OMG, MORE SNOW!

what a snowy winter! it is snowing now,but i took these a few days ago... above is the dog wood, below is the harry lauder walking stick.

ubiquitous house sparrows - oh and one junko

cozy looking bird house

TIPSY ON RAT BREW

maria is the calm rat, tansy the playful one.  maria was kind enough to pose in a beer glass for us, as dau and i were bored on this bitterly cold day.  here she is perched like a ballerina and her tail elegantly curled... until she realizes how easy it is to escape!

here she revisits the glass to get a treat...

isn't she the cutest li'l dumbo rat?

WINTER GARDEN WALK

yesterday we had snow and ice. let's take a walk through the garden to explore.  first we see the harry lauder walking stick with the surviving glass ornaments... the mirror has gone from the inside of this one making it translucent...

the remaining blue ornaments echo the sky.

jasminium nudiflorum has just begun to bloom, but i found this little icicle more interesting than the flowers.

the grass garden...

a hydrangea snow ball...

luna looking sharp, but feeling blue, in her coat.

lespedeza with curling ice fronds.

broom in front of a sparkly background...

won't someone come sledding with me?

the north garden, which looks much better in winter than any other season!

HEAVENLY

happy new year from gf! we spent the holidays skiing in heavenly nevada and california. here is a view of lake tahoe from heavenly...

here is a view of the lake, from the house we borrowed, with a snowstorm just blowing in from the northwest...

on the way home, hubs photographed the moss on the pines...

a snowman near heavenly built by some young people (but not the ones in the photo, who give an idea of the scale of the snowman... skis for arms and beer bottles for a mouth!)

here's a view of nevada from the mountain...