Dog Portraits

The weather was actually spring like today! What a surprise!

Just some pics of my furry friends.

Cardinals at the Feeder

I have had an over abundance of cardinals, I take that back there is no such thing as too many cardinals, they are probably my favorite bird. They finally got used to me taking their picture through my kitchen window.

The new Dell arrived today! I have it all up and running, with windows, anti-virus etc updated but have not loaded any of my programs or pictures or music. I will start working on that over the weekend. Right now I am back on my trusty laptop that I know and love.........lol. The new system is awesome I have to say.

I have a 3 day weekend, the first since January and the 1st one in six months that is not for something I really don't want to do. We are going to Iowa City to the VA hospital for my husband to get some work done on his hearing aids, I don't mind going there, it is an interesting place to people watch, going home through Cedar Rapids for some shopping and eating out, yeah! The forecast for the weekend is sunny and warmer, I hope to get outside.

Blooms Indoors

Sharing a few blooms inside. My Christmas Cactus is still going strong. The 3rd photo down is Mitriostigma axillare "African Gardenia", the yellow flower is Jasminum humile ‘Revolutum’ "Yellow Jasmine" the pink one is a begonia and of course the white one is an African Violet, it is really large!

I had a new experience this past week, my computer crashed, the tech decided it was the mother board, so I was able to save all my files. Which I was grateful for as there are a lot of them! I have a new one on the way. I will finally get to learn Vista.

Finally Spring

What a winter this has been! One nasty weather system after another, they just kept on a coming, ice, snow, more ice, more snow, more ice. We are seeing our driveway for the 1st time since last November, it could have been used as an ice skating rink all winter. It was difficult finding a place to walk the dogs.

My Dad is back home from the nursing home. Three months ago I doubted he would be alive let alone be home again. The weather did not make the hour drive each way any more pleasant, not that going to a nursing home to see one's Dad is ever pleasant. One thing I did see almost every time I traveled up there was two fields close together that had hundreds of turkeys feeding, both fields from some reason, maybe wind flow, did not have as much snow and I imagine they were finding corn or beans that had been left behind after harvest, I have never seen so many wild turkeys together! This went on for a good eight weeks. This winter must have been really difficult for wildlife.

I have several things to blog about but will start with something on a happy note. Spring seems to have arrived, the robins have been back for the past two weeks, the juncos are still here, the old saying is that if the juncos are still around, there will be another snow, I am thinking of posting a sign JUNCOS NO LONGER WELCOME! We saw bluebirds at a local park. I have seen blue herons flying overhead on two occasions. I haven't seen my little Carolina wrens since about Christmas time. The red winged black birds are back. I spotted a flock of flickers last weekend, so I know nice weather is just around the corner.

My rhubarb is up! I can just taste some yummy rhubarb sauce, Yummo, to quote Rachel Ray!

Be warned I will be out reading and leaving comments on everyone's blogs.

A Few Blooms Inside

I have a few things in bloom inside to brighten my winter days. I have a winter blooming jasmine that has flowers on it, but none are open yet, I can't wait, as the blooms are fragrant.

We have another winter "event" forcasted for Monday, this has been quite an interesting winter!

Birds During the Blizzard

We had another day of wicked weather here in Iowa, the wind was whipping the snow around creating white-out conditions.

I took these pictures Sunday through my kitchen window, I filled the feeder a dozen times during the day the birds were in a feeding frenzy.

Coppers Hawk

My blog is suffering with all the other things going on in my life right now. Some of you may remember I mentioned that my Dad was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure last fall and has been in and out of the hospital since. We had to put him in a nursing home as Mom could no longer care for him at home, the major reason being that he is unable to get around without falling. It is a sad thing to watch. They live an hour away from me which makes it worse, but things are going as well as can be expected.

We went to see him yesterday, the sky was the most beautiful blue and the sun was out so it was a good day for a road trip. We passed a field that had no fewer than 200 wild turkeys in it, it was a corn field, with all the snow cover I am sure they are having trouble finding enough to eat, by the time we realized what we were seeing it was too late to stop to take pictures.

Early yesterday I spotted a Coppers Hawk in our yard, looking for an easy meal no doubt. I managed to get a few pictures of the hawk. He was chasing a cardinal which I was not happy about, I love cardinals.

We had more snow again today, this has been quite a winter so far. We have not had a bad winter since 2000/2001 so I guess it was time for one. At least today was a Sunday and I did not have to get out and go to work.