Christmas spirits

All throughout this December the deer have wandered in and out of the gardens, usually at the dim of the day (dawn or dusk).  The shot above was an attempt to catch them bounding across the lawn, but they were too fast for my older camera to 'freeze' them on frame.  But this picture is even better. 

Here they are in motion, practically mystical - imaginary creatures, mere shadows on snow. 

In a non-magical moment I caught these more substantial images. 

 

While guests and I were inside enjoying a festive holiday meal, 2 does, a fawn and a large buck ambled up to the bird food and enjoyed a festive feed of their own.

By the end of the day everyone (inside and out) were happy and well fed.  

Hope your Christmas was as warm and satisfying as mine and that you all enjoy health and happiness in the New Year!  

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Wishing you a compost Christmas

** copyright 2008 Melissa Majora Gardens  **

Wishing you and yours a warm holiday and health and happiness in the New Year.

Kris 

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Window dressing

The temps are still steady: daytime 20s, nighttime teens.  We haven't had snow for a couple of days (except for the occasional light flurry for dusting).

It's really nice to have geraniums blooming in front of the windows this time of year.  They thrive all winter, their colorful glow warming up cold and/or gloomy days.

Thought I'd take this post to let you know that while the vegetable, flower and garden projects pages (links on top of sidebar) have gone dormant for the winter, the plant propagation page is heating up. (I've put up a couple of new entries over there recently.)

There will also (most likely) be more household adventures to chronicle over the cold months as I tackle inside projects.

So keep an eye on the dates on the pertinent links -- you never know when something new has been posted.

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More of the same

Snow and more snow.  Fierce winds.  Bitter cold.

With more to come.  Oh yippee oh yay (NOT).

(mock orange shrubs outside my bedroom window)

I hauled out the snowblower late yesterday afternoon and did the driveway and turnaround.  When I was done I came inside, got out of the layers of winter gear, got into my comfy clothes then went back out to take a pic of my achievement.

What "achievement"?  All that greeted me and my camera by then was 3-4" of new snow!  It was as if I'd never gone out.

Instead of railing against the weather, I lit a candle in the front window and huddled around the unfailing geraniums and dreamed of Spring to come.

That lasted maybe a minute. LOL  Candles and flowers helped a lot to lift my spirits, but it was a big bowl of homemade spicy chicken and rice waiting for me in the kitchen that sealed the deal.

Mmmmm.  Goooood.

It is still snowing this morning.  Curse you Lake Erie!  Freeze over already!  Ah well... there's still gas in the snowblower and lots of spicy chicken leftovers to fuel the little engine-that-could (and -must) that is me.

Stay safe and snug.

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Alberta clipper

Not much has changed since my weather pics posted on December 1st.  Right this very minute an Alberta clipper is charging through, dumping snow.

Good thing...it didn't snow yesterday (well, a few flakes).  Between the sunshine and residual warmth in the ground enough snow melted to expose swathes of grass.  Eeek!  But this morning we're getting  a clean white blanket in the gardens again. Yay.

Also on the driveway.  Boo.

* Alberta (Kyna) clipper *

The clipper has been blowing through for a couple of hours.  Weather channel says "Light Snow".  Not even an accumulation on this current forecast. 

* light snow - Clipper *

And this is why I don't use the weather channel for believable weather info anymore....

* this is LIGHT SNOW? *

Anyone looking for a white Christmas might as well head to Canton...  Looks like lots of 'more of the same' for the rest of the month.

* December forecast *

Local news channels predict rain/snow mix sometime this weekend, then come Monday a blizzard.

BLIZZARD!?

I'll believe it when I see it.  Still, won't hurt to head out and lay in some supplies just in case.  If it comes I'll just hunker down for a while. (I'm getting good at that!)   I'll keep you posted.  Stay safe, everyone. 

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Feather weather

The weather hasn't changed one bit since my last post.  Daytime temps in the high 20s (no matter what the weather channel says) and nights sometimes dipping into the teens.

We've had flurries most every day and last night we got more steady snow.  So when I need an 'outside fix'  I sweep the path out to the feeder.  Last night after dark I swept 2ce.  

The feeder was full the first time.  About an hour later when I went out, the feeder was empty.  Whoa!  The mystery was easily solved - lots of deer tracks about and the culprits themselves staring at me from middle of the ring bed; a buck and 3 does, striking silhouettes against the snow.  Not a big deal, I'll just start bringing in the feeder at night now.

The next 10-day forecast is for more of the same.  Sure is nice not to have to deal with snowy commuter traffic anymore.  :-D  If you're going out, drive carefully!

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Decemberrrrrrrrr

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10 Day Forecast -  °F 

wed	thu	fri	sat	sun	mon	tue	wed	thu	fri
dec 01 Snw Shwrs 32° 24°	dec 02 Snw Shwrs 33° 25°	dec 03 P Cloudy 35° 25°	dec 04 Cloudy 36° 26°	dec 05 Snw Shwrs 37° 23°	dec 06 Snw Shwrs 34° 21°	dec 07 Snw Shwrs 33° 24°	dec 08 Snw Shwrs 37° 25°	dec 09 Snw Shwrs 37° 24°	dec 10 P Cloudy 38 27

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December arrived at midnight with the rain changing over to snow.  Actually I'm pretty happy about it.  December looks a little more stable than that bi-polar schizophrenic November.  (You couldn't count on ANYthing in that month!  Real whiplash weather.)

But as the extended forecast shows (all the way to the middle of the month) December should follow the above chart.  (Actually it's always 4-5 degrees colder at my place than what they call for.  Like today the high has only been 28.)

Finally, some stability!  Even if it IS cold and filled with flurries.  I'm ready for it....! :-D


P.S.  That's Stark county under the bid red dot on the radar map.

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