Winter #AtoZChallenge #MusicMovesMe

Today, two memes for the price of one.  First, W day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, followed by Music Moves Me (linkup is at the bottom of this post). 

Winter.  It's a large part of our lives where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.  Some people like it.  I am not one of them.

I am so happy that spring has finally come, but perhaps we would not appreciate spring so much if we didn't have winter.  So here are some photos of our winter. Several are from my guest photographer, who has a DSLR, and lives out in the country.  Me, I'm more small city, and I use an iPhone.

A flower garden sleeps.

No picnic today.

Ice on the river.

Trees sleep and ice takes over.
 

My guest photographer: rural New York State winter scene.

My guest photographer: a heron she named Harriet. 

My guest photographer: Duck and ice.

Now, it's time for Music, as I join the Music Moves Me bloggers. We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join!  We are brought to you by Cathy of Curious as a Cathy, Stacy of Stacy's Random Thoughts, Marie, and myself, plus other music loving bloggers.  Why not join us?  Our optional theme for this week is "America’s favorite past time for many starts up again for professional baseball players.  You don’t have to be a fan but it could be fun to pick songs that include the teams’ mascot. Stretch this prompt to fit your play set however you want!" but I am going to choose Songs beginning with W as my theme because I accidentally did the official theme several weeks ago.

From 1969, Blood, Sweat and Tears and Sometimes in Winter.

2004's Wizards of Winter from Trans-Siberian Orchestra. 

Finishing with 1967's Wintertime Love from The Doors. 

And that's a wrap! 

W day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme "Beauty of our Land".

 Music Moves Me - here are the participating blogs.  If you have at least one song to share, why not join us?

January vs June #AtoZChallenge #ShadowshotSunday

January - the time of snow and cold where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.

June - warm, sometimes hot, full of plant life.

Let's compare the beauty of each in the area where I live.  Is there a winner? 

It's J day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I am also joining Lisa at This and That:  A Blog for her #ShadowshotSunday. Yes, it's Saturday but why not?  Please enjoy the shadows in some of these pictures.

These photos are mainly from years past. 

Shadows on the ground on a January day, complete with male Northern Cardinal on feeder (the little red dot in the middle)  and reflections on the ground.  Sorry for the window reflection spots. 

June, same yard but with a woodpecker. 

January 2020, snow squall, downtown Binghamton, New York. 

June, Broome County Courthouse, downtown Binghamton, New York.

January, snow on a bush. 

June 2024, flower in same yard.

But it's April now, and flowers are back.  Jonquils, April 5. 

All is beautiful. 

J day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme:  Beauty of our Land.
 

Birds and Blue Skies #SkywatchFriday

On March 8, the skies were blue and the birds were out, flying in the sky.

Clear blue skies in late winter are cherished where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.

The bird is small, but he or she is in the upper left hand corner.

Not a plane in the lower left but a bird, as clouds gather.

Clouds.

Joining Yogi and other skywatching bloggers for #SkywatchFriday.

A Superhero to Bring Spring #WordlessWednesday

Monday:  high of 72 degrees F (22.2C).   Before the weather turned wintry, it rained.

Tuesday:  when I woke up around 5:50 am, it was 23F (-5 C) and there was ice on the driveway, with snow on top of the ice.  Noooooooooooo....

Today:  woke up.  It was 15F (-9.4C).   

We need a superhero to bring spring, and I may have found one. 

I saw this toy on a walk through my neighborhood on February 28.  The snow was melting and I have no idea how long this toy had been there. Maybe this superhero was just there, resting.  Biding her time.

I didn't take the toy. I hope she completes her mission soon.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday. 

Flowers in Winter? Part 2 #WordlessWednesday

Last week, I blogged about a Lenten Rose that had budded out in late December before being subjected to our winter weather.  Snow protected it from cold temperatures but when the snow disappeared, I wasn't sure if the buds had survived. 

It was springlike yesterday and the day before where I live in the Northeast United States, so I investigated the plant yesterday.  Yesterday, in fact, it got up to 74F (23.3C).  Sometimes, that happens where I live but this is not that common.

So, what did I see?

Happy dance!

The only problem is, winter will be returning later today. Early next week, in fact, the temperature is expected to dip into the teens F (approximately -7 C).

So the saga isn't over yet.  I can only hope for the best.  

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday. 

 

Snow and Grass #ShadowshotSunday

Late February and March weather, where I live, is changeable.  

Take these two selfies, taken a day apart.

March 1.

February 28 (near to where the first picture was taken).

We briefly hit 60F (15.5C) yesterday.  It may be in the 70's (21C) by Tuesday.  The snow is almost melted.

Then, back to the freezer, and maybe snow showers by Thursday.  Meanwhile, I'll try to recover from the change to Daylight Saving Time.  

Joining Lisa at This and That: A Blog, for her #ShadowshotSunday.
 

Flowers in Winter? #WordlessWednesday

This white Lenten Rose has been buried under snow in my Southern Tier of New York garden since late December (more or less).  

Finally, this weekend, with snow melting, it made an appearance but the buds already weren't looking good.   

After these pictures were taken, a cold front came through, and the temperature dipped down to 11 degrees F (-11C). Because we had freezing drizzle yesterday, I haven't gone out to see if the buds survived.  

But now the temperatures will be warming up again.

Sometimes, when there is no snow cover, this plant's buds die and there are no blooms for another year. The next few days will tell the story. 

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday. 

Shadowy Park #ShadowshotSunday

March has arrived where I live in the Southern Tier of New York State.  The sun reappears, along with shadows.

Let's take a walk in a local park.  I took these pictures the last two days of February, but that's close enough to March, right?

Hard to see, but there is also a reflection of the sky on ice in the middle of the snow sandwich.

The snow is melting, although we got another dusting this morning.

Joining up with Lisa at This and That: A Blog for her #ShadowshotSunday.
 

 

Skies of Almost Spring #SkywatchFriday

In three days, where I live in the Southern Tier of New York, it will be meteorological spring.  

The sky is starting to change.  True, enough times it is still the white-grey that so many of us dislike.  But then there are days like yesterday. 

You can't see it in the photo, but tree buds are swelling.  The sun is less shy.

The sunlight seems brighter.  The clouds are more varied.

Snow is melting.

The clouds and blue make a delicious sky layer cake. 

Look over to the right. There is a dot. The dot is the moon.

All the while I was walking, and taking pictures, I heard at least one Northern cardinal singing.

We still have weeks of winter yet, but I thank Nature for the sneak preview.

Joining Yogi and other sky watching bloggers for #SkywatchFriday. 

Snow Step Shadow #ShadowshotSunday

Taken February 8.

 

Much of our snow has melted in the past few days, but Nature has determined we need to get a snow refill.  Hopefully, the nor'easter hitting the East Coast won't bring too much snow to my inland area.

And, here's a bonus for you for this historic Sunday. 

Years ago,  February 22 would have been a holiday celebrating our first President, George Washington. Here's a picture I took of a Gilbert Stewart painting of George Washington while my spouse and I were visiting Arkansas in 2013.  This portrait was painted in 1797. 

More on this particular painting.

Joining Lisa at This and That:  A Blog for her #ShadowshotSunday.

Valentine's Day Eve #SkywatchFriday

Yesterday the friend I call my guest photographer sent me these two pictures.  I loved them so much, I just had to post them.  I'm not sure when she took them but we'll call it Valentine's Day Eve.

No sky here, but wine and love go together, too.  This picture was mine, taken in 2015.

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.
 

It's Cold Out #WordlessWednesday

Someone I know who lives about an hour away from me sent me a picture of their outside temperature reading Sunday morning.

This -26F is -32.2C, for my readers who use Celsius. 

Either way, it's cold. (And no, we weren't that cold, but we were still cold.)  Still, the weather is warming up and I hope we are done with this cold wave.

 

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.

January Snow Shadows #ShadowshotSunday

Since it's too cold and windy to go outside this weekend, I am using three picture from late January for today's shadows.  I did go outside yesterday to try to do some snow removal, and gave up because the wind kept blowing it back at me. Some days are just like that. 

I can't wait for spring, when the snow will be replaced by plants sleeping underneath their winter blankets.  Right now, though, it feels like winter will last forever.

We are under a extreme cold warning until 1pm today due to wind chills. 

Joining Lisa at This and That:  A Blog, for her #ShadowshotSunday.

 

The Blue and the Grey #SkywatchFriday

How skies can change in a matter of hours...

Yesterday, it started out sunny and cold.

I had to take a couple of quick pictures.

Later that day, clouds and some snow flurries rolled in.  Yes, these are color pictures. 

There is snow on those hills, although you really can't see it.

Now, the sun hides once more, and we are under a cold weather advisory until Sunday.

Joining Yogi and other sky watching bloggers for #SkywatchFriday.

The Kindness of Neighbors #WordlessWednesday

 Like many in the United States this past weekend, I ended up with over a foot of snow to shovel.  The snow has also resulted in this Not So Wordless Wordless Wednesday post.

Monday dawned, and it was time for snow removal.

For this year we had hired a man to do our snow removal.  My spouse can no longer help with snow removal.   The snow removal person texted us early Monday morning and advised that his snow blower had just broken down.  He wouldn't be able to help us.  Said it was too much to shovel.

We had another service on standby.  We couldn't get hold of them.  (They never did call back).

Someone spouse called recommended we try to contact one of his relatives.  No response.  I'm sure the relative was out doing snow removal.

So, it was up to me.  I bundled up and grabbed my shovel.  The snow was so fluffy and light.  It may have been what skiers call champagne snow.  I made believe it was vanilla ice cream.  I was cutting vanilla ice cream for a nice ice cream sandwich.

But it was a lot of vanilla ice cream and I was making slow progress.  I knew what to do - work in layers.  Each shovel full was to be 1/3 of the snow in front of me.  Shovel, fling snow, repeat. Repeat.  Repeat.   But then, I noticed two things.

First, my driveway had been partially plowed by someone unknown (I still don't know, incidentally.)

And, second, coming up the street on foot was one of my neighbors.  He called out, telling me to wait, he was coming to help me.

This neighbor did more than help me.  He  told me to go inside and rest.  Then he shoveled the rest of my walk.  He did the rest of the driveway.  I thanked him profusely. (Incidentally, he said he wasn't the person who plowed my driveway, but has a suspicion who did it - another neighbor just up the street).

I'm so grateful.  And I'm also hoping it doesn't snow for the next several days.

There is still kindness in this world

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.