Christmas Snow Storm

The winter snow storm that got most of the midwest went just a little south of us. Over the past 36 hours we did not get the predicted 12 to 16 inches but more like 4 inches. That 4 inches added to our base still makes a nice snowfall to start out the winter!

Short Days

Lynn's Musings on December 19th:

With sunrise at 7:45 am and sunset at 4:10 pm you can tell we are nearing the the shortest day of the year. Winter begins officially on December 21st but it has been here with us for a month.

We are having a gentle snow fall today here at mid-trail and are watching the weather for potentially more snow by this weekend. After temperatures well below normal, we are have now been running about 5 degrees above normal - which is very enjoyable since I know the cold that is coming after the first of the year.

I decided this winter that it was time I got a bird feeder up. So I hung up my bird feeder and bought 50lbs of bird seed. The darn feeder has been up for a week and not one bird is showing any interest in it. I think I am going to have to find another spot for it, but it is rather hard to move a move birder to another tree when there is a foot of snow on the ground. If anyone has any suggestions on how to attract the birds to the feeder, I would appreciate hearing it.

I lost several of my satellite TV channels the other day (yes, I have TV here). I was really puzzled and I did all the trouble shooting with satellite service but could not recover the channels. I decided to try one last thing before getting a service call and that was to knock some ice cycles off the lodge that were in front of the satellite. That did it, the channels came back right away. Another thing to add to my winter list of things to watch out for.

Downy Wood Pecker

We have had some unusually cold weather the past two weeks. Something like 16 days in a row of temperatures 10 degrees lower than normal. We are back into the normal range today and it was bright and sunny out. I took the opportunity to go for a walk and enjoy the sunshine and birds.

This Downy Woodpecker was kind enough to pose for me while I tromped through some deep snow to get close enough for a picture.

Lynn

The lake

I took this picture a few days ago of the lake with a coating of snow. I haven't gotten out and tested the ice but it sure looks like we have a good layer forming.

We are having more snow now with a few more inches forecast over the next 24 hours.