Fowl preparations for fowl weather

We had a beautiful, warm day yesterday but there's another snow storm on the way. Not just a bit of snow but another snow storm. It's not supposed to hit until overnight but we're already getting the leading edge with the low clouds and cold temperatures. The storm is expected to bring 6" to 8" of snow in this area, with blizzard warnings from Castle Rock to the eastern plains and up to the Kansas border.
Here's a shot of the low, cold clouds moving in.

I filled the bird feeders just before taking the photo. The deck was swamped with birds last week during the snow storm but I wasn't prepared for them with winter wild bird seed. They had to be satisfied with tiny Italian bread cubes mixed with chopped walnuts. This week I'm ready with milo, millet and sunflower seeds. I'd barely come inside from filling the feeders and taking the photo when the first visitor arrived. It wasn't one of the sparrows or chickadees I have in abundance. It was a female Steller's Jay and, despite her large size, she managed to hang onto the feeder quite well. I can't say the same for her mate. I didn't get a photo of the male because he kept flopping and slipping from the perches until he gave up and flew away. I was chuckling too much to be able to get the photo!

 Oh - and there's another snow storm scheduled for Saturday. Who makes these schedules? I'm not tired of the sun and warm deck weather yet.

Warm colors on cold days

I've only been working with stashed yarn lately and was running out of colors that reflected the season and projects that have caught my eye. I came across some new fall colors that I thought looked warm and inviting and would lend themselves well to a crochet pattern I liked. I decided to give it a go and here's the result

The knit pattern called Feather & Fan has always been one of my favorites and I was impressed by how well this crochet pattern mimics the knit pattern. Maybe I shouldn't put the picture out here on the blog - I'm thinking this afghan will make a nice Christmas gift for someone.

A cozy fire...

And I'm toasty warm! Thank you, God, for taking care of me no matter what the weather!

Winter wonderland... and how elks prepare

The setting: The forecast last night said we could expect 7" to 13" of snow overnight and another 8" to 11" of snow today. The changing weather had brought the elk down from the higher elevations and there were herds totaling somewhere around 80 elk in the neighborhood by late afternoon.

The background: I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that the berries on the Virginia Creeper were large and copious this year and I noted that deer like these berries but I didn't expect any deer to find them since they were inside the fenced part of the yard. The elk had been grazing fast and furious the past two days but I've not had an elk inside the fenced yard in the past.

The scarey part: I was sitting in my chair in the family room around 6:30 pm, knitting and enjoying an episode of Bones when I started hearing a bumping sound against the house right near me. The bumping grew louder and turned into rapid banging with a swishy sound thrown in. I got up and went to look out the door and discovered a large bull elk, sporting a tall 5x5 rack, ripping the trellis of Virginia Creeper off the side of the house. I'm guessing he had enjoyed all the berries on the front and decided to see if there might be a few more behind it. The elk was using his majestic antler prongs to sway and pull on the trellis. He spotted me looking out the door and immediately turned and moved toward me as if to make sure I didn't get any of his berries. Thankfully, the door was closed and he didn't try to push it in. We had a bit of a stand-off for a couple minutes, just staring at each other. Finally, I broke the staring contest first and went to fetch my camera. I was only gone a couple minutes but he had the trellis on the ground by the time I got back. He had either discovered there were no berries on the back side or had already dispatched them and started grazing on the grass again.

 Here's another shot where you can see his antlers a bit better. It was nearly dark when I took the photos so it's hard to see but it is a beautiful rack! It is very symmetrical when the camera isn't wobbling in low light :-)

I hope the elk had a good feeding the past couple days because here's what we woke up to today:

and this:

and my birds only have thistle seed for eating. I hope someone else in the neighborhood has a feeder out with millet and sunflower seed.

So I'm hunkered down to see if we really get another 11" today. I carried in wood yesterday so I can have a toasty warm fire in the family room after I finish my work. I've got my knitting and my Kindle. The only thing that would make it more cozy would be to fill the room with family!

This and that

I don't have any cool photos to share this week but I do have a few updates I thought I'd share.

I had a great experience at the end of last week when I attended training to be a leader for Precept Ministries Inductive Bible Studies. It was an intense training session and I'm glad I was able to go. I hope to lead Bible studies with my sister, Kristine, eventually.

I've not participated in a group Bible study from PMI before because the ones in Evergreen have been held during the day when I was working. Now that I'm not working, there isn't even a PMI group during the day in Evergreen. I did find a PMI Bible study that's starting Oct. 24 in Arvada and I'm going to join that group. It is a study on the books of Ezra and Haggai and the rebuilding of the temple. The leader for the class is Diana and I had a chance to meet her yesterday. It turns out that this group of Bible study students has been together for some time and they'll be coming to class ready to start week 1, with their homework done. Diana brought the book to me in Evergreen yesterday so I could be ready with the rest of the class. That was so thoughtful of her. This is a short class of only 5 weeks so it will work well if the house manages to sell in the meantime.

I read a very good book on my Kindle recently that was recommended by my sister. It's called While We're Far Apart as is one of the best Christian fiction books I've read in a long time. I wasn't familiar with the author before reading this book and it made me want to search out more titles by Lynn Austin.

So... I went searching on Amazon for other books by her. I found another title that sounded interesting, Candle in the Darkness, and had a very pleasant surprise when I found I had downloaded it as a free title shortly after I first received my Kindle. I started reading it as soon as I had finished While We're Far Apart. I just finished it this morning :-(  This is book one in a three-book series called Refiner's Fire. I've got the other two books on my wish list. I'll have to save up my allowance.

Kristine discovered that there's another series by Lynn Austin called Chronicles of the Kings and it has five books in the series. Turns out, the two of us had downloaded book one of the series, Gods and Kings, when it was offered as a free Kindle download. Here's the weird thing, though. I went out on Amazon this morning to find an image of Gods and Kings for this blog posting and the book is no longer listed as available as a Kindle book. However, books #2 - #5 are available to purchase. How weird is that??  I would start reading this new book next, except I'm excited to switch to a new audio book I just got on Tuesday....

...the latest from Joel Rosenberg, The Tehran Initiative. This is the sequel to The Twelfth Imam that was released a year ago. Joel seems to have such insight into current events as they relate to Old Testament prophecies.

Speaking of Joel Rosenberg, There will be a simulcast event this Saturday called The Gathering Storm. It's only viewable at places that are sponsoring it, mostly churches, and I'm going down to Bear Lake Church in Lakewood to view it with others. Besides being a video presentation by Joel, it's also an "urgent call to prayer, fasting and repentance for America, Israel and the Church in light of Bible Prophecy." You can find a list of locations at the web site and there's still time to sign up if you're interested.

My fuzzy fun

This post is a kind of mid-week reassurance tonic for my friends, Steph & Steve. You see, they're on vacation this week and I'm looking after their cats, etc. I visit once a day and freshen everything for the kitties and give them some lovin'. I'd been told that Zeus would most likely hide for the duration whenever I stopped by and it was normal. Well, it's not been that way at all and I'm loving it!

Fez is the outgoing cat. He came to see me the first day and was happy to hang out for awhile. Zeus came to investigate and decided I didn't look too dangerous so he stayed with us until I left. Ever since, they're both by the door to greet me each day when I arrive:

 

The two of them follow me while I refill the food bowls and get fresh water. As soon as it looks like I'm about done with chores, they head to the sofa because they know the lovin' and cuddlin' comes next. Surprisingly, Zeus is usually the one to get to the sofa first.

I usually give them some brushing time, too. Whichever one gets on my lap first gets the first brushing. Today it was Zeus. I think he was attracted by the paparazzi aura when he saw the camera. Fez sat patiently on the side while Zeus was on my lap.

And, eventually (I'm sure it felt like FAR TOO LONG,) it was Fez's turn under the "brush":

I hope Stephanie and Steve are having a great vacation. I know I'm enjoying my time with their kitties! :-)

Scarf substitute?

Here's a project I played around with over the past couple evenings. It's a patterned moebius - a continuous circle that is shaped like an infinity 8. This is done by the way the stitches are cast on and knitted. It adds a natural overlap and I think it could be a nice substitute for a winter scarf. It allows nice coverage of the neck, the overlap at the coat opening for extra warmth, and then there's no scarf left hanging down inside to add bulk. What do you think??  By the way... I had to take 8 or 10 photos before I came up with one I was willing to post. I didn't say I like it, but I'm willing to use it. And since I didn't think the detail of the moebius pattern showed up well, I enrolled my floor lamp to act as a stand-in neck so I could take a more accurate photo.