In Broad Daylight......

and to my dismay.... right there in the mid morning

beside the porch in the snow was a skunk.

A few days before I had thrown out some food and it was
covered with snow..

apparently he could smell it and was digging down deep
to get a bite of whatever it was

I was sitting up on the counter with the window up and
snapping pictures.. He didn't even notice me.. So I
threw out some jalapeno cheetos which just happened to
be on the counter beside me. . . ahhh not that I was eating
them or anything

He made a beeline for one and sniffed it.. I was holding my
breath.. they are quite spicy and hot

not to my skunk friend. He gobbled one right up

Holding it in his pink little hand and chomping away

I look up to see a squirrel resting on a snow covered branch

One eye peeked at me as I watched Mr. Skunk.

More to come in the backyard... stay tuned..

To God be The Glory ~~ Great Things He Hath Done

Double Trouble......

I have been feeding deer in the backyard so I am constantly

looking out to see if any have shown up.

I wasn't surprised to see the opossum on top of

the feeder, but I did a double take to see TWO!

Two cute little faces were looking back at me
cute being the operative word...some would not say 'cute'

We'll Sing in the Sunshine.........

As I leave my lane the snow is still up to the bottom of the stop sign....

the drive way is still not bare.... BUT the sun IS shining
and I am excited to see it.

Going back to 1964.. the year I graduated High School I
remember that old old song... "We'll sing in the sunshine

We'll laugh everyday"

I had to laugh at this Blue Jay digging his head into the
snow...

He must have been eating it or drinking from it
is all I could figure

The sunshine makes us all delirious

Mr. Cardinal is brilliant in the sunshine

Mr. Dark eyed Junco looks like he's about to ski with
his skinny straight legs

A white throated Sparrow searches on the snow for spilled
seeds from the feeder

Finding a bare spot from where I have shoveled another
male Cardinal looks for food

We can even see his shadow on the ground

The female Cardinal casting her shadow in the sunshine

I start singing my song again as sun continues to brightly shine

And when a year has ended,
And I have gone away,
You'll often speak about me,
And this is what you'll say:

We sang in the sunshine,
You know we laughed everyday,

To God be The Glory ~~ Great Things He Hath Done

Sled Riding... a forgotten past time by some

For all those kids out there in front of the computer

or the XBox or your fingers all a twitter tweeting
and twitching with indoor communication....or texting.....
on your Iphone...
Wake Up!!! get out of the house.. Look what
you are missing..

There is a very steep hill just above my house and when it
snows... and snows as it has this February the sled riding
is excellent.

My granddaughter and daddy came to give it a try..
Walking up the hill is hard...but the anticipation of the
"ride" down is alluring

When you see the face of an 8 year old..having fun

You know the walk was worth ....

every second of the 'ride'

Sometimes you go into a briar bush and crash... but
daddy is there to help you out

Soon... comes the hard part.. getting too tired to walk
the hill .. then daddy has to pull... and I hear him saying
"I know I used to but you're a big girl now"
but he did anyway.

It made for one happy grand daughter...

I thought we were on the downside of winter....but this
morning this is what I saw out the computer room window

The Northeast was hit again over night with snow
and high winds... drifting and power outages...

We only got about 3 inches...but the wind is brutal and
the blowing snow looks like a blizzard out there.

I think it will be awhile before I can sit in my garden and
smell the flowers....

To God be the Glory ~~ Great Things He Hath Done

Icicles.....

This has been a winter with lots of snow in PA

and with snow and cold comes those
beautiful glistening, glowing, Icicles............

Dazzling diamonds beneath the eaves

Patriotic to show we're Free

Hanging down like glowing spikes...
formed by natures magic freeze

Clear glass spears of glowing teeth
across the roof drip down beneath

At the church I looked about
and saw a holy water frozen spout

And at the next house I stopped to scout
I spy a clot of ice flowing over and out

Remember when we were kids and we
broke off a an icy sword and dueled until it broke?

The smaller ones we would suck and lick
but not too long lest our tongues would stick

Icicles wink from not only spouts and eaves

but form a pretty jagged deco in tiny trees

And even the wires and lines are not exempt
as a dead ringer freezes into a knotted kink

Over the top and down the rail
frozen .. shining.. telling a tale

Sharp or dull they linger on
just waiting for the sun to rise and the day to clear

And silently they will melt away and finally disappear

But for now whether day or night
The dazzling dripping icicle

Will drip and drop and sparkle to our utmost delight

Hold up that little foot.. Mockingbird of mine
Soon the warmth of the sun will take these jewels
and they'll be gone and Winter will be behind...
Spring to come.

To God be The Glory ~~ Great Things He Hath Done