300th BLOG!!!!!!!!!! Spring is right around the corner.

Well maybe the first few photos do not indicate "spring is right around the corner" but believe me, I can feel it coming.

I've been told by locals that on occasion we can view the northern lights. Here, just as beautiful is our sunset on a regular basis. 

We took a Friday drive to Sullivan Lake about 40 miles from the house to see if any of the eagles we spotted here a month ago were still hanging out. Here the Pend Oreille River is nearly frozen over but I wouldn't walk on it at this stage.

Donna made a good effort to find some of the birds but none were seen by us. I'll check at the U.S. Forestry Station near the top of the lake to find out if there are resident eagles in the area.

Sullivan Lake is about 5 miles long, 1 mile wide, 300 feet deep and frozen solid shore to shore. I expected to see some ice fishermen but either it is not a great fishing lake or too secluded to consider.

It was fairly easy to see that this ice cliff is formed by a spring along side the road. 

It was a good thing we have four wheel drive in order to get to the forest station at the upper end of the lake. We did find them open during the week but closed for lunch...damn, just my luck. We headed home after the station to free our dogs from the garage...no hate mail please, it's heated.

Now to the point of the blog...spring is on its way. The daytime temperatures are hitting over 40 degrees lately and then a 1/2 inch of rain two days ago turned my driveway into an ice rink. Even though the current night time temps are just under freezing I was amazed how quickly and hard the driveway froze.  

I thought about putting salt down but it only melts the ice during the day and then freezes again at night.  Sand came to mind but I didn't want to risk getting yelled at for the dogs and I dragging sand into the house during the next week. I settled on wood chips. I can get a compressed 50 pound bag of shavings for less than $6. All it took was one bag of 12 cubic feet of screened soft pine shaving... compressed to 3 cubic foot... to do the whole driveway. I'm sure it will be easier to sweep up any wood shaving than trying to get the sand out of the house.

I am getting my birdhouses anchored in the trees so when the spring or summer crowd returns there might be a vacant house they can use. This is a robins nest and not much over six feet high from the ground. Obviously they enjoy a very open patio, with a view. 

Here is a house I built for a wren, warbler or nuthatch of different dimensions and height requirements then the robins in order to keep sparrows and european starlings from occupying the property. I tossed around how to anchor the houses to the tree without damaging it and I settled on lag screws. Some folks use bands but unless you adjust the band constantly you could severely deform and damage the tree.

When we bought the house, a plastic ball hanging on the side of the garage was always a question mark for us. In the weeks following our purchase we talked to the neighbors and found out that a northern flicker (woodpecker) was attacking this side of the garage...a common problem here. All failed until the ball was hung, the northern flicker or flickers hated it and left the garage alone...it was either that or a pellet gun. 

This is a proper northern flicker (woodpecker) house. I am assuming that if I give them what they need they will leave our house alone. The northern flicker house is stuffed to the top with sawdust, apparently they like burrowing within the house. We have seen northern flickers all winter long on our back patio so we know they not a seasonal resident. 

Here is the screech owl nesting box...time will tell if I can attract one or not, of course based on it's name... do I want to?

The last birdhouse (for finches) is sitting on the workbench waiting for me to place it. I was surprised in researching birdhouses on how the requirements change for each specie. It was automatic for me to include a dowel for the birds to sit upon but nearly all websites advised against dowel...seems they are used primarily by sparrows and starlings, unwanted birds. The work bench, while being thoroughly rejected by a woodworking union, is a recent addition to the original work bench in the garage, because I needed more bench space.

See that little green spike? That is how I know spring is coming. I call it the "Donna Spike" but it's actual name is "Cajun Bell Hot Pepper" sowed on February 1st and will be considered the first occupant of the......

ZWART GARDEN....yeah! This beautiful cut metal sign was a Christmas present from my favorite sister-in-law on my wife's side of the family and will adorn the entrance to the garden...when the soil thaws. ☺