We’ve thawed out after having the coldest temperatures in ten years here in my neck of the woods and we’ve dug out of the snowstorm we had as well.

Snow on the greenhouse

Brutal cold temps around the holidays led to a snowstorm and then bam another snowstorm right after it. School was closed for a week and a day! Compared to last year, or the last winter season I should say where we had no snow, this season is proving to be making up for it. I have to admit, I was really surprised school was closed for all of those days. However, when I think about it and especially now that I have a child, better safe than sorry. My son rides the bus and I sure don’t want to hear any news concerning an accident.

Of course back in my day…

Back in my day!

Anyhoo… during the beautiful snowstorm my son and myself had the untimely misfortune to both be sick. I’m pretty sure we had the flu, thankfully though it was not severe as the horror stories I’ve been hearing on the news. It had me scared though. Coming a few generations away of family members dying of the Spanish flu, I know that things can decline very quickly. All we could do was lay on the couch and watch it through the windows.

It got bitterly cold again, so it stuck around for quite a while. Towards the end, when it started to melt, I told Asher he was well enough to play in it if he felt like it. He declined! The sickness had just drained us both and he didn’t have the energy to do anything. Poor guy, I know how disappointed he was. He really wanted to play out in it and I wanted to as well. Damn being sick! On a positive note, at least he didn’t miss school because of being sick.

My poor baby with his buddies by his side. (Loki the cat and Zoey the dog)

The birds were ravenous while all the snow blanketed my gardens. I managed most days to get out there and fill the feeders. They nearly swarmed me as I was pouring in the black oil sunflower seed into the feeders. Zoey always accompanies me while I feed my birds. She is such a sweetheart and cracks me up all the time. The snow had her downright giddy.

I have to laugh as I watch these, all it took was my excited voice and she was running around like a puppy. She nearly knocked me down in the video below! You can hear me coughing like a life long smoker in the video, too. I’ve never smoked, the cold just went down into my lungs. I still have a cough and it’s been two weeks.

There is a suet feeder that I have hanging right outside a kitchen window. I keep it full with suet cakes and it drives the cats mad! All three of them stalk the birds and actually jump at them and hit the window and act surprised like they didn’t know it was there. It’s always good for a laugh. The birds seem to know they are safe with the window in place. Most of the time they just look back at the cats. Usually if I approach the window though, they fly away. I think for the photo below, I must have been hidden by the cover of my plants. I managed to catch two of them on there.

See the Carolina wren and the downy woodpecker?

Sometimes there are three birds on that feeder and more waiting to get on. It swings back and forth as they jump on and off. If you look close at the photo below, you can see that suet feeder hanging in front of the window farthest to the right.

My happy cedar home and greenhouse covered with snow

I always forget to get a nice photo of the front of our house with snow on it. I finally remembered, but the snow had been here a few days already and wasn’t at its prettiest. There is something so cozy and romantic about a warm house covered in snow. We had about 5 or 6 inches total out of both snowstorms I’m guessing. I know that’s not much for many of you, but here in zone 6b (southwest Indiana) we only average 15 inches a year.

Our country home

Today, the sun is shining brightly and the snow has all vanished. In fact, two days ago we had a day of 60 degrees F! I grilled burgers that day and it had me longing for spring and summer. The lake is still frozen, but after the freeze we had, it will likely look like this for a while. Who knows, it’s just late January and we might get another snowstorm!

As you can imagine, being sick and laid up on the couch doesn’t allow much energy to paint and be creative. With each day though, I feel stronger and I have plans on getting back in the art studio today if I’m able to. Asher managed to get an ear infection after all. He’s on a round of antibiotics and hopefully will be healed soon. Me? Well as I write this I feel okay, but oddly dizzy. I hope I’m not getting an inner ear thing, too.

If you’d like to take a break from all this snow and cold weather, come look over here at these posts of my garden tours while they are in bloom… hopefully, spring will be here soon!

Learn more about me on the ‘About’ page in the menu at the top. I’m an artist – a painter mostly and an avid gardener. I paint a variety of subjects including birds, koi fish, my gardens, ponds and flowers as well as anything having to do with nature especially trees and tropical scenes. I also enjoy painting abstracts and have started created more and more of them. My most favorite thing to try to achieve in my painting is is mystery.

If you would like to keep up with what I’m doing, I have a newsletter e-mailed about once a month that gives you special status for invitations, birthday greeting and more. I’d love for you to add your email to my Friends and Collectors list!