More of the white stuff

David sent me this picture of the view from his office window over Dulles airport.  It was taken early this morning but by 9am it was snowing steadily.

The flakes were large and there was soon an inch or so of very fluffy wet snow covering the garden and confounding the long-suffering birds.

At around midday the sun came out and by mid afternoon much of this fresh snow had melted, leaving fluffy clumps like cotton wool on the trees and bushes.

Tomorrow the forecast is for more snow, followed by strong winds and overnight temperatures for the next few nights of -9 to -11C.

Book Club

There are several book clubs run by the Women's Club but I opted to join the Monday morning one - which meets on the first Monday of the month.  Hence I need to read this book which has in fact been on our shelves for years.  

I am hoping that reading with a book club will encourage me to absorb a little more of the content of the books that I read, rather than chasing through them to get to the end and then forgetting everything!

In the back garden we have a number of large trees with grassy or mossy patches beneath them which look as if they would be good places to sit and read. 

This afternoon I have been raking (more) leaves to uncover the grass around the trees.

Sitting under the trees at this time of year would be cold and damp.  Once the warm weather comes it could be a different story  - but it may be that being nibbled by passing insects could then be the problem.  We shall see..

PS (Tues morning) - in the last hour things have changed a little from the way they looked yesterday when the tree photo was taken..

(The tree in yesterday's photo is the one in the foreground..)

Hunter's Wood

In need of some fresh air and exercise this afternoon after a late-ish night entertaining our neighbours to dinner, we set off for a walk through Hunter's Wood, our nearest community woodland.

Reston is divided into a number of community areas and each has an outdoor swimming pool as well as woodland trails with recreation areas and nature houses.  At present it is hard to imagine using the Hunter's Wood pool, which will be open from May to September.  No doubt when summer comes it will be hard to believe that it was ever cold enough to snow!

The outdoor pools are currently frozen and the snowdrift in front of the entrance has yet to melt.

Further into the woods we disturbed two or three deer who were foraging amongst the leaves under the trees, one made a dash for cover..

There are not many signs of Spring to report in the woods - some snowdrops, a few ferns and this plant which I did not recognise, and did not photograph very well.  It looked like mini- trees but with a spike of flower at the top.

The trees in the woods grow very tall, partly because they are competing for light.  The fact that they grow so close together also means that a higher proportion become diseased and there are quite a few that are obviously dead but quite beautiful with bleached white branches against the blue sky.

It will be good to see the trees and undergrowth start to become greener again in the coming months.

Hidden signs of Spring

I first photographed these snowdrops several weeks ago.  Since then we have had more than a foot of snow, much of which hung around for almost a week. 

The snowdrops are undaunted and, in their blanket of leaves, are thriving.  Today the temperature rose to 16 C which must have been quite a shock to them.  Next week overnight temperatures are due to be as low as -9C which will be equally shocking!

It was strange to go out today without putting on layers and layers of clothing.

On the Road!

As I wasn't brave enough to take any pictures this morning whilst waiting at the rather forbidding Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, I am shamelessly using this image that was sent to me today (thank you Karen) to record the fact that I can now take to the road legally in the US, having passed my road test this morning.  Hurrah!

This afternoon I went along to the Bargain Loft, a thrift shop run by Herndon-Reston FISH - as above, to meet other volunteers and the shop manager and be trained for working in the shop.  Everyone was very friendly and it was fun looking around the very eclectic mix of goods for sale.

The aim of the shop (already named the Fish Shop by David) is two-fold - firstly to provide low income families with necessary household items at a very affordable price and secondly to raise funds for work that the organisation does to provide help to families in dire need eg with bills to prevent eviction.  The money raised also provides courses and a helpline to assist families with their future budget management.  At Thanksgiving and Christmas the organisation also funds food hampers for needy local residents.

It will be good to work as part of a team again and contribute to the success of the charity which is 45 years old, just five years 'younger' than Reston itself.

Saved by a Grackle!

This is the logo of the Women's Club of Greater Reston, which I joined recently and today attended my first meeting.  Everyone was very friendly and welcoming and the speaker on Shade Gardening in Virginia - with particular reference to plants and shrubs that deer are less likely to eat - was very helpful and interesting.

The meeting was held at Lake Anne which is quite a picturesque part of Reston - the lake was still partially frozen and quite photogenic but I went off to lunch with some of the other members of the club without taking any pictures.

Great lunch but I arrived home with no photos for the blog and was just wondering what I might do when we had a new visitor to the bird feeder.

We have been a bit overrun with starlings lately and some of the smaller birds have been put off.  However the newcomer was more than a match for them..

He is a Common Grackle - about the size of a magpie and quite similar in habit I think so maybe not a bird to encourage. However he was quite striking and in this instance I was pleased to see him!

Eventually a second one came along and then a third.. 

One rather persistent starling clung on to feed alongside its rather large cousins but most of them flew off, complaining loudly.

Birds Great and Small

Returning home from a driving lesson this morning I was surprised to see, just up the road, a very large bird tearing at the remains of a squirrel and trying to fend off another large black bird.  

When I hurried back with the camera, one bird was still there..  He was not too impressed at my arrival and retreated to the tree above when I moved too close.

Looking at his shape, large size and his rather unusual features, he was recognisable as a turkey vulture.  Our 'backyard' bird book suggests that the bird he was fighting off may have been a black vulture - apparently  known to follow turkey vultures until they find prey or carrion and then fight them for it.

Not a typical backyard bird !  However, as the sun came out today and the temperature rose to the dizzy heights of 12C, the snow which had remained deep for almost a week started to melt at speed and the sound of dripping water was everywhere.  

A pair of mourning doves, almost impossible to see amongst the leaves, snuggled themselves down on a dryish patch of ground, warmed by the sun and sunbathed for a good 30 minutes without moving!

A little more lively and searching for food under the damp leaves and running surface water were a flock of robins who spread themselves out over the garden and neighbouring woods and gardens.

I think that by morning, most of the snow will be gone and some of the surface water should then drain away.