Some of my favorite things.

Here is our sweet boy Tanner (corgi).  He has the most expressive face. We can always tell what his moods are. He is now 7 1/2 yrs old. Still very active and loves playing with his sister. Well, to a point anyway. When he has had enough he lets her know. Pin down and a small growl. But then again a lot of the time he starts it.

Little sister. Her name is Summer. She is just 7 months old. (English Cocker Spanial).  I don't know how our gardens will fare this year! I think she will be a little devil until we train her to leave them alone. She has dicovered squirrels and I thought she was going to climb the tree the other day to get one. When she chased them across  the yard she is right on their butts. But then again they like to egg the dogs on. Sassy things! Now how can that innocent looking puppy be such a handful?? lol. Luckily we love her!!

Flying leap into the snow! Or is she trying to take off? She is so addicted to playing in the snow it is hard to get her to come in at times. But with the tempatures we had for awhile and are about to have this week, she can only be out so long. It is fun watching her tear around the yard. Paths? What paths? She comes in loaded with snowballs. Her coat just seems to attract them.

Chasing Tanner. He loves it! Look at his face. All of a sudden it will be Tanner chadsing Summer. This game can turn around on a dime.

We will move onto something else. I wouldn't want you to overdose on puppy pictures. These tiny cones show up so nicely against the snow. These are cones on the weeping hemlock. They are just so cute!!

From tiny cones to big cones. These look so pretty against the green and the white of the snow. These are the cones of Acrocona Norway Spruce. They put on a show in the spring. As they are growing they are a florencent pink. And I do mean floresent! They glow in the sun. They only are only colorful about a month or so in spring. But it is so nice to see such a vivid color after the grey and white of winter!

Today a lot of my cousin's got together. I haven't seen most of them in years. Some where at my dad's funeral 7 1/2 years ago and my cousin's funeral a few months ago. But we really didn't talk then. Funerals aren't the best places to catch up. Too many things happening. So it was very nice seeing them today. When did we all get so old? But only abut 5 of them are around my age. The rest are about 15 years or so my senior. My parents married in their late 20's and so started their family later then most of their siblings on my dad's side. But it was nice and we were at the restraunt for over 2 hours. A lot of laughter going on.
Then I took a side trip to the lake. Lake Michigan. I just took this one picture as dusk was starting to fall and didn't have time before dark to walk out for better shots. The snow was about knee deep and the shore line is farther away then it looks in this picture. But it is such a pretty place. There are places all up and down this highway where you can see the Lake. I love being by the water. It is so peaceful to me.
 I hope everyone has a great week.
 Hugs, Teresa

Ice and Snow

As you can tell we had an ice storm! But by Saturday I had to get outside. (other then going to work). So I took a drive out to our local sanctuary. The paths were quite icy yet.

Then today we are getting snow. Luckily the ice is gone! We are suppose to get between 4-8 inches. By the time I leave work tonight we are suppose to have winds blowing at 40 miles per hour. Driving home may be fun! But at least I don't live far. A few of the girls live 30 minutes away and with the ice other night it took them each well over an hour. I have a feeling that they will have a fun trip again tonight!

 

This is our Acrocona with about an inch of snow so far. This one get fluorescent pink cones in spring!

Very snowy puppy! 7 months now. She loves the snow. Look how her hair collects more snow then our corgi's does.  Sorry Tanner I sort of cut you off.

This snowy grey squirrel was very hungry today.

The snow is making these branches hang low, even for a weeping hemlock

Now I know what the wizard does at night. He takes a walk! I still haven't figured out how he got footprints behind him, but no footprints going away!  I took this one at midnight after I got home from work. That blob tot he right is the puppy playing. Right after I took the picture she destroyed the footprints. This was just so weird to see!

One of the robin who didn't fly south. They live on the crabapples and berries still on trees.

This is another visiter we have seen alot of this year. Female redbellied woodpecker.

I don't know why they call this one a redbellied  as there is no red on it's belly. But it is not a redheaded one.

These little sparrows are braving the cold. With the cold and snow we have seen a lot of them. They have to eat a lot to survive. Fresh warm water is also a must.

Even in the snow the birds need to bath.

They really fling the water. Then they sit in the trees all wet.

Another visiter that we have seen a few of this winter. House finch. Much needed color on these grey, snowy days.
Last week we went from -0 with windchills down near -50 to a few days later to having temps in the 30's. There was a 60 degree change in a few days time. This winter has been very cold, very snowy and icy. We are hoping not to lose too many plants with all these tempurature changes. Which can be very hard on the plants.
Have a great week. Hugs, Teresa

Very, very fridged here....but!

This little guy need a bath!

He just dunked himself over and over.

Then he shook off the water. Flew into the rosebush and sat there in the sun. How can birds not freeze in below zero temps when they just soaked themselves?

This house finch brings some color into the winter lanscape. At this time of year color is so welcomed!

This mourning dove doesn't seem to like the cold as much. Puffing out his feathers must be more insulating. I have seen some of the other birds doing this so much the last few weeks.

There was a pretty sunset the other night. It is hard to get at out house with the power lines and trees. I love how this one seems to widen out the higher it gets in the sky.

Another view. To the south this time.
Winter sure has settled in around here. We have been so cold here. Below 0 or near 0 on most days. Windchills have driven the temps much lower. Next week is suppose to get even colder! Saturday is suppose to be in the higher 20's. One day of warmer temps before the big drop!! All I know is that I really NEED to get outside on Saturday! I think that will help my mood as I know that I am getting grumpy. Also going through camera withdrawl. I Need to be able to take pictures. That is just a part of me. Creative side?
I did take family photos at Christmas. Sibling and their families. We were only missing 4 people this time. For the first time in a lot of years my brother's family was all there. That was what started the family picture session. Who knows when that will happen again! My mom was so happy to get a copy of each photo. She hasn't had any updated photos of most of us in a long time. Especially family pictures. I also sent each family copies of theirs. I am certainly not a pro, but they turned out good. My neice even copped a pose with her halo. She is doing good. She will be in the halo for at least another 2-2 1/2 months. Then a neck brace. She is staying with my brother and nephew for now. Living with two guys again has had it's ups and downs. lol. Can you say toilet seat!! She has to wear bathing suit bottoms to take a bath in case one of them has to help her get out of the tub. That and a garbage bag over the body part of her halo to keep it dry. That must be quite a sight! :)  But she is keeping busy with light housework and has done a little baking. Must be fun when you have to bend over to look down or turn your whole body to look to the side. But the nurses told her to keep busy as depression can be a major player otherwise. At Christmas we felt so blessed to still have her with us. The officer told us that if she wasn't wearing a seat belt she probably wouldn't have made it. My brother saw the car and wished he wouldn't have. Christmas had a whole different feeling this year.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and will have a healthy and happy New Year. Hugs, Teresa

Merry Christmas Everyone

I took this picture last January. In Kewaunee Wi.
Merry Christmas everyone!!
Here is a link to one of my favorite Christmas songs...

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=OExXItDyWEY&vq=medium

Summer and winter

Please Summer can I have just one of the toys??? Tanner just waits until she is not looking and then takes one. Of course she takes it back and adds it to the pile around her. Sassy puppy!

 

She had to get tired sometime!

 

We recieved about 5.1 inches of snow today. We recieved about 4 inches yeaterday. I think we will have a white Christmas. lol. Then it is suppose to snow again on Christmas.

There were a lot of different ducks at Voyager Park in DePere. This one is very pretty.

It just seems funny to see pelicans in the icy water. But as long as the water stays open they will be o.k. There are about 8 or so there right now. In the spring there are a couple hundred. It has only been in the last few years that they have been back here in this part of Wisconsin. Now most of the lakes, rivers, laggons, etc have them.

This is a different sea gull then we usually see. Isn't amazing how birds can stand on the ice like that without their feet freezing! Nature is wonderful!

This is a bald eagle flying over a mill in DePere. I am so glad that I went there last week as I stopped by twice this week and didn't see any.

3 different kinds of ducks.

I noticed this pelican this past summer. He has a bad wing, but he seems to be doing o.k.
I can not believe that Christmas is in 3 days! We are getting together with my family on Christmas day. Jeff will see his dad and step-mother on Christmas Eve. I have to work. Now if they would just understand that I work in a hospital and can't get everything off that I want to have off. Oh Well!
I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year. Hugs, Teresa

Cold, cold, cold

Even this little guy does not like the cold. look at the look on his face! It has only been anywhere from 0 degrees to 18 degrees lately. But the wind chill have been down to -30 degrees. Today was the nicest that it has been in about 2 weeks. A whole 18 degrees!! Yesterday was the first time in about 2 weeks that I have been out to take pictures. I stayed out about 30 minutes. Came home because I was too cold. I have to take allergy meds if I go out into the cold because I will have a bad reaction to cold and change of temperatures. So I really have to be careful in winter. Actually early spring and late fall can be worse as there are alot more temperature differences. I am starting to have cabin fever and camera withdrawl with not being able to spend a lot of time outside. I was looking through my newest pictures and I don't have many that I haven't shown already. I like to stay seasonal and I don't have a lot of winter ones from this year yet.

I did get this bald eagle picture yesterday. He and about 7-8 of his buddies were flying by a paper mill in DePere Wi. They seemed to like to fly in and out of the smoke. Maybe monday I will go to the west side of the bridge and try to get some better ones. I can walk onto the pedestrand walkway and should be able to get quite close. I was too cold yesterday to try it after going a to a park where I first saw them. I am not complaining as I could have something a lot worse then this allergy!  You will see a reason for this later in this post. Plus of course looking at other peoples illnesses.

This is a picture of a 1902 stone barn. I am not sure if I like the very red doors and window trim. This barn has been restored. The land will be made into a park. The barn will become a farming history museum. This is a through and through barn. This means that they could drive into one end of the barn and out through the other end. The doorways are also arched to accomidate the wagons with their rounded loose hay. The walls are two feet thick! Can you just imagine building this without the equipment we have now. All block and tackle.

Our albino squirrel is back. He seems to have taken on a brownish tint to his fur. It must e as protection in the winter. He has pink eyes and squints a lot. I wonder how sensitive they are to the light?
I have a favor to ask of you. Please pray for my niece. She was in a car accident yesterday morning. She lost control and hit a tree. She did break her neck. But luckily she has feeling in all parts of her body. She will be in a halo for quite some time yet. But she did get out of intensive care late today. YEAH!  She hopefully will be out of the hospital soon. This could have been so much worse then it was. Luckily she was alone and no one else was hurt. No other cars involved. News like this can really make a persons heart stop as the first thing you think of is if she was paralyzed. She is 23. Thank you in advance for any prayers said! Hugs, Teresa

Alphabet in Nature==A challenge I was in!

A man who writes a gardening column for our local papers ( alot of the state papers are run by the same company. Gannette). Has challenaged us for the last few weekends on his Facebook page. Yard Md. This weekend was (is still) alphabet in nature. We were to take pictures of letters of the alphabet as you see them in bark, tree branches, rocks, etc. Where-ever you see a letter.
The one I have on the top picture is the letter O.  

 

This bees attenea are a perfect V

Egrets neck is an S

This begonia has a lot of P's.  Or small r's depending on what You see.

I will post the next two on his page later. The tree has a V

This monarch has some M's in it's markings!
Last week we had to pake pictures of grey. Which could be greys, greyish browns, silvers, etc.
The weekend before was browns.
These challenges are fun. Plus they make you look at things differently.  Who knows what he will have us do next weekend!!!
Dark, gloomy and small snow flurries here today. The highest tempurature we had today was 10 degrees F. And that is now at 3:30pm. Windy also. It doesn't take long to feel cold when you go outside with this weather! I was hoping to get out and take some eagle pictures. But too cold to be by the water for me. There is a city not far from here where the bald eagles winter over. I guess yesterday there where 8 adults and 16 immature ones roosting in a grove of trees! They hae been around for the last week or so. They are suppose to all over that area starting in Jan. (at least if it is like other years).
I did some Christmas shopping today. We don't have many to buy for. I hope you are all having a good holiday season. (Thanksgiving , Christmas and New Years). Hugs, Teresa