Rare Sightings

The ice on the river has mostly gone out in front of our place.  Most of the lakes around here are still frozen but with the warm weather we're having now, it shouldn't be much longer before they will open as well.

We rarely see Loons in front of our place, but this evening we noticed these and tonight they are making lots of noise.

The white along the lower part of the bridge pillars is where the ice bogs have collected.  They have been floating by our place this evening.  This afternoon, there were fishing boats going through this area; we're glad they made it back to the boat landing before this ice formed as they need to go under this bridge.

Some Assembly Required

Yesterday we made a routine trip to St. Cloud and before we headed home, Patrick asked if there was anywhere else we needed to go.  I suggested we stop at Office Depot to check out their computer desks as I needed a new set up for my computer.

When we walked in the door at Office Depot, there was a nice high back leather chair sitting there with a tag "as is" on it.  Patrick needed a new chair very badly (his old one was about 15 years old and showing wear) so he tried it out.  We asked the salesman what was wrong with it.  He said someone returned it and since it was out of the carton and assembled, it was sold "as is".  This was a bonus for us not to have to assemble it.  It came home with us. 

 

Then we moved on to the furniture.  I found two desks that I liked but settled on one.  From the desks we went to the desk chairs for myself.  Another successful find.

By the time we left, we had 2 new chairs and a new desk with the desk and my chair needing assembly.  This was Patrick's project for today.

My new chair.

 

This is the old desk.

 ....and 33 steps and 4 hours later, the finished product.  There were several breaks along the way.

Black and White

The pictures below could just as well been taken with a black and white camera.  This is not what I expected our yards to look like on the 12th of April.  We had the big snow yesterday morning and then got an additional 2-3 inches last night and it has even been snowing a little this morning.  Will it ever quit and get spring started.

The first picture is of our back yard.  The second is the area around the bird feeders.  By the way, the hawk was back again this morning and the birds were all scrambling for cover while he/she was here.  No one has been caught yet.  The last picture is our front yard and the big piles pushed yesterday by our snowplow guy when he cleaned the driveway.  Looks like more shoveling to do on the sidewalk.

Patrick

Looking for supper

As can be seen in the previous blog to this one, we have been covered up with birds at our feeders today.  At times I would estimate there were as many as 100 birds of different kinds here at one time.  Guess it would only seem logical then that a predator might cruise the area.  Just a few minutes ago I noticed that all the birds suddenly disappeared.  I looked out and saw the guy in the picture below sitting in the tree next to the Blue Bird house.  I took his picture and he was apparently camera shy because he left right away.  The birds are already starting to come back to the feeders.  According to best I can tell from my bird book this guy is a Sharp-shinned Hawk.  Guess he has to eat too.

Patrick

One Last Punch - We Hope

Old Man Winter must have gotten his signals mixed up when April is suppose to be April showers and not snow cones.  Our lawn was finally mostly bare with only a few snow piles left where the snow plow stacked the snow.  It'll be a while before we see the lawn again.

For some reason that we have no idea why, we have had a surplus of Junkos at our feeders this spring.  We usually see them for a short time in the spring and then they move further north.  This year they're sticking around and bringing their friends and family the way it looks.  The snow doesn't seem to bother them either.

This is what we've been watching this morning.

 

This guy probably wishes he would have stayed where it was warmer a little longer - and us with him/her.

This was taken a couple days ago - pre-snow storm.

Hungry Birds

When we got home a couple weeks ago the bird feeders were bone dry.  Usually, we see a few seeds in our bigger feeders but there wasn't a crumb anywhere.  The wind could have taken care of some of this too.  Patrick filled all the feeders and slowly the birds started showing up.  The last couple days, there have been more birds than ever; especially, Junkos and House Finches.  (Carol, this is what a Junko looks like.)

I think they're all glad we're home too.

HOME AGAIN

We arrive back home safely yesterday.  It was a long trip, but mostly uneventful.  Had good roads and only a little slop around Kansas City.  We did see several accidents and cars in the ditch.  The following picture is what the front area of our place looks like.  The sidewalk to the front door is totally covered up.  Our very kind neighbor Dale took the time and effort to clear the snow from in front of the garage door so we could get in there when we arrive home.  There is still some ice there, but I have the salt working on it and we should soon be able to break it up and move it away.  The little puff of steam in the picture is from the dryer.  The house isn't on fire.

The next picture is an early morning on Lake Havasu in Arizona with two fishermen on their way to fish.  I have this picture to show you the nice lake we will be near next winter.  We have decided to go to the Lake Havasu City area instead of Texas as in the past 4 years.  It will be a new place to explore and get to know.  The second picture below is of the house we have reserved for next January through March.  It is a three bedroom, two bath house with a triple garage.  Will be nice to get the car inside.  The house is located about 5 miles from the "London Bridge", which is a local tourist attraction, and that same distance from the Lake Havasu.  Going to be an very interesting winter in 2014.

This is the latest news and report.  Everyone have a great Easter and take care.

Patrick

Big Birthday

Today is Patrick's birthday and a pretty big one too!  We won't mention any numbers here though.

It's a gorgeous day here today so we thought it was a good day to take a little road trip so we headed out to Luckenbach, TX.  The birthday boy is posing for this one.

If I felt a little more limber, I might have tried crawling up on this Longhorn, but thought best to just get a picture of someone much younger and able.

We took a different route back home and stopped at Gruene for dinner.  Patrick wanted a "good" steak and we happened to find one.

It was a nice way to spend a big birthday - no matter what the number.

Happy Valentine's Day

Remember the earlier blog with the photos of the pecan bags?  I thought it was a good plan that since I picked - or gathered - the pecans, Patrick could help out with the cracking.  He has done a great job with this and it seems like a never-ending task. 

Don't expect anyone to smile when cracking pecans; and, it's not my Valentine's present either.

This is the real present.  Another nice Valentine's Day here.

Lawn Ornaments?

On our way home from eating out tonight, we took a side trip by the golf course that's on the edge of town.  Usually, there are several groups of deer out on the course - along with the golfers.

Tonight, these were relaxing in a yard across from the golf course.

 

The deer in Texas are quite a bit smaller than those in Minnesota.  Not everything is bigger in Texas.