Ready or Not, Here is 2010!

As I sit here in the last hours of the first decade of the new millennium writing this post, I count myself incredibly fortunate. Here I am in my nice house with my wonderful husband and 2 cats enjoying a fire in the fireplace while the temps outside dip below O degrees F (that would be about -15 degrees C) outside. We just had a lovely (if I do say so myself) New Year’s Eve dinner of duck breast Diane (I created that based on steak Diane), roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts, accompanied by a sauvignon blanc (for me) and a Riesling (for Dennis). Dennis made our dessert of poached pear with a raspberry zabaglione accompanied by raspberry port. My heart aches for those without enough food to eat, those who are unprotected from the elements and from persons of ill-intent, and those without family and friends to be a part of their lives. (I don’t intend to use this blog as soap box, but I highly recommend donating to Heifer International as a means to help others. Here is their web address: http://www.heifer.org/.)


2009 was good to us for the most part, although we did lose our beloved cat, JD, right after Thanksgiving. Seeing the end of 2009 is bittersweet for me because 2009 is the last year of JD’s life; the finality of that is hard for me. I comfort my self with the knowledge that he lived a long, fine life and that I was able to be with him in his last days and minutes.

We were able to spend Christmas with part of my family at a State Park in Georgia, 4 generations were represented! We rented 3 cabins for the group and had a wonderful time. It was great to escape the snowy cold of Minnesota for a few days. We cooked a lot of good food, drank a lot of good beer (my brother brought enough beer from microbreweries near where he lives for us to have 2 separate beer tastings) and a lot of good wine. We played some silly games and just enjoyed each other’s company. I managed to take some bird photos, although, as you can see, the light was against me for many for them. 

Even though the lighting was bad, the eastern bluebird in the 2 shots below were just too cute to leave out.  Apologies to Chris P for using the word "cute"!   

During one of my walks, I heard a mighty rustling in the shrubby trees along the verge.  I snapped this shot showing a cedar waxwing diving down into the bottom left corner.  You can sort of see it if you squint your eyes ...

The large flock of cedar waxwings right next to the lake provided a better photo op.

Below is the edge of the sunset over the lake.

Below is a  series of winter photos taken around our garden over the past month or so.

This little white-breasted Nuthatch is one many that visit our feeder.

As is this male cardinal.

And Bluejay.

We have about 15 inches of snow on the ground now, and it will likely be here until spring.  Below are some bird and squirrel tracks that I got the morning after our biggest snowfall.

The snow sets the birds off nicely as they come to the feeders.  This crow is looking particularly handsome with his feathers all fluffed out.

This little slate-colored (also called dark-eyed) Junco seemed to be really feeling the cold wind and falling snow.

I thought this photo of the junco in the snow-covered coneflower seedheads that I wove into the lattice seemed to call out for an artistic sepia-toned treatment.

The bright colors of the male and more muted colors of the female cardinals standout against the white snow.

And, finally, 2 very seasonal looking photos to convey to the readers of this blog my best wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year and to express my thanks for visiting and leaving your comments. It always makes my day to see that someone has not only read my blog, but has left a comment too!

Cheers, Wilma