinking. Sigh. But one day, much like today, I decided to head out snowshoeing. I wanted to make one of my trails longer, and then loop back to the beginning. I liked to make my trails loop around. Then I didn’t have to come back the same way. Was more enjoyable. To me anyway. And since I was the only one out there, it made sense. I think. AAAA, did it again. Sigh.
Next time…
Oh well. I really did want to get started on that. But I will. Next time. I hope you all will enjoy your week, think warm, and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2019 Steve McLeod
Steve`s Country 