Farewell February!

Nothing fancy!  Remnants of last years White Heath or Tufted White Prairie Aster (Aster ericoides) swaying above the snow on this sunny but very cold day!  The ice crystals have danced in the sky off and on all day and the thermometer is set to drop to -40C, adding the windchill ... anywhere from -47C to -50C overnight!  A very cold way of bidding farewell to February!  Keep warm and have a great weekend everyone!  

Ground Blizzard

We had the honour of spending our day with our boys at the Holloway Farms Hereford Bull Sale.  Yes, it is that time of year and we take great pleasure in supporting Les, Karen and their family.  It's not hard when you are dealing with such hard working, honest people with a great hereford program!  

Now, if only the Polar Vortex was as nice as the Holloway's!!!  I think March is going to come in like a lion!  The arctic air has certainly landed!  

(I actually got out of the car to take this image ... lets just say my lens and my eyeballs are freshly snow blasted!  LOL! ... hence the very spotted image!)

Winter Woods

It felt like an abstract day ... Trembling Aspen abstract!  

Gathering

Another cold day ... not as cold but still cold!  March is in sight and spring fever is starting to cause an itch!  A herd of Mule deer gather on the hilltop for an evening meal and I am just thankful the days are noticeably getting LONGER!  

COLD!

There is nothing quite like a -33C morning to make you take note of the 'fresh air!'  

Two Days

Saturday, February 22, 2014:

COLD!!!

Flat light, low fog, flurries off and on and the return of subzero temperatures!!

It makes staying in and getting up EARLY to watch the Men's Olympic Hockey Final AOK!

Go Canada Go!  

Congratulations to all of our Canadian Olympic Athletes!

Sunday, February 23, 2014:

What's not to love about the twilight hour?

Sometimes ...

Winter is just not nice!  

Hoping the weekend improves!  Have a good one everyone!  

Let's Dance!

Having been shut out by clouds to the first big aurora show late Tuesday and early Wednesday, I had my fingers crossed that the sky would clear for aurora on night two!  Initially, I not only had a bit of an aurora dance but it was blanketed in ice fog!  I've never seen a glow like this before!  I could see the strong bands of aurora dancing their hearts out through the thick, low ice fog.  It certainly created a very ominous atmosphere!  

Thinking I wasn't going to see much more than the green glow, I somewhat packed it in! However, once back in the house I checked the Aurora forecast once again and knowing that a full fledged storm was in action ... I headed back outside on the hopes that the ice fog would clear!  Lucky for me ... it did!!!  Let's Dance!

The Aurora Borealis are an amazing phenomena!  They make staying out in the cold til' the early morning hours worth it!  No matter how often one may see them, they will still mesmerize you again and again!  

Winter White

The talk of "Spring" has been circulating!  Yes, we Northern Hemisphere folk always seem to entertain that thought when the sun is shining, the snow is melting and the birds are chirping!  However, MARCH is still around the corner and just to give us a taste of what is almost a guarantee to come ... Old Man Winter had us donning 'Winter White' today!  That Old Man Winter lad must laugh and laugh at the expense of us humans!

Shut Out

Hidden ... well, he/she just didn't really want its picture taken!  The owl shut me out!  Fear not I say, the story is the aurora will dance tonight!  

Oh and did they dance ... but NO ... NOT HERE!  The clouds shut me out!  This is just one of the aurora images I took back in July!  Yes, its been 7 long months since I saw the aurora borealis put on a big ole' night show!  Perhaps, one of these days I won't be 'shut out!'  

Family Day

The 3rd Monday in February is Family Day in our province and in keeping to the theme, we took our boys to the new Lego Movie!  They were thrilled!  It's been awhile since we were at a movie theatre!  Although the human family around here is only 4 strong, the 4 legged family is extensive.  Not only do we love them but they love their family ties as well!

Kaleidoscope?

Truthfully ... snow on my lens!!!  The culprits:  Miss Jazzy and Girlie Girl!!!! 

(I need to have a chat with the girls about throwing snow!)

Another Chinook has arrived at it was a glorious weekend!  Windy at times but Spring-like and that's hard to complain about!  

Oh Deer

They move silently during the night leaving only their footprints behind but this evening, the 'silent ones' moved in before it was officially dark!  No wonder my flower bed has been grazed!  "Oh Deer" ... there are seven of you Mule Deer grazing in our yard each night!

Happy Valentine's Day

This didn't turn out the way I wanted it to but best laid plans usually do go arwy when crunched for time!  However, there is always another day and besides ... the best part of my day was spending Valentines with my family!  I love 'em to bits! ❤ 

Hoping all of you had a great day surrounded by people you love!  

❤Happy Valentine's Day!❤

Warm Sunshine

Ah ... -9C and no wind really does feel like a warm day at the beach after -30C!  Well, perhaps not a day at the beach but it feels like a day closer to spring!  The horses were out sunning themselves out on the hilltops this afternoon!  

Knock, Knock

I couldn't resist taking a few quick photos of this male Downy Wood Pecker!  He landed on this small wood pile and seemed rather pleased with his find!  It certainly didn't take him long before he was knocking and had the wood flying!  LOL!    

Over Seeing ...

Standing high up on the hill, Mr. Jasper in his winter coat and flaunting his 'winter figure'  was 'over seeing' chores this afternoon!  

Monday Morning FROST

It was cold this morning at -30C once again!  However, the sun was shining, the frost was sparkling and it turned out to be a fairly gorgeous day!  You can't complain about that on a Monday!  

Goodbye Weekend

Between the boys home hockey tournament, weaning and shipping calves, freezing our butts off in the subzero temperatures and a whole bunch of other things in between ... the weekend has come and gone.  I hope yours was a good one!  

A Bit of Glow

Well, the skies cleared but the temperature plummeted!  I am certain the aurora borealis did a bit of a dance after I came in from the great outdoors but at -34C and extreme wind chill warnings of -40C and below ... this gal did not hang outside any longer than she had to!