Marsh Madness cartoon

Click on the cartoon for a larger view.

Love it! One of my math buddies, Jim P., sent me this in the mail, and it gave me a chuckle.;-) This is my kind of gaming!

Red Squirrel activity

I spent a minute watching a red squirrel munching on the new flower buds of a red maple stem outside the kitchen window. I didn't get any photos of the munching, but the squirrel took a snooze afterward.

Then, he/she started grooming. First the scratchy, scratchy.

Then, the tail cleaning starts with biting of the fur.

Followed by teasing the hairs of the tip of the tail.

Just gotta get the last knots out...

Ahh...much better.

Here you can see sap dripping from the tiny twigs where maple flower buds have been chewed off by the squirrel.

And, here are some of the nutritious buds still attached to the twigs.

Happy World Poetry Day

The sun shines higher in the sky than it did last month.

It's visual quality is different and shadows aren't as long.

There is a much anticipated warmth to our world.

Joy springs into our hearts.

The snow melts.

HAPPY SPRINGTIME TO YOU!

Yahoo! Once the snow clears...then come flowers...then peepers peep...then I go boating...Anticipation.

Storm Stella Update 10 pm

Snow Total Thus Far This Winter: 84" of white stuff has fallen over our home.

By 10 pm, 15 inches of snow has fallen, and that's all she wrote for this storm! Now, the dig-out;-)

Storm Stella Update at 6 pm

We have 10" of snow at 6pm, with a bit of sleet mixing in. The snow has slowed to about an inch per hour. I cleared the snow table to have a fresh surface for the remaining snow to accumulate on.

Storm Stella Update at 5 pm

Yay! We've got 7.5" of snow at the moment and it is falling at a rate of 2" per hour.

And, while out shoveling the deck, a member of the weasel family went slithering through the snow and took shelter in the covered pile of pallets in the side yard off the deck. I couldn't identify it although I thought it was all brown. I don't think it had a white chest/bell region. It was probably a mink.

Storm Stella Update at 1:30 pm

I don't know who is getting all the snow, but it sure isn't us! We were supposed to be in almost blizzard conditions by now;-) We only have about 1.5 inches thus far. Who'd a thunk! We could have had a full day of school after all.  But, the meteorologists play up these storms to such a degree that the entire state practically shuts down.

SNOW DAY # 7

Well folks, here we have another snow day. Check out this mass of precipitation coming our way. It is a classic Nor'easter!

The storm will really get cranking at noon, and we are now dropped down into the 12"-16" range, which is still a hefty amount of snow. But, being at the bottom of the Midcoast region, we might get some sleet mixed in so our snow totals will be less than inland regions. The majority of schools are closed in the southern half of the state. By the way, our last day of school for students is currently June 21st.

Winter Storm Stella and Bombogenesis

We are in line to get one heck of a Nor'easter storm with Stella. This storm might "Bomb Out" in that the air pressure will fall dramatically.

Here is our Winter Storm Warning. But, with the timing of the storm, we might just have school both days as it won't really get cranking until about 1 pm on Tuesday, and will end at around 4 am Wednesday. Only time will tell...

Colder than heck

Brrr... It is colder than heck outside. The windchill over the last couple of days has been in the -13 to -6F range, and we have not gone outside for anything more than to get the mail and haul firewood. Last year, Ice-out was on March 13th, but I don't foresee it occurring until mid-April at the rate we are going this year. March is colder than February was, and the nights are all going to be well below freezing.