Measureable snow

We knew this day was coming ....

Bob captures snow in action.

Our little tree in the front yard. Now it looks so Christmasy.

My mittens, up close and personal.

Update on the homemade suet

It's a hit! The temps are in the 40s and dropping, so there's no danger the homemade suet will melt. It's not as hard as "store bought" because shortening isn't as hard at room temperature as beef fat. But, who cares? The squirrels and woodpeckers are loving it. I haven't seen any nuthatches or chickadees yet, but then I wasn't home for a big hunk of the day.
(See previous post if you have no idea what I'm talking about.)

Late November

After the Thanksgiving holiday, Bob and I went to the Troy annual Christmas parade and lighting of the town Christmas tree. The tree is in the middle of the town square where the fountain is normally located. Obviously, the fountain shuts down for the winter - so why not stick a Christmas tree in the blank spot? Makes sense. We also went to Aullwood Audubon Center near Englewood for an arts and crafts fair. Lots of nice stuff. We took time for a stroll in the woods near the center.

I've included some pictures of wildlife at our suet feeder in the back yard. We're experimenting with our own suet recipe, which isn't really suet at all. I've gone vegetarian - shortening, peanut butter, corn meal, flour, and some ground nuts. Bob put some of the homemade suet out this evening, so we'll see how it goes over tomorrow.

Bob had to muscle into the crowd for a picture of the tree.

No, I did not fall into the creek at Aullwood.

A white-breasted nuthatch at the suet feeder.

Squirrels are acrobats. His next gig is with the Flying Wallendas.

A red-bellied woodpecker (not to be confused with a red-headed woodpecker).

Pre-Thanksgiving

It's a gloomy day here in Troy. High temps in the upper 40s and rainy. I'm down in the basement on the desktop computer. So much nicer down here than outside. Here are a few scenes from November in southwestern Ohio.

Corn is still being harvested (not when it's raining, of course). The combine shoots corn into the truck, which takes it to the grain elevator.

We went to the Dayton Art Institute. Beautiful sunny day, but a cold wind was blowing.

Inside the Dayton Art Institute.

Isabella has discovered the fireplace.

We call it her "wall of flames."

Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh, my! (and Vikings!)(and snowflakes!)

It's been a memorable couple of days in Ohio. On Tuesday, we went to Columbus Zoo (after voting, of course). It was a lovely fall day. Lots of moms and kids in strollers. The zoo, which is really in Powell, Ohio (much like the San Francisco Airport is in San Bruno or UC Santa Barbara is in Goleta), is nice. The old-style zoo is not in evidence. Right next to the zoo is a big water park, but it's closed at this time of year.
Today we went to Wright State University in Dayton for the semi-finals of the high school girls' volleyball championships for the state of Ohio. Our own Miami East High School (the school district Bob and I are in) was in the Final 4. They played Adena High School from Frankfort, Ohio. Exciting! The Miami East Vikings were victorious, winning 3 games to 1. But they were close games. Adena's team was good, too. At this level, you'd expect that.
This evening, we went outside and saw some snowflakes coming down. Not heavy, certainly ... but our first snow since the very end of March. We called Mom out of her warm sitting room to come out on the porch to see the flakes coming down.

Bob and the gorilla bust. The real gorillas are not nearly so approachable.

Cutest little koala.

Certainly would have been Ed and Isabella's favorite. Perhaps a distant relative?

The polar bears can hardly wait for snow.

The 4th game - final score.

You gotta love this guy. He's the unofficial cheerleader for Miami East. He shows up in his blue camo, and really gets the crowd on its feet (Miami East colors being blue and white).

 

Yay, team. The girls go to the championship on Saturday.