Let it Snow

Welcome to the Bird Seed Cafe. Won't you have a perch? It's a little chilly, but we'll warm you right up with some hearty sunflower seeds.

There's plenty of seating al fresco.

A reader in California (Okay, it was my mother-in-law. Hi, Maggie!) emailed me and asked me to post some pictures of the snow.

I have some really pretty pictures of last year's snow.

I thought about posting them, because this year's snow is not lovely to behold.

It's ice-glazed and bluish.

For a couple of hours today the temp went above freezing. Thirty-three point six degrees. Mmm-mmm, toasty.

I braved the elements and risked my hip to take a few photos.


There was a cute little brown bird hanging from that sunflower... split seconds before the shutter snapped.

There's our front door. What with the pneumonia, the other unidentified fevers, the hip injury, and, you know, life, we didn't do our normal range of outdoor decorating this year. I love to have a 30-foot cedar garland over the front door. It's one of my traditional holiday splurges.

This year, thanks to 9 degree weather and the drafty 120-year-old house, there's a festive quilt draped over the inside of the front door. Visitors come in and out through the kitchen door. Just in case you wondered.

This tent isn't outside, but I had to throw the photo in. If I were "10 and under" I'd be happy to crawl under the dining room table with them. Oh, and if my hip weren't broken. I think I'm just racking up reasons why I'm okay with being excluded. It's bringing up a lot of insecurities. I even told the girls they ought to exclude the dog, then, because in dog years he's older than I am.

I'm not sure why this trike is still outside. A-hem. At least it's appropriately Christmas-colored.

And in (sort of) unrelated news: The downstairs toilet supply line thawed. Merry Christmas to us! Also on the bathroom topic: I stepped in the downstairs bathtub for a quick hot shower this morning. As usual at 6:30 a.m., I was only half awake. A tub full of ice water (stored there in case the well pump went out) greeted my bare toes. That's one surefire way to wake up!