Sunday, January 31, 2010

More snow, more birds, more prunus mume

Today dawned bright, sunny and cold and we headed out for more sledding. The hill we had primed yesterday was packed and slick today. We sanded and oiled the runners of the flexible flyer and put it to the test, it worked great and is much easier to steer than the plastic toboggan.
Neighbors and kids were out in force and we had 11 people out there at one point hooting and hollering and having a general all around good time. To quote my man “There is magic in the world and it’s called snow.” After a couple of hours of fun we headed home for a hearty lunch of minestrone from the freezer and grilled cheese sandwiches after which I took a very delish nap on the couch.

The birds were still dashing in and out to the feeders all day; I got these great shots of a pine warbler dipping in for some suet. 

The prunus mume continues to brighten the house and I also found a couple of camellias the other day when it was warm that weren’t frostbit and brought those in as well. It’s hard to believe it was in the 60’s just a few days ago!
Late this afternoon we were back at it, checking out another hill that had been primed by folks from outside our hood, not as curvy as where we had been, but a good, long straight ride. After a few runs there, we headed through the woods back to hill number one and took a couple more slides there before coming home at sunset. What a day. We are pondering going out for a ride under the full moon, we’ll see if our energy holds up, a long hot bath and some ibuprofen before hitting the bed may win out as the thermometer is crashing towards a projected low of 10 degrees tonight.

1 comment:

Maria in The Netherlands said...

Beautiful pictures! Reading your blog brings back memories of the time I lived on a mountain in West Virginia, with lots of snow and lots of colorful birds.
Greetings from another Maria (even with the same last name!) at the other side of the ocean.