Rough and Sharp

Ok, I'm almost positive this must be a rough-legged hawk...I saw lots of hawks Tues. when I went for a drive E of the Hills, on dirt roads out in prairie farm/ranch land...

A tree full of sharp-tailed grouses...I've seen them flocked in a tree before, kind of funny-looking since they're related to prairie chickens and I picture them on the ground, like a domestic chicken...

Further along I found a couple sharp-tailed grouses (Greese? Grice?!) that were slow to react to my presence...

Not the sharpest sharp-tails in the shed, I managed to get a few photos until eventually it dawned on the pair that maybe I was dangerous...first, they sort of mosied away from me real careful-like, then flew off.

Snowy Stuff

The sun is out, I should be out looking for photo ops...maybe I will go somewhere not far but for some reason I'm not overly in the mood...so here's photos taken yesterday of the back yard and a block over...

This house gets quite the snow drift around the front and side of it...

The house finches still come looking for food...this one has quite the 'do...

The juncos still visit as well...

This sworlly snow pattern is between the glass door and the screen.

Smiley Face

The blizzard is over, the Huz came home yesterday in one tired piece...and today it's 48 degrees on our porch...long as you don't step into the 4 foot snow drift there.....I noticed this morning that even my food was smiling with relief that the sun is out and the wind is calm....and thanks folks, I had plenty of food in the house in case I was stuck for days...just two days it turned out...

This time. It's only December. We had two blizzards in a week, this past May! Only FOUR and a half months to go before the snow season is over.  Whhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

2009 Blizzard #3 in the Dakotas

The first two blizzards were this past MAY...Remember this photo from yesterday? That's looking into our backyard to the right...our snow storm turned into a full-fledged blizzard later on...

This is what it looks like today...at least we don't live in SW Lead in the N Hills; they got 37.5 inches of snow as of this morning...this I'm showing you is drifted snow from the 50 mph winds...

And this is looking to the left, opposide side of the back yard...that tiny spot by the bare shrub at the bottom of the photo is a dark-eyed junco...I didn't take the feeders out, I threw seeds out the back door!

And this is looking straight down from the front window, onto the snow drift that is several inches above the bottom of the window...the area in front of the door doesn't look much better.

Not that anyone plans on coming over for a visit. The Huz is stuck at the fire sta. another day, no surprise there...earlier he reported that he'd been out shoveling chest-deep snow, UGH...blizzard isn't supposed to end until tomorrow, either.

I have friends, and a brother-in-law, that live in Florida, and I have a suitcase...why am I still here?! Oh, right...the airport is no doubt closed...and I forgot to buy a dog sled team...

Snowmen of the No. Pole

One look outside and you'd know why the title...more on that later...

I mentioned I have a snowman collection, they're my favorite Christmas character...let's stroll around the warm, cozy house and take a look...

This is the largest snowman, sitting on the floor...

...This one is the center of attention on the buffet....the snowman to its right was posted already...

There's this funny, jointed snowman on the buffet also...

As well as this snowman holding a tea candle...

And this one is on the buffet as well...notice how they all have scarfs...

This is one of two squares my mom gave me...

...I even got one snowman card this year, from a good friend's daughter...

One of the stocking hangers has a snowman on it...

There was some snowman wrapping paper on a few gifts under the tree...

...And only a couple snowman ornaments on the tree...this one is over 20 years old...

There's even a string of snowmen hanging on the back of a chair...

This isn't a snowman item, it's the pretty quilted table runner my mom made me last year...

...Ok, reality check...outside the snow drifts look like this, against six foot fencing out back...this past SPRING, it got higher...

And out front the powdery snow can be seen blasting by the house, down the road at 50 mph! I half expect to see Santa and his sleigh and reindeer zipping by as he comes home from delivering all his goodies...The huz called from work just now, 25 miles away in the N Hills area...snow drifts at 10 feet, and it got as low as -47 at one point with the wind chill factor...

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas, ha!!

...Isn't June right around the corner?!

Christmas Eve

It snowed most of yesterday, and in the evening there were some nasty wind gusts, creating snow drifts. This is our front yard this morning...I love the swirly patterns wind-swept snow makes.

As old as the long, cold winters get out here in S Dakota...I do love a white Christmas! Have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas, everyone! Stay warm and cozy!

Eve of Christmas Eve

It's looking a lot like Christmas today...three days now of fog and ice crystals bejeweling everything outside, and this morning it's snowing lightly...

Neighbor Donna's young spruce is looking woolly...

...The house finches are back wanting food again...

...layers are forming on the gas grill out back...

...Even a once invisible spider web is now visible under the front porch...

...Snow is piling up on the ice crystals, which makes the branches bend under the weight...last year the top of this poplar tree broke off ,but it grew back fast and tall...

...A frosty pattern on the neighbor's chain-link fence...

Inside, the tree has been decorated for awhile now...this Santa ornament belongs to The Huz, from his Mother-in-law years ago...

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care...my aunt knitted this stocking for me when I was a small girl...my three older siblings also have them, each with different patterns...

There's my cheerful little snowmen collection on the buffet, their bright faces seeming to say...

Wishing You All a Love-filled, Merry Christmas!

Tomorrow is Christmas for me and the Huz, as he works at the fire station on Christmas Day...that's ok since I prefer celebrating Christmas Eve! Have a wonderful Christmas everyone, you're the best!

True Thanks Tuesday

I've taken alot of photos lately of the house finches outside the spare room window (see Dec. 7th post)...they were hunkered down for days while it was in the single-digits and teens...it was warmer the past few days and they were gone, but this morning it looks like this outside again, ice crystals on the bare trees...and anything else...so I'm looking to see if they return...

I don't really have any 'true textures' photos for today...I could dig some up from the past I'm sure but I'd rather say thank you to all of you who have posted comments the past few weeks since I last said thanks...Ken, you certainly made me smile and almost blush; I'm happy to see you visit...I was really happy to see all of the comments with Sunday's post. Thank you to those who commented on my not-so-pretty bighorn poaching post yesterday. When you visit a small state park as much as I do, it's hard not to become attached to the peaceful, beautiful animals there. In the end, I refuse to let some horrible, demented idiot ruin my little slice of heaven. So I'm putting it behind me and look forward to my next visit in the park, as usual.

Thanks everyone, for being such great cyber friends!

A Heavy Heart

I promise to only be a downer today...I just found out yesterday that one of the few bighorn sheep rams in Custer State Park had been poached recently. Needless to say, I was and am just sick over this. The article didn't appear in the local paper until December 16th, but the ram was killed, and its head and nape taken, on November 27th. I can assure you that whoever did this, simply stepped out of his vehicle and walked over and shot (arrow) the unsuspecting ram...living in the park, the wildlife are so used to humans that they pretty much ignore people that are several yards away.  (Here's the article link: http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_4162190a-e9c9-11de-b4d8-001cc4c002e0.html )

You will see that the park used to haved 200 bighorns until '04 - '05 when pnemonia wiped out all but about 75...and there are only 8-9 rams left. I didn't realize this...

So I am going through my ram photos, pretty much torturing myself....first the stray moose, now this...

This isn't the ram poached...horns are totally different shape...

This isn't the ram either...I wonder how on earth they ID'd the body w/o the horns...

Sometimes it pays to have imperfections...photo taken in May.

This photo was also taken in May...not the deceased...looking scrawny in early spring.

This one looks close but it has a cut in the tip of the horn and the poached ram's doesn't.

Duck, Duck, Goose

Friday I headed out for a drive up Hwy 44, and did an impromptu stop at Canyon Lake at the W end of Rapid City. I'm really glad I did, cause besides the usual residents there were some neat surprises...

Right off I was greeted by this bold-looking fellow, his green head beautiful in the sunlight...

A curious snow-white goose peering up at me on the bridge...sorry, no hand-outs...

Of course these guys need no introduction...at Canyon Lake and many other public lakes, they're common year-round residents...

There are greater white-fronted geese (eastern region) and white-fronted geese (western region)...this looks like the guide photo of an imm. white-fronted goose...whatever they are they're common at public lakes...

Among the usual residents was a flock of common goldeneyes! These seasonal visitors were hard to get close enough to for a decent shot, but once I'd been on the bridge for a few minutes, a few ventured closer..

And a few buffleheads were sighted too! Their irridescent heads shine green and purple in the sun...

...And just down the road, I took a quick look-see at a dog park,  where a red squirrel was skittering around in the snow.