Valentine Weekend

Valentines weekend was a flurry of activity. We were exhausted on Friday after a hectic work week and didn't feel like joining the massive throngs of people waiting in line at every available restaurant in town so we stayed in.  On Saturday we caught up on some sleep and household chores and then went with the "kids" to Inniswood.  Elisha wanted her picture taken with her boyfriend Brooks every season in the same place.  This is the second season they have been together. We goofed around over there for as long as Elisha, who was wearing only tights on her legs, could stand it and then went for dinner.  We chose Carsonies as it is close to the park and they have the best stromboli in the nation.  On Sunday we had my brother and our friend over for dinner. Brother wanted to make poutine, a fabulous French Canadian dish, and I served it along with prime rib patties, a salad and wine.  We tried some new Shock Top beer where you get three bottles each of two flavors in the pack and then combine the two to make a different tasting beer. It was good.We had a great time and I hated to come back to work this morning. This evening the weather guessers are calling for an ice storm this evening and then a warm up after that. I prefer the snow.

 Me and Andrew

 Elisha and Brooks

Spring Run

Valentines Day pic

At Carsonies

Even baby boy got in on the festivities

Shock Top

Poutine and rib steak patties

Snow Days

We've had four snow days from the University during January and February. This is a record for our school. Today we got a few more inches of snow.  It's beautiful outside.  We are lucky that we have a polar bear puppy who loves the snow. We've been playing outside daily and loving it.

Mischief Makers

Nolan and our neighbor’s dog Lightening (read more about Lightening and his Thunder brother here); (Thunder has since moved away with our neighbors daughter but he visits regularly) have gotten to be fast friends since Nolan arrived in January.  We introduced them right away but Nolan hasn’t had much interest in anything but going to the potty and chewing on stuff up until the past two weeks.  On Tuesday Nolan and Lightening spent the better part of an hour running up and down the fence line between our yards talking to each other in their own special barking language.  Of course we were thrilled as Nolan slept like a log that night only asking to get up once to pee.  Yesterday we had a snow day after a whopping 9 inches of snow fell in Central Ohio.  Nolan whined off and on all day to go outside and ever time he got there I could tell he was looking for Lightening while pretending that he needed to pee.  Of course I heard Lightening standing at the neighbors sliding glass doors barking to go out so I called my neighbor and told her that Nolan wanted to know if Lightening could come out to play.  She laughed and said Lightening had been barking off and on to go out for the same reason and said she would send him out. Well long story short those two hatched a plot and in unison starting digging to get under fence in the same spot on opposite sides.  Believe it or not little Mr. Nolan instigated the entire escapade and they both continued to dig until I finally made Nolan come back inside with me.  He wasn’t happy but he did sleep good again last night.  I guess it is better that they are friendly with each other rather than the opposite as Lightening could eat Nolan for lunch.

Snow-rollers

The formations you see are called snow rollers. They are created when the temperature rises enough to make the snow packable and then strong winds blow the snow into rolls. The largest ones are about 12-24 inches in diameter. Not sure if we have had these in Ohio in my life time but on Sunday evening they formed all over parts of Ohio in open areas.  These photos were taken by me at Otterbein University and by Andrew at the high school near our house.

Click here for more about the Snow roller invasion

Bluebirds

This has been the coldest winter in Central Ohio in recent memory.  We've been keeping the backyard bird feeders filled and have been rewarded by the appearance of many species of winter birds.  The bluebirds are my favorites and over the weekend we had three pairs at the feeder at one time.  Andrew got some wonderful photos.

Backyard Birds

Not a lot going on. Not enough snow to do anything outside and too cold anyway to do anything outside.  Andrew did take a few neat photos of our backyard birds this weekend. They are pretty entertaining.  He fills the holes in the tree with "bark butter" that we get at Wild Birds Unlimited.  The birds love it.  We have a red shouldered hawk as well. A pair of them have a nest down the street. Every now and then I see one of the take a dive toward the feeder. Haven't seen any evidence of success though.

Lilac Haven's Martin

Martin was born in the first ever litter of French Angoras that we had at Lilac Haven. He was a brother to Angelica and Pixie. He died earlier this week, I suppose of old age as he started to show a physical decline in appearance in the past few months and was not as lively as he had previously been.  He was born in a deep freeze/snow storm in February of 2007 and when I found the kits they were lifeless. Mama Selma had 10 babies, 8 of which I was able to revive and 5 of which lived.  Martin earned two legs toward his grand champion status being favored by the “angora” judges and not so much by the “meat” judges. I liked him all the same as he was a friendly boy and we will miss him. Lilac Haven's Pixie is the only remaining sibling from that litter.   

"God's finger touched him, and he slept."

Alfred Lord Tennyson