Brad's Blog
 photo by Forrest Stonedahl 2021
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January 3, 2022

Here's a young flicker to welcome the new year:


Jan. 8th.
The yard stick in our back yard shows 25 inches of snow, down from 28 inches before a 40 degree thaw and rain yesterday.  The streets in town can be skated with impunity...  Front end loaders can be heard moving snow and ice chunks around by day and night.  It's reassuring to be having a somewhat normal winter...

January 10th


This is our church at Priest Lake yesterday.  Butters became a regular attender in the summer months, and now joins the small fold inside for the winter as well...

This is looking out at the icicles shown in the previous photo, with a dark snow background on a sunny day...


And here's at least one Cassin's finch at our feeder yesterday (the one on the right--the other might be a house finch)

Jan. 13
For a few days the temperature has been reaching high 30's, so it felt like time to plod a way down to the lake.  (The yardstick in our yard is still at around 19 inches of snow).   All the snow in the lake got changed into ice or water, so walking on the lake was easy, except for a few wet spots on top...


Earlier at our feeder area we noticed another little red topped bird, and don't see them often enough to remember, but found them as common redpolls:


It's smaller than a Cassin's finch and has the black bib in addition to striped feathers...


Jan. 16
The sun shone on the lake ice today, producing these varied images:








The second circular one was where an ice fisherman used an auger to check for fish and ice thickness (3-4 inches)...

Jan. 21
I've been making more new videos from old recordings, to make them more presentable in HD on youtube;
Here are some: from the last month:
Roll on Buddy
Darkness on the Delta
Take me home, Poor Julia
Talk about suffering
You think I'm crazy
When I woke up this morning she was gone
Honey babe I'm bound to ride
Fugitive's Lament
Ching Chong
Love or Luck
Almost a Kottke
What goes on in your heart

We are having warm freezer or cold refrigerator temperatures, and are predicted to continue so for the next week.  So here's some of the ephemeral  ice formations at the bridge on the mill pond:





Jan. 22
I recorded some videos of hymns this morning for guitarists so they could see the chords and fingering...
Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus
In Christ there is no East or West
Picardy
A recent original tune
I shall not be moved
When peace like a river
Brightest and Best of the stars of the morning

Jan. 24
With the ice on the lake thick and fairly granular, I tried riding my e-bike on it to the Maiden Rock access.  I attached my slightly ailing camera to it in video mode to document it.
I made two videos with the results, using old tunes of mine for the sound track
Bike ride of King Laios chronicles the ride down to the lake and getting to Maiden Rock
G Slide ragwith bike slide details Maiden Rock and the part of the lake that was slipperier, where I slid out.   (I have a sore rib to show for it, won't be riding on the lake again soon, but it was great!)

Jan. 25
We got our 16th bird species sighted this year from our yard today, with the colorful evening grosbeak.

 It's been a long time since we've seen flocks of these come and clean our out sunflower seeds from the feeder.  We used to call them seed pigs...

I've just added a 50 year pottery retrospective at this address:  

Jan. 27
We walked on the lake to Maiden Rock today, and the icicles and sky were very nice...



Mt. Spokane viewed from Spirit Lake, with the first island in the middle...  There is a stress crack in the ice in the foreground.  Mt. Spokane is a state park which is also a downhill ski area...
books read
Outcast Starship series  by Joshua James and Daniel Young.  These mostly remind me of the Firefly TV series.  They get a bit too carried away detailing space battles, and  sound a lot more like sea pirate battles than space ships, but still highly entertaining...
Margot Durand Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Books 1 - 12 by Danielle Collins  Enjoyable whodunits with a female pastry chef as protagonist.  No recipes--in my mind a plus...
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