Our black squirrels are still regular visitors. This is one on our deck. As you can see this one is actually pretty red in colour, but next to the real reds, he is pretty black. We know we have more than one black one as they vary in colour so much. Nice to get a bit of variety though.

Also we have lots of chipmunks running around. This is just one of many.

Spoke to my aunt and uncle in Spain yesterday and it is mid 20C there at the moment and no humidity, so pretty perfect.

The ironic thing was we had to first clear the snow from our very long driveway in order to get the car out so we could go into town to buy a blower! So, dressed in layers we each grabbed a shovel and off we set to clear the driveway. It total it took us two hours and we were completely knackered at the end and knew we would suffer with our backs later, but it had to be done. Have I mentioned that it is a very long drive? Here is the result of our labours.

Next we went into town to find a snow blower. Of course this is the wrong end of winter to buy one as most places had very few models left. We ended up in Sears and chose one recommended by the sales guy who was very helpful. We paid for it and were told to pick it up from the collection area. This was fine until we realized it would not fit in the back of the vehicle. Remind me why we downsized our SUV? So then we decided to have it delivered. The guy told us we could have it delivered on Saturday (it was Thursday) and that it would cost $65. We then had to go back in the store to arrange this.

We had to wait at the cashier desk for ages whilst he dealt with another customer, then it turns out he didn’t know how to arrange delivery for an item that had already been issued a receipt. So we had to wait for another staff member to come over and help him. Eventually it was done and they told us they could deliver on Tuesday. We told them we had been told Saturday but apparently the person who told us this was wrong and shouldn’t have done so.

We really wanted the blower before that as we were forecast more snow over the weekend and would have to clear the driveway to allow the delivery vehicle access when it turned up. By this time (we had been in Sears nearly an hour) Chris was really fed up and decided to cancel the purchase and buy one from Lowes where we could hire a van for $20 and take it home ourselves. Unpon this revelation the sales guy phoned the manager and asked for help saying his customer wanted to cancel an order. Next thing we knew the manager was offering to deliver it himself that very afternoon.

This was great news, although one has to wonder why a store as large as Sears cannot deliver more than once or twice a week. Anyway, we gave directions to our house and drove home. About 40 mins later the manager turned up with the snow blower. We then realized we didn’t have any gas in the canister to fill it with, so whilst Chris read the instructions – well that is what he told me he was doing – but he is a man so he probably just fiddled with levers until he did the right thing! I went to off to get a canister of gas.

Within minutes of me arriving back laden with fuel the blower was up and running and off he went to try out his new toy.

Since buying the snow blower Chris has been out three times to clear the drive, so well worth the investment so far. Now he has his ride on mower for the summer and his snow blower for winter enjoyment. Boys and their toys!!

Oh, and yes we did suffer from the shoveling. Aching backs, aching arms and I am so glad we don’t have to do that again.

I managed to get a quick pic of one of our regular squirrels we call White Tip. You will see exactly why we call her that.

Also, so as not to be outdone, I got a still from a film segment I took the other day of the rabbits in the garden.

Last year the pair had four babies but they got killed by another killdeer that turned up unexpectedly, so we only had babies for a short while. Hopefully they will do better this year – perhaps the parents have bought baby sitters with them to help LOL. It will be interesting to watch the dynamics as they next and have young.

Other birds that have now arrived include robins and a possible sighting of the flicker, still to be confirmed. The raccoons are about as are the chipmunks and of course the squirrels are always about regardless of the weather. Since we haven’t had any major bad weather the deer are not about as much as they have been in the past which is a shame.

Talking of the weather  - it is all over the place lately. We really haven’t had a winter this year, just a few days of snow here and there and some cold days (including today), but on the whole nothing compared to the previous years we have been here. The weekend looks to be cold and rainy, but next week is looking warmer and sunny.

This is what our garden looks like at the moment.

Last night we also had the deer wander through and because it wasn’t yet dark I managed to get some photos.

I seemed to have pressed the shutter just as something spooked them…

We went to Kingston yesterday and purchased some new fish for our tank. They are very pretty and I will try to get some photos of them to blog soon. At the moment they are still a bit shy and skittish, so I will wait until they are more settled before making them pose for the camera!

Also, last week we went to Toronto for the Autoshow. We took some photos but I have not had time to look at them and get them on my blog. Maybe soon.

Went out shopping for groceries this morning and we missed all the crowds which was good. So last minute grocery shopping turned out to be fairly painless.

Here is a photo of our back garden at the moment – plenty of snow about.

And here is our resident Hairy Woodpecker

The next time I write Christmas will be over.

So, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL.

The forecast for the coming week is wetter, colder and the possibility of mixed precipitation at the weekend, but we will wait and see. Often they cannot predict the next day, let alone a week ahead.

The deer are still coming into the garden, but we have to keep looking for them as now it is getting dark so early we don’t see them wander in. We have loads of dark eyed junkos (snowbirds) around as well as both the downy and hairy woodpeckers making frequent visits to the feeders. The squirrels are very funny collecting nuts and then hiding them under leaves or a tuft of grass and as soon as their backs are turned the blue jays just take the nuts. The jays are very clever and watch the nuthatches, woodpeckers and squirrels to see where they put the nuts snd then steal them.

We have had the deer start to come back though. A mother and her baby came by yesterday and I managed to get a couple of quick snaps before they ran off.

We also had the sharp shinned hawk pay a visit.

The weather is starting to get cooler, but still pretty pleasant, at least there is no snow here yet! Daytime temps in the mid teens on a good day and high single digits on the cooler days. We have had a few frosts too.

On Saturday we decided to go for day out to Algonquin Park. We hoped we would be able to see a moose or two but unfortunately we saw pretty much nothing. Oh, we did see a heron – which we can see anytime around where we live, but at least we saw something.

All the lakes were pretty much frozen over still and it was considerably colder “up north” than we had where we live. They still had quite a bit of snow on the ground.

Back home we are still getting the deer wandering through the garden. From past experience this will soon stop as once we get towards the end of April we see them less and less.

Lots of chipmunks about now along with the usual squirrels.

We are still seeing a change in the wildlife. The deer are not around as much and we are getting hundreds of grackles, blackbirds and goldfinches. The male goldfinches are starting to change from their dowdy olive green winter colours to their vibrant yellow and black summer plumage. They look a little scruffy at the moment, but another week and they will be beautiful.

Here are some pics we took this morning of the purple finches, goldfinches and brown headed cowbirds.

We are yet to see any female blackbirds, they are obviously leaving the hard work to the males and then will join them soon – either that or we are going to have a lot of lonely males this year!

In a previous post I mentioned that it was worth shopping around for stuff to get the best price. We proved this again yesterday when we wanted to buy a new projector for our business. We knew the one we wanted and had seen it for just over $1,000, however on looking further we found it advertised on one website for just $849, however the local shop did not have it in stock so we went to Staples to see if they would price match it. They had it advertised for $1,029 and when we showed the guy the lower price he seemed a little miffed. He got the price match authorized and we go the projector from there. I also had a $20 coupon which further reduced it as well as 10% of the difference credited to the price, so in the send we paid $811 for it. It definitely pays to research pricing here.

Over the last couple of weeks we have saved a fortune – $350 off my washer, $218 off the projector and whilst we were in the US I purchased an item of clothing that was originally $100 and I paid $27 in the sale. Hubby bought two shirts originally priced at $80 each and got them in the sale for just $9.99 each. I also got $80 off a handbag, so we have really done well for bargains recently.

What I haven’t done so well with is health – we came back from the US on Sunday evening and by Monday I had a cold. This has been really bad over the last week and I have been suffering. However, it is worth noting that this is the first cold I have had since arriving in Canada nearly three years ago – I blame the Americans for this one! Sorry to those of you reading who are American – I know you are out there – but I was fine before I arrived in Rochester and within a few ours of getting back I am sneezing, coughing and had a sore throat. I can draw no other conclusion other than I have an American cold!