Closer to the end

Did I say the end of winter is near? I lie like a rug! Just look outside on any given day since I said so the last time. My optimistic outlook is dwindling almost as fast as the temperature drops on a clear March morning.

It started out like any other Saturday morning, getting the chores done at a leisurely pace while sampling various breakfast goodies. Other than a little digestive disorder everything was fine. I was filling the water troughs, but feeling a bit weaker than usual. That in itself was a little disconcerting as I felt I had finally regained the strength I lost a year and a half ago after surgery, but that's an old story. I decided to come back up to the house and do a little r&r. When I got back to the house I took off my coat and hollered as best I could to the ladies about needing some help. The next thing I know I am on the bathroom floor looking up at Stitch who is repeating my name and the Cooker is calling 911. Well, as they say, the lights were on but there was nobody home inside my body for a minute or three. Apparently I threw a head and shoulder block into the door jamb on the way to the floor (yes, it left a mark). Shortly thereafter we started receiving company in the form of neighbor first responders and the ambulance crew from town. Having been an EMT and knowing these people it was a funny feeling being on the receiving end of an assessment. Since I hadn't had a heart attack or stroke I got to leave the ER after about 5 hours of replenishing fluids. Oh yes, they did get to see what I had for lunch, lucky them. We blamed some flu-like bug, I guess.

The next morning I was not up for getting up so the Cooker did the morning feeding of the horses. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was 11 degrees below zero. She figured it out by the time she got back in. Stitch would have done it, but she flew off to San Diego for a work-related trip after she knew I would live.

Do you ever find unidentifiable science experiments in your refrigerator? We don't very often, but now and then we just can't figure out what it was, but this is what it looked like.

Aliens may have left it in there when they stopped by last time, because none of us can figure out what else it could be. The Cooker is known to experiment with foods, but vehemently denies any knowledge of this particular item.

On a slightly less disgusting note there has been a lot of talk of saints lately. St. Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland and St. Urho drove the grasshoppers from Finland (saving the grape crop). Now there is a new head of the Catholics naming himself after a pretty well known saint. Those are pretty big red shoes to fill in light of all the evil that has come from that institution in recent years. Can't say as I have ever known a saint,but I have known some fine people.

One the way home a couple of weeks ago I stopped just downhill from work at the harbor and caught this moment around sunset.

We have also been having a few visitors of the avian persuasion that we don't see very often. There have been some Hoary Redpolls at the feeder for example, but I spotted a hole in the snow that indicated a larger visitor had been hunting in the back yard. Sure enough, just before I decided to be sick the ladies said I should see what's in the back yard. So, I grabbed my camera and saw this guy. I think it's a guy as the females are usually a bit larger, but he was just trying to catch some Z's in a tree.

The next day it was snowing and he decided to try a different tree. If you're not looking for them they can blend in rather well, especially on a gray and snowy day.

We do see these Great Grey Owls occasionally in Winter, but hopefully he will head north as the spring approaches. It's one of those harbinger things, ya know.