Today's coffee

and it is still coming down (my arm is sticking out the door).
Record setting, epic, and such words are being used in the news today.

This morning's coffee

looked like this. Not that it will last long, since there are snowflakes in the forecast later this week.

Yesterday

I was doing stuff in the kitchen (likely making a cup of tea since it was in the afternoon) and was able to catch a few pictures of this critter out the kitchen window.

Since it didn't seem to care about being watched, I was able to get several of  it popping up while eating (and then it would pop back down to grab another sunflower seed, or whatever it was finding in there).

After a few minutes of the up-and-down of finding things to eat in the pot, it decided to head up and see what was in the bird feeder hanging above its head (which pretty much sums up why there is food in a planter). Fortunately a couple of taps on the window resulted in a quick hop down and run up a tree.



Today it is raining and I haven't seen much in the way of furry wildlife around, just a variety of the feather covered type. Tonight the rain is supposed to transition to to freezing rain, leaving  tree branches, wires, and such coated in ice, and then more rain tomorrow with "sleet, freezing rain, and light snow Wednesday night with mainly snow falling by Thursday morning. During the day Thursday three to six inches of snow may accumulate in southeastern Minnesota" with more to the north and west. Fortunately it had gotten warm enough in the last couple of weeks, most everything is melted of, and even better the ground has thawed out enough that at least some of this is soaking in. However, our county is under a flood watch, with others near us under  the next level up of a warning. Not that it is an issue for us directly, thank goodness!
That is pretty much a summation of the excitement around here right now.

This morning Hubband

looked out our window down to the bird bath and said, "It looks like it got too cold for the birdbath to cope last night." (It was some number of degrees below zero, but I don't know how many exactly.) I came over to look, and sure enough, it looked like it was frozen over and then snowed upon. I can't say I was terribly happy about this since it meant either the birdbath was defective/broken, or that the outlet had broken or gone defective overnight. Later on I went out with a pitcher of water, my gloves and camera to document and remedy the situation. It turns out that nothing had gone belly up, nor was the water frozen over.
I have seen steam rising out of the water on some cold mornings and I think we just had a great visible example of science. I think the steam froze around the rim like it has before, but since it was so cold the ice crystals just made for a catalyst for more frost/ice to form a bridge. The ice is actually sitting about a fourth of an inch above the water.

 

Yep, there are a lot of pictures and they look almost all the same, but couldn't decide which one(s) I liked the best. Totally worth doing the embiggen thing too.(I promise, there are more I didn't share.)

 

 

Early this morning,

but not so early that the sun wasn't up yet (aka about 7:45) it was cold. Well, cold is relative and a perspective thing, but it was 5°F which I decided was cold, especially when I decided to step out on the deck without a coat.

 

 

 

I think it was worth it though. (If the whole "click to embiggen" thing is still working, it is totally worth it.)

What a difference

a bit over twenty-four hours and a snowstorm can make. The wind caused the water to blow out of the heated birdbath, causing the icicles. (Taken from inside through the kitchen window.)

Yesterday afternoon

I made sure this was empty when I was sweeping off the deck, not that one would know that from this picture. Right after I got soggy, I emptied it again, for science and all (or something).

 

Of course, one wouldn't know this was clean too.

It rained recently,

so of course Someone had to go out to investigate all the changes in her yard,
and then come tell me all about them.

 

 

Well, that was exhausting.

This morning I had to go outside to do a little bit of plant management. I had more to do, but after tending to the ones out front I had to come in and rest up before I could deal with the ones on the deck. Seriously, I was probably only outside for about ten minutes and I had to just come in and flop! I was hauling about buckets of water and some wet plants, but I do that several times a week so it shouldn't be that big of a deal.

 

Why was I so exhausted after such a normal amount of activity? This is why (sorry it is tiny and hard to read, I used my snipping tool but it will improve with clicking).



We had all kinds of heat advisories all day to stay inside in air conditioned buildings, go to public places if you don't have AC and you are elderly, young; heck, just alive.

 

Later on, after I had rested up and drank a glass of water and at least one of ice tea, I went out and tended to the million sixty-six plants on the deck.

 

 

It had actually cooled down a little by then, it was only 91° and "RealFeel" of 104°. Trust me, even that little bit was better.

But by about five thirty this evening we had a major improvement with some wind and stuff.


It went back up to 80° for a bit but has stayed nice and is back down to 77°; I can have the AC off and the door open. The animals are all happy because they can go out and hang out on the deck, which is where I am headed right now.

Last night's weather

key and radar image, for those of you on the west coast who are tired of their boring and weird weather. (Just in case you want to live vicariously.) I am guessing most of you know where we are on the map.



It appears at least two and possibly three or more tornadoes skipped across southern Minnesota Wednesday evening. Thunderstorms with strong rotation developed rapidly between 7pm and 8pm, producing large hail and tornado reports.

It looks like we might be in for more today.

For awhile Hubband and I hung out in the yard before the rain came, then we watched a poor plane be re-routed around the back side and fly in circles before giving up and heading for MSP
(though they have taken out all the cute little circles that were there last night). This is one of our favorite "What is really happening with the airplane" sites, as well as just watching what is going on at our local (or most any other) airport. Comes in handy for helping Hubband know if he is going to make his connections, be home on a given night, etc. (FYI, we watched the circles on the computer, we live about 20 miles north of our "local" airport.)



Later we hung out on the front porch and watched the lightening in the distance and the sparkly bugs in the yard. I am planning on some of Hubband's pictures of that showing up here soon.

Weekend Visitors

We had several weekend visitors, starting with this guy. He stayed there, looking at tormenting Oribel, not even noticing me taking his picture. (Nope, no pictures of the cat going crazy.) Later on she got to go outside and give some torment back. She went out and hung around on the deck, and then down onto the patio for a good roll and who knows what else. Somewhere along the line I noticed a squirrel working its way toward the deck, not paying any attention to possible dangers lurking about. I, however, did happen to see one of its potential dangers holding very, very still in the grass. All of a sudden, that little guy was making a very fast run for the tree, with an orange monster very close on its tail. Both of them went racing up the tree trunk, but the squirrel managed to stay just ahead of her, and then get above her enough that it felt safe in giving her a major scolding. Not that she really seemed to care what it had to say to her, she just stayed in the tree with her eye on it for awhile, and then hung out under the tree, just to remind it who was really Queen of the Yard.

 

These guys also came wandering through the yard, but I think Oribel was glad she was on the inside of the glass that time around. She kept a close eye on them, stood up against the door to see, got into the kitchen window for a better view, but she never asked to go out. (Seriously, she really doesn't say much very often, except when she wants someone to open the door to the deck for her. Then she is all about trying to scratch it down and "crying" at us.)
These four (or maybe it was five at some point) guys kept trying to let everyone know just how fancy they were, and were more than happy to let everyone know what wonderful voices they had,

 

but their intended audience really didn't care in the least.

 

 

The weekend snowstorm turned out to be a bust, at least around here. Our "two to five inches" turned out to be just a dusting.
On the plus side of things, DTE found out she got her dream job for the summer, she is going to be paid to work in the theater at school this summer and it also includes housing. DTY is also very excited to have gotten the job of "Assistant Training Supervisor" at the reactor, but I am not entirely clear on if that includes the summer, or if it is her job for next school year. Either way, she is planning on staying in Portland for the summer.

They go together

I know I showed you this picture already for March 10,

 

but these go with it.

Finally, a new WoW post

Back in July, Princess Jasmine and Anita sent Miss Oribel sparkly kitty toys, which have become to be known as "Kitty Crack Toys" around here. She loves these things beyond almost all reason. They get snuck up on, attacked, kicked, and carried all over the house (they also get stashed inside shoes for safe keeping).
She is down to the last one, having worn out all the others. I was getting a bit worried about what we were going to do since I haven't seen them at PetSmart where I buy her cat food. DTE pointed out that the store where we buy our dog food sells them in a larger size, thank goodness! We brought one home for a test drive and it seems to pass muster, even if it is blue. (I haven't been able to get a picture of her with that one yet.)

Of course you know she has an obsession for kitty treats as well, and with some help from DTE, you can finally see a bit of that "live."

Ufortunately I was unable to catch her licking DTE's fingers, but I promise, she gets every last bit of kitty treat flavor she can.
Current weather forecast looks like this

This Afternoon: Sunny and cold, with a high near -1. Wind chill values as low as -30. North wind around 18 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around -26. Wind chill values as low as -46. Northwest wind between 10 and 16 mph.

Tonight we are going to test drive the "Throw some boiling water in the air and see if it freezes before it lands" thing. It is a "we" thing so that pictures will be involved; bubble blowing is also going to happen. (No promises that said pictures will then be posted tonight, but I will do my best to have them up by lunch time tomorrow!)
Oribel has decided that it is a wee bit too cold for her to go outside. Of course, she needs to have one of us open the door for her, several times a day, to remember how cold it is! (Don't forget to check out Whiskers on Wednesday.)

So deceptive

This morning we had a beautiful blue sky,

 

sunshine,

 

and shadows.

 

Evidence of deer wandering though our yard and looking for acorns,

 

wind,

 

and frost.



Of course, we also had this

(as of 8:54 AM CST on January 13, 2009)
Temperature -18°F
Windchill -38°F
Humidity 78%
Dew Point -23°F
Forecast as of 7:40 am CST on January 13, 2009
Now
With northwest winds from 10 to 20 mph...and air temperatures in the 10 to 20 degree below zero range...bitterly cold wind chills will be in place for the morning commute and children heading to the bus stop. For areas along and west of the Mississippi River...wind chills through 9 am will range from 25 to 35 degrees below zero... with a few areas approaching 40 degrees below zero in southeast Minnesota.

Forecast as of 3:27 am CST on January 13, 2009

Wind Chill Advisory in effect until noon CST today...

Today
Sunny until late afternoon then becoming partly sunny. Highs zero to 5 below. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph in the morning...shifting to the southwest 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Lowest wind chill readings 30 below to 35 below zero in the morning.

Tonight
Snow. Snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches. Lows zero to 5 below. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 100 percent. Wind chill readings 15 below to 20 below zero.