10-14-2019 Monday--9:30am

Good Morning!  

Lots of pictures of birds, snow, and pens this week.  So funny now that I was afraid I wasn't going to have any birds to feed this winter!  Early in the week I was excited to see this covey of seven.  (But just wait!)

I spent the week cleaning fountain pens.  You may recall I was too sick to keep up with my fountain pens, ran them all dry, and piled them in that little shoe box to be cleaned later.  Well, I finally grouped them up mostly by brand...

...and have been slowly cleaning a batch a day.

Take them apart, clean out the cap with a brush, shoot water in a syringe through the converter, squeeze water through the nib with that blue bulb thingie, do several five-minute rounds in the new jewelry cleaner, rinse the parts with water again and (if  the water is clear) leave to dry.

I haven't been able to do a batch every day, so I still have a couple left yet.

****

Yes, I am a real pen nerd.  I showed my FP trays a long time ago, but for anyone new:

I rotate through approximately 35-40 FPs in 5-6 little stacking trays.  I write daily in three journals and write to about 30 people total (about a dozen quite regularly).  I use different  colored old highlighters (see the yellow one fourth from the left) to keep track as to where I am in the rotation for journals and in letters.  

I keep a notebook that's divided by tray number tabs...

...where I keep track of which ink is currently in which pen.

I mainly need to know that because I love to buy up ink sample vials from GouletPens.  The vials hold more ink than will fill a single pen converter so I keep the leftover ink over on my desk in one of these wire drawers...

 ...in alphabetical order so I can use the rest of the ink up in the proper pens.

Yes, I am most definitely a pen nerd--ROFL!  ;)

****

Okay--back to the partridges!

****

They were predicting possible snow for late Thursday night through Saturday.  We were on the edge of the storm's path and the edge of freezing so weren't sure how much of it  we would see here.  Well, the birds knew it was coming!  

OMG!  

I suddenly had this covey of 15 partridges show up for food!  They came back every couple of hours!!  It was awesome!!

****

When Leah came over Thursday night it wasn't snowing yet but by the time she left she said there was a slush on the car.  No crafts this week.  When I went to turn on the TV Sunday night...

...my Smart TV wasn't connected or my YT-TV had disconnected--I wasn't sure what happened but I told Leah I could watch on my laptop till Thursday--which was just fine.  Well, it turned out that the Smart TV had somehow reverted back to factory settings?  I don't know what I could have done or if Dagan and Ian did something when they plugged in my humidifier back there on Sunday or if the TV lost it's very smart mind--but out of the three scenarios I pick the latter--LOL!  ;)

****

Needless to say, that's all we did all night was to reprogram the Smart TV.  You have to log in to each program you use (Netflix, Prime, etc).  Something you only think you will have to do once, you know?  I thank Leah for her patience and technical expertise.

****

  If it weren't for their help I would definitely need a dumb TV. 

**** 

Woke up Friday morning to a thin layer of the white stuff on the grass, but the snow was melting as it touched down on the streets and sidewalks.  All the seed was gone so I tossed out a couple cups...and within minutes had company.  :)

Notice Annie peeking out the cracked patio door.  :)

***

Even the vole came for a quick bite.

The  humongous covey kept coming back again and again.  (I counted 17 a couple of times and last night there were 20!!)

****

I had gotten this far cleaning pens but had to take a long break because I had pushed it with the KT situation.  

My knuckle was at the top end of red, swollen and painful right when I woke up...and the toe was also plus feeling like I had a stone underneath it.  I  didn't want to push myself into a bad flare so I waited till the next day to even fill them and have left the rest alone since.

****

(The KT situation has improved with taking it easy on them and is much better by  today.)

****

Anyways, I took a short video of the pretty snow falling before the blizzard arrived.

As the wind and snow picked up the covey stuck around and ate like crazy.  I was putting out more seed every 2-3 hours.

Flocks of sparrows were here, too, of course.

Annie was really enjoying it all--the snow, the birds, the smells.

I kept the patio door cracked open as long as I could.  

Really wasn't that cold but the wind had picked up so that we moved into blizzard conditions.

The heavy, wet. sticky snow was plastered on the screen and window.

I could barely see out, but enough that you could tell the birds had all retreated for the duration of the storm.

****

Saturday morning I woke up to this.

The covey had been there digging for seed, so I tossed out some more right away.

Looks like winter, doesn't it?

We had bird company within a couple minutes.  Makes me wonder if a few of them were hunkered down nearby.

By Sunday afternoon the snow was already melting.

It was Gramma Day and Ian got to see 17 partridges on the patio.  See how fast the snow was melting!

Ian (snacking on cashews) wanted to watch... 

...Mighty Machines!

Gramma really enjoys that show because you always learn something new about how things are made or done.  At the end of our  afternoon we did watch some PJMasks, too.  A fun afternoon--chatting and learning.  :)

****

This is what it already looks like this morning.

Melting quickly.  All that green grass being revealed once again. 

The one tree across the way has turned reddish brown.  Still hasn't lost leaves even under the weight of the ponderous snow!  I wonder if this early freeze will throw off the progression of our trio? 

The weight of the snow broke big chunks of my begonias off in the planters and shriveled up the geraniums and coleus.  They all took a beating.

****

While I was typing just now the giant covey arrived, had lunch (12:15pm), and wandered off again.  Yes, I paused to watch.  ;)  I would love it if they stayed together all winter!  Safety in numbers, right?  There is a hawk living somewhere nearby, after all. 

****

Well, that's the news from this past week.  All the snow should be gone in another day or two, but what an odd thing to see when the leaves haven't even all turned, let alone fallen, and the grass is bright green.  Seems early to hear plows and shoveling and see snow piles.  Have you had unseasonable weather where you are?

****

Till next week...from the crazy pen lady--LOL!  It is such a delight to have most of my fountain pens back in action!  They aren't expensive pens, but there are a lot of them.  I am more into the inks than the pens, I suppose.  Have a great week!!  :) :)

****

"Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together."

Vista M. Kelly