Thawing out

I must have been tired from a day of non-stop cooking and eating, because I went to bed early last night and of course woke up too early this morning. Too early even for me. I listened to the rain washing away all the ice and snow (yea) but wasn't inspired to head to the mall with thousands of other people for the "early bird specials." I'll straggle off to my 8 am exercise class with the other over-eaters. Then boil down a pile of turkey bones for soup. Clean up the stove-top and the kitchen floor. Big exciting day ahead.

The snow was pretty, but good riddance. When it started to melt yesterday, I counted 12 robins on the leaf mulch looking for worms-- the poor things were hungry. The house sparrows and finches have been draining a feeder of sunflower seeds a day. And the crows are always hanging around, waiting for me to throw a stray pancake out in the yard. But I wish I knew where the robins go when it's truly cold.

I always take pictures of the garden when it snows-- I'm not sure why, since we have hundreds of photos all about the same. But the snow made cool "hats" on the bonsai plants:

And once again, a poor palm tree shivering in the snow:

A bleak frozen garden:

That will look like this again in a few months:

Meanwhile, it's been balmy in Seattle compared to eastern Washington, where Amanda and Tom have been trying to stay warm in sub-zero temperatures. Here's Nova with her dad, bundled up like the Michelin tire baby:

And who knows what the winter will bring?