For those who must work today...

We are always grateful for those who work in long-term care, hospitals; those who drive the ambulances, OPP on the road, and everyone on duty keeping us safe or giving us care. At 5:30 a.m., Christmas Day, the dude on CBC radio playing wonderful Canadian Christmas songs...
Thank you to you all.

We are home sick. No family. No birthday party for me tomorrow; the cake I popped into the freezer. I do not complain. It's just a cold virus we have!
Buster has been bothering the red squirrels at the feeder. He follows the path. Clever boy.

I spent some time walking Buster. I took him down to the meadow. He was a brave boy, but the meadow was just a bit cold and too deep with snow. He meowed and howled and went back to the house.

The deer have no problem, you can see where they slept last night. Isn't that cool? You can see the hoof prints and the outline of their bodies.
I pressed on. You can see how the ice stuck to the branches and the snow stuck to the ice.

Playing peek with Bambi!

Yes, we feed them so I can shoot them.
So do the neighbours,
in order to shoot them with a gun!

Actually, it's a "she", and she's lots of fun!

Hail, hail. The gang's all here!
There were 8 around this morning.

Turkeys and deer clean up!

The driveway is done, but needs doing again!

There were 4 or 5 deer under the Pine Tree.

Somebody needs to clean off the dish.
Santa, while you're there...?

What a storm we've had!

Oh, Canada!

A wonderful dump of snow. We were prepared for it. No worries. I dug us out. A bit windy, but I just bundled up.

The cats aren't happy at all.
Normally, when I do yard work they play happily outdoors and have fun.

Gone! Rescued from the ditch.

With the storm, I've had to use the snowblower, not just the shovel, and hustled them indoors. The snow is 28cm (11") and they were a bit shocked.

We lost our mailbox. Somebody going too fast in the dark! I spent an hour reattaching it. Thankfully the post still stood.

Heavily-laden, but beautiful!

The trees look amazing.

The poor wee oak tree (below) was bent over, heavily laden with ice rain. Once it turned to snow, the snow stuck to the leaves.
To misquote an old poem....
I shook that tree as hard as I could

Once I shook it, the ice fell off and it stood up.
Shades of Ice Storm '98!

Down came the snow
And up it stood!


Back inside for a hot bath. The snowblower is heavy and I used muscles that preferred not to be used!

 I had helpers. Dorah wanted to figure out what the bubbles were. She first saw a bath when we babysat the granddaughters last weekend. She was intrigued, but there was too much action for her to explore it in detail.

Dorah in front, Daisy a little behind.

She took a step, and then another... and fell in!
She was shocked and scared.
I wrapped her in a towel.

Next, big wash ups from Buster and Daisy.
All was well.

She loves her sister!

Turkeys are on the trot!

Have you read the story about the turkeys in Barrhaven, an Ottawa suburb? Harassing seniors on their walks. Barrhaven has grown so large and encroached on wild territory. It is not surprising. Besides, with crab apples to munch, there is lots of food.

While we reintroduced turkeys in Ontario, some are objecting to their presence! Our cats thoughtfully chase them away. I'm not sure why these Barrhaven turkeys are so aggressive, but they have been elsewhere in this province. One gets an idea in its head, and it goes for blood. I think, like the aggressive bears we have had, they should be taken out. It's not normal behaviour. While they are large, ours run and fly away when the cats go after them. There is something wrong with this pack.

Wild turkeys an unwelcome guest for Barrhaven seniors 

A group of wild turkeys is disrupting traffic and harassing seniors in Barrhaven, and while residents want the wandering birds gone, city and provincial authorities say there is little they can do to intervene.

For goodness sake...someone step up!

CC #246

These are males, with the beards. Filmed October, 2011. They were prancing around my back door!

It's the apocalypse!

How did I get up here?

That's what Dorah thinks. She meowed her discontent in the video below.  We had a nice outdoor play in the backyard yesterday. You know it's important to get the kids outside every day to play!

They like the tree house and the old pine trees, especially. They prefer the high places, as the fence and the tree branches are warmer on those little toe pads.
Yesterday it looked like this: just a dusting of snow.

This looks like a duel, pacing away from each other!

 

Giant leap for kittenkind!

No! I want back up with you, Daisy!

 

Buster atop the gate, Dorah tried to climb up
and had an embarrassing fall!

This is the purrrfect climbing tree!

I love you, Mummy!

 
Today it looks like this: with a big dump of snow from a Colorado Low. Heavily laden trees.

  
Did you see the radar? Just an amazing dump of snow and/or rain.

Wee Dorah, the Explorer, meowed all the way to shelter under the tree.

kitten in snow from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.