Snow day

That's right skiing sock monkey... only 14 days left!

And it's looking like it might even be a white Christmas.

That Nor' Easter everyone has been talking about finally made it's way to us, bringing several inches of snow and coating the cedars out back in pretty white frosting (please ignore the fence that came down in the last wind storm... it will probably be spring before property management gets it back up...)

That means working from home for me (otherwise, it's at least two hours to get to work) and that means extra knitting time because I don't have to commute. (Pics of what I'm working on to follow in the next few days.)

It also means I get to keep an eye on the backyard. The sparrow mafia has been back and forth to the feeder, but we also had a new visitor

(Not the greatest picture - it's grey and snowing, he's grey and far away... and I took the picture through the window). If my internet sleuthing is correct, he's a Dark-Eyed Junco. They are a type of sparrow that lives in the Rockies, but during winter spreads out across the slightly warmer parts of Canada.

He wasn't shy, but definitely cautious. It took him a good 15 minutes to move from the fence to the feeder...

...where he ate his fill and flew off.  I bought the bird feeder for the entertainment of the cats.... but I think I enjoy it far more than they do!

Speaking of  cat entertainment... someone else decided that since I'm home, I should be opening the door every five minutes. The first time I went out, he put on paw in the snow on the back step and immediately went back inside. I shoveled off the back patio, but he refused to come out and left for a three-hour nap.

Refreshed, he came back down to howl for the outdoors again, so I obliged.

By this time, the patio was snow-covered again,  but the step and small patch up against the house were protected by the overhang of the eaves. He refused to budge from that area... even to come back inside.

Now it's far too cold to leave the door open all afternoon while he surveys the yard... so I did what any good cat-mom would do...

Have you ever seen a sadder face?

But he hasn't bugged me to go back out since....