As winter strikes at us, the bird feeders have been a flurry of activity. A normal day’s list includes
junco, cardinal, white breasted nuthatch, tufted titmouse, woodpeckers (red headed, red bellied, downy and hairy), chickadee, goldfinch, blue jay, and sparrows (house sparrows, but probably others as well; I need to work on my sparrow ID). I even saw a mourning dove the other day. Dennis’ favorite is the red-headed woodpecker, as they are so boldly colored and he remembers them out on the farm as a kid. I tease that we must feed the “poor starving birds”, but we all know that our feeding station is primarily for our own entertainment! I think it is a good exchange; they provide a lot of joy in return for a few sunflower seeds. Ok, a lot of sunflower seeds.
We haven’t had a big snow yet here at Iowisota. Just flurries, some bitter cold, and a bit of icy yuck. I’m content to wait for the big stuff.
Although we haven’t had many “events” lately here at Iowisota (remember, I’m on Intermission!), we have had a flurry of activity. My sister was able to bring my mother from her memory care home in Wisconsin for a few days over Thanksgiving; it was heartwarming to see Mom enjoy the fireplace and the birds at her old home place, although a visit always brings her some confusion. I’m thankful she is still able to visit. We’ve also been working on winterizing, Christmas preparations, cabin rejuvenation (painting, cleaning, some replacement furniture), and deer camp.
Speaking of deer… We have a new event on the schedule for January 11th. Chris Gavin will be coming from Madison to share some of his knowledge on how to use nature’s gift of venison (even the cuts often disregarded by hunters) to make delicious food. Sausage is indeed wonderful, but there is so much more to venison! Learn more about this upcoming workshop at https://www.iowisota.org/event-details-registration/after-the-hunt-cooking-with-venison. I also had my daughter join me to take a Driftless Folk School class on Saturday about using vegetable tannins (envision tree bark and leaves) to tan animal skins. Nicholas WazeeGale taught us much about this folk skill and respecting the life of the animals that we share space with and receive meat and leather from.
I’ve had an Iowisota Facebook page for a while, but now I’m trying to venture into the realm of Instagram. Eventually I’ll figure out how to quickly edit reels so that I can post more frequent “moving pictures” of fun things we see in the woods. This QR code should get you to the Iowisota Instagram page if you want to follow.
We’re all busy with the bustle and flurry of the season, so I’ll keep this to a short read. I’ll be back with another update soon! Meanwhile, take time to enjoy the gifts of the season and the gifts of nature.
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