Eagle in the Sweet Gum Tree

There's no news; and I just posted yesterday, but here's today's shot of "our" eagle in the back yard.  It's too bad the sky behind him was almost the same color as his head.

Staying Warm

     While we have had to scrape the ice off the windshield, we have not had the cold temperatures recently that many of our New England friends have had.  Durelle and Cindy even played golf last week.  We have spent thirty years in NH, CO, and AK, so I think we have paid our dues.  We are enjoying living in a place where the hardware stores do not feature a display of snow shovels.  The first picture is of our holly bush in front of the house.  The color isn't great, but it does show that it is loaded with holly berries.  The cedar waxwings haven't found the berries yet.  Snow would have made it a more classic picture, but we can get along without it.  The next two shots were taken today of blue herons on the edge of the retention pond in our back yard.  The grandfather looking beast is a great blue heron.  His neck is not extended, but you can clearly see the shock of feathers that distinguishes him.  The last is a little blue heron according to our field guide.  He's smaller and bluer.
     Things are quiet on the home front, and I guess that is a good thing.  Excitement is not one of our requirements these days. We hope you are keeping warm and are noticing the lengthening days.
    
     

Cloutier Update

     Well, we haven't been going anywhere or doing anything exciting, but I wanted to post something for those folks who, for some demented reason, would like to keep up with the Cloutiers.  The first picture is a closeup of one of the many blossoms on our Christmas cactus.  I have no idea what the Latin name is, but this plant is one of several that have been propagated from one that originally came from my paternal grandmother.  I guess the name came from the habit of flowering in mid-winter, but sometimes it is a Valentine's cactus.  The plant is approaching a century of annual blossoms.  The next was a daytime moon picture framed by our semi-dormant magnolia tree.  And the last is self explanatory.  I could only poke the camera out the door and shoot before this statuesque buck bolted into the woods.
     It has not been a typical South Carolina winter.  I know I won't get any sympathy from my New England readership, but we have set some new record low temperatures.  There was a respite today and Durelle and Cindy played golf.  Cindy had a good day, but still hasn't beaten her mother.  Baxter is doing fine.  Durelle believes he misses Belle.  I think she is imagining things, but who knows?
     Stay warm!

Christmas Season 2010

     The Christmas season has come and gone.  We went from snow flurries the day after Christmas to a 70 degree day for New Years.  We only had Cindy with us for Christmas, but we were joined by Mart (Durelle's brother) and Ann for New Years Eve.  The entre for Christmas was a standing rib with a broccoli casserole.  New Years saw us with baked ham and an old family recipe for potato salad complete with the original bowl.

     The first picture shows Baxter opening a present.  The second is our magnolia tree in a snow flurry.  The third shows that a trace of the snow survived for a few hours in cool spots.  Finally, the story behind Baxter's being curled up under a side table is that fireworks are legal here.  He was as nervous as Michael Vick addressing an ASPCA convention.  The celebrations ended shortly after midnight New Years, but he had a few hours while he really wanted to be somewhere else.

     We wish you all the best possible 2011.