And today... Osprey

This amazing bird of prey hangs around our pond. Today I was able to photo him! We watched as he dived down, plummeting into our pond like a missile as he searched for fish... and then Noah saw him catch one and we watched him eat it in the tree outside our kitchen window. Nature is sure gruesome and awesome!

Sign of Spring: The swan returns

Spring is almost here!!

I woke this morning to find that last night's rainstorm had left me some Mergansers...

There are mallards and hooded mergansers to go along with the common ones here, but the common mergansers are new to my experience of our backyard pond.

Also, the rainstorm melted a LOT of ice and snow. It's hard to believe that just yesterday there was still a complete layer of ice covering the pond... that has been there since December!! It's almost clear enough for Noah to pull out his canoe again!

The snow berms that made our driveway feel so big when you had to shovel but so small when you had to park two cars in it have all but disappeared! The ground is soggy and green, but there are still little snow flurries in the air. It's not quite spring, but it's not far off.

A midwinter guest

I was working in my kitchen/office when a movement caught my eye. I looked up and saw THIS beautiful hawk perching on my bird feeder. Amazing.

Confessions of a bird nerd

I think these photos speak for themselves...

Snowy backyard visitors and bread

It's been crazy snowy this winter apparently. I have heard from a number of seasoned New Englanders that this is just not the normal weather we have here. As I look out my window, the snow is softly falling, piling up a few inches on top of the already deep and frozen snow that we have in the yard. And tomorrow we can expect 6 to 12 inches more! I keep thinking that it just won't happen to us... we can't possibly get more heavy snow than we've already had, can we?

When I was a kid we lived in Groton, CT. If you've lived in a place where it has the potential to snow, you know that every kid's dream in the winter is that it will snow heaps, that school will be cancelled, and that you will be able to spend the whole magical day outside playing in the stuff. That RARELY happened to us. Yet the kids around here have been out of school so many days this winter I've lost track!

I'm prepared to believe anything of the weather at this point. But we're handling it well. Noah goes to a cozy warm office every day where they feed him breakfast and lunch and have espresso, coffee, cocoa and anything else he could want all day every day. And I don't have to go out in it at all if I don't choose to. Yesterday I woke up to below zero temperatures... and when it had warmed up to 10 degrees I took Tag to meet his friend Tilly at the beach! They had a great time romping in the ice, snow and sand while Renee and I trundled around in our multiple layers with our noses pink from exposure to the wind.

I took some pictures of our back yard creatures for you to experience. We're using the Costco birdfood again, after a stint with BJ's... I like Costco's better, and so do the birds. While we were on BJs we didn't see very much of Mr. Cardinal. We saw Mrs. a few times, but I think there were not enough sunflower seeds for Mr. As you'll see, he's back.

Also, Mr. Rudolph the squirrel (a childhood reference if my sister is reading, which I doubt) finally had his day. Before this current snow we had an icing so the snow around the birdfeeder was not only deep enough but also solid enough for him to hop onto the feeder.

For those of you who comment, do you like this version of this photo or the one below?

In other news, I borrowed a book from the library the other day on bread making, because... while I love Irma and Marion and would NEVER cheat on them (Joy of Cooking, yes, I call them by their first names)... I was searching for something a little more creative in the bread making area.

I LOVE bread. Love love love. So I was intrigued by this book title: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. It sounded too good to be true. I brought it home and read the first few chapters about their revolutionary style... blah blah blah... and I decided I would try it. I was a skeptic. I was sure it couldn't be that simple. Bread needs to rise hours at a time. Bread needs to be kneaded by hand or mixer or bread machine... They said no! And by golly, they were right! We've eaten 3 small loaves over the past week, and I have one more loaf's worth of dough in the fridge waiting to be baked. I'm officially converted! The crusts were so crispy and crackly! The crumb was so soft and flavorful! And I got up the other morning, pulled off a hunk of dough and we had hot fresh bread for breakfast!!!!

I hope Irma and Marion don't mind...

A couple of firsts

I'm so happy to be able to have new experiences all the time, two of them in the past week, actually!

First #1: Whale Sharks at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.
The day after Thanksgiving with my family in Chattanooga, Noah and I escaped to the Georgia Aquarium. It's been open for years now, but every time I go back to the Atlanta area I'm so bombarded with familial responsibilities that I haven't had the chance to visit. So this year, I planned to meet my awesome friend Beth, the coolest woman in the world, and go visit the fishes! The main reason I wanted to go to the aquarium was to see the Whale Shark exhibit. It did NOT disappoint. Here are some photos from that day:

First #2: My first art show!
At the encouragement of Renee (an artist here in Redding with whom I walk my dog), Noah, and Lori, I entered a couple of paintings in the Mark Twain Library Art Show. I was a little reluctant at first. I mean, I don't really think of my art as Art... I just sort of paint or draw what I see and it never turns out quite like I'd hoped... This is a juried show, and when I brought my paintings to be judged, I felt like an ant standing in the presence of giants. There are some amazing artists in this show, and some amazing art did NOT get in. Which is why I'm doubly blessed that one of my paintings did get into the show. It's encouraging... I am a little closer to being able to call myself an artist :) not just one who dabbles in paint... So we get to get dressed up on Friday and go to the gala, and I get to stand by my painting, or hide behind Noah, depending on how confident I feel... and hopefully I'll meet some more kindred spirits in the process.

I painted this after seeing Invisible Children's Night Commuter documentary. If it sells, I'll donate the money to Invisible Children to use for advocacy for the rescue of and prevention of child soldiers.