The short dark days of mid December.

Winter has come to the meadow.  
We are almost at the shortest day of the year. I'm very thankful we work at home.  I was chatting with a woman at the post office in town yesterday and she was saying how she goes to work in the dark and arrives home when it's dark and only sees her yard on weekends. 
We are so fortunate to be working at home during these short December days.  If there is a sunny break today I will gather up my camera and my iPod, don my warm woollies and head out to take some photographs. Though it's already 1 pm so it's unlikely we'll see sunshine today.
In the meantime, here are some pics from the last 10 days around the meadow.

A couple of pics of David's green thumb at work.  Our first amaryllis bloom with more on the way.

See you again soon. The sun WILL shine.  The days WILL get longer.  

Till then, much love and many merries. 

Catkins, open water and early signs of spring...

Ah, the awakening of our 48 acres after her winter sleep. 

The mornings are still cold and hard edged. Fat little catkins gather on the willows and the creek ice has begun to melt.  

I have a little hopscotch of photos to share from my morning walk.  
Thanks for coming along.

Here's to a magical day!!

Birds, bees and blossoms of early summer

This Evening Grosbeak wears the most unusual crown. We have not seen another male grosbeak with a full crown (and the small jewel) like this handsome fellow displays. His female partner (below) was also slightly more regal looking than our regular grosbeaks. Our kingly grosbeak again, from behind... And a gathering of Grosbeaks ... aka a Charm of Finches I also want to share some photos taken by Vincent (David's younger brother) who has been with us here on the meadow off and on for three and a half years. We've encouraged him to start a blog of his own as he takes really beautiful photos and more often than not his photos are very close up, showing a different view of the meadow than many of the pics David and I take... And a few more 'David and Nick pics' featuring our feathered friends... a pretty Lazuli Bunting, A Western Tanager and a female Western Tanager on another day.Summer is in full swing now with wonderful sightings every day of some lovely critter or bird. The hay on the meadow is getting taller by the minute with the long rainy season we've had. My lilacs are blooming for the first time in three years!! Life is good.