January!

Whew; it was cold out! We do not usually experience that type of bitter cold for any length of time. Not only did we get over 2 foot of snow it stayed below freezing for the better part of a month! So the new stone work on the carriage house cracked and heaved and the sprinkler system under the driveway ruptured and I can hardly wait to get the gas bill...but, then the weather changed and the sprinkler is fixed and the stonework laid down again and all the birds are singing away! The birds are loving Peter's Christmas present, so are the squirrels, they jump on the bungee swing to eat the corn and ride the ferris wheel of corn to the great enjoyment of our guests. So yesterday when I was walking up to the carriage house for lunch, I thought I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a stangely posed squirrel but it was a red tail hawk eyeing all my tasty little friends at the feeders! It is amazing how much wild life we enjoy right in the city! Towhees and bluebirds, hawks and ravens... chipmunks and feisty little squirrels and they all cavort right next to the dining room windows which drives my neighbor's cat crazy! She just sits in her window watching and waving her tail... I do wish our neighbors would put bells on their cats, they are the largest threat to our beautiful song birds, most of whom are becoming endangered due to loss of habitat and enviromental stress. What an awful world to wake up to a silent morning with no bird song...I am so glad we have the space to offer habitat and care of these beautiful creatures. This spring I am hunting for tadpoles, we had an incredible bull frog in the pond but he passed of old age and did not reproduce as the Koi ate all the eggs before they hatched. I miss the booming croak he made while hiding under the stone bridge, oddly soothing! It feels like spring is right around the corner, the bulbs are a little confused, they started to pop up, it's only January! I am looking foward to spring, I can't wait to see all the new bulbs we planted last fall. That is of course, if my adorable little squirrels did not eat them all... Well, enough for today, will blog again next week to tell of our progress on the upholstery and painting! Hope to see you all soon!