Winter snow

This post is for cyclpos7 he hasn't seen snow in his part of the world, these pics are from a couple of years ago. ~ so welcome to a different world my friend! :))










C'ya

Excursion

Mother was here for a short visit over Christmas, we took these pictures on the drive back on Xmas day. We thought the skies would make good pictures. At times ominous, but with more storm clouds on the horizon. (clickable thumbnails.)









C'ya

Speechless!

I'm fresh out of words. This was today at 5pm. Is there no end.. Grrrr

C'ya

Waning Days

Just a reminder of the aftermath of the storm we had last Saturday.

A couple of days ago we had a very hard frost, providing for some good shots. It was interesting to notice the stars in the skies above the trees. ~ These then are we hope the last waning days of winter, temps today are now up to the plus 5/6 side, can't argue with that. Have a great weekend everyone. (clickable thumbnails)



A shot of the frost covered trees, notice the 'Big Dipper' over the trees


Somewhere under the snow, is my parking spot! No! That is not a 'Johnny on the Spot!' Just the outdoor storage.



Interesting tree frost shot.

C'ya

Spring Feverish

The picture on the TV screen turned a brilliant red and I groaned, I knew what that meant. Relentlessly the text continued to pour out onto the screen, at times moving faster than I could read. I cursed whoever was handling this production of painful information. I wondered at times if it was some sort of sadistic idiot, exacting grim satisfaction from the things that were about to befall us.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome “The Weather channel!” ~

The announcement of yet another storm, the third in just over a week, brought a curse to my lips. Just how long is this frigging winter going to last! This has to be the worst, coldest and the most weird winter that I have encountered in many years. Such prolonged sub zero temperatures and more snow than I can remember in over thirty years around this area. ~

Our first indication that winter had arrived came in November, we are now in our fifth month! Thank God we drive a 4x4, at least we can get around.
Since then it’s been one storm after another and believe me they have been genuine storms. I’ve lost count now of what number this latest one is.

Either nature has a warped sense of humor or else it is being very cruel & sadistic. One hears music hall jokes all the time about this country being the land of the Igloo and lots of snow. This could be true to a point, but if I recall correctly most of the storms we’ve suffered this year have come from south of the border! ~ Hey! What are good neighbors for eh? ~

After that big storm that we had over Xmas, we were left thinking maybe that was the last heavy snowfall of the season. ~ Wrong! After that snow we had a few days of extreme cold, then gradually the temps started to warm up.

The resulting rains over the next week certainly gave thoughts of an early spring, washing away all of the snow that we had laying around.
Wow I thought, green grass and birds out there frolicking around & why not? This is after all a common breading area for a lot of North American birds.

Since then we have had three more of the red screen scenarios, with resulting sub zero temperatures and snow exceeding anything I’ve ever seen all the time I’ve lived here.

In a more serious vein though, I am convinced that we are now the victims of a geographical malfunction, ~ no longer are we located in the southern part of Canada but have been relocated somewhere near the north pole. (On Mars maybe!? )

Only last night we received another 12 inches of the dreaded stuff and now the red screen monster is predicting yet another storm for Friday night..


The ground hog had said an early spring! ~ Tell that to the Easter Bunny sitting here in sub zero temperatures and the sixteen inches of snow in the backyard.. ~ Ask me who I believe! I’m sorely tempted to toss my slipper at the idiot box ~

Time to hit the sack.

C’ya

Willow Springs

All through this long never ending winter, all I have been able to think about is the day when we can start going back to Willow park.

Old man winter however is making it feel as though the Arctic tundra has fallen upon our shoulders, with the temperatures hovering this morning at the -15c & -26c with the windchill. More of the same is being forecast for tomorrow with temps at -18c/ - 28c.

A few days ago we were in the Norval area and decided to try and get through the snow to take a few winter pictures of the park. It’s obviously impossible for me to negotiate the snow to the park area because of my mobility impairment, so I was restricted to the parking lot area whilst my wife waded through the accumulation of snow and reached our favorite summer haunt. She sure brought back some digital treasure.

There is a remarkable difference between summer & winter that’s for sure, but just another example of the artistry and power of mother nature. How often can one find a place that provides such beauty during the summer months, and have this same place show itself to be such a rich jewel in the face of winter?

Willow Park is such a place and I described it many times during our last summer outings, which we enjoyed at every opportunity.

One would think that under the snow covered blanket and bitterly cold days that is the face of winter, there could be no attraction to the park at all.

The other day we sure found out differently. The music of the rippling, fast flowing waters of the river, danced their way upstream doing their best to entice spring to get started and bring with it the joys of this years first blooms. The snow covered woods and the banks of the river, all murmuring their approval on the whispers of the breeze, of such a long awaited event.

I’m sure Ted up at the house, ~ perhaps looking through his window, is wistfully waiting too, ready to play his music for all who would listen, as the light classical notes of the masters wend their way upon the air, flowing through the valley of the woods. Skirting the wetlands calling out to the hibernating tortoise, “Come, wake up! wake up! It’s time to start another year!”

C’ya

Picturesque

This winter has been a long harsh one. However the folks who do ice sculptures are happy I would reckon. A couple of days ago I came across a few ice pictures in ‘Neatorama’. Now this is really what I call ice sculpture, done by none other than Mother Nature herself. I thought I’d share a couple with you, these were shot in Estonia.







C'ya

Stormy production

You have no idea how much trouble I had getting this to work, sometimes unconventional methods do the trick.

Wish the video was a little longer, but this is some of the stuff we got dumped on us in the storm.. Enjoy... Sound is of course optional.. ~ :)

As you can see we still have a gliche but this hyperlink at least works to show the video...You just have to back out the window when its done.. Sorry for the inconvenience.. :)

storm

C'ya

Cold Comfort

This last two days have been a bit of a headache. If you recall earlier this year I ran into problems with the switch to ‘Vista’ a thing that is still not totally out of the woods, shaky at best.

My newest problem involves a little Vista, but I am thinking most of the quirks are from the ‘Norton’s International’ security program. So much so that I am still in the throes of finding a fix. Meanwhile I am stuck with just text posting for now. I had wanted to make a post in the blog two days ago, but because of my problem things will have to be on hold for a short while.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, now I’m off to roll up the sleeves and get down to the nitty gritty.

All this and a temperature outside with the wind of -18c, how do you like them apples! Grrrrrrrrrrr ~ No doubt there will be a gnashing of molars as I go.

C’ya

It Happened

Finally, after suffering through two days of cold windy rainy weather, the temperature's plunged. Overnight the temp’s went down to -10c and very sneakily the rain turned to snow and ice pellets. We woke up this morning to a token covering of the white stuff.

For good measure snow & ice covered the truck to the point, we couldn’t get the doors to open for a while at least. It sure was a cold blustery wind blowing, ~ even the poor birds were puffing up in an attempt to keep dry and warm.



Woody Woodpecker, a regular visiter.




Today the feeders went down in a hurry I can tell you, even these two little Juncos, were looking at each other as if to say. ”What happened!” Today then was quite a busy day in the bird eatery dep’t! More cold weather is on the way.

C'ya