Tag: room with a view

Ice and Snow Brought Out the Birds

Ice and Snow Brought Out the Birds

Our weekend was bracketed with snow and ice, which kept the family immobile for much of what turned out to be a four-day mini indoor stay-cation. Although I was pretty much climbing the walls with my nine-year-old son by yesterday, there were a few bright spots to our confinement. This is where I shamelessly brag about my Kansas City Chiefs winning the AFC Championship Sunday. They are Super Bowl bound for the first time in 50 years and it has been so exciting to watch the journey.

Other than Sunday, which was all about football, we did while away several moments of our days watching the plethora of birds flocking to our feeders on the back deck. I think every bird living in the Three-Acre Wood knows where to find the food on snowy days! I sometimes wonder what would happen to our feathered friends if we ever sold our home to people who aren’t as conscientious about feeding the local wildlife. I know they will forage and find food somewhere, but I also think the locals are pretty spoiled.

Our winter has been so mild until now that I even spotted a tree full of robins still in town. I’m sure they are regretting that choice, and hopefully they quickly pointed their beaks south to warmer climates. Unfortunately the robins didn’t stand still long enough for me to snap a photo, but I did catch several other birds on camera. Below are just a few visitors from the last several days, and you can click on a specific photo to enlarge it.

Wren2
CardinalInTree
TuftedTitMouse
Sparrow
SmilingCardinal
SnowBirdonTwig
A Blizzard from the Warm Side of the Windows

A Blizzard from the Warm Side of the Windows

Sometimes I hate it when the weather man is right; and unfortunately he, she, they nailed today’s blizzard conditions in the Midwest. The Three-Acre Wood is now covered in a blustery blanket of snow and yesterday’s warm 50s have now been reduced to the mid-20s. New York is actually warmer than Kansas City! 

Other than early morning church, a “drop & shop” at the grocery store (which was insane) and family photos (of all things) we did manage to burrow down while the blizzard blew in for hours. It was pretty nice to watch the weather from the warm side of the windows, and even Dixie the cat enjoyed the view. Thankfully my husband stocked the bird feeders this week so our wild feathered friends were happy, but the hens spent most of the day inside.

Here are just a few photos from our room with a view. I hope you are weathering the storm or enjoying better temps too.

blizzard

This cat loves to watch the birds and today she darted back and forth as if she was at Wimbledon.

 

blizzard

The wild birds crowded around the freshly stocked feeder as the wind and snow pelted everything in its wake.

 

blizzard

The hens weren’t too happy with today’s weather conditions and spent most of their free time indoors. Doesn’t the chicken coop look festive with a fresh blanket of snow?

 

blizzard

The Three-Acre Wood by late afternoon was mostly covered in snow.

 

Twelve Favorite Photos And Instagram’s Best Nine

Twelve Favorite Photos And Instagram’s Best Nine

Today I’m sharing another year-end wrap up (yes, I’m milking 2016 for all it’s worth), but this has to be one of my favorites because it’s all about photography (just a little hobby of mine). If you are an Instagram user, you probably have seen several collages running across your feed with the hashtag #2016bestnine. I immediately thought the concept was super cool, but the idea of calculating the number of visits to every Instagram photo sounded completely exhausting (and more than slightly insane). Luckily I discovered a simple website (this may be old news to most of you) that will calculate your top nine Instagram photos of 2016 and instantly create a collage that can be shared across social media. Here is the collage created for Small Talk Mama:

best nine

The concept is really fun, and super easy to produce, but there’s only one thing wrong with the product — many of my personal favorites don’t appear in the list and the latest photos posted are still receiving likes well into the new year.  So instead of settling for some simple statistically created collage, I’ve decided to take matters into my hands and share my top twelve personal favorite photos from the past year (in no certain order).  If you enjoy the show, you should follow Small Talk Mama on Instagram!

 

 

#kansascityzoo #lightinspired

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A little fun at #unionstationkc

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Pure joy! His first time at the beach. #daytonabeach

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Since the boat was hooked up, Rob went fishing again this morning… And he is glad he did! #mdc #missourifishing #iphone6

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My Naked Ladies finally bloomed #flowers

A photo posted by Small Talk Mama (@smalltalkmama) on

 

My cardinal pic won a #blueribbon at the #plattecountyfair

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Jellyfish from our recent visit to the #omahazoo

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Puddle Jumping at #westonredbarnfarm

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Visited the historic steam train during its stop at #unionstationkansascity #unionpacific844 Very cool!

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Our #jackolantern 2016. Our son designed it and we cut it. Love that big grin.

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Our Lego advent snowplow saw some real action today, courtesy of my little man. #legoadvent

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On the outside looking in… #christmashome #christmasdecor

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Posted at Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop

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