Hold on tight!

Today, in some places on Whidbey Island, there are wind gusts of 48mph. Around our place the birds are hanging onto the feeder perches for dear life, just trying to grab a few seeds before the wind sends the feeder into carousel motion. The wind chimes are playing a double time unmelodious sound.

And out in Useless Bay the whitecaps are being rushed to the shore by the stiff wind. If anyone plans on being out in this weather, they had better hold on to their hat, or they will be chasing it.
My plans for the day are to fill the couple of thermos jugs with hot coffee, prepare food we can eat if the power goes out, then find an interesting book to read, and cosy down in my favorite chair.

You all have a wonderful day.

It is always nice

Looking from the inside out.

The snow has been threatening since early this morning. Now it is coming down in big wet flakes and is starting to stick.

This is a day to stay indoors beside a warm fire, and find a good book to read.

Wet Blanket

This morning the day dawned, shrouded in a wet clammy fog. The round bales of hay in the neighbor's pasture, are just visible through the fog.

An industrious little spider, has tented my Hen & chicken in a finely spun web, which has caught the mist and a couple of fallen leaves in it's strands.

I am praying the weather forecast, predicting a sunny afternoon, is right on, as I have plans to get out in the garden and do a little clean up work.

UPDATE: 11:46 am
UPS just delivered my box of Tulip and Daffodil bulbs which were ordered earlier this year. I am now, really praying for the sun to break through the fog, so I can get them planted.

Oh ! my, Mother nature is dishing out an interesting Spring

Yesterday afternoon, the wind came up with a ferosity which surprised me, and by the time I left work and walked the boardwalk to take the stairs to the parking lot, the wind was fierce indeed. I was really holding onto my bag and leaning into the wind.
The road home was littered with small branches, leaves and twigs from the trees.

Our front porch and driveway looked like this, confettied (it that a word? well it gives you the idea) with small leaves from the willow, and pine cones and leaves from the other trees surrounding our home.

This morning it dawned bright and sunny, a gentle breeze blowing, and the promise of a beautiful day. I am happy to say this huge Hosta and the Pansys were not damaged in the wind storm.

Another day in Paradise

It is going to be another gorgeous day on Whidbey Island. This was the scene at 6:30AM this morning. The mist was lazily drifting across Useless Bay, the snow on the Cascades, being kissed by the rising sun, and a chorus of birdsong to set the mood.

Ahhhh! what a blessing to live in such a beautiful place.

At Long Last

We have a beautiful day with temperatures in the 50F's already, AND,
we are supposed to have several such days in a row. It is about time the weather settled down, folks were starting to get scratchy (Kiwi for grouchy). Amazing what a little bit of warm, sunshiny weather will do for their moods.

It was time to take my camera outdoors and see what was going on in the yard. There was a chorus of birdsong as I opened the front door and stepped onto the porch into the warm sun, the air smelled fresh and clean after last night's rain shower, and there was color in the garden from Tulip blooms. There was a humming bird flitting near by, and I noticed that they make the most unusual sounds. It seems to my ears, that the sound they make is rather harsh and loud for such a tiny pretty bird. Have any of you out there observed the same thing?

This particular tulip is one I planted last fall and have eagerly been waiting to see the unusual blooms. Well worth the wait, aren't they?

As I turned to return indoors, this little rabbit was nibbling on grass just about seven feet away. we spotted each other about the same time, and he froze there for a few seconds then turned towards me as though posing for his picture. Seems he is one of the tamer rabbits we have on the property.
It is time for getting ready to spend the day at the spa, I have just two more days work to put in, before I get time off to enjoy this lovely weather.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! ! !

Yes folks, that is ice on the window of my car. We had quite a heavy frost this morning and I am hoping it has not damaged the tulips which are coming into full bloom.

I think the Hummingbirds are happy that I have another three feeders hanging in the yard which were sheltered from Jack frost's fingers, and are not covered in ice as this one is.

We are in for a beautiful sunny day, as you can see, by the sun shining on the pasture in the distance. The temperatures, as reported by the weather station, will be in the 60'sF Bring it on!

The weather could be better

This is what we have in the way of weather this morning. It is cold and clammy, and of course, it is a day when we will be spending quite a few hours out doors sighhhhhh!!

Today is "Opening Day" for the CWSA shooting season, and we're hoping for a good turn out, even if the weather is not looking good. I hope I can do well even though I have not done much in the way of practice.
Wish me luck.

Old Man Winter Is Still Around

We are blanketed with snow. It looks as though we had a little more fall last night while we were sleeping.

Brrrrrr! Today, I think I will stay indoors, and finish painting the hallway.
Old Man Winter sure is taking his sweet time in moving on.

Don't count your chickens ETC.

Today is my day for doing some more painting on the hallway. I was ready for a tea break, had some paint left in the tray, so decided to use the paint on the only wall left, which did not have a bunch of stuff that had to be removed before painting. I chose the wall above staircase leading to the basement. Look at the difference in color, I do not usually care for white, but this dark area needed to be lightened and I really like the reflective quality of the white paint.

The paint tray was now empty, the roller wrapped in a plastic grocery bag until I had taken a break, so I made my way out into the kitchen to brew my tea.

As I entered the kitchen and looked out the window, I was surprised to see that it had started to snow. You can barely see the neighbors house.
Here I have been thinking we were done with snow and spring was on the way. Sheesh!

The snow flakes were dinner plate sized, Ok, they were quarter sized, and quite beautiful as they floated gently to the ground.
So much for wishing for spring, as I said,
Don't count your chickens ETC.

UPDATE 4pm

By 4pm we had about 2inches of snow.

The bird feeders were empty, so I went out and refilled them.
The birds were sitting in the trees just waiting for me to go back indoors. I am sure as soon as I entered the house they were at the feeders.

Where is the sunshine?

It is another foggy day here on Whidbey Island. I would have taken a picture for you, but all you would see is a wall of damp cold fog.
My cold is still hanging on, though not so severe that I could not go to work yesterday.
We did not have any clients at the spa, so I went about the business of catching up on paperwork and all the small chores which needed to be done.
At the end of the day, after I had locked the spa doors, I spent quite some time in the steamroom, soaking up the warmth and breathing in the aromas from a face cloth soaked in an immune boost spray. I felt soooo good afterwards, I think I will take advantage of the steam again today.

A sight to warm your heart

When you see Forsythia coming into bloom, you know Spring must be out there somewhere.

Yesterday it was a balmy 40 degrees. There was a very light wind ruffling the water of Saratoga Passage, and the sun showed it's face from behind the clouds now and again.

It was a day to experience a *whiff of Spring*

I don't know about you, but during particular times of the seasons, when outdoors, I experience a feeling deep inside, an awareness, and notice an elusive fragrance in the air which tells me a new season is about to begin. I can't find the words to explain exactly what I feel and smell, except to say it probably goes back to my primeval beginings.

After the winter we have endured thus far I am ready for spring.

I am staying home today

How lucky for me to have the first of four days off work.
We woke this morning to a snow blanketed world. There is no wind, the skies are a watery blue and the silence is almost deafening.
Here are some views from several windows in our home. As usual you can click on the pictures for a larger view.

When it is very windy the willow branches slap against the side of the house, which just happens to be our bedroom side. I think they will have to be trimmed back to allow us some uninterrupted sleep during windstorms.

The sun is just starting to peep over the trees gilding the pine tree outside our kitchen window.

I love the ever changing view outside the den window I sit in front of at my computer. This morning the tree looks as though it has been gold leafed by the sun.

From our front kitchen window, we look across Useless Bay, over Double Bluff, toward the snow covered Cascades, which are being lit by the morning sunrise.
Isn't mother nature grand?

HERE WE GO AGAIN

S--T, yes I am cussing.

I hear the wind whipping through the trees outside the den window, the wind chimes are sounding their angry peals as they are buffeted by the gusts and the weather forecast is grim.

Today we could get wind gusts of up to 60 mile per hour, and you know we will have more trees down and probably be without power AGAIN!!!

Then to top it all off, by tomorrow evening we could possibly get snow and icy conditions as the temperature drops.

The novelty of indoor camping has worn off, I am looking forward to spring.

BUT, I do count my blessings, it could be worse, we could be experiencing
the aftermath of a hurricane, so I will quit whining and try to find the bright side.

ANOTHER power outage

Last night around 10:30pm our lights went out once again, and they have just turned back on. It is Saturday 6:30pm. Even though we have a generator to power our furnace, and a camp stove to cook on, this is all getting to be rather tiresome.

There were a couple of branches off of our trees laying on the ground this morning, but that is nothing compared to what is hanging over the power lines just up the road from our place. Mr.C has the whole story HERE

Mr.C gave me a portable DVD player for Christmas, so I was able to pass some time watching a movie, and I also enjoy reading, so I do not become too bored.

I am ready for spring.......bring it on!

Storm Report

No power since Thursday evening.
Semi-regular updates are over at Mr. C's blog HERE.

This is getting to be a Long winter

If this was a movie clip you would see the trees bending under the wind gusts. I park my car on the other side of the driveway so as to avoid damage from any branches which may fall off the trees on the left side of the driveway. I would be really upset, to say the least, to go out in the morning and find a large limb had fallen and damaged my car.

Any where you drive around Whidbey Island through the wooded areas, is a mess. There are branches, large and small, and trees which have been toppled during the storms we have experienced the last few weeks. According to the weather forecast this morning, we are in for MORE high winds the next couple of days. I have to be especially vigilent driving to work as any route I choose to take is on tree lined roads, and some of the trees are leaning over the roads, sure makes me nervous to think at any time a tree could topple onto the road in front of me. It is a good thing to say a prayer before setting out in the morning.

Whew! made it through this one

We weathered this storm and are ready for the next. Yesterday our generator arrived so we will have a way to heat the house and run the fridge. Now you watch and see, the power will probably not go out for the rest of the winter, BUT, we are prepared.

Today we will head up island to do some shopping, and afterwards enjoy dinner and conversation with some friends at a nice restaurant, before returning home. Rocket says shopping is a good thing, as he is down to almost the last few bites of his special cat food, which we can't buy here on the south end of the island.

The outdoor thermometer says it is 40 degrees and the snow is melting at a very fast rate. Our road out to the main one is still icy, but I am sure the main road up and down the island is probably bare and wet.

You all have a great day.

Why I haven't been around the last two days

On Monday morning I was up around 7am and knowing that the power could go off due to branches breaking off under the weight of the snow we had, and falling across the power lines, I decided it would be a good thing to be prepared.

I made coffee and filled a couple of thermos bottles and whipped up some soup and put in another thermos and had no sooner put the dishes in the sink when the power went off. Good planning Keewee I said to myself, we will be Ok for a few hours we have hot soup and coffee, and a big propane heater to keep us warm.

I also had a feeling my boss would call and say the spa would be closed for the day, and to stay at home, she did, and I was only too happy to stay off the icy roads.

I went out doors and filled the bird feeders just before it started to snow again.

By mid morning there was about 2 inches of snow on the ground.

A couple of hours later there was plenty of snow on the road into our place.

From the front deck, and some more snow, I just know the power will be back on soon.

Late afternoon, even more snow.

Getting towards evening on Monday and still no power, and more snow, grumble mumble. I don't mind the snow, what I do mind is that we do not have any power.

Tuesday dawned sunny but very cold, and still no stinkin' power. This was getting to be very tiresome even though we had food and were somewhat warm. This power outage has been one of the worst in years. Usually the power would be off one or two hours.

Th only time I went outside today, was to feed the birds, and as I stepped out the front door this little woodpecker was so busy finding his breakfast, that he let me get very close to take his picture.

The power finally came back on at 8:08pm this evening. I did the *Happy dance* 36 hours with no power when it is very cold is no fun.

We made it through this one.

It is warmer in the house this morning, a far cry from yesterday.

I woke yesterday morning around 6:30 am and turned over to look at the clock, it was black, no lit numbers at all, I could hear the willow tree slapping the house as it was being blown around in the gusty wind, and the rain was pelting the metal roof. Only one conclusion to be drawn, THE POWER WAS OFF.

I was due to be at work at 9:30 so decided to pull the covers up over my head and stay warm until the power came back on and I could get ready for work. I snuggled under the covers and waited for some sign of returning power. From my warm nest I heard the muffled sound of the phone ringing, my boss called to tell me to stay home, she would go down to the spa and call any clients on the books and reschedule them. After a couple of hours she called back to tell me the spa would be closed for the day.

We stayed snuggled under the covers until about 11:30 before hunger drove us towards the kitchen. I had a Sterno cooker up in one of the top cupboards and dragged it down, heated some water and made a pot of coffee. I filled a thermos with extra coffee and settled down with a book.

Mr.C went out to his workshop and brought in a large propane heater and fired it up. It has the roar of a jet engine but oh! the wonderful warmth it put out, in a matter of minutes the chill was off the air and not much longer we turned it off until the house cooled to where we needed more heat.

So we did make it through the day, with plenty of hot coffee, munchies and warmth, it was kinda like camping out.