Tag: winter

It’s still winter, and there is ice again: Photography challenge Day 11

Feb

2019

So yesterday was a mildly short day at work, due to yet another minor winter storm blowing through the area–which meant that it was a slightly late start for today.

Now I usually don’t mind winter all that much, it gets rid of the major insect pests (mosquitoes and flies) plus gets rid of the ticks. I can even put up with the colder temperatures (that just means one has to layer the clothes).

There are times when I don’t even mind the winter storms that come through. But what is really starting to get tiring is the yo-yoing of the temperatures and then a winter storm hitting. It can feel like it’s in the fifties one day, and then all of a sudden there is a cold front and a winter storm is threatening to dump ice and snow on us. But at least I’m not currently in the northern states where they are getting exactly that–ice and snow and more than they know how to deal with.

It will be interesting to see what March brings in terms of weather–I think they’re talking snow for the first weekend of the month. The spring equinox is less than three weeks away and then in theory we’ll be in “spring”. I wonder how many snow storms there will be during the first month of spring?

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Day 2 and 3 of Photography Challenge

Jan

2019

Well since there were issues with connecting to the wifi last night and being able to add in a new post–today there will be two for the entry of one in the photography challenge.

The picture selected for yesterday is another one of Pancakes. Unlike the other two cats who will sit lower towards everyone, if Pancake is isn’t on someone’s lap or curled up under a blanket–she is watching everything from the “top” of her world.

When we lived out in Boston, I actually have pictures of her sitting on top of a large box that I had kept (I had numerous other boxes in it), and covered with a blanket. There were several nights when she would just sit up there and watch both me and the dog, before jumping down to sleep on the bed.

Whenever we do move, I have the old cat condo to take with (hopefully it will stand in the new apartment), so that she can still sit at the top of the world.

The pond froze a little bit last night and today.

The picture selected for today, is one of the outside pond that we have. So a polar vortex has been pushing its way south and east over the past few days. Luckily, we are far enough south and west, that we got chilly temperatures (today we were about 34 degrees, and last night it was 17 feeling like 6)–but not the frigid temps that some of the other states are getting.

I’ve realized that with the job search it may very well lead me back to a state that actually gets a good amount of winter weather (i.e. the snow), and gets dark earlier than what I like. I’ve also realized that to grow as a scientist and an individual–it means change, and dealing with things that I don’t enjoy (cold, wet snow and the sun setting at earlier times)–those changes though can lead to other adventures. Right now that is one thing I can say for certain is needed–change. The form of that change–I’m not 100% certain, but I am certain that I really don’t want to be in the same place again come winter next year.

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Photography Challenge Day 38: The ice that is trying to take over the pond…..

Feb

2018

Well its still cold enough that the pond is freezing over a little more each day. Though if the weather forecasts are to be believed, we’re suppose to be in the upper fifties by Friday, but then back in the thirties the next day.

I like how there is a clearing in the ice, mainly due to the bubbler spitting the water constantly–though it will be interesting to see what could happen this weekend.

It’s been a long week (luckily it is halfway over), so sorry for the shortish posts, and especially this short one. I’m hoping to have a longer post come the weekend.

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Photography Challenge Day 37: Boozer at the frozen pond (Another Short Post)

Feb

2018

Well today barely got up to freezing, which was quite obvious when I went outside after work to fill the bird feeders and saw the pond.

Boozer trying to get a drink at the pond

Our youngest dog Boozer, only drinks out of the pond–she never felt comfortable walking through the kitchen to the laundry area where the water dish is located (the other dogs will drink from both the pond and the water dish). I think she was a little confused by the ice that has started to form on the brick tile that was placed down there for the St. Bernard when she was alive.

The birds like flocking around the waterfall when it works, getting their water and a small bath in at the same time. It will be interesting to see how many more times this winter that the pond freezes over.

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The Pond after several days of freezing weather (short post)

Jan

2018

Well decided that today’s photography challenge was going to be a comparison set of photos of the bubbler in the backyard pond.

The pond is slowly freezing over, and the bubbler is slowly bubbling

The top photo was taken on Tuesday, when the high for the day barely hit twenty degrees outside. It’d been warmish the prior few days (upper forties on Sunday and then upper thirties on Monday–the cold weather came in mid-Monday).

The second photo was taken this evening as I was filling up the bird feeders again. Since it’s been so cold–I’ve actually been filling the back ones up daily, now that it is still light out when I get off work and get home to feed the dogs, fish, and wild birds (cats are fed before going to bed).

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It’s still cold outside….Winter is today’s winner of the photography challenge

Jan

2018

Well the little Arctic wind push has dropped the temperatures yet again today. I don’t think the temperatures broke twenty, when our high was suppose to be twenty-one. This morning, the temperature as I was waiting for the bus was a freezing five degrees above zero, with a windchill of five or six below zero. Luckily it was only a five or six minute wait for the bus this morning……… And I’m just noticing the play of the numbers from this morning with five being predominant over six.

I noticed the freezing pond this evening as I was outside filling up all the bird feeders again, with the temperatures it is almost a daily occurrence of having to re-fill the back two feeders (I only refill the feeder on the side every other day or every two days–mainly because it takes a good eight pounds of bird seed, where the other two only take about half a pound to a pound each).

We enjoy watching the birds, so filling the feeders are necessary to be able to view all the different sparrows, finches, the cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches, and the mourning doves. I’m going to try to get some pictures of the birds this winter, but usually when the door opens they fly away and wait in the trees until the feeders are filled and the humans are back indoors.

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Day three of photo challenge

Jan

2018

Day three of the photo challenge, and it is a nature(ish) shot. The weather has been crazy the past week or so in the United States, parts of the lower 48 states are colder than parts of Alaska (and that just isn’t right), and there is snow in Florida and all along the east coast. I’m going to have to remind myself later this year that winter is only a few months out of the year, and large snowstorms on the east coast, usually equals a day off of work.

We have a very small pond in our backyard, that we put in shortly after we bought the house as a mother’s day gift for my mom. I still remember going with her to pick it out at Wal-Mart and then having to take it out of the box because the box was too big for the car. I also remember having to help dig the hole for it as well–and there is nothing worse than digging in Oklahoma red clay.

The bubbler is trying to keep the pond going.

Over the years we tried to have fish in it–but since we live next to a creek, there were numerous animals that saw the goldfish as an easy meal (raccoons and snakes primarily). So now it usually just was water irises and occasionally water lilies. It is also the only place that our bearded collie mix will drink from.

As you can see the bubbler is still going, though it does have a nice ice coat surrounding it. We will have a small warm up window where all the ice will melt, before we get back to the cold snap that is suppose to be pushing through the country again this weekend into next week.

I don’t mind winter, as long as I can bundle up and I really don’t have to be out in the weather too long, and that if there is snow it stays around just long enough for pictures and then disappears (unless its Christmas time, and then it can stay for a few days).

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