Our Friendly Hawk

Every day there is a hawk which visits our home. It lands in a tree not fifty feet from our balcony and surveys the area. The first time I noticed it was during a kill. The hawk came out of the sky very fast and landed on a small rabbit.

The kill was instant but the hawk had difficulty in trying to fly away with it's prey. It made several attempts and finally managed to get free of the ground but it took at least several hundred feet to clear the small trees . The hawk held its prey in one claw and used all it's strength to make it to a safe height above the hydro wires.

Every day since then the hawk returns to the same tree and looks around. A beautiful bird just doing what it has to do to live. There seems to be more Red Tail hawks this year but this hawk is a red shouldered hawk although I could be mistaken. It's beak looks like a falcon so I shall have to check further.

Clubhouse Donations

Our new clubhouse is about a month from official opening and we are coping with the generous donations from the residents of Brantwell Village. Some of the donations are very large and expensive such as a beautiful grand piano and several pool tables. Many flat screen TV sets and appliances too numerous to record here.

My problem is that I am responsible for the collection and storage of all these donations. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of the residents. Everything from the required dishes for 100 people to office furniture. A close by restaurant gave us tables and chairs for banquets and silverware to match.

I have about 10 days remaining before the big move and I am nervous. I have scheduled three days for the operation and hired some strong men for the big stuff as well as a large truck with a ramp for the expected truckloads. This clubhouse is the last building to be completed and with its opening the 300 bungalow village will be complete. Everyone is excited with the building and already we have over twenty five groups prepared to use the facility on a regular basis. I personally am looking after the pool club and members are signing up for lessons and just fun.

This facility will bring the residents together and will fill the needs of social interaction and a center for activities of all kind. 

Summer in Winter

I have mentioned several times about the unusual weather patterns that have been plaguing our area this year. It is close to the end of February and the last few days have given us spring like conditions.  I am very worried about our trees which are starting to bud for the third time and the leaves are opening and curling up. I can se real difficulties for the fruit growers if this trend continues,

Yesterday we had about an inch or two of snow on the ground and today we have no sign of snow because the temperature rose to well above freezing and light rain took away all signs of winter. The weather man tells us we have plenty of time left to have a winter but the forecast  is for continued warm and above seasonal temperatures.

Our little creek has run freely this week and with all the melting snow the runoff could cause real areas of draught. Normally we have a snow pack which provides needed ground water in the spring and this year we see none of this which is a real concern. Some of the vegetation which depends on snow for the protection of the new growth has already shown some abnormal damage and the golf courses are actually permitting a limited amount of playing in the end of February.

Nature has a way of balancing its needs so we will just have to wait and see if Mother Nature will take care of business and make all the problems disappear.

Punta Cana

Theresa and I  missed the week long winter weather while we took a short vacation to Punta Cana. Our weather was perfect and everything about our stay away was just right. I am always amazed at the hospitality shown to tourists in this region. Although the people speak Spanish they make every effort to converse with your every wish.

The local government has made tremendous strides over the past ten years in improving the info-structure of the Island . Because of the massive numbers of tourists choosing to visit this area the opportunity for the local people to gain steady employment has strengthened the overall economy. Tourism has become the major employer and care has been given to make sure that proper training has kept up with the demand for high end service.

The natural gifts of weather and sandy beaches have been utilized to the limit and care for the environment is a high priority. Every time we return we are more impressed with the positive changes.

Winter Plants

Theresa and I have large windows that give us a huge amount of sunshine in our family room. We have an aloevera plant that just grew and grew. After Xmas there was a sale of amaryllis plants and we bought one and it has been on our breakfast table ever since.It grows so quickly that it a topic of conversation every morning.
 The rest of our flowers are doing very well. I gave Theresa an or-acid for Mothers day and after the original offering we treated the plant as a celebrity and coaxed it back for blooming. Now it is beginning to give us a second showing and in another week we will have nine more bloom. This is great for the winter months when we cannot get our hands dirty in the garden.

Nature has it's many ways to keep us interested in the natural order of things. Every time we look around we see another facet of the beauty of the natural aspects of the earth and its mysteries. Just wonder at the magnificent beauty of a simple flower.

February 1 2016

Today is the first day of  February and it feels more like spring than Winter. We are actually half way through our traditional winter and we have spring conditions. My garlic is growing, some trees are showing their blossoms and our creek is flowing like it would in May.Our temperature yesterday hit 15 degrees and today it is almost that warm. The only signs of snow is one small bank where the snow removers store the snow from the roads and sidewalks.

Last year we had the coldest February for many a year but this year the forecast is not really so dismal and we can look forward to a milder winter and spring. Of course the weather can change and quickly so I do not want to put a jinx on the long range outlook.

Our golf courses have already put out a warning of their winter use of some of the local courses and we observed some hearty folk playing on one of our nearby courses. On Christmas some of the players used the course next door and never saw a flake of snow. Temporary greens are used and everyone seems happy to play a round or two in January and February. Global warming, climate change or just an anomaly

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