Sunny and Warm

I tried my darnedest to  get a decent picture of Cohen as he was peeking threw the fence slats but was able to get just these two.

  .

At any rate, the main point of this post is to show how nice the weather was today.  It was sunny and warm enough for just shirt sleeves.  Tomorrow the temperature is supposed to be around 70 F.  February is usually one of our worst months so it should be interesting to see how the rest of the month goes. 

    I did capture a couple of him playing around the yard though.

Re-purposed Percolator

 Anna made this lamp for her kitchen out of an old percolator.  It turned out very nice, don't you think?  It is a really nice size for her kitchen and adds ambiance to the room.

 No visit to Anna's would be complete without a picture of Trey and Funyun.
 I was waiting for Trey when he got in from school so we were able to spend a nice afternoon and evening together.  Anna's house is always calm and peaceful so it is a nice place to relax. And since she always treats me like real company I enjoy every minute there.

Happy Birthday Cohen

We all celebrated Cohen's second birthday on Friday night. ( 01-27-2012 )



It was a very enjoyable get together. The kids had great fun playing with Cohen's presents and Sophia enjoyed tickling everyone she could with a tail feather that Cyrus lost during his last molt.
 Cohen is into Thomas the Train and everything from his PJs to his books have something to do with Thomas. 


Cohen received a Thomas cake with a real Thomas the train on it.  A travel case that opens into a track with Thomas the Train  so he would never be without him,  and a colorful,  soft, Thomas roll- up blanket that will go anywhere with him too.





And his Godfather sent a wonderful phonics game that is like a keyboard that speaks and sounds out the letters that you push.  Cohen will loves that.

Even Cyrus had fun watching all the party fun.      

Foo and Cyrus

Kitty Foo hears Murphy on the basement stairs.  'Murph' is sniffing at the space at the bottom of the door.  He snorts a few times to let me know, he knows, I am here...he begs,, " Plleeaassee, let me up there with you guys ."

Foo will have none of that.  " Get back you mangy ker!
See this paw?  It'll smack you. " 

                      Get a'load of Foo's belly!  Poor Puss!  He is sooo under fed.


  And now Cyrus will try to intimidate me!  Good try Cyrus.  Yes, Mommy loves you too.

                                        Time for a wing and nail trim Cyrus.

A day with Cohen

Sophia and Cohen playing before Sophia leaves for pre-school.

                                         Cohen brings his toys to show me.

                                       An exciting time fighting fires.

Napping after a morning of play.

Bird Watching

Turkey Vultures

I believe there is a flock of Turkey Vultures living very close to our house.   They  seem to be very relaxed as they glide over the yard.  I like to watch them watching me, at least they seem to be taking every thing below them in.  I think they are actually pretty to watch as they make their lazy way home.  When the weather is nicer I want to follow them home one evening and see if I can see where they are roosting.   I don't intend to disturb them, just see where they may have found a place.
I took the picture above just a few days ago, I had intended to see if I could see where they went but was unable to do so.  I wish I had been able to get a better picture,  I don't have a strong enough zoom on my camera for capturing decent shots from a distance.   I think that would have been a good picture if I had though.  Oh well.  Maybe next time. Be sure to follow the link and learn about these wonderful birds and how they live.
http://vulturesociety.homestead.com/index.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3mHIm0nNj4&feature=colike

A short walk

This is a run-off reservoir near the house. It could be a nice little place for birds and ducks but there are no water foul here . I saw a Blue Heron at the pond's edge twice, and a  gaggle of Canadian geese swimming in it once. In fact, I have posted pictures of the heron, ( 8-29-10 ).  Since birds do not stay or frequent the pond  I think the water may be poisoned in some way, it certainly is not a food source.  The algae seems to be all that is alive in it.  Although I hear a multitude of toads and frogs singing their little hearts out in the summer I have not seen them around this particular area, I find a large number around the house though ( 07-20-11, 05-20-11 and more ) .  Sometimes inside the basement!  EEK!  The plant life does contain wild grasses, fern and moss in the lower areas and ditches.    These areas are alive with many gold finches even now.   In fact, that seems to be the overwhelming species here all year long.
Emma snuck out of our fenced yard to follow me to the pond. As I walked the pond's perimeter she made her presence known by following behind me and barking every
few moments, turning and walking back down the path a few steps, and looking back to see if I were obeying and starting to follow her.. I finally gave up on my stroll, put my binoculars and camera back into their pouch and obediently began to head for home.  She did not stop her calling and checking until we had reached the paving stones at the side of the road.  There would be no bird watching today.

Dead Wood