Monday, January 6, 2014

Winter Greetings and Cooper of course!

It finally feels and looks like winter at Logs End.  With 5” of lovely snow on the ground and the temperature dipping into the single digits, I can honestly say I’m a very happy girl!  The cold and snow don’t bother me (or apparently Cooper!) the wind however I can do without.  The wind was icy cold, the kind of cold that blows through all you layers of clothes and basically laughs at you.
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Even with my super zoom lens I couldn’t get as close as I wanted to the massive icicles that formed along the roof peak. They are so pretty and I suspect lethal if they hit you on the head.
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Cooper loves the snow he zooms around outside and will happily catch snowballs you toss to him.  Of course he then drops them onto the snow and pummels them into the ground. Maybe he only likes fresh snowballs??
He continues to grow and fast! I keep asking him to slow down, but he doesn’t seem to be listening.  There are days when he looks the same and then others when you look and think hmm did he get bigger over night??
Here he is in the chair in the sunroom in November.
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Same chair yesterday..
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No matter how big he gets though, he’s still wants to snuggle and be as close as possible.  He’s also starting to do the “Great Dane” thing where he is now backing up to chairs and sofas.  I suspect that pretty soon he will be able to assume the position of butt on cushion, front feet on floor!
Happy Winter!

Sunday, January 5, 2014

A Nighttime Visitor..

It’s not often, at least for me, that I get a really good chance to take a picture of a rare visitor.  For the most part, they usually disappear faster than I can either get my camera or get outside.  The other night though, I got lucky!
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This beautiful Screech Owl was sitting in the Rhododendron outside my living room window.  How close is that, well that glow you see to the left is the welcome candle in my window.  I’ve long loved this tree like Rhodo, it stands right next to my front porch and despite the fact that it was butchered badly by a so called professional landscaper this past spring, it has continued to attract wildlife to it.  Randy wants to cut it down, but after this, it’s one more example of why I don’t!  I was able to go out through the garage and walk very close up to this beauty and take it’s picture.  It sat watching me with those big eyes and I was just over the moon to get such a great picture.  I’ve heard them for years screeching in the night but I’d never seen one this close up.  It stayed there for a little while even after I went back inside and then flew off into the night.
What a wonderful gift!