Where Does the Time Go?

My last post was December 19, and I don't know where the time 

went. 

My apologies. 

I still have this: 

I am a little over 3 weeks in, and will go until the 

15th, when it will be exrayed and the 

cast (I pray) removed. 

It is a pain in the TUSH.  I have trouble 

opening things, and holding things, but oddly enough, 

I can type. 

We did have this: 

Don't look at that gold Santa on the mantle, he was replaced by a white one.  

That's son Jim, daughter in law Amy, and then, from left... 

Chris, Nathan, Jacob, Madison, and in front, Paiton and Jax. 

So good to be with them at a time that was very hard for me. 

Our Yoder family Christmas party the previous day was 

snowed out by a slow-moving ice and snow storm, making driving 

dangerous.  I was so grateful Andrea called to cancel.  The pile 

of gifts on the wall by the door was collected by Amber and Jesse, 

and distributed to the family the following weekend. 

Here's the adjusted mantle, and I have to say, I liked it a lot better.  I was about the 

only one that enjoyed it, too. 

The reason for the season, early Christmas morning at church. 

Except for one year when we were literally snowed in at the old place, 

I have managed to go to church every single Christmas morning. 

Here was our family Christmas present. 

I went to see my dear Keith at the cemetery, and we 

got his beautiful stone for Christmas. 

As I laid the cross on his grave, a big flock of geese came out of the 

fog overhead, and went over his grave.  Keith loved to watch geese, 

this would have pleased him so much. 

I am still feeding on the deck, but am having to vacuum regularly. 

Not an ideal situation. 

Someone watches bird tv every morning. 

The three little Sheets boys came with their parents Amber and Jesse, to pick up all the presents. 

I could NOT get a good shot, they were moving so fast! 

Keith adored these little boys! 

(Hayden, Jace, Carson) 

I am seeing small ducks and geese all of the sudden, on all of the local small and large ponds. 

Geese are everywhere.  Tomorrow I am going to try to get to Wyandotte County Lake, where I understand there is a huge flock of snow geese right now. 

Could global warming be driving the birds south already?  

We are actually going to have some prolonged cold weather this week, starting tomorrow. 

I did see some snow geese way out in a field off the levee on Tonganoxie Road. 

On my way to church Saturday afternoon, I saw two crows in 

a field.  As I went by, they went up, but I caught another movement. 

Here is what they were watching: 

Then, Sunday, I came home to this: 

That's the Coopers Hawk that has been hanging around.  

First time I have seen it on the deck!

My new year's resolution is to blog more often!  

Back to the Cold For a Day

BRRRRR it's cold out there! 

Too cold for us to walk today. 

Yesterday, Hailey and Zaphod asked us 

"When is it too cold for us"

Lilly and I could walk in just about anything... except, she will be 

ten this year and is slowing down a little. 

Little Jester, however, 

is another question. 

(Jester's first Instagram photo) 

With his short coat, he is more prone to feeling the cold 

more when the weather is bad. 

I have ordered a nice coat for him, and it should be here later this week. 

So... the temp today is 25, with a wind chill factor bringing it down 

to 15.  Too cold for Jes. 

The sun is shining, and we DO warm up from the walking... but, 

I think it's just too cold for us. 

The next three days will be much better, temps are going up to the forties 

again before they drop to the teens. 

Look who came by this morning, early: 

(It was windy) 

I ran downstairs to see if I could get better pictures. 

(It saw me moving, I think) 

And it took off. 

I had to go to the post for my bi-annual mammogram this morning, 

and saw this one on my way back. 

That's a redtail, the other was the Cooper's hawk that has been 

coming here regularly. 

Back up to the picture of Jester on top.... that was done with 

Superphoto, which I downloaded to my phone.  (Android).  I did not 

pay for the full program, because I read some of the reviews and there 

are still bugs with it. 

So, I took a look online to see what some of the most recommended 

programs were... and Instagram was one of the most recommended.  I have not 

looked at it closely yet, but it appears to have lots of editing capabilities. 

Our little Christmas tree is now downstairs in storage... it has been stripped for several weeks. 

I left the one in the bedroom, it's such a nice tree and looks beautiful in there at night when I remember to turn it on.  

I did buy a few Christmas decorations on HUGE discount this morning, including a 

package of red and gold plastic bulbs.  Next year, red and gold is going to be the "theme" for the 

living room... the little tree will have our regular family decorations in the bedroom, 

the skinny prim tree in the bedroom will move to the tv rooms, and 

the bigger tree that we did not use this year will have red and gold. 

The mantel will have all red and gold, and I hope to have lights working on it. 

I am going to run downstairs and clean the windows down there, 

in case the hawk comes back tomorrow!