Lookin’ Out my back door!

Oh No, More Snow

It’s National Weatherman’s Day today.  I sure wish they’d get their act together and figure out this snow thing. We got 6+” overnight from at least the 4th big snowstorm of the season. More is predicted for the weekend, although not quite this much as this one.    As you can see, the deer got to the pristine snowfall before I could get photos.  They were out very early today, pawing up the snow and nibbling the grass.  I guess the food supply is getting a bit thin this time of year.  I am so ready for spring.  January alone had more than the normal snowfall for a whole season.  And February has just started.

New Paper Ornaments

I have spent my studio time the past few days working on some more cookie mold paper ornaments.  I am remaking the two that sold and a few more for Easter and Valentine’s Day. The hearts and the bunny are new, but the angel is a redo. I have two others, but they are not ready to show quite yet.  I’ll have to wait a little while to take my listing photos.  I hang them from one of the cedar trees in the yard and definitely there should be no snow to risk  getting them wet.

March, in like a lion….out like a ….lion

This is not a normal March for us. It has been way too cold – 20+ degrees below normal for the highs, lows in the teens and twenties, and 50 degrees lower than March 2012.  As I have been working this month, snuggled in my studio, the wind has been blowing and the snow flying.  In fact, this last snow storm on Sunday night set records in not far away Indianapolis.

This is spring?

We were fortunate to get a lot less snow than they did , but – this is spring?  I bet we had over 4″ by the time it ended.  I didn’t go out to measure.  I wasn’t that curious and gauged it from the railings.  It melted off of the roadways and sidewalks by afternoon and ended up being quite pretty.  When I went out, the roads were totally clear and a lovely, deep snow covered the trees and the grass.  It is almost all gone today.

We have been seeing a bit more wildlife this month.  The transient waterfowl are passing through almost every day.  In fact I saw a coyote checking out the ducks and geese from the far shore.  The birds actually approached nearer to the shore to honk warningly at him.  They got so close he seriously thought about jumping in but then thought the better of it. It was too far to photograph with my telephoto lens or I would have a picture.  He really didn’t have a prayer of getting one but it surely crossed his mind.

The boys

I have also seen a large flock of turkeys – mostly toms I think – strutting in the grassy area across the lake and over the lawn several times.  There seems to be about 20 of them and they are HUGE.  Some are definitely toms with large wattles hanging off of their chests and a few with smaller wattles.  Some don’t have a visible wattle but the head is red and they seem to have large tail and wing feathers.  Last years babies?  I don’t know enough about turkey behavior to tell know if there are mixed flocks this time of year, but if so, those are some very large hens.

I have worked on the architectural but need to let it sit for another day or so.  I sprayed it lightly to pop the colors, but it needs a bit of depth yet so I want to get new eyes for it.

No eating on the deck today

Here’s what we woke up to this morning. Looks to be about 4″.  Going to be a studio day and getting started on the watercolors.

No eating on the deck today

But the lake is pretty