People have been posting frosty and snowy-looking stuff all over the place . . . I feel left behind (as I hope to be). I mean, it’s not like we have not had the weather. It’s time, you see . . . that’s what is playing hide-and-no-gots with me.
But, after seeing yet more offerings this morning, I decided I must do something . . . and, by golly, if it hadn’t been -4 degrees (Fahrenheit) outside, I would have went for a long walk, lugging my camera and tripod across the beautiful frozen tundra right outside my door.
Instead, I got an idea . . . .Birdbath Margaritas!!
You see, I squander a portion of our nation’s energy by heating the birdbath, and on the days when the temperature dips into ranges where hell itself turns up the thermostat, well, on those days I get birdbath margaritas!
There are 22 photographs in THIS SmugMug gallery, but I only present a few below.
I also snapped a few photos of the vegetation . . .
OK, OK, I confess . . . I heat two birdbaths . . .
I was considering keeping only one, especially since I never see birds on them. But this morning, I look out, and a bird was perched on the one above . . . drinking.
You can see where the margarita -salt-like border had been disturbed . . . I felt bad for the bird. It was frigging cold out there.
But, what’s this crap about Winter Flowers? Well, I bring some of the geraniums into the house, as opposed to disposing them at the end of the season. (There are 9 photos in the Winter Flowers SmugMug Gallery HERE)
They flower pretty much constantly . . .
What’s that fuzzy stuff? Why, you need to go look at the full-sized photos to find out!
Oh . . . some of you may remember my PATH series . I need to get back to that series; still lots of stuff to photograph.
BUT . . . Those flowers are in bloom again.
And, like before, I did a blended layers composite (from six different shots).
Well, that’s it for my entry into “we’re in winter” blog posts. Thanks for visiting.
Resplendent
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. . . my FP ward . . . chieken shit.
Hahaha! Love the frozen margaritas…what a beautiful place for a bird to have a drink, or perhaps a bit of a splash. And those bright flowers brightened things up considerably here, on this gloomy Sunday afternoon. Hope you are having a good New Year so far!
Going as well as it can be, and I hope your own 2013 is unfolding as it should . Thanks.
You’re a good man to heat two birdbaths. As always, I enjoyed your photos. The ice crystals are lovely.
Thanks. As for ice crystals and ice sculptures, the response to the next comment has links to older posts which also look at macro ice formations (if interested).
I enjoyed your post so much and the pictures of the ice crystals that I showed it to my husband. Unfortunately he was totally fascinated by your bird bath heater i.e. what you had used and how you had set it up. Has the man no soul? Beautiful pictures.
I feel the energy consumption quite justified. What I see over here in recent years that I disagree with is people sitting outside restaurants in winter under heaters??? You can also buy patio heaters to heat your outside patio in winter??? Your bird bath may provide more help to wildlife than you realise.
One of the heater is this:
Allied Precision 300 200-Watt Bird Bath De-Icer
The other one I cannot find. The heaters are set up with the chord higher than the birdbath (to keep water from running down it), and hooked up to an extension chord plugged into an outside outlet. Both hookups are sealed with multiple players of duct tape. It don’t look pretty, hence why not shown in the pictures.
I do know other animals use them beside birds (I can see the tracks). And yes, when it is as cold as it has been lately, open water is crucial for many animals.
As for the ice crystals, you might also want to check out these posts:
http://disperser.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/the-ice-man-leaveth/
http://disperser.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/path-005-photos-around-the-house-flowers-and-ice-update/
Thanks. Another thing I have learnt today is that bird bath de-icers exist. I thought it was something you had rigged up yourself. I think my husband will stick to his crude method of pouring a kettle of boiling water on our bird baths. This is sufficient here as it rarely rests under zero for long and we can cope for a few days like this. Its nice to think of all the people in colder climes that go to the trouble to buy a heater for their birds.
These are thermostatically controlled, so if the temperature raises above 40, they switch off.
The thing is that even on warm days (40+), temperatures drop a lot once the sun sets. These days, overnight freezing temperatures are a given.
Love the crystals. I was wondering if you got many visitors to your margarita hot tub. Thanks for answering that question. You’re a braver man than I. It was 22 degrees this morning and too cold for me to wander outside. of course, i live in the desert so 22 is a bit cold for me. I think when you’re down that low 22 would feel much like 7 anyway!
I know there are visitors, but can’t comment on the quantity. Most are at night (I can see the trails in the snow leading to, and away, from the birdbath. I don’t see many birds, but then I am at work during the day (45 miles away, and on the other side of the frontrange.
As for the cold . . . I did have a hat on (no gloves, so I could work the camera). And I did put on a sweater. The trick is also not to breathe through your mouth, or you’ll practically feel your lungs freezing. You breathe through your nose to warm up the air before it gets to your lungs (and freeze your snot).
Thanks for the helpful hints but, as for the snot, TMI!
I am interested to see frost from around the world, Disperser. And also winter flowers. I take my geraniums indoors every autumn, but I am not going to show them to you, you would feel so sorry for them.. ;)
Well, you were not following last year at this time, and in case you missed the links from the comment above, you might also want to check out these posts:
http://disperser.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/the-ice-man-leaveth/
http://disperser.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/path-005-photos-around-the-house-flowers-and-ice-update/
As for flowers . . . Just this past weekend I cut back a couple of the geraniums because they were getting too big. I left the one whose flowers are above because it’s still manageable. One of the problems with having them inside is that they grow all spindly-like, so I cut them back. They don’t look too good when I do that.
I’m also having a tad of a problem with gnats. If I can’t get control of them, the plants might have to depart the premises. We’ll see.
Those are some damn-fine photos, Emilio…truly beautiful, to me…I love the frost macros…. So very nice….
Thanks, Scott . . . I missed out on the plowed-snow sculptures, but I’m sure I’ll have other opportunities to capture them. As mentioned (and linked) in the comments above, earlier efforts at frost macros also turned out pretty good.
You’re welcome…and those plowed-snow sculptures do sound interesting…I checked-out your other macros…very compelling also…but left you a comment as to my favorite thing out of the whole post…. It was so wonderful that I had to share it with someone, anyone…so I posted it on Facebook…so now all of my friends know who you are…all seven of them…and six of those are family…. :)
You know how I secretly crave notoriety . . . and tell me what you shared is not exactly so.
Yes, I do know that…but like I said, seven people…ok, a little more than that, in truth…but yes, it is exactly so…exactly….
Beautiful photos, Emilio. We heat the dogs’ water bowl, so I completely understand doing the same for the bird baths. The ice crystals are gorgeous and I had to go see the geranium photos in their full SmugMug glory.
Thanks. I was inspired by all the people who presented their own frozen macros.
Just returned from the SmugMug galleries and so I’ll not repeat my comments here but just add that both the snow crystals and the flowers are a must-see in Original. I’d like to see a close-up of the close-up of the ‘fuzz’ since I imagine it must be very fascinating. Two thumbs up!