READ A BIT, SNOOZED FOR AWHILE, SNOOZED FOR AWHILE THEN READ A BIT

 'HEY BETTY, IS THAT YOU OVER THERE'

It seems the heavier it snows the more birds we see at the feeders.  With snow beginning by late morning I right away noticed an increase in bird traffic in the front yard.  Birds, birds everywhere as I strived to keep the feeders filled up.  It's as if they know a storm or something is coming and are frantically getting themselves stocked up.

 THE WHITE SPOTS AND STREAKS IN THE PHOTOS ARE FALLING SNOW

Despite an encouraging pink sunrise, a solid gray overcast prevailed and skies remained gloomy.  It was a short drive over to the Hullett Marsh for Pheebs and we were soon home again almost in time to meet ourselves leaving.  Not a nice day to be hanging around outside.

Read a bit, snooze for a while, then read for a while and snooze for a bit.  Yep, that pretty much sums up the rest of my day.  With temps hovering around the freezing mark it was a damp and cold.  The only pictures I took were of the birds in our front yard.  Carried my small point and shoot Sony camera along on a short afternoon walk with Pheebs but with a drizzly kind of snow falling everything just looked really blaaaaah.  

Ten years ago today we were in Arizona's Cochise County In Search Of Cochise's Council Bluff Rock  Took us a bit of searching but we found the area where the Chiricahua Apaches held their council meetings back in the 1800's.  If you click on my post following this day you can see more photos of the Council Rock area as well.

GROANER'S CORNER:((   Did you know that according to the song, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", Santa has twelve reindeer? Sure, in the introduction it goes "There's Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. "That makes eight reindeer. Then there's Rudolph, of course, so that makes nine. Then there's Olive. You know, "Olive the other reindeer used to laugh." That makes ten. The eleventh is Howe. You know, "Then Howe the reindeer loved him."  Eleven reindeer. Oh, and number 12? That's Andy! "Andy shouted out with glee." The proof is in the song!

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When I moved into my new igloo my friends threw me a surprise house-warming party.  Now I'm homeless.

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Summer vacation was over and the teacher asked Little Johnny about his family trip. "We visited my grandmother in Minneapolis, Minnesota."  The teacher asked, "Good, can you tell the class how you spell that?"  Little Johnny thought for a few seconds and said, "Actually, we went to Ohio."

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IS IT MY NOSE GETTING IN THE WAY OF MY FOREHEAD

 BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE

Despite an occasional short burst of sunshine today, icy cold air took the enjoyment away.

We drove a few roads I took a few pics, came home early and picked up a few sticks.  

Headed into the house and nearly stayed there all day, thinking of things with nothing to say.  

Recliner was comfy and fireplace warm, and with book in hand it is now Winter's norm.

 A FEW PATCHES OF BLUE SKY TODAY

 THE BAYFIELD RIVER IS BEGINNING TO FREEZE UP

 SMALL LAKES AND PONDS ARE BEGINNING TO FREEZE OVER AS WELL

With these cold temps upon us, I started up the rig and let it run for a while to warm up the engine and charge the battery.  Maybe next Winter we will be able to go somewhere sunny and warm again.  That would be nice.

 IT STARTED UP RIGHT AWAY NO PROBLEM

With a few touches of afternoon sunshine, no wind, and temps coming up to the freezing mark it almost felt tropical when I took Pheebs for a walk around 3 o'clock.  Still only a skiff of snow on the ground so big heavy snow boots were not required.  

I always find it odd when I occasionally mention my sometimes blurry or slightly out of focus photos that comments coming back from readers suggest the photos look clear and sharp to them.  Is it my eyes? Is it my glasses?  Is it my nose getting in the way of my forehead?  Don't know and I've never been able to figure it out.  The red Cardinal photos below were taken through our sunroom's double-paned windows and all the other bird photos were taken with nothing between the camera lens and the birds but fresh and clear afternoon air.  Took them this afternoon from our front deck.  Nikon Coolpix P900.

 MALE CARDINAL

 RED BREASTED NUTHATCH

 FEMALE CARDINAL

 'OH THANK YOU LORD FOR THESE SEEDS I AM ABOUT TO RECEIVE'

 DOWNIE WOODPECKER

 BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE

Received a book called 'Arizona Hideaways' from blog reader Heather today.  This is a book with 38 out of the way towns in Arizona that do not always garner a lot of attention.  Right off the bat I could see we have been to nearly half of them and some we have driven on by.  Williams Arizona is an example of a small town west of Flagstaff we have driven by on I-40 half a dozen times or more yet haven't been into the town itself.  Seligman is another one on I-40 we have been by a few times but not into.  Here are the towns mentioned in the book we have been to.....Page, Cameron, Ash Fork, Cochise, Benson, Bisbee, Ramsey Canyon, Patagonia, Gila Bend, Ajo, Wickenburg, Wikieup, Parker, Quartzsite, Cottonwood, and Jerome.  The mention of any of these places quickly brings back fond memories for me.  Of all of them, it is Bisbee, Ajo, Wickenburg, and Quartzsite we have spent the most time in.  Thanks for the book Heather:))

It just bugs me to no end that Blogger keeps changing the font sizes in my posts.  I've tried different ways of correcting that and nothing works.  Nothing!!!!

GROANER'S CORNER:(( My daughter and I took the long route through the neighborhood to admire the Christmas decorations. One yard contained a trove of lights, ornaments, elves, carolers, trimmings … in short, it was a mess. My daughter summed it up perfectly when she announced, “It looks like Christmas threw up.”

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To avoid taking down my Christmas lights, I'm turning my house into an Italian restaurant. 

Q: What is an atheist's favorite Christmas movie? A: "Coincidence on 34th Street"

The holiday season: A deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice.

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- Weight of Santa's sleigh loaded with one Beanie Baby for every kid on earth: 333,333 tons.
- Number of reindeer required to pull a 333,333-tons sleigh: 214,206 -- plus Rudolph.
To deliver his gifts in one night, Santa would have to make 822.6 visits per second, sleighing at 3,000 times the speed of sound.
At that speed, Santa and his reindeer would burst into flame instantaneously.

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