Frozen River and Pines

I am still in the mood to post pictures of our first day here at the place that we call Riverwood; it was the combination of snow, ice, and sun that seemed so wonderful. The top photo of the frozen river is where we swim in summer. We get in on this side of that little pine tree that you see on the right bank. The water is lower in summer, so it's a bit of a climb down and up for an aging bod. In spring, however, the river runs high, sometimes even over the bank. We have only been here in one spring, but, somewhere in the family archives, there is a picture of me touching the water while lying at the top of the river bank.

The photo below is at the back of the homestead area. There is a row of big old pines, and we keep a hammock back there in summer. Well, of course it would be summer — even Canadians aren't silly enough to lie out in winter. The red squirrels don't appreciate our presence much and sometimes throw pine nuts and twigs and things, but we simply chuckle with delight. Sometimes, we put a humming bird feeder back there, and the hummers will come by and and hover for a spell.

When I trudged back to take this photo, however, it was an inquisitive chickadee who came by to investigate whether I might be carrying peanut butter. I wasn't at the time, but we later smeared some on the feeding tree out front, for who can resist a chickadee? As I sit near the window to type this, I can sometimes spot one or two flying in and out of the feeding tree. There is blue jay displaying some interest although I am sure that he would prefer peanuts in the shell.