Winter in February

Well, winter is here - it's a winter wonderland out there, and the temperature is hovering between 23 and 25 degrees.

My little greenhouse has a nice insulating blanket of snow.

This happened overnight - yesterday was warm and nice with no trace of snow.

It seems like more, but the deepest snow I could find was just over 6".

It is pretty - but I prefer color in my world so I hope it doesn't last long and that spring is close behind!

More Winter

January 8 - As the temperature warmed up to 38 degrees, we had hope, but also a new level of misery as the solid sheet of ice on the front walkway became treacherous.

By January 10, the tiny bit of snow by the truck is all that's left of the snow and ice.

Except for the lake - someone threw a big boulder onto the ice, and it is still strong enough to hold the rock up.

There are air pockets under the ice, and when I threw a pretty big rock out today, it bounced without breaking through.  I think the ice is still about 2" thick on most of the lake.

But we can see green again, and the sun is shining, making it feel positively balmy and springlike outside today.

Winter Update

The past couple of days have been very cold - barely getting over freezing during the day, so the open water on the lake has gotten smaller and smaller.  Swans were here last week, but are gone now.  With another couple of cold weather days predicted, probably a good idea for them to find a bigger body of water.  Dozens of Mallards still on the lake.

New tracks in the snow - raccoon I think.

The yard was full of Varied Thrushes and Oregon Juncos, picking at whatever falls off the fir trees.  So I decided to put up some feeders when snow covered most of the ground.  So far, they haven't sampled from the feeders.  Maybe they are too unstable because they are hanging on a rope?

So I've been throwing seed on the ground under the trees, and they've been enjoying that.

There wasn't a lot of snow on the driveway, but since it was supposed to get cold and icy, I raked it with the tractor yesterday.

Where I didn't rake, the tracks have turned into a solid layer of ice.  I quit where cars had driven out because I thought my efforts might make it worse, but I probably should have continued all the way to the road.

Winter in Washington

One thing that I had forgotten after many years in the south in the winter:  Even when we get cold weather - even when we get snow, there is still a greenness underneath, and it pops right back when a day or two of cold is gone.

We see a lot of birds in the winter as a lot of migrating birds only come this far on their journey south.

Of course, these guys never leave - there were over a hundred on the lake the other day.

We had our first "real" snow yesterday - but it's pretty drippy out there this morning, so doubtful any will last to greet

Christmas tomorrow.
Christmas Morning Update:
We did wake up to a white Christmas - not much snow in the areas that get sun, but about 2" in the open areas of the woods.  Here's my boot print

in the deep area.

A nature decorated Christmas tree.

I wonder who's out on this beautiful sunny morning walking with me.  I don't think it's a neighbor's kitten.

These lead right to the garden gate.

Looks like the Great Blue Heron has been on the dock!

The ice has been creeping further down the lake.  All the water fowl are congregated in a smaller and smaller area.

What a difference a day makes

Yesterday we had sunshine most of the day - Still no frost, so everything is green. 

However, it's been raining for days and days and we have little lakes everywhere.  I've put my greenhouse on hold until we have more favorable conditions for building.....and

and, my building partner isn't going to be much help for the next 6 weeks.  He slipped and fell on Thursday and broke every bone in his ankle. 

Yesterday I found one nice big Chantrelle mushroom that I added to the homemade beef vegetable soup.  Even though it was sunny, it really wasn't warm, so soup sounded good.

And today we woke up to this!

Fortunately, it's still 35 degrees outside, so it's only sticking to the grassy areas (so far).

I think we're getting a message that we need to slow down!

Winter in Washington

We're discovering the beauty of winter once again.  After many years of commuting on icy roads, we found a winter retreat in the south, where we have spent the last 15 winters.  Then my folks who had a home next to us in Georgia decided the trip was too hard and they sold their house.  So we decided it was a time for a change for us as well, and we have our southern home on the market and are spending this winter at our home in Washington State.  

Since we no longer have to even take the car out of the garage if the roads are icy, it has allowed us to enjoy the sites and experiences of winter.  Of course, that's easy to say when we're in an area that gets snow for a day or two at a time and not as a constant for months.

For instance - flowers still blooming on the last day of the year:

This beautiful plant was a gift from my daughter, Amy, several years ago and I have enjoyed the lovely leaf colors but have never seen it bloom.

A walk along the lake we live on let us view the swans who stop by for a visit in the winter.

After several days when it barely got above freezing during the day, the ice is creeping out from the edges.  With several more days of cold weather in the forecast, this may be the year the lake freezes over completely.

White Horse(?) Big Four (?) Three Fingers(?)  Not sure which one this is that we viewed from the parking lot at Costco.  All of the mountains are stunning with their fresh coat of new snow. You can see the snow level getting closer.

Even the fast flowing waterfalls at the Tulalip Casino are freezing.  

Ever season has its beauty - we had forgotten the beautiful sites of winter, so it's wonderful to be experiencing them again.