Fun in the Snow

On a recent visit with Matt and Mr. Reed it snowed overnight and Reed could hardly wait to get outdoors. Reed helping grandma build a snow-person.



Reed had prior experience constructing snow people and evaluates his options of recycling parts from previous constructions.



Mark this project done and move on to the next project ...



Time to check out the playhouse. After a little work he was able to get the door open.



Once Reed was inside the playhouse he insisted that grandpa come in and join him. Reed didn't accept the fact that grandparents were too big for the door and not as flexible as him. I think Reed enjoyed watching grandpa struggle through the door to join him.



After spending time in the snow it was now time to check out the greenhouse where it was warmer and dry. Another construction project of rearranging the gravel floor of the greenhouse.

Dining Out

We took Matt and Mr. Reed out to dinner and as usual Reed didn't want the Kid's menu and had to order from the adult menu...



"and can we get a side order of mosquitoes for Batman?"



"Time to check out the crowd ... "



"Where's our food?"



"Guess what I found under the table?"



"Finally, the food's here. Fish and chips are Okay, but this broccoli is all mine."

Emerald Ash Borer & Logging

Emerald Ash Borer has invaded this area and is killing the white ash trees on our property. The white ash on our West Hill property has hit very hard by the Emerald Ash Borer and we had a logging crew come in to salvage some of the timber.



Although we had some nice white ash trees on this property we hadn't planned on cutting this timber yet. Because the Emerald Ash Borer isn't selective on the size of the trees it kills we are sending smaller trees to market.



While the logging crew is on site we are also removing a few of our very large oak trees (on the left) that are at the upper limit of what the local saw mills can handle.

A Sign of Spring

This winter the local weather has been like a yo-yo. Yesterday was snow, sleet and freezing rain, today was sunny with afternoon temperatures above 45°F. After today's warm weather melted yesterday's snow I was able to find some signs of spring.



On the south side of our barn I found some daffodils popping through the frozen ground.

Fresh Tangerines

I was in our solarium checking on our winter crop of romaine lettuce when I decided to see if any tangerines were ready for picking.



A couple of the tangerines had turned orange and looked ready ...



So far, so good. The tangerine peeled easily and was orange on the inside.



Although is was very small and had lots of seed, it did taste like a ripe tangerine.

Springlike Weather

The temperature in the neighborhood topped out at 52.6°F today and some local deer were out early this afternoon taking advantage of the springlike weather.

Bedded Deer

We lucked out on yesterday's storm since most of the snow passed to the south of the neighborhood. Today's temperatures warmed up to the low 30's and I found these deer bedded under the white pines at our cabin property.



The deer soon noticed me and got up from their comfortable beds.

Extreme Weather

The weather this winter has swung from one extreme to another and doesn't seem to stop at "seasonal weather". Within the past week we've had multiple days of sub-zero temperatures followed by a sudden swing to spring like high temperatures. The 10+ inches of snow from the last storm is melting quickly today with the near 60°F temperature. Here's the temperature range recorded by my weather station.

Summary January 29, 2019 - February 5, 2019

	High	Low	Average
Temperature	57.4 °F	-7.9 °F	23.6 °F
Dew Point	48.3 °F	-16.4 °F	14.3 °F
Humidity	88%	49%	70.6%

Happy Groundhog Day

The polar vortex has brought us another sub-zero morning in the neighborhood. Today is Groundhog Day, which derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day sees a shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks.

It's Cold!!!

The polar vortex settled into the neighborhood this week and overnight it was the coldest so far. The temperature was sub-zero this morning with the high temperature of -2.7°F at midnight.

Summary midnight to 8:30AM
Feb 1, 2019

	High	Low	Average
Temperature	-2.7 °F	-7.9 °F	-5.3 °F
Dew Point	-12.2 °F	-16.2 °F	-14.7 °F
Precipitation	0 in	--	--

Falling Snow

It started snowing around noon today and some of the neighborhood deer were out early this afternoon looking for a meal.

Feeding Time for Deer

Seasonal winter weather has returned to our neighborhood with a low of 4F this morning. As it warmed up to 25F this afternoon I took a drive to our cabin property to counteract my cabin fever. I found these deer making the best of the afternoon weather.



I found this young deer trying to blend into the background as we watched each other.



These deer were searching for a tasty meal in the snow.



This deer taste tests some grass buried in the snow ...



The grass wasn't as tasty as it looked.



Maybe the grass is greener over there.

Gardening Time

About this time of year, when the gardening catalogs start to appear in the mail and the home improvement stores replace the Christmas displays with racks of garden seeds, I get the urge plant something in dirt. The temperature for the last two nights has been below 0F but the romaine lettuce has spouted in our solarium.



I found a partial packet of romaine lettuce seed that was left over from last year and planted it in our solarium in a large tub. Since romaine lettuce is a cool weather crop I'm looking forward to fresh salads as I thin out this crop.



I'm also keeping an eye on my tangerine tree in the solarium, which is close to ripening.

Preparing For The Storm

We haven't received too much snow this winter and only about an inch of snow overnight. A major snow storm with 12 to 20 inches of snow is forecast for this weekend. I found this herd of a dozen deer out during the day preparing for the upcoming snow storm.

Turkeys

There's not much happening in the neighborhood but I did find these turkeys in a corn field enjoying a rare sunny day.