Oh but it is so beautiful! Hope the little birds have flown south for the winter. Just be thankful that you can be inside--I always feel sorry for the ones who have to work out in the cold (or heat too). So tell us how a southern gal like you ended up in that cold wintry place? Luvs

All the little birdies are pretty much gone now. I love the view more in the spring and summer when the flowering ornamental plum has beautiful pink flowers on it and there are tons of different birds out there and don't notice me peaking out at them. I've been wanting to get a bird book to figure out what they all are and write down my sitings of them, but haven't yet. We have peach doves that make there nest there every year and eat from my feeders. They come right up to my window. Me and the kids coo to them every year and we think that's why they come back. ha We also have some beautiful tiny woodpeckers too. I love those.
My dad went to college here as a young man and loved it out here. We think he hit his mid-life crisis and decided to uproot us when I was 19. I could have stayed and lived with my g-ma, but decided to stay with my family and give it a try. DH and I dated for a while before we moved and he eventually followed me out here and we got married. We both had good jobs here so we stayed (always intending to move back), the years went by and we had kids, the schools are really good here so we've stayed and stayed and stayed. ha We still say one day we'll move back. ~Anj

Ahh! I can understand that. How romantic that DH followed you clear across the country. He knew a good gal when he found her! ;o) I am quite sure those birds do come back because of the "cooing". LOL I feed the birds and hummingbirds too.

I know about the "some day we'll move back". My DH decided to stay in Ca. because the jobs were pretty scarce back home when he decided to get out of the Navy. We always used to think we'd move back. Now I have no real desire to--grandparents and parents are gone, as well as all but three Aunts and Uncles, weather here is much nicer, and all we care about now is staying close to our DS and his family. Only way we will move again is if he decides to--and he has discussed it because housing here is so expensive which means house payments are sky high. DH wouldn't mind selling everything and living in the motorhome--likes the idea of traveling all over--but I'm not in favor of that. Need room for all my junk and collections and I'd miss my yard and flowers and GD! LOL Told him we will compromise--keep the house and just hit the road for a few weeks at a time.

Luvs

Anj, Pretty to look at but I am glad I am not there. Our weather so far has been extremely mild. Yesterday I opened the front door to take the dog out and the air outside was hot like a summer morning. It must have been about 77 degrees during the day. It will chill down later in the week, maybe 35 at night and 55 during the day. The good news is I know a few days later it will be back in the 60's and 70's.

Luvs, it sounds great to just hit the road but I would only like it for a little while, would miss my "stuff", not to mention the family. I live in my hometown now after the hubby retired from the Navy, never wanted to live anywhere else.
PF

Turkeys ! I've been getting this view for several weeks now. There's between 30 and 40 of them. They roam the front yard, eating insects, crabapples, holly berries and what not. I know holly berries are poison, but they seem to nibbling them anyway. When they're done they either amble back across the street or around the side of my house and off into the woods behind us.
The other day DH saw one perched on our picket fence a couple of yards from the living room window, and this morning I heard a strange noise and looked out to see one flying down from a tall treetop to the street.
This morning I started wondering, are these big hunks of poultry doing a mess of damage to my perennials? I suppose I'll find out eventually.

Cool Kenne! Wish I had a bunch of woods around me instead of neighbors. ha With that many, do they make a lot of noise?

PF~Once again I'm so jealous. It's only getting up to the mid 30's here this week. Another storm is heading our way. I only go out to drive the kids down to school and back then I'm shut up in the house. Think I'll just shut down all the blinds and curtains, plug in the humidifier, turn up the heat and pretend I'm somewhere warm. ha

Luvs~ I got a great catch in my DH. We are soul mates for sure. As for moving back to MS someday, I do have lots of friends and family there still, but it's not only that. I'd want to move back if I didn't know a soul. Just the smell of it and the almost tropical feel is what I love. Everything moves at a much slower pace too. It's laid back and informal and I miss it. So many things that I feel my kids are missing out on as far as the culture. Plus it NEVER snows!! ha I told DH I'd be happy (well happier!) if we could have a small house to stay in there so we could go for like a month at a time here and there during the year and not have to pile up on family. We have looked for property every time we go, but so far haven't found the right spot to suit us. ~Anj

I was preparing dinner in front of my kitchen window and looked up to see the turkeys going pretty much single file through my yard. I started counting....39!
They are very quiet. I heard one for the first time this morning, and it was a strange sound that made DH peer out the window when he spotted the one on the fence.

I try to ignore winter my own self. It's been mild here in Maine this winter, mostly in the upper 40's or low 50's. Last week we hit 60 one day. Generally I hear people chatting about how nice the weather has been.
It seems as though DH is out of town for almost every big snowstorm and I have to do all the shoveling and snow blowing, but you should hear him carry on about how hard he was working moving snow when he does happen to be home for a storm !
I lived in Tucson for a couple of years a long,long time ago. I liked the climate. heck, I even liked summer !