Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1221 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

A Flock of Robins

February 13, 2014 at 8:29 am by Claudia

robins1

In the “I had no idea” category, I looked out the back kitchen window yesterday and saw about 10 fat robins flitting from branch to branch in this wild rose bush, or as I call it, a prickly pain in the tush. Since I thought that robins disappeared for the winter, I was really surprised and I ran to get my older camera, which sits in the Vernors crate on the kitchen table. They were very active, flying from branch to branch, then to the trees, then back again.

“What are you doing here?” I said. “There’s a huge storm coming!” Surely they didn’t think spring was here! Not by a long shot.

robins2

The display window on my older camera doesn’t work very well, so I just went for it, snapping away, zooming in, hoping I got a good shot.

Well, I did a little research and much to my surprise, some robins hang around in the winter, even here in the Northeast. And though they don’t do it in summer, in the winter they hang out in flocks. What I saw was a flock of robins – they can’t get worms from the ground, so they look for berries and there are berries on the wild rose bushes.

I love learning something new.

As I’m typing this, in the midst of this epic Nor’easter, the oil delivery truck just backed up in the lower portion of our driveway. Thank goodness. At least I don’t have to worry about running out of oil! When I got up this morning and saw the snow already on the ground, I was sure there was no way they could deliver today. There is already over 2 inches out there, the roads are snow covered and the snow is falling very heavily. But they did.

Now for the 12 -18 inches predicted for today, with the winds of a Nor’easter kicking in later in the day. This will go on for about 20 hours. I’ve been rather a mess, worrying about it all; about the house, about us, about the power.

Don feels powerless as he sits in his apartment in Boston. He wishes he was here.

I wish he was here.

Late in the day yesterday, I saw that my neighbor’s van was gone from their driveway. They have a house north of here in a skiing area – they are avid skiers. I panicked. What if they were leaving for the mountain and wouldn’t be here to help me? So I called them and Laura assured me they would be here to use their snow blower on my long, uphill driveway. Again, sigh of relief.

In the meantime, I will have to keep shoveling a path for Scout throughout the day. She has arthritis and it’s hard for her to make her way though a lot of snow.

This is a huge storm. Keep all of us in its path in your thoughts.

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Raking The Roof And Other Things I Hate About This Winter

February 12, 2014 at 8:40 am by Claudia

driedhydrangea

It’s 10 below as I write this. I keep hearing weird house sounds that I now realize are the groans and thuds of a house dealing with sub zero temps. It’s unnerving.

A major storm is headed our way. I’ve poured over the various forecasts; some say as little as 8 inches of snow – some go for 18 inches. I don’t know where we’re going to put more snow. There’s already more than a foot on the ground. Yesterday, I decided to check the level of heating oil and I was shocked to discover we had much, much less than I had thought. I suppose this is due to all the very cold weather we have been having. I ordered some more, but it won’t get here until Thursday or Friday, so I’m trying to keep the thermostat at a lower temperature. Thursday is the snow storm. Friday, I’ll be digging out. Not sure how the oil truck will even get in the driveway.

My ‘adventure’ yesterday: Our gutters are filled with ice. The snow and ice create a dam that can bring water into the house. We’ve had this happen once before. I saw a hint of it the other day, so I started reading about the problem and everyone said you should get a roof rake to rake a couple of feet of snow from the edges of the roof near the gutters, which allows the ice to eventually melt in the gutters and away from the house.

I called Lowes. No roof rakes left. I went to Agway. They had roof rakes but they were really expensive. So I went to our local True Value where they informed me they had just sold the last two in stock. He said he’d had them in stock, untouched, for 3 years, and suddenly they were selling like hotcakes. But, I could rent one for $10/day. I just had to get it back the same day as someone had reserved it for this morning. Okay. I rented one.

I don’t know if you are familiar with roof rakes, but the end of it looks like a shovel pointed downwards, which enables you to rake the snow off the roof. There are a couple of extensions that you add to the main pole, making it very, very long – probably about 18 feet long. And awkward. And heavy. So I put it all together and started raking the edges of the porch roof. Every time I hit the wall of ice in the gutter, I would have to lift the rake and reposition it. Trying to maneuver the rake was tricky. Because it was so long and it had to reach so high, I could barely control it at times. I made my way around the house, though I couldn’t get to the highest parts of the roof. At one point, my struggles led me to fall backwards into a snow bank. So not only were my shoulders and arms sore, but I was wet in the bargain.

After I finished, I went inside to change and eat some lunch. Then I got ready to take it apart and return it to True Value. Two of the pieces wouldn’t come apart. I tried putting that section in the car to see if it would fit and it was too long. So I tried again. Finally, while calling True Value in a panic, I hit on burying it in the snow for a while and when I pulled it out, I managed to separate the two pieces.

Yikes.

I’m sore today. But I’ll probably have to rent it one more time after this storm.

I wish Don was here. And right now, I wish I still lived in San Diego. This has been a winter for the record books and I am beginning to hate it with a passion.

I’m thinking of everyone in the South and am praying your power stays on and that you stay safely at home. Send some prayers to the Northeast as well. We could use them.

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Miscellany on Tuesday

February 11, 2014 at 8:25 am by Claudia

lightonquilt

Oh, this bed. I love it. Although I have to say it’s strange having all that square footage to myself. Poor Don. The bed in his apartment sort of dips in the center. He finds the sofa more comfortable and he’s been sleeping there a lot.

And much to my surprise, I absolutely love this golden coverlet. I felt more than a little trepidation when I ordered it online. It was half off for one day (I think Garnet Hill was discontinuing this color) so I grabbed it. The whole time I was waiting for the bed – and we know that was a long time – I worried whether it would work in that room. I made back-up plans to order some other coverlet in aqua when I had some spare cash. But I love this color. I love the way it looks any time of day but especially when sunlight is pouring in the room. It just goes to show you that moving out of your usual color preference comfort zone is sometimes a very good thing.

In other news,

scoutdoinglaundry

I’m training Scout to do the laundry.

She’s a Border Collie, after all. She’s very intelligent.

Actually, Scout has developed this habit in the last year. She has to go into the bathroom several times a day to check things out. I call it ‘going on her rounds.’ She checks out the bathtub. She checks out the trash. She checks out the toilet. And when there’s laundry? She must check that out.

She’s missing her dad. She’s right by my side most of the day and I know it’s because she can’t understand where he is. Poor girl.

woodpeckerontree

I was standing at the sink the other day and saw about 10 birds flitting from branch to branch in this tree. There were two woodpeckers: one had black markings and the other was this one – a red bellied woodpecker. I ran for my camera but only managed to catch a glimpse of this guy. I wonder if it’s our friend Guthrie? I wrote a post about him that you can find here. Hello Guthrie, old pal.

I’ve been watching the Olympics like everyone else. I seem to be a bit more detached about them this time and I’m thinking it’s because I often see the results before I can watch the event. This time difference is tricky. Being on the internet is also tricky. It’s hard to avoid the results, as they seem to be everywhere.

I’m holding my breath about this approaching storm. As it moves up the East Coast, it could really wallop us. It all depends on the track. I’m praying it tracks further out to sea. I don’t have Don here to help me and I’m worried and already overwhelmed by all the snow and ice around here. I’m trying to stay in the moment and appreciate the beauty of this winter, and it is beautiful out there, but it seems to be harder to do when there’s already 15 inches of snow on the ground and there might be a lot more coming.

Winter, I love you for many reasons. But I am so looking forward to Spring.

I have two giveaways going on at the moment. Stop by my post about the Target Cartwheel app to be entered in a $1000 Target Gift Card Giveaway. And stop by my post about Suave Professionals® Moroccan Infusion Body Care to be entered in a $1000 Gift Card Giveaway.

Happy Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

A Flock of Robins

Raking The Roof And Other Things I Hate About This Winter

Miscellany on Tuesday

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives