Monday, February 13, 2012

This is Winter in Kentucky

Cold weather came to us with the full moon.
Overnight the temperatures of a mild December and balmy, sunny January nose-dived to something more resembling winter.
Skies have been grey and broody; the thermometer has hovered around the freezing mark at 32F.


On Friday a few snowflakes drifted about, leaving swaths of white which quickly melted when the sun appeared Saturday morning.
Birds who have found their own food during the earlier weeks have crowded the feeders in appreciation of free seeds.

J. was hunting down a desirable tractor on Tuesday and invited me to ride along.
It was cold, but the sun was out for much of the day.
I was tired from many sleepless nights, but took along a book.
I watched the scenery, read a bit, drowsed, lulled by the steady throb of Snort'n Nort'n's diesel engine.
Arriving home early in the evening I sat in my rocking chair by the fireplace,  book propped open and Eggnog cat in my lap.
A bit after 8, I toddled off to bed and slept the clock around!

I hadn't been in the charity shop at the edge of town in months.
I stopped there Thursday while on errands.
I was taken with these three bowls--not because I have need of dishes, but because the flower patterns are brightly colorful.  I can imagine using these small bowls to serve berries fresh from the garden.

Wouldn't a slice of melon or a salad serve up prettily in this?
25 cents each!

Saturday's sunset was lovely, a welcome change from a run of days when the sky has sulked.

Birds aren't especially cooperative subjects for photos.
I stand at the sliding door and use the zoom lens.
At least one bird in the frame seems to bounce or flutter just as I take the picture.

The goldfinches are beginning to show hints of their summer coloring, a yellow tinge lightening their olive drab of winter.  They are in fierce competition with the tufted titmice and the chickadees for the seeds.
Sparrows and juncos are happy to join the cardinals picking up spilled seed from the ground.

A solitary goldfinch samples this mixture.
The wind was so fierce Friday night that this feeder landed on the ground under the tree.
We have grumbled about the cold.  We laugh at ourselves for minding temperatures that are so much warmer than our winters in Vermont or Wyoming.
Then we sagely tell each other that this is a biting sort of cold--the kind that bites to the bone!
We have remembered that we own long-johns and thermal undies, and they have been rooted out of bottom drawers and gratefully worn.
I dug my 'fur'-lined boots from the depths of the closet yesterday and found a fuzzy muffler to wear on my trek to the edge of the woods for kindling twigs.
We have fueled ourselves with homemade soup, muffins, many cups of steaming tea.
The forecast is for the cold to continue through this week, but I think we've gotten our routine down--
wool socks and a few extra chunks of wood for the fires, an extra quilt at the foot of the bed.

9 comments:

  1. I love seeing your birds! My goldfinches are fleeting here, I won't see them for weeks and then there will be 7 or so on my feeders. I wish we had Cardinals here! Isn't it fun to have a little bit of the cold? Winters here are still so mild compared to VT.
    Hot soup and muffins with tea sound wonderful! Yummy.

    ~Shanon

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  2. We are so spoiled--imagine grumbling about a bit of colder weather. Winter in Vermont [or Wyoming] was a long haul!

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  3. Oh MM, we grumble when the temps go below 60. We are so spoiled! Our goldfinches are back and we've had a little rain for the first times in weeks. I have never seen a cardinal close-up even when we lived in Minnesota and Toronto. Sadly, we don't get them around here.
    Willow has such a pretty face.

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  4. The temperatures plummetted here last week as well and we had some snow which thawed a little and then froze making walking a bit of an adventure. Thankfully it warmed up again over the weekend but the bridleways on the moors are still sheets of ice. It's good to have a little taste of winter weather, it makes you appreciate the Spring even more:)

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  5. Lovely photos. I did smile at your winter clothes and undies. We have been dressing like that and no excuse here in England. Must be our age :-O

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  6. We are just getting over our cold snap, the birds are even getting springlike and noisy, and the blackbirds are territorally bullying everything in sight but I'm not sure that spring is on its way yet!

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  7. We are finally having a bit of winter too. It's hard to adjust to the cold after the mild temperatures. The other day I thought about putting up my boots and then ta-da! winter! Isn't that the way it goes?

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  8. Great photos again ...the sky looks as though it has burning cotton wool floating in it.
    Wrap up well and enjoy all your home baked comfort food, when the weather turns colder. xx

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  9. Winter just hit here too, dug out my silk long johns, but hoping it won't last too long. I know we're spoiled but that's ok.

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