Not a black hole in the earth....

Not a black hole in the earth but a hole in the ice on the pond.  Arvo and Adam were ice fishing for the big bass that likes to tease them during the summer months.  The two of them packed a lunch of pizza and a ham sandwich with some chips and cookies and they picnicked just like in the summer.  The great part about fishing on a winter day instead of a summer day is mosquitoes are not part of the scene.  Unfortunately they did not get a single bite that day.  The day was not a loss because it was absolutely a gorgeous day to be outside.  The sun was out, the sky was blue and it smelled like warmth.  Adam lost patience for the fish and went about building a snowman.  Perfect packable conditions; the best we had since the flakes began to fall.Where were Erica and I?  We were baking cookies of course.  Great tasting oatmeal, chocolate chip raisin.  Then we came outside to see if they fell in the water.  Not a chance.  The ice was 18 inches thick.  No wonder a fish did not surface.  With that much ice surface radiating cold, even if it tried, it would slow it down and freeze it.  Erica and I went for a glorious walk and left the two of them to further try their patience.   

January thaw in February.

Spring seems to be on everyone's mind this weekend.  Adam rode his bike yesterday, Arvo tired to cross country ski at Stoney but it was slow and difficult, and Erica and I took a long walk and actually got very hot.  It smelled like spring,  This photo was taken at the Plymouth Ice Festival on January 17th.  The ice carver must have had notions of spring in mind when he/she set out to create this.  There is no doubt by now this ice formation is in its original liquid form.

Skating on the pond while the snowshoes walked.

Snowshoe prints in the snow

Arvo, Adam and Erica were skating on the pond while I ventured off onto the golf course on very COLD day.  It was again very sunny, but boy it was chilly.  It is very surreal to be on a golf course in the middle of winter with no other living thing around.   It brings on a feeling of peace and tranquility, especially when you know it is temporary and you will soon be inside your warm and loving house!

Beautiful sunset on a winter's day.

This was a gorgeous end to a sunny winter afternoon.  I have the honor of witnessing this from our kitchen widow every winter day that gives us sun.  Sometimes the colors contain a radiant hue of pink mixed with the golds! This day it happened to be very cold: 17* for the high.  This is a little fuzzy because the glass was spotted from the outside.  The spring cleaning will have to wait  a while longer.....

Snowshoeing outing

Arvo and I are here for a photo while we were snowshoeing in the woods at the end of our street.  There was 1 1/2 feet of snow.  We saw little signs of life out there,  Poor squirrels, I kept wondering what they do for food.  We eventually saw a hawk soaring above, probably thinking he could use us for a food source.  Good thing he thought we were too large to conquer.  Or maybe he thought we were deranged for being out in the deep snow.  Later on the path we did hear a very large woodpecker.  Or so we thought it was large.  Arvo finally found it among all the trees way at the top of, we gathered by the sound, a dead species.  The vibration it made as it hit the trunk would create envy in a regae band!  Awesome sound.  Great snowshoe jaunt.

They bloomed,,,,

The narcissus bulbs bloomed.  They were quite beautiful to look at, especially with the dramatic contrast of having the foot and a half snow looming out the window.  Oh, I see I still have a Santa sitting in our living room.  Funny, he is a part of the room when you are in it, yet in the small lens of the camera, he looms large and very red!  He must be put away.