Scrub Jay Winter

We've gotten over two feet of snow in the past several days and have had numerous power outages because the snow is not the powder that we usually get, but heavy, wet stuff. I hate the smell of kerosene lanterns, but I hate the noise the generator makes even more. I won't use candles because candles and cats are a sure recipe for disaster. Of course, if the power stays off too long, DH wants to turn the generator on to keep the stuff in the freezer and fridge from going bad. My method is to fill a couple of large ice chests with snow and stick the stuff in there, lock the lid down tight so the raccoons can't get to it, and stick it back outside. In weather like this, it's colder outside than our refrigerator is even when the power is on! I have to admit, though, that if the power is off for more than four or five days, I'm willing to suffer the noise of the generator. Looking at the lack of 'mod cons' as a challenge to be overcome isn't quite as much fun as it was when I was younger.

This Scrub Jay is an unusual visitor to the feeders in winter. I see them more in the warm months than the cold ones. Like everyone else, he's probably confused by the off again, on again winter we've been having.

Wordless Wednesday - Winter

Looking Like Winter

Well, a little bit. There's not too much snow accumulated yet...maybe 6 inches or so. But it's still snowing heavily. Thankfully, the winds have calmed down. Last night they were horrendous; we lost power for about a half hour, and I found out my nifty new computer with super fast wi fi loses its Internet connection when the power goes out. That never happened when I had dial-up, of course, because it's a land line connection. But, oh my gosh, dial-up was sooo slow!

I talked to my friend, Kathleen and she said they lost power around the same time we did last night but, as of 3:30 p.m. today Edison still hadn't got it back on. Her house is all electric; thank goodness she has a generator.

Rushing in and out of the house trying to keep the water bowls free from snow and ice, filling the bird feeders and cat food bowls, brushing the dry, powdery snow from my shoulders and hood when I come back in the house gives me a profound sense of calm happiness. Winter is finally here...just as it should be.

Finally

We've been getting a mix of rain, sleet and snow all day. It started last night and is supposed to continue for seven days or longer. The mix is supposed to turn into just snow in a couple of days, so maybe it will finally start to look like winter around here!

The cats, both the inside ones and the feral ones outside, are curled up in their favorite places, snug and warm and dry. I can hear the creek roaring over the sound of the rain on the roof. Periodically, the wind rampages through the little valley making the rain fly sideways and the trees moan and sway in protest. It grabs my cottage and shakes it, then prowls around the eaves and windows keening like a Banshee. Once, a long time ago, I felt so sorry for the winter wind that I opened the door and invited it inside to sit by the fire. It was a terribly rude guest though, and I haven't repeated the invitation.

(The above picture was taken in November of last year).

Betsy is Home!

I took this yesterday afternoon after we brought her home, but I was just too tired to post. And you can see that little Betsy was exhausted from her ordeal, but very happy to be home!

The doctor doesn't know what the lump is on her pancreas, but she is hopeful that it will go away now that Betsy is on the right dose of Insulin for her Diabetes. She gets a shot at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. every day. If it doesn't go away...well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. She sees the doctor again this Thursday, but (hopefully) won't have to stay overnight.

And, amazingly, Betsy seems to feel a whole lot better already! She's eating well, followed us upstairs to sleep with us at last night, and is back to bossing everybody around. She doesn't even feel the shot because the diabetic needle is so tiny, and that is a real blessing. If they hurt a lot and caused her to run from us once she figured out what was going on, I don't think it would be possible to catch her. As it is, I pet her and give her the shot at the same time and she just purrs!

I got the best Valentine's Day present ever.....just one day early! :) :) :)

Betsy

This is Betsy, and if anyone has any healing thoughts or good wishes to send her way she could certainly use them.

Today we found out she has Diabetes, plus some sort of lump on her pancreas. The vet doesn't know right now what might be the cause of the lump.

Betsy is staying overnight, possibly all weekend, at the hospital to have repeated tests to see what the appropriate amount of Insulin would be for her.

She's never had to stay at the vet overnight and I know she must be terrified. She is a little feral cat we adopted when she was a kitten; my husband literally snatched her from the jaws of a raccoon 10 years ago when she was only 5 weeks old.

I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight. I wish animal hospitals had the same options as hospitals for humans, then at least I could go sit in a chair beside her.

Anyway, even if you don't post them here, any and all healing, good thoughts and wishes for Betsy will greatly appreciated.

Ridiculously Early Spring

Well, I guess Spring must be on the way, even though it isn't officially due until March 20th here in the Northern Hemisphere. I've been seeing this little person for the past three days, and even the twigs on the trees are starting to green up.

I really miss the time when the weather and seasons behaved, for the most part, in a predictable manner.

Another Gift From the Forest

I found this piece of Nephrite Jade at the bottom of a creek. (It's the green rock on the right, leaning against a chunk of granite). The sun was striking the water just right, or I would have missed it. Even so, I at first thought it was moss. I thought I'd give it a closer look though, just to be sure. I'm glad I did!

Nephrite Jade is not gem quality; that is called Jadeite and does not occur in these mountains. Nephrite Jade isn't really jade at all, but the similarities between the two stones caused gemologists to eventually start adding 'jade' to the name 'Nephrite.'

Nephrite Jade can be found in mountain creeks and dry creek beds in California, Oregon, Washington, Western Canada and Alaska.

It is used for jewelry and, more commonly, carvings like the little owl (2" high) to the left of the stone. When carved and polished, the green intensifies and darkens. Carvings and jewelry made from Nephrite are not expensive at all; I only paid $45.00 for the owl, which I bought in Alaska several years ago.

I don't plan on having this stone polished or carved. I like it just the way it is, and I'm so excited to have found it!

Sunday Sunsets

I took this last week. I wish there would have been snow on the ground; this is the kind of sunset that turns the snow pink and lavender.

Gifts From the Forest

I found this feather from a Band Tailed Pigeon last autumn (or the autumn before that, I can't remember) while walking up to my studio. I always watch for 'gifts' from the forest when ever I'm walking...sometimes even when I'm driving.

I was driving really slow with the window down (I was stuck behind a very slow moving car) when I spotted this little guy on the side of the road. I'm pretty sure this acorn was given his smiley 'hedgehog' face (anyway, that's what it looks like to me) by a squirrel biting it lightly, but I'm not one hundred percent sure that's how it happened. However it got its cute little face, I'm really glad I found it.

I suppose most people would consider these things to be junk, but I really am grateful for my little gifts from the forest and its inhabitants!

Out of Sorts

This little Finch is right where he should be, but our weather isn't. The branch he's sitting on should be covered with snow, or at least wet with rain.

These ferns shouldn't be unfurled yet, they should still be sleeping with fronds tightly curled.

The creek should be frozen solid, not rushing along as free as though it were spring.

I detest it when the weather doesn't behave as it should. It makes me feel disconnected, out of sorts, and out of step with Nature. Oh sure, it's been cold at night, temperatures down in the single digits (F), but then the thermometer shoots back up to the 40's or 50's during the day.

And would you look at this...green grass in the middle of winter! Although it will soon be brown if we don't get some rain or snow. I desperately wanted to pick up this interesting, beautiful piece of wood, but I looked at it closely and, sure enough, the bug people were already setting up house in the various little apartments. Oh well, at least I can look at it when I walk to and from my studio.

I can't stand all this sunshine. It's bad enough that there is so much of it during the summer and fall. I feel cheated when we don't get enough cloudy/rainy/snowy days during the winter and spring.

I know that a lot of people move to Southern California for the good weather, but it irritates me intensely when I see these people being interviewed on the nightly news after we've had two or three days of rain and they're complaining about it! Idiots.

If I loved my little cottage less, or wouldn't miss my family so very, very much, I'd move to ... oh, who am I kidding. My roots go so deep here I'd probably wither and die if I were transplanted. But I certainly wasn't born with a typical Southern California attitude when it comes to the weather.

Wordless Wednesday - Contentment

Life With Sisters

My sister is steadily improving after her stroke and today I was able to take her out to lunch. She had to let me push her in a wheel chair, which annoyed her no end, but the home health nurse said it was that or there would be no outing. My sister said that being in a wheel chair would make her look like an old lady (she's nearly 80). The nurse replied matter-of-factly, "You are an old lady, you've had a stroke and you need to be careful for a while."

Now, my sister still refers to herself as middle-aged. I've pointed out that the phrase means being in the middle of life and I've never heard of anybody living to be 160, but I only said that to her once.

I almost ran for the door right then, but I just had to wait to see what my sister would say. (I was praying it wouldn't be "you're fired" because it took me forever to find this nurse, and she is a real gem). My sister leveled 'the look' (a freeze-the-blood-in-your-veins look that she inherited from our mother) at Shannon, who is in her thirties,blond and very pretty, and said in a sweet but deadly tone, "I had always suspected that you were Nurse Rachet masquerading as Barbie."

I held my breath, waiting for Shannon's reply. She leveled a look of her own at my sister and said, "That's right, Mrs. ---------- and don't you forget it."

Shannon and my sister just looked at each other for a moment. In that moment I was thinking how much I was going to hate looking for another nurse.

Then my sister burst out laughing and said, "Honey, don't you think it's time you called me by my first name?" Shannon laughed and said she would like that very much, and I started breathing again.

Sisters. Life is definitely better with them.

Most of the time.

Sunday Sunsets

Taken in Redlands.

Who Stole Our Winter?

Okay, roses aren't blooming up here yet...I hope. I haven't looked around further down the mountain but, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see something blooming down in the canyons around the 1,000 foot level because the weather has been so bizarre for the past few weeks.

Our temperatures have been in the 50's and 60's (!!!) in the daytime, with lows in the 20's at night. Beautiful clear sky, no rain, no snow.

I hate this kind of weather. Most people are loving it, and they look at me like I'm a spawn of Satan or something when I say I want winter weather.

Winter is my favorite season and I want it back! So please, whoever stole Southern California's winter weather (yes, we really do have winter in So Cal), give it back, give it back right now!

The Moon Owl

 

A few nights ago I could not entice sleep to stay with me, so I wrapped up warmly in my wool cloak and went for a solitary walk through a forest enchanted by moonlight and snow. Each cedar and pine bough was draped with a heavy cloak of glittering white, while the dogwoods and oaks were elegantly bare of leaf, each branch piped with a topping of moon-silvered snow, some bejeweled by icicles.

The path turned and I walked under a canopy of entwined cedar branches, their green darkened to onyx by the night.  Although dark, the snow covered path glowed with a dim light, faintly emerald tinted, as though I were walking on pale sand at the bottom of a green southern sea illuminated by moonlight.

The path takes another turn and I’m at the edge of a small meadow, the snow deep, unmarked, glittering. Looking up, I see the stars twinkling coldly in the vast indifference of the sky. A breeze, moving slowly through the frigid air, takes snow crystals from the trees and scatters scarves of diamond dust across the meadow.

And then, as if it were following the swirling snow scarves, a Great Horned Owl glides silently out of the dark forest. Enthralled, I watch as it sails without a sound across the meadow. Whitened and silvered by moonlight and starlight, it seems to be a winter magic conjured by moon, stars, and snow. Only its shadow, a hard-edged pool of unforgiving darkness, proves that it is real.

Long after the owl has vanished, I stand in awe-struck wonder, caught fast in the crystal enchantment of the night.

It is not until the ice-filled, needle tipped hand of the rising wind caresses my cheek that I step back on to the path and let it lead me around the meadow and down through the moon-dappled, snow-sparkled forest to my cottage. I anticipate with gratitude the comfort of drinking a cup of hot chocolate by a warm hearth. As I open the door and step into the fire-lit coziness of my cottage, I turn back to the night and savor its enchantment for a moment longer.  Then slowly, regretfully, I close the door on the magic night, the stars and the Moon Owl.

Coming Back Into the Light

This past Christmas was a rather dark one for our family. My sister had a stroke on December 22, and one of my nieces, who lives in Georgia, was in a car crash on December 23. Thank goodness both are going to be all right.

I took the picture above on the morning of December 28 as I was driving home. I had learned the night before that my sister could come home as early as January 10th, as long as she has a full-time nurse for several months, so I am trying to arrange that.

I got a phone call around 2 a.m. on the 28 that my niece would be released from the hospital on the 29th, and she is now at home and doing very well.

As I started up the mountain early on the 28 dawn was just barely beginning. The higher up the mountain I drove, the more beautiful the sunrise became. I felt it was an affirmation that my family was coming back from the darkness, coming back into the light.

A Soggy Solstice

We've received 17 inches of rain in these mountains in the past three days. The biggest of the three storms is supposed to arrive late tonight, with up to 2 inches of rain an hour falling. That's a LOT OF RAIN. Along with all that rain and snow there will be wind gusts of 65 miles per hour.




Roads are closed all over the mountains, with several closures on Hwy 18, the main road to access most of the mountain communities. The pictures below were not taken by me because I'm just not going out in this mess. (I deal much better with snow than rain). I got them from the Internet, from the sites http://www.rimoftheworld.net/ and http://www.abc7.com/

The photo above is Hwy 18 (Michael P. Neufeld, photographer). This is really dangerous since there is roughly a 1,000 foot drop beyond the guardrail.

This is the only road in to, and out of, Forest Falls. The people who live there aren't going anywhere for a while...

I have a feeling a lot of us won't be going anywhere for a while!

Mid-December Magic

There are frost flowers blooming tonight, the waxing gibbous moon adding her magic to the ephemeral magic of the Frost Faeries.

Making Merry in Mouseford Falls

Well, of course they're making merry! They're all ready for Christmas. Trees decorated, presents wrapped and placed under said trees, houses decorated, baking done, perfect snowfall, children happily skating and sledding, carolers singing in beautiful harmony, and Santa poised to make his big entry.


But...that's not quite the way it is in my world. The ground is mostly bare, it's really foggy, no snow in the forecast (unless one happens to live above 8,000 feet, which I do not), none of my presents are wrapped, my baking is only about one-quarter done, and MY Santa (also known as my husband) fell off the roof yesterday!! Thankfully he was only up on the porch roof, and not the third story roof, so he got off with only scrapes, bruises, and a wife who had a near-miss with cardiac arrest.


Oh, and my tree? Well, it's only partially decorated, thanks to this little person:

Darling Miss Rita Mae MoonSparkle. However, I've recently found out her real name is Rita Mae the Tree Terminator. In the photo above, she is actually chewing on the tree branch and every time I put an ornament on the tree she takes it off and HIDES IT UNDER THE COUCH!!!

And not a caroler in sight. Only the editor of the local newspaper, who showed up dressed as Santa. Don't ask.

I See You

This Red Tailed Hawk is letting me know that he (or she...who can tell?) sees me.

I think it might actually be posing! "OK, left profile."

"Now, right profile. Am I not a gorgeous bird?"

Well yes you are, but I think you might also be the reason I haven't seen very many birds at my feeders lately.

Sculpting and Sniffling

Today the high temp is 50 F! The snow is almost all gone, although a little more is predicted for Sunday and Monday. But down by the creek, on the north side which is shaded even in summer and just plain dark for most of the day at this time of year, the trees are still wearing their ice jewels. If you click on this picture to enlarge it, you can see how the wind has sculpted the ice on each individual needle into an interesting shape. Some of the wind's sculptures are round, some are knife blade thin, some are wavy. I wonder if the wind has as much fun sculpting as I do when I'm making a painting?

I'm also wondering if the crazy up and down temperatures are responsible for this darn head cold I've been battling for 22 DAYS now. It's the worst head cold I've had in years, and it just won't go away! Grrrrr...

Wordless Wednesday - Walking on Water