2022 What Kind of Year will it be?

Monday there was an 3.3 Earthquake in our area...and that is the 10th quake we have had since Nov of this year...this epicenter was about 18 miles away from my house....In 1886 in the month of August a Quake destroyed Charleston, SC and killed 60 people.  They estimate it was a 6.9-7.3 in strength....the shock wave was felt as far away as Boston, Mass. 

I want to do a time lapse something I haven't tried yet, so soon I want to make one.

Tonight we have a red sky...and it seems peaceful.  I have felt quakes before and it normally sounds and feels like a big truck going by and vibrating the house...I did not feel the one today as I had just arrived at home from a day out and about but I had been much closer to the epi center earlier in the day by the river...

Anyways...one never knows what Mother nature has in store for us.  

Here's our State Bird, the Carolina Wren. My New Yrs Resolution is to use less plastic packaging in the future...starting NOW...I use as little as possible but there is a lot of room for improvement..

Like buying my vegs in bulk that is not prepackaged...BUT don't reach for that thin film...some stores recycle it but most don't bring your own paper "lunch" bag to put your fresh produce in...and if it's gonna be something heavy get some Paper grocery bags at the entrance to the store or bring your own to reuse from home.  AND do reuse your shopping bags or bring your own..

The bulk laundry det. in plastic jugs,...or those pops in plastic wrap just don't buy it you can still buy detergent in a cardboard box...that is bio-degradable, and sustainable,  and most of the time recyclable. You can premix in water to be sure its dissolved prior to adding it to the tub of your washer....AND there's other alternatives online the little sheet that you simply toss in very little packaging involved but it's pricey.  

...a young Buck was hanging out behind the fence on Christmas Day...

This  really fine White Throated Sparrow paused from his work of seed picking...

 ...and a Golden Crowned Kinglet showed off his gold crest but moved...

I have enjoyed the ease of the steam in the bag, but Im not doing that anymore...I will buy fresh and steam it the old fashioned way....
Some products I eat like Veggie Sausage comes  in those NOT recyclable zip top bags, I plan to phase that out and find my own recipe for making my own veggie sausage veggie burgers, etc.  

the Kinglet liked the sound of my camera as it tried to focus on him...

Lake Bee has been closed for over a year so they finally opened it back up and put in a brand new deck. They put in a new dam overflow, made repairs to the earthen dam, repaired the shoreline, and tore down the old deck.   The old deck was made of that composite stuff it did NOT hold up....and they closed it for a year before giving up on it....

I was glad to see the area open again I was able to walk back to the wetland where there is/was a small beaver dam...I want to stop in the HQ one day and ask about their policy on Beaver, because I see signs of beaver, 
 then I see signs of disturbance of their dams also....

Are they welcomed or not is my question? 

We had a wide variety of weather events this week and today it's raining, I saw this Red Shouldered Hawk in one of the trees so snapped this window shot...he didn't sit long, by the time I jockeyed for a better look he was gone...

I hope everyone has a peaceful New Years Eve and Day.

2022,  sounds like it came out of a Sci-Fi story but it's for real.  Sometimes it feels like we are living in a sci-fi story, if only we could see into the future.

We can plan, we can prepare, we can try, and we can do our very best and at the end of the day we have to accept the reality of the choices we make across the board. 

Happy New Year and may we each have Many More!

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Winter!!

Tuesday was the shortest day of the year less than 8 hrs of daylight...unless you live in Fairbanks Alaska, where it was only 3 hours and 42 minutes. 

 Hello fellow bloggers, this blog will post on the eve of the holiday so I wanted to get it written up a little early so I could just chill and enjoy my eve with nothing pending, it has been an easy week but I will share some bits of my week with you all...

(dont forget to hover for more captions)

I have been cutting some of my home grown salad greens here and there although winter is not my favorite time of year for greens, but I grew all this so I need to start eating it, so I made up a salad...the Arugula is very hot so it has be tempered with some other green like Spinach, Simpson, and Romaine.

The pot of Cilantro is also an added benefit, I add it to soups, chili, and sometimes in the salad as well it provides a nice punch for the pallet.  I enjoy having a little food growing around my place even if its only greens.  

A sunny days brings every one out to warm up...

I'm over run by these chubby critters...this is why you see wire cages around all my pots

Sweet Annie

One day I drove out to one of my favorite fields...Its full of dried Sunflower heads, 

I picked one up off the ground...

I see various birds but it's private property so I normally can't get much of a look at the birds just distant views, 

this come came home with me...

Didn't take long....

And I keep hoping some Goldfinch will come by...

One dirt road goes through the field area so I can bird from the van window This is part of my 5 mile radius 

Back at home...

A window shot of the Hermit Thrush 

The Wise One

You can always count on finding some beautiful flowers at the cemetery  

Not to mention some fun birds hanging out 

This cemetery is a rural one and the land next to it, the AG fields back up to, and on this day I found a bright spot in the brown drab....

The Little Palm Warbler...even tho this is not the State bird of Florida it should be..they are so plentiful there and I'm glad to see them increasing in numbers here also. 

This photo has two kinglets in it, hope you can find them....hover to discover

And a curious Eastern Bluebird ....

One of my very favorite Sparrows can you guess what it is? 

Hover for the answer. 

We expect a high of 70 on Christmas day sooo that sounds perfect to me. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Winter Solstice Approaching...

We had a sweet visitor early this morning before I made coffee I was at the window snapping this photo, its not Tulip but one of her friends 

She was so close to the fence 

This morning it's a little hazy as we have rain arriving on the weekend so the clouds are 

forming. 

earlier in the week it was very sunny and cold...

The crisp air makes for better photos with highlights and sparkle..

And some wonderful blue sky...

I actually sneaked up on this guy...when I first approached he was enjoying the view....

Then he heard me, 

And I guess he thought WHAT the heck...can't a bird get some peace n quiet anymore?

Then in true Mockingbird form he put his tail up and looked me right in the eye...

This is something I really enjoy interaction between myself and a wild creature who responds!  He stuck around only a couple minutes then off into the Brambles...

I stopped at Goodale park, it was soooo  dead but one Song Sparrow answered my phishing

Since they cut the trees  away from the one area by the lakeshore more of the Pitcher Plants have grown in, I guess that is a good thing, unless  you're a bug...
they are a pretty red color then they die back for the winter...

I made a stop at Quaker Cemetery A very old burying ground...

 it's been a long time since I stopped by here I knew they were building something behind it BUT why did they clear off so many trees?? LAZY contractors, they built cookie cutter housing right where it used to be  woods,  that area was part of Bramblewood...a very special place. 

I did find some seasonal  color and some birds...

At least the cemetery is securing  some green space 

Hope it stays that way...

 there's so many different types of trees all mature and providing food for birds...like this Cedar 

Over in the thick stuff near the edges of the cemetery I saw White Throated Sparrow and Easter Towhee, Dark Eyed Junco...

 ...but then I heard a crisp call from the Crepe Myrtle 

A Blue Headed Vireo, 

There has been a lot of growth in our town the past couple of years not sure I'm onboard with it..

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.