Happy Leap Day Blizzard

It started yesterday and snowed most of the night.  I would estimate 12-14 inches of snow with some drifts across the driveway that were much deeper.

The power went out at about 9am.

TTTTTTT

My snowblower has an electric starter and I could not get it to start with the pull rope.

So, let the shoveling begin.

Okay, this was a lot of shoveling but at least I was able to start using the push shovel once I got this much cleared.
Of course, due to the heavy snow, I was only able to take about a 2 inch swipe each pass.

The trees across the road were very pretty.

A blue jay made a visit to the feeder.

This cardinal didn't seem to mind sharing the feeder space with a little chickadee.

TTTTTTT 

The temperature in the house was down to 66 before the power came on at 3pm.

I spent my rest times between shoveling with a blanket on the couch reading.

I left the blanket on the floor and pretty soon Barley came and nosed around until she could get under it.

Do you see a cat?  Just an ear out in the cold.

Once the power came on at 3pm, I was able to start the snowblower and get busy.

The first cut with the blower took forever, 

especially at the roadside where the town grader had piled up a nice challenge for me.

TTTTTTT

Panorama from the road.

The bird feeders were full of customers all day long.
I had to shovel a path out to refill the finch feeder and scrape the snow off the platform feeder.
Gotta take care of my feathered friends.

This blizzard kicked my butt.

Getting the snow off the driveway, even with the blower, was a huge job.

The driveway was done, but so was I.

The snow builds up on the grid over the front door and then when you walk on the landing, it dumps snow on your head.  All part of the fun of a good snow.

TTTTTTT

When I was done with the driveway, I headed to the shower and then decided to go and get a Papa Murphy pizza.  But...they were closed!

So, a Subway sandwich and Coors Light is my reward for a long day on clearing snow.

Heather sent this great picture of a snowman that the Luck kids made.

Ruby, Noah, Snowman,  Jack, Stella & Gage (photo by Heather Johansen)

TTTTTTT

At least I won't have to do this again for 4 years.

Happy Leap Day Blizzard.

Wanda from my Android

Waiting for the storm

Sitting here waiting for the big blizzard to hit, 

I have been going through the photos I took on Saturday at Gage & Jack's basketball games and thought I would post a few.

Fuzzy huh, owell, I still like these classic poses.

Then and Now

I ran across this photo from July and then saw Barley sitting up by the window now.

So, here is the Then (July) and Now (February) photo out from living room window.

I am looking forward to Spring!!

☼T☼T☼T☼

Great Nephew Anders attends day care.  He often brings home art projects from school.

For President's Week, they were coloring pictures of our President.

Barack Obama, the green president?

Anders colored this picture at school.

Saturday Basketball Road Trip

Saw Gage play 2 games in Frederic.  Saw Jack play 2 games in Webster. Then did a wellness check and bedding drop off at the Sandcastle.  All was fine there.  Then the Red Sled took me Home Sweet Home.

More pictures later.

Wanda from my Android

Angry Birds

The finch feeders have been so busy with Redpolls and finch this week.  

A busy hub of coming and goings.

I have seen the occasional cardinal at the edge of the woods, 

but they have not been frequenting the feeders lately.  

This female made a quick appearance on Tuesday after we had a dust of snow.

T T T T T

Speaking of birds, Lora sent me this drawing by Anders.

She told me that he was busy with a pencil and she asked him what he was drawing.

He told her "Angry Birds".

Hopefully you can see the Angry Birds in his masterpiece.

Published!

My first published photo, pretty fun.

Mid February Not News

It seems like there is not much happening right now, maybe it is the Mid February pause between winter and the big melt?    So, no newsworthy stories to write, so will just give a 'not really news' update.

H

I joined a photography club in Spooner, Wisconsin on Monday night.  What a friendly group and I think I will learn from the other members as well as get opportunities to field trip with some really good photographers.

P

I rearranged the furniture in the living room last week and am amazed that I can now fit in a second recliner and feel like there is more space.  I have always enjoyed being able to move the furniture around in my house and am glad that my current stuff accommodates the occasional change.  The cats don't care as long as I keep their big bed on the couch and the can perch on the back of the couch to survey their kingdom.

Y

Kyle and Heather send out Valentine's cards instead of Christmas greetings, so I want to include their card.

343434
I was at Kyle's and saw this drawing on the counter.
I asked who the artist was.
Gage said he drew this picture.
I asked if he did it free hand and he said yes, he was looking at a picture of a buck.
I thought it was blog ready.

Gage's drawing of Grandpa's Big Buck.

More basketball pictures for Jack

I don't normally post any photos that are not my own, but our friend Sue Tolan took these photos of Jack last Saturday and I wanted to include them since she was nice enough to send them to me.

I especially love the black and white.

Thanks Sue.

The last of Jack's basketball for this season

Today was Jack's last basketball weekend for the season.  I made it to St. Croix for his second game, and it was a thriller.  Down by 9 after the first quarter, they came back and kept the game very exciting.  The Cardinals lost by 2 but had a chance at a shot to tie which just didn't go in at the buzzer.

Coach Kyle and his team

*****

Caught this picture of Gage as I was leaving Luck.

Just as I pulled up, Payton yelled "FLAG" and the fishermen came running from the fish house.
Gage in the red.

***

After Jack's game I attended a lecture by Mike Zeckmeister, the regional wildlife biologist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Northern Region at the St. Croix Falls Visitor Center for the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.

It was a very interesting and easy checklist of how to manage your yard & landscaping to be friendly to wildlife and birds.

***

On the way home, I was really watching for the eagles that I have seen along Hwy 48 but instead was surprised to see a black bear out snacking in a corn field.

I do not want my yard to be friendly to this particular type of wildlife, although I expect that they will be back this spring.

I hope this doesn't mean that the bears are going to come out of their dens early this year.

Winter Carnival Catch Up

The weekend in Luck was lots of fun.

Friday night was the queen pageant.  Megan's name was in the hat for Little Miss Luck, but her name was not drawn this year.  A big disappointment to Megan but she did a nice job dancing with the other candidates.

On Saturday, Glenn's team won the Alumni Basketball Tournament after winning 4 games on the day.

Glenn was the oldest player in the tournament, graduating in 1966.

Bart Sladkey, Travis, Pilz,  JJ Bille,  Corey Erickson, Glenn Johansen
Logan Hacker, Morgan Denny

Saturday evening was the torchlight parade.  Lois and I sat in my car right at the corner where the parade turned off main street.  It was the perfect spot and I didn't even get out of the warm car to take pictures.

Last year and this year's Luck royalty.

Little Miss Luck contestants - Megan on the right (sister Emily second from the left)

The evening ended with a trip down town to the Bon Ton Tavern with Kyle & Heather.  

Lots of fun but it made for a very short night.

Lucky 7 Hotel

I spent the weekend in Luck for the Winter Carnival.  I have lots of pictures to sort through before I write a post about the weekend.  

The newest addition to the family there is Lucky the rabbit.

Little Lucky is settling in

Hello from the girls

I thought it was time that Barley & Hops show up here.  While I am busy packing up for a busy weekend at the Luck Winter Carnival, they are snuggled into their big bed for the day.
Whatta life!

Wanda from my Android

Whose shoes

I stayed overnight at Kyle's after the Superbowl on Sunday.

On Monday, I had to chuckle when I went to put on my shoes to leave.

Ruby's shoes and my shoes...seriously were my feet ever that small?

ê

Ruby's black shoes, Great Aunt Wanda's brown shoes

Stella had asked for a piece of paper so she could do some 'work'.

She worked very hard on her 'work'.

Very nice Stella.ê

Jens is 'talking' all the time now.  Maybe it is Danish, with his name, it should be.

He is a happy baby, which is good, #5 needs to be happy.

 He looks very serious in these pictures, but it was because he was telling me something.

Jens Henry Valdemar

TTTTT

When I left Rice Lake on Sunday to drive over to Luck, the sun was shining.

Many times I have made this drive of 48 miles to find the weather to be completely different at the other end.

This time, the closer I got to Luck the cloudier and more 'socked in' it got,

and everything was covered in frost.

When I got to Luck, I took a couple of photos

Hwy 48 look back East.

Frost pine needles

Near the lake, a perfect pine, with frosty needles.

 As I rounded the lake on the way to Kyle's, 

I spied Gus's fish house looking pretty lonely out on Big Butternut.

û:û:ûû:û:û

Looks like I might have a little part time job brewing.

I have been doing computer maintenance for the family all along,

now I am branching out to help them with the computers at their businesses.

I think I can work 1 or 2 days a month, but what I am not sure about is if that really fits into my schedule.