I Love To Go A Gardening
Growing Our Life in Northern Michigan
Michigan Winter
We’ve had a very mild winter this year with relatively warm temperatures and not much snow. Winter finally arrived this week with about a foot of snow. EJ snowblowed the driveway on Thursday but by the next morning the driveway was snowed in again. Snowblowing our long steep driveway is exhausting and I’ve offered to take a turn, but EJ insists on doing it so I can keep crocheting.
The deer have been coming up to eat the bird seed from the feeders. I enjoy watching them, but if Hannah Joy sees them, she barks at them with her tail wagging and scares them away. I leave corn for the deer in the bird bath near the big rocks. Last summer I accidentally bought whole kernel corn instead of crushed corn for the chickens so I saved the whole kernel corn for the deer. I think it’s funny when the deer look through the window at us to make sure we aren’t a threat.
We also have much colder temperatures dipping down to the single digits and below. I think the wind chill in the next day or two is forecasted to be -30 (F) degrees. The propane truck arrived on Thursday to refilled our tank so we will not run out during these cold days and nights.
When we take Hannah Joy outside, she quickly finishes “her business” and then plows through the snow up to the front door wanting to be let into the warm house where she cuddles in our laps. Hannah has a beautiful Nordic coat but we are outside so briefly that I don’t put it on her. She did wear it when we took her to the vet for her vaccinations earlier this week. Everyone who saw her thought she looked beautiful in her coat. The vet also trimmed her nails–because a girl’s got to look her best!
I’ve just finished making two cute goblins for a local customer. I’ve arranged to deliver it to her on Monday at the Sheriff’s Department parking lot. Today I will begin making the baby blanket and cocoon she ordered. EJ and I drove to Michael’s on Thursday to buy the yarn for the baby items. I think we found some very pretty yarn in the colors she had asked for. Michael’s was having “Buy 2 and Get One Free” sales on yarn so I was able to get several skeins free.
I had been working on a collection of Michigan Monsters and Legends. So far I have made a Torch Lake Monster and a Dogman. I began work on a Michigan Troll but I set it aside when I got the order for the goblins. After I finished the goblins, I quickly finished up the troll. The design is by Sharon Ojala and I think it is very cute. For those who may not know much about Michigan, our state has two peninsulas which are connected by the beautiful Mackinac Bridge. People who live in the Upper Peninsula are called “Yoopers” (UPers). They call those of us who live in the Lower Peninsula “Trolls” because we live south of the Mackinac Bridge–i.e. “under the bridge.” Unlike internet trolls, Michigan Trolls are generally friendly. The Trolls will join the others at my Etsy store soon.
I Love To Go A Gardening 
I’m worried about this -30F windchill TJ. They say we’ve not had a windchill like that since January of 1994. I pray we don’t lose our power and the pipes freeze. I’m ready for Spring and we had a mild Winter. I like Hannah Joy’s coat – did you crochet it?
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I’m glad the actual temperature is not -30, but the cold is still brutal!
I bought Hannah’s coat right after we adopted her because she was so thin.
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Yes, I am glad that’s not the air temp too TJ, but now they are saying -8 and maybe -35 to -40 windchill … sounds worse than originally forecast. That’s a beautiful coat – it will keep her warm for sure.
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Loved the deer licking its lips too – made me smile. 🙂
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The deer was at the edge of the forest looking at the bird feeder 😀
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My friend who lives in NY lives near a forest and they come and stand on their hind legs and tip it and eat the birdseed. At least they get corn at your house. 🙂
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Yes, our deer also stand on their hind legs to eat the bird seed from the feeders–AND they get corn. 😀 I love watching the deer. ❤
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I like to see your pictures and my friend Carol’s pictures make me smile. I follow a blogger named Carolyn and she lives in Ohio. She has the nicest encounters with deer and her last few blog posts have been about those deer. I just went now to get her site to send you a deer post and she had just posted this …
https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/28751874/posts/26684
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Here’s another recent post with deer to look at when you get a minute TJ. I love these deer how they look so intently. My friend Carol says the deer stomp and look at her when the feeder is empty. 🙂 The nerve!!!
https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/28751874/posts/26532
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I enjoy the bloggers you share with me, Linda! ❤ It really is delightful to watch the deer come to the feeders ❤
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Now this comment I can like TJ – the comment on the cold not so much … please bring on Spring! I really enjoy Carolyn’s photos. She gets close to those deer on the trail and last Winter/early Spring she had a family of owls living in a hollow in a tree. The owlets were so sweet! I believe it would be very peaceful to watch deer come to the feeders. Glad you enjoyed the photos … some warm fuzzies for a cold morning.
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