A meadow morning

 

 The last few days we've been completely socked in, with gray skies and falling snow.

  This morning a bit of blue sky at the far end of the meadow

 Sure enough the sun came out 

and gave us a spectacular day ~ lots of power from the solar panels.

Brightened us up too!

 It's Another Morning Glory Day

 I love this mug, bought it for myself.  It's been my favourite for more than 15 years.

A lovely way to start another

day on the meadow!  With an old friend and a good cuppa joe.

May yours be a Morning Glory kind of day too ...

Chinooks and swamp donkeys

We are basking in a Chilcotin Chinook right now.   
Beautiful warm days ~ t-shirt and picnic kind of weather.   Well, almost.

What happens to the Nivean world in a Chinook?  It would be like the roof of your house dropping in on you. On these warm winter days the crust drops as the snow melts... 
‘Nivean/sub-nivean; a term I just learned ….  the world under the snow.  It describes the winter environment of voles and mice and insects who set up camp in that layer between what we see as the crust and the frozen meadow below.    Fascinating. 

Beautiful.  

These warm January days have offered the most magnificent light shows at sunup and sundown.  

We've barely seen moose on the meadow since the big wildfires here a few years ago.  We were sitting at the kitchen table the day before yesterday and David said "I can feel someone watching me.  There is a moose out there."   Three moose on the meadow !!! that he sensed were there before we saw them.  He is uncanny like that. 

 

We were on the lookout again this morning, knowing that once the swamp donkeys arrive, they generally stay for a while.  Lo and behold David burst out laughing as he spotted two BIG ears poking out of the snow down by the flagpole.

Sure enough there’s the young’un of the three moose … and once he was up and about we got some good pics of him.

Onward, ever onward. 

Lots of power, courtesy of the sun.

Life is good.  

For us and, methinks, for our 4 legged visitors too.

A new dawn

Do you see the wee snow gremlins I'm seeing, sitting atop the tree here, enjoying some quiet conversation, and the sun setting on another day, another month, another year.

 

 

 

 

With love from David and I to all our friends, old and new ...

May each day of this new year dawn bright and beautiful for you.

Christmas Eve Day on the Meadow

With love, Nicola and David

Chickadee dee dee

What a life!  So lucky we are.  Surrounded by crown land, we enjoy a whole forest of Christmas trees that decorate themselves with bits of leftover autumn 

  

and then the finishing touches delivered by frost and snow and if you come along at just the right moment you'll be rewarded by the most energetic little decorations in the guise of chickadees flying smartly from branch to tree and calling brightly to anyone who will listen. This photo is borrowed from one of my favorite bird sites All About Birds  

 Perhaps this winter I will get some nice pics of our own chickadee 'decorations'. 

Speaking of decorations, I think it may have been a farmer who came up with the idea of   metallic Christmas tree tinsel ...
 

In late October we brought the bales in off the back meadows.  The big round hay bales sit high up on the forks at the front of the tractor.

As the bales brushed past trees in one tight spot in particular, just at the beginning of the path that leads from the creek, strands of hay were snagged and hung up on the tips of branches. 

A few days later a good hoarfrost lit up the meadow and those strands of hay dangled like the finishing touches of tinsel deftly placed by my mothers hand. 

I didn't get a good photo but it's a sight I'll not soon forget. 

 

It feels like Christmas this morning after snowing all day yesterday.  The sun is coming up bright and beautiful on our winter white world.  David and I will be going on a walk about shortly to take it all in and take some photos too.

Till later and as always, warmest wishes and thanks for dropping by.