Baby, it's Cold Outside!

It bloomed just in time!

I spent part of Christmas Day in the forest. I'm glad I did - it made the rest of the day and all the hubbub seem more serene.

The snow came at me horizontally for awhile.

It was so quiet, I encountered a couple of dog walkers and one
cross country skier.

There was a lot of snow but it was light and fluffy. Walking
was fairly easy.

I was hoping to see a deer or two but I didn't even see any
hoof prints so they must have been hunkered down
deep in the thickets.

Looking back - there were a few trails that hadn't been walked on yet -
good thing I wore my waterproof pants!

Love this gnarled tree.

This tree gets decorated every year.

As I left the forest and started to clear the snow off my car once again, my dear daughter tore into the parking lot in her Jeep. She was worried I was going to get lost in the forest as it was snowing so hard. She's just a little dramatic lol! There may have been whiteout conditions in parts of the city but amongst the trees it was easy to find my way. Nice to know she cares though....

After several days spent with family and friends I am now relishing a couple of days with nothing to do except read and watch hockey. I'm reading a Wally Lamb book that's been sitting on my shelf for quite some time called "The Hour I First Believed" which is a fictional story about two people whose lives were affected by the Columbine mass shooting. He is such a good writer. But in about 30 minutes it'll be time to watch the Canadian Junior hockey team play the U.S. on an outdoor rink! Wish I could be there in the action and -12c temps (not really) but I'll have to just watch from my warm living room with a hot mug of tea,  boo hoo! Quite the rivalry between these two teams as Canada lost to the U.S. last year as the result of an overtime shootout! Very exciting, though I get so anxious! As I recall I couldn't watch the shootout last year, I just listened to it.

So I'll go for now. Hope you had a great holiday and have wild and crazy plans for New Years! Hah - I'm staying in with a friend and snacks and wine and movies! My favourite!

Fa la la la la!

Had to update my header photo in light of  recent weather!

 We had a few flakes of snow on Saturday while marching in solidarity with Canadian Palestinians. You can see the yellow flag below with the red maple leaf on it - that's the activism group - Council of Canadians - that I belong to. Rest assured that whenever Trump makes an idiot move we here in Canada are aware and marching against it. Eventually over 500 people turned out to support our friends and neighbours - it was a great day...and it won't be the last unfortunately.

A couple of years ago my neighbour gave me a Christmas cactus. Immediately Luna and Lily decided to add some greens to their diet and nibbled all the ends of the leaves off. Bad kitties! Amazing they didn't have indigestion! I considered giving it the ol' heave ho but to my surprise....a bloom has appeared!!

Or perhaps I should say "bud". Plants are amazing aren't they? When humans have been erased from the face of the earth all the plants will eventually return to their former glory. Twelve days left til Christmas - will the bud turn into a blossom by then? We shall see...

Don't know about you but yesterday we had what they nowadays call "a significant weather event" or as I like to call it - a big dump of snow! Well over a foot of snow with more on the way this afternoon.  A couple of Alberta Clippers moving across the still warm Great Lakes = big dumps of snow! And I didn't even go to meteorology school!

And here I thought we were going to have another green Christmas! Be very careful of what you wish for! 

First Snow December 12, 2017

Never Give Up

Saturday was a very mild day so I headed to Kilally Meadows. I might have been rushing the season just a little. While it was warm enough for a spring jacket and no gloves it wasn't warm enough or sunny enough to melt all the way through the ice on the trails.

The forest was chock full of robins, cardinals, crows, chickadees and a busy woodpecker - it was a very noisy and busy place! 

It's a good thing I brought along my trusty walking stick.

It was a little a LOT sloppy  and although I safely reached the bridge I heard loud cracking as I gingerly tiptoed across the ice.

The sun wanted to peak through the cloud layer but just wasn't strong enough yet.

The highlight of the day was stalking a gorgeous red-tailed hawk - a sure sign of spring!!

 Zooming in...

 

Our Christmas cactus continues to bloom. It bloomed just in time. I actually had it in my hand to throw out because some bad kitty had chewed the end off each stem and leaf as you can see and I figured it wouldn't ever bloom. Just goes to show you - NEVER give up on a plant!

Here's the culprit but how can I get mad at this sleeping cutie all curled up in a ray of sunshine? 

Doesn't she look innocent?

HAH!!