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How convenient – today is World Wildlife Day AND Day of Unplugging. What better way to celebrate both than to get away from electronic devices and venture into the great outdoors to commune with creatures in the wilds. (At a safe distance, of course.) I’m fortunate in that I live outside town, and a small town at that, and we regularly have wildlife come to the door. Not really, but pretty darn close.  This is one of the resident deer. This mama brought her twins to visit last spring and I got to watch them grow over the summer. Now the young ‘uns hang out with the rest of the juveniles in a gang of about a dozen. I fear for my garden. A small tribe of red squirrels lives in the evergreen forest surrounding my house. Though I see individuals scampering through the glade on a daily basis, I’ve yet to get a good photo. So here is one I nabbed from Unsplash.  I’ve seen hare tracks but haven’t seen the critter.
The variety of bird life is reduced somewhat this time of year but the hardy bird-folk are lovely to see. Sea gulls, of course, but also bald eagles, red tail hawks, blue jays, yellow shafted flickers, and nuthatches can all be seen from my office windows. I especially enjoy watching the crows play in the wind blowing in off the ocean. What sorts of wild life can you see from your windows? Stay up to date on my writing and other shenanigans by subscribing to my newsletter. Or follow me on Facebook. Photo of red squirrel by Jongsun Lee on Unsplash
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Anyone else feel like January lasted longer than 31 days? This past week was eleven days long, I swear. Someone needs to reorganize the calendar. Making January one of the long months was just plain mean. Unconscionable. Not only are we coming down from the high of holiday festivities, we’re expected to ring in the New Year with resolutions and similar promises to do better and be better. Only to face thirty-one loooong days in which to castigate ourselves for failing in those resolutions. All of that aside, moving the calendar labels around won’t make a bit of difference. The weather will be lousy regardless of the name or number you ascribe to the day. January 15th or Febtember 1st, it’ll be cold with a 60% chance of flurries, a high of -3C falling to -11C overnight, and I’ll still eat more cookies than I should. Yesterday was Ground Hog Day, as I’m sure you were all made aware by round the clock coverage of what Phil did when he was yanked unceremoniously from his cozy den. For us here in Nova Scotia, we have our own ground squirrel, Shubenacadie Sam, to make the seasonal prediction. Based on what he encountered yesterday, we can look forward to six more weeks of winter. Well, of course we can, it’s only the start of February. We’ll have winter until April at least. Harrumph. Grumble, grumble, grumble. But who can stay crabby when looking at this cheeky fellow?  Time for a lovely cup of hot cocoa to chase away the chills. What do you drink as a warming pick-me-up? Photo by Hosea Georgeson on Unsplash P.S. Don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter for all the latest news, reviews, and recipes.
My apologies for seemingly falling off the face of the earth. Surprisingly enough, moving into a new house three days before Christmas, AND hosting Christmas dinner leaves little time for extras like writing blog posts, or sleeping. To add more excitement, a ripping windstorm roared through on the 25th and we lost power – as I was peeling the potatoes. Thank goodness for a propane range and a propane “wood stove”. We were cosy, well fed, and we opened gifts by the light of the camping lantern. The latter added to the cosy feel, in my opinion. A week and a few days later we experienced another windstorm. Boy oh boy, the trees were dancing! We didn’t lose power, amazingly, but our kayaks and the 17’ freight canoe were shuttled around the yard as if they were made of paper. No damage, thank goodness. We left the canoe where it landed, safely tucked amongst the trees. <grin> Dare I say we’re over the worst? Probably not, there’s lots more winter to come. As far as the move goes, I think we are over the worst. Ninety percent of the boxes have been unpacked and we’ve lugged over 80 kg of cardboard and packing paper to the recycling depot. We are getting settled in our new nest and starting to feel “at home”. Here’s a snapshot of the view from the dining room.  The water you can see through the trees is pale because it’s covered in ice. Yes, the ocean freezes when the temperature falls to minus 15 degrees Celsius. Brrr! And here’s Bruno checking out his new stomping grounds.  Cheers!
P.S. Today is Bubble Bath Day, so go fill the tub with bubbles! And don’t forget your rubber duckie! Tomorrow at 12:28 pm Atlantic Time we will celebrate the Winter Solstice. Time to light the ole Yule log, fill the house with freshly cut evergreen boughs, and heat some glog to sip by the fire.
Once we survive the shortest day of the year, less than eight hours of daylight, we’ll turn the corner toward longer days and the coming spring. Alas, that spring is a long way off and we’ll have many weeks of cold and snow still to endure. At least we’ll have more daylight hours to gaze upon the frozen slush. Oh joy. Oh bliss. “Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” Dame Edith Sitwell “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” Hal Borland Cheers! |
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