The amaryllis I got for my birthday in 2019 is almost in bloom! I was worried it wouldn't bloom after the slugs ate off all its leaves this summer but it came through. Its brightening up this long boring winter.
It looks like the lake is finally frozen up for good:
Soon after he sped off after an unwary pine siskin and out of our sight range so we don't know if his hunt was successful.
Quiz of the Day:
Why is butcherbird the nickname for the northern shrike?
(Answer after the break)
You'd be amazed how often that answer worked out for me!
He broke Babe Ruth's homerun record and then held it for 33 years before it was broken by Barry Bonds (on steroids). I remember reading about it in my parents' Time magazine as a teenager back in 1974. Also an American hero who prospered despite enduring racism in the sport.
One of his last acts was getting the Covid vaccination just 2 weeks ago to encourage other African Americans to do likewise.
Here's a link to his obit on the CBC website.
The Williams Lake Area had only 40 cases of Covid-19 total in 2020. Since January one we've had 215 cases!
Here's a link to more info: https://www.wltribune.com/news/interior-health-declares-cariboo-chilcotin-region-a-covid-19-cluster/
It looks like its due to gatherings over Christmas.
Meanwhile we've been continuing to socially distance, our socializing is limited to going for walks with friends and cross country skiing. And grocery shopping once a week.
In early January our little snow all melted away. One day we walked back from the creek valley on the railroad tracks to avoid the mud and icy trails.
The dairyfields were treacherous!
And some sunny weather for walking.
Leo's been skiing regularly at the cross country trails, but I injured a toe and am waiting for it to heal.
We were asked to give a Zoom sideshow on our trip to Australia for the Williams Lake Naturalists. It was their first attempt so we were the guinea pigs. It was a bit weird to do it remotely and we hope it wasn't too boring. Leo put a lot of effort into the slideshow, and it was kind of fun to relive our trip from 2018. Oh, the days of free travel!
Also the Community Band is doing a remote performance. This won't be live; we will all record our individual parts and our director will piece them together and share it on line in mid February.
The weather forecast was for snow all night so I was disappointed to wake up to a bare dusting of snow. But then it stared snowing in earnest so we went out for a winter wonderland walk in the creek valley,
Enough snow for a Patti to make a snow angel:
We got lots of attractive face masks and they fit much better than the ones I made.
I'll look very stylish on my weekly run to Save On Foods.
At breakfast we tucked into our traditional Schwäbisch Hutzelbrot:
Now back to cooking our turkey dinner.
