The sun finally appeared after a string of cloudy days and this is the type of white I rather see than a white ground covered with snow.
Daffodils Smiling
Picture of the Day for April 19, 2013
It is getting very old looking at snow falling like it is again today! I rather look at old machinery like this old potato planter. But this potato planter would have trouble planting through the snow and I bet your butt would get rather chilly on the metal seat since it is below freezing outside.
There is an old wives’ tale that planting potatoes should always be done on Good Friday which would have encountered a frozen ground this year. The tradition of Good Friday planting seems to originate in Ireland. The potato came from an area around Peru and came to Europe about 1570 but took a while for the potato to catch on. In the 19th century, many Irish Protestants refused to eat potatoes on the grounds that they weren’t mentioned in the Bible. Irish Catholics skirted the issue by planting them on Good Friday, thereby baptizing the little spuds and making them holy.
But now every Irish man, woman and child eats more than 250 pounds of them each year. I must have some unknown Irish ancestor since I love potatoes too. The planting of potatoes have changed over the years. The International Harvester General Catalog published in 1927 had this McCormick-Deering One-Row Potato Planter listed on page 193. The horse-drawn planter could hold 3 bushels in the hopper and the planter weighed 580 pounds and could have an additional fertilizer attachment.
Old Potato Planter
Picture of the Day for April 18, 2013
I saw a group of horses yesterday that appeared to be as sick of the snow as I am and I bet they would like green pastures soon instead of the snow that is on its way this afternoon!
Horse enjoying summer!
Picture of the Day for April 17, 2013
Since the snow won’t let up, there hasn’t been very many sunsets due to the overcast days and definitely no grass to sit on to watch the sun go down.
Waiting for a Sunset
Picture of the Day for April 16, 2013
The robins have had their tails snowed on more than three times already so it is time for spring to come. On the news last night, there was a question wondering if all the robins were finding food since there are no worms for them to find. A local bird expert said the robins were on a Ramen noodle diet right now and not a Filet Mignon meal plan as they were eating spider eggs and any remaining berries.
The birds that eat flying insects, like the tree swallows and purple martins, are in trouble since it is too cold for flying bugs. So the wrens better stay south as they won’t be finding caterpillars to eat right now like this wren.
Hungry Wren
Picture of the Day for April 15, 2013
The RMS Titanic, a British passenger liner, sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning on April 15, 1912 after colliding with an iceberg the previous evening just before midnight during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York City.
Yesterday it wasn’t an ice berg, but ice did cause a ‘sinking’ when the power lines and trees became encased in ice. When the heavy limbs broke from the freezing rain, it took power lines down causing a power outage.
The remaining passengers and crew aboard the Titanic when she sank were plunged into lethally cold water with a temperature of only 28°F. Almost all of those in the water died of hypothermia, cardiac arrest, or drowning within minutes. Even though the temperature was below freezing yesterday, at least my house didn’t get that cold before the power was restored.
Icy Day
Picture of the Day for April 14, 2013
On this day in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth while watching a play called Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. After Lincoln was shot, they carried him across the street to the William Petersen’s boarding house. They had to lay him diagonally on the bed because his tall frame would not fit normally on the smaller bed in the first floor bedroom.
When I visited the Peterson House thirty plus years ago, I remembered seeing the blood stained pillow and the quilt on the bed. The pillow and pillow case are the ones used by Lincoln but the bed and other furniture are replicas. I don’t know if the quilt is the same but the one displayed in the museum has some color in it, but not as much as this quilt. And after seeing the snow coming down outside this morning, I need as much color as possible!
Colorful Quilt
Picture of the Day for April 13, 2013
This milkweed pod looks like a monster ready to devour something. Hopefully it wants to gobble up snow because it has a lot of snow to eat!
Milkweed Monster
Picture of the Day for April 12, 2013
Mother Nature is playing a late April Fool Day joke. It is snowing and I thought the saying was April showers bring May flowers. I have no clue what April snow brings besides cussing and sore backs from shoveling the heavy, wet snow. It definitely is not bringing flowers but it has brought a lot of birds to the feeders (and other critters too).
I probably should have posted a flower picture but maybe by giving the snow its coverage as the picture of the day, it can go hibernate for a while and let spring come!
Cruel Joke!
Picture of the Day for April 11, 2013
The birds and critters must have been listening to the weather forecast since there were lots of birds pigging out at the feeders, even the cardinal (which some say brings the snow). And the chipmunk came out of hibernation to stuff its cheeks full of seed to carry off to its den. After the fourth trip, I went out to the feeder and the chipmunk just sat there waiting for me to leave so it could continue stealing my seed.
Seed Bandit
