End of January Bits and Pieces

 First off, a warm Mad Trout welcome to  Deb who brings the number of followers to this little bit of lunacy up into double digits at 10.  Oooh, there should be a prize but, um there isn't.

 

 

I was going to write about how blahish I've felt this January, but the more I drone on about it, the worse it seems. 

 

It has been gloomier than usual though I think.  I couldn't find any reliable statistics on, you know, The Weather Network or Environment Canada but all they could tell me was hours of daylight which is quite different from hours of sunlight. So you'll just have to take my word for it.

 

There were some interesting weathery things though.

 

One morning, the pomegranate in the Christmas pot was covered in this sugary, frosty ice.  Nothing else in the container had it.



 

 

 

One day, there was this thick frost on everything.  The white trees against the bright blue sky were quite beautiful even though it was very cold.  The frost stayed on the trees all day and I'm sorry I didn't take more pictures of the shrubs because they were quite interesting. 

 

 One morning the sunrise reminded me of Bermuda where we're not going this winter.  The sky was just the right colour of blue and the bottoms of the white clouds were tinged with pink.  It looked like this:



only in the sky. Sigh.

I've had a couple of new visitors to the feeder - a pair of Downy Woodpeckers.  No picture because the Mad Wee Dog, ever vigilant, frightens them off before I can get the camera out.  I did manage this very sketchy picture of Mrs. Cardinal:

 

I've seen a male Cardinal (I don't know if it's her mate or not), a male Blue Jay and the usual assortment of Sparrows, Juncos and Mourning Doves.  The Goldfinches have been noticeable by their absence.  I should check their seed to make sure it hasn't gone all wet and fusty.

 

If you spent any time in Niagara Falls when it was vaguely sketchy and gaudy, before it went upmarket and Vegas wanna-be, you might recognize this:

 

It doesn't look like much, does it, but this is the Flying Saucer Restaurant, established in 1972.  This is where we go for breakfast when in the Falls.  It's off the beaten path, waaay off, but it's where the locals go so it's not over-priced and they have the best pancakes ever. 

 

I'm doing a Sealed Pot this year.  I got the idea from Sue over at Our New Life in the Country.  Mine is actually a Sealed Tin (from when the Boy Scouts used to sell their caramel corn in a nice big tin) but it works the same.

 

 

You find yourself a container that you can seal up enough so it's a big hassle to break into and then deposit all your loose change into it throughout the  year.  Or maybe you'll just put your change from Tim's in it or when you return your empties to the beer store.  Whatever you decide.  And at the end of the year, you decide what you spend it on.  Some seem to spend it on Christmas extras, but I'm hoping to go away next March Break someplace warm so it'll probably be used there.

 

Books Read

 

 

1665, and the capital is awash with rumours of conspiracy. Thomas Chaloner knows that there are few grains of truth in the rumour-mill, but the loss of an important warship and the murder of Paul Ferine, a Groom of the Robes, makes him scent a whiff of genuine treason. As well as investigating the murder, Chaloner is charged with tracking down the leaders of a fanatical sect known as the Fifth Monarchists. Then, as he comes to know more about the Fifth Monarchists and their meetings on High Holborn, he discovers a number of connections - both to Ferine's murder and those involved with the defence of the realm. Connections that he must disentangle before it is too late to save the country - from http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/

 

This is the ninth in the Thomas Chaloner series.  They're always enjoyable and you get a bit of history thrown in.

 

 

 

 

It is 1921 and a terrible discovery has been made at a manor house in Surrey - the bloodied bodies of Colonel Fletcher, his wife and two of their staff. The police seem ready to put the murders down to robbery with violence, but DI Madden from Scotland Yard sees things slightly differently - from http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ 

 

This is new author for me and the first in the DI Madden series.  It is set in the aftermath of WWI; everyone is somehow damaged by the war and this colours their actions. Madden is dealing with his own trauma of his time in the trenches and is better able to understand the mind of the murderer.  There are 3 more in the series and I'm looking forward to reading them. 

 

Himself is down with Man Flu (I think it's actually the Real Flu because he had a temperature and everything) so is getting on my nerves  at home.  I've decamped to Science Girl's room to sleep and I wash my hands every time I look at him in an effort to remain un-sick.

 

I'll leave you with a picture of the Mad Wee Dog on Patrol for intruders.  The snow is now considerably deeper.