yesterday it was a balmy +23 C ......

When you don't need a perfect day for a golf game or a motorcycle ride ... the weather man can be annoyingly "spot-on". He absolutely called this by the minute. Yesterday was a beautiful warm summery type day of +23C .. a breeze picked up mid day and was chasing crispy poplar leaves all around the cul de sac. Little whirlwinds of huge yellowy cornflakes dancing in the sunlight. Still, it felt more like Santa Ana breezes ... but by suppertime .... dead calm and clouds rolled in. By 8:00 p.m. a strong north wind was blowing; gusting to about 60 kph ... the temperature began dropping like a stone, and the "norther" kept right on blowing ... by midnight when I looked out the window, it was a total "whiteout". Huge wet snowflakes blowing sideways!! I thought for sure there would be about 6 inches by morning ... but, the ground is still not frozen, of course, because it has been so lovely and warm, so it did not even accumulate on the roads and sidewalks ... it only stayed long enough for pics; on the plants, lawns and rooftops. The sun is brilliant this morning; the sky blue; soon it will all melt off and it seems another lovely day will ensue. At the moment, the temperature is only - 1 C ... but feels pretty nice standing out there in the sunshine ... and it will climb back to about +10C or so .... hahah ... what silly weather we have here , eh?

My next entry was actually not supposed to be snow covered spirea ... but this .... a little birdie nest that I found Sunday, when the last of the deep burgundy leaves disappeared from the Mayday tree. My new blog buddy, Susan, in Nova Scotia, was showing her last branch of red leaves and I thought it a beautiful shot ... so was going to show one as well ... we seem to be at about the same stage, even though we are at opposite ends of Canada, but, none remained by the end of that sunny breezy day. And then... snow. Ah, well ..... just lets you know what we can expect in the way of weather in my area of the country ... as with other places in the world .. we always say "if you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes" .... it can change so drastically it is almost unbelievable. A rise or drop of 20 degrees in a space of a few hours is not totally unusual for us. ABP ... that was my motto for years as a dental assistant.... still holds true just for everyday life. Always Be Prepared.











Thank goodness somebody was there to steady the ladder while I climbed up and balanced in the maze of branches to get this photo. I am not sure if it is a robin nest or what ... but it does have a lot of mud in it and I do know they seem to be the ones getting sooooo muddy and dirty in the spring when they are busy building. They come to splash it all off in my birdie bath ... we have to clean it out daily to keep it acceptable ! This nest hardly seems large enough to contain 3 or 4 baby robins for very long .... and even though I do pride myself on being quite observant, I can't say that I noticed more than average robin activity in the Mayday 'til the their usual wild and crazy berry picking time and that is waaaay late in the season. As a matter of fact, that just ended. They fly south on the 15 to 17th of October every year. Gone. Til March 15, 2008. I sure do miss robins in the winter ..... but... love to hear and see the tiny chickadees and also the little sparrows. Man, they must be tough little nuts to survive some of our wintery days. When it gets to -35C I just about cry thinking they are still out there ... and if it is a sunny day... they trill and sing for hours even at those temperatures. I know I would be moaning instead of singing if I had to live outside.