Weird Weather of '09 #14 Baby it's Cold Outside....

-6 and clear as a bell. Beautiful starry night, and holy night. Love it!

30 and foggy here. (sounds warm compared to you Sofer) We have a stagnant air advisory, glad we don't need to go anywhere today.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Got up this morning to 30 degrees and clear skies up here in the hills. A light coating of frost on things made it look more like Christmas is supposed to look. Mt. Rainier is showing nicely but in a bit of a haze.

Our celebration was last night, so today Rarejem and I are going to try to kick back and do very little but enjoy the day. Haven't even filled the Xmas stockings yet! At least the dishwasher is on its last load!

Have a wonderful day, everyone!!!

28 deg and still foggy. My quail family came through this morning. About 20 of them, so fun to watch. Happy to have the distraction on such a gloomy day.

It's cold outside! My pond is trying to freeze over again... so where is the rain to warm it up?

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

It is beautiful here. Blue skies and sunshine. But cold.

Hey Hooman! Mah nectar's frozed up again! Warm this up for me wouldya?!

That's a good picture, love it.

What recipe do you use for the hummingbird feeder? I got my mom one for X-mas, but it didn't come with formula instructions.

I use 4 parts water to 1 part sugar. Sometimes 5 to 1. Mine's frozen too. Filled the seed feeders a bit ago, like to froze my fingers. Hope they appreciate it. LOL Suet cakes are going fast. Thermometer says 36 but with this damp fog, it feels closer to 30.

56° here today - went for a very long walk with my Ridgeback who thoroughly appreciated the sun & warmth.
A nice way to finish off this month, and I would definitely welcome more sunshine.

I have noticed how guests seem to gravitate to '"Plant Central" in my family room: there is a grow-unit with 4 T5 lights; bright enough to cause flowering on the Fuchsias, Manettia, and the Abutilon. People don't comment about the plants as much as they talk about the light it produces. Even my dogs are hanging out close to it.
I'm going to plant lettuce & scallions tonight - we'll see how well this light unit performs with vegies.

I buy the nectar mix- it's so easy to use, and I'm lazy. ;)

I've run out of suet, the birds have been going through it so quick I can't keep up.

Well it sounds easy enough to do one way or the other, to keep the hummers happy.

Today I put out Suet so the Flickers and Woodpeckers show up. It only takes about a day because they come by about every week just to check it out.

Neat Woodpecker Sofer....I can hear them in the woods, but they don't come near the house. Would love to watch them. Right now we have the usual Quail, Chickadees, Juncos, Towhees and House Finches. They keep me entertained.

32 here today and still foggy, though not as thick as yesterday. They said chance of freezing rain, but haven't seen any.

Nice pileated woodpecker, Steve. I also put out suet to attract them as Julie has a family down behind her shop. This, however, is what I got instead. That would have to be one hurken woodpecker!

Sharon, I think you need to put out some Sasquatch repellent. o.0

ROFLMAO!!!!

Now we know that even birds have to diet. Wow was that a big boy, or family. Lets see SNL would call them the "Wood-Hunker" family. They would go around lusting after special hardwoods, small bugs on a fly swatter, and would probably talk with a studder.
I think you heard my story on how I got to walk up to this guy. I could not get the door open without him flying away so I thought when you can't beat them join them. I put on black pants and a red sweater with a santa hat and he let me walk right up to him and continue to photo him for a half hour. I can see what was going on in his mind, "Now if I let that lunker pecker think I'm afraid he will own this area. I'll be dddddddddarned iiiiiiiif I am gggggggggonna MMMMMMMMMMMMove."

LOL! That's awesome, Steve. You're the Master of disguise!

I miss having a pileated woodpecker around. I loved watching the one we had at our old house, but I haven't seen any here. No dead trees around to attract them.

Look at the talons on that guy.

Steve, that is even better than a cheerleader outfit!
We are pretty sure our Sasquatch is acutally a black bear but haven't gotten a look at him yet. He usually shows up about an hour after I have fallen asleep and have a really hard time coming out of that Then the dogs bark for what seems like hours so getting up in the morning is pretty difficult after little rest. I sat up one night with camera in hand for well over an hour, but all I saw was streaks of brown dogs running back and forth in my front yard. Then it really gets a bit scary when they just sit on the front deck and bark, though. Julie usually walks up to my house for a glass of wine in the evening, but that is a bit scary right now, too. My son brought up his motion activated camera but I haven't had a lot of activity in the last few nights (perhaps since I stopped putting suet out) so I think all I would get pictures of would be brown dog streaks. When I feel more rested I will put out some salmon leavings and set up the camera to see what happens.

But, then, what to do??????????? Bird feeders are one thing, but my full grown koi are a real concern for me.

Well, I put up two new feeders today, one a wood pecker feeder with a tail rest (Double Tail Prop Suet Feeder (3019))and the other a starling proof suet feeder (EcoTough™ Upside Down Suet Feeder (3961)). Both are by Wild Birds Unlimited, if you want to look them up. I think they are a good bit overpriced, IMHO.

The Starling proof Suet feeder is a feeder the size of a boot box, with a 1/4x1" bottom grid, a box of the same grid made in the center, with about 1" square holes for the sides of the outer box, and a metal top. Its almost embarrassing to hang, as its very military looking, but if the birds like it, I will keep it.

Rob - if it's easy to clean & the birds use it, it's a keeper!
I have Pileated & flickers visiting me as of late. No pictures - i am too entranced watching them to retrieve the camera. I finally put out a bowl filled with "Woodpecker" treats: everyone happy. The Flickers get quite close when they see me filling it.
The Hummers have been back late morning to afternoon: one guy was trying to extract near-frozen Nectar-Slurpee; i thought his little eyes would bug out. I hung the feeder in a sunnier location & this works well if the overnight temps are agreeable.

Sharon where you live you are too quick to rule out sasquatch. I have seen one in Austria so I need you to get the motion camera and record it! Too many people laugh at me and I need validation. I thing sasquatch eat anything that is herb or rich in plant order. So put your spice rack out there and uncover all the good herbs and then you will see the Squach. Get me a photo. I can never convince anyone.

Steve, the motion camera went out last night. It had been pretty quiet for a few days, so I procrastinaed after my DS brought it up on Christmas Day. Well, of course, the bird feeder was trashed night before last again.......
Thanks to our now-in-place preparations, including a cut off bottom of a honey bear container, I had the best night's sleep that I have had for some time. NOT a thing happened, and the dogs slept peacefully in the garage all night.
I do need all my spices in place in my kitchen right now, as I am having guests for the long New Year's holiday, but do you think the left over spinach salad will be a good enticement? We can put it out New Year's night and I would then have several witnesses. That assumes, rashly, that there will be some left over salad, of course. That part of dinner always sells really well in these dark dreary days.

Pretty morning, but still very cool at 30 degrees. Imagine the drive to work will be a bit dicey.

The frost came on Christmas. At our house it looked like San Diego. Bright and sunny and blue sky. We headed over to my brother's house across town where the whole family (5 generations) were gathered. As we drove we could see the fog bank creeping down from the north. It's been here ever since.

It makes for some magnificent pictures.

Ginger

I believe you Sofer.
Those last two pictures are so beautiful. Next years calander.

It is snowing here - 2 inches on the ground in a little over an hour and it's still coming down fast.
Lots of it. It's beautiful. I took my dog to the dog park and there were 14 dogs all having a great time!

Don't think we will be that lucky! I am sorry, I Love Snow!!

I love snow as well. It's my favorite thing ever.

I love the snow too! In moderation of course. LOL It's actually warmer when it's snowing. It's the bitter cold I can do without. Raining here, pretty much all day and it's warmed up some. Made it to 42 today!!!

Love your picture Ginger, save that one for the contest.

Ginger. Good to see you back around. Have missed your humor.
By all means save that piceture for the contest. It is beautiful.

Is the contest soon or are we talking about next October?

Here is the sun on the treetops this morning.

That's the only one I know of. Raining still, the sun peeked out a little while ago for about 30 seconds, amazing how it can cheer things up in a heartbeat!

I agree Ginger that picture you took is magnificent! I love hoar frost moments especially when the Sun breaks through the fog and there is the moment of photography. Well done Ginger.
We are stuck with an inversion in our valley so looks grey and depressing. But some beautiful crystals are falling and the sun is out so I am going to drive out of the valley. Need some sun.

Sofer, if you're headed for that sunny beach I hope you packed provisions. It's will be a long drive.......

I agree about the photo Ginger - beautiful.

There is still about 4 inches of snow on the ground in my neighborhood but it's warming up quickly. I wish it would stay around a little longer!

Provisions, lets see swim suit, cocoanut knife, and fishing net. That should all fit into carry on. I'm off.

If you're going by plane, that coconut knife just might be a problem. The rest you can fit in your pocket!

I was a little worried about that knife too..LOL

I just got one confiscated :(

Ginger