Muddy Snowmen (Central Texas-Style)

Snow!

snow02-23-10.jpgAnd lots of it! Well, lots for us here in Austin. Finally, after years of waiting, we had enough stick long enough and be the right packing consistency to make decent-sized snowmen. The problem is that, as usual, we didn’t get enough to make white snowmen. And what snowmen were made usually used up all the snow in the yard.

But without further ado, I give you a parade of snowmen, complete with mud, leaves, twigs, and grass. ‘Cause that’s how we do it here in Austin!

snowmana02-23-10.jpg

snowmanc02-23-10.jpg
snowmand02-23-10.jpg
snowmanb02-23-10.jpgYou can tell which ones got made earlier in the day, before the snow started melting.

It seems that once again, the only way to get a white snowman in Austin is to stick with the ones less than a foot tall.

snowmane02-23-10.jpg
What do you think, Ernie? Winner?

ernieinsnow02-23-10.jpg
Hmmm, that judge didn’t seem to happy with any of the selection. Let’s ask his twin, Grover.grover02-23-10.jpg
Clearly, our judges have better things to do than look at muddy snowmen. How ’bout frisky-time in the snow?!!

dogsinsnow02-23-10.jpg
We rescued our husky some 3.5 years ago, and this is the first time we’ve ever seen him in snow. He loved it.

lokisnow02-23-10.jpg
So did our beautiful Sheba.

sheba02-23-10.jpg
Something about the snow today really brought the birds to the birdfeeder. I guess they don’t care for the snow covering up the food plants. Here’s a cardinal and chickadee.

 
cardinalchickadee02-23-10.jpg
cardinal02-23-10.jpg
And a blue jay. Yep, he fussed at other birds nearby. Didn’t care much for the photographer, either!

bluejay02-23-10.jpg
And here’s a tufted titmouse and a new beauty.

titmouseandother02-23-10.jpgI feel I should recognize this cutie. Can anyone identify it for me?  Turns out it’s an American goldfinch in its winter plumage (thanks, Caroline!).

birda02-23-10.jpg
I love those golden feathers around its face.

birdb02-23-10.jpg

Sadly our snow is mostly gone already, but it was fun while it lasted. I’m happy the schools let our kids go out and play in it, and there was enough after school that my boys got to make their own muddy snowman. I’ll let you figure out which one it was. Shouldn’t be too hard…   🙂

12 thoughts on “Muddy Snowmen (Central Texas-Style)

  1. Looks like an American goldfinch! Happy Snow Day! I’m not sure which snowman was the one your boys made, but I like the one with the green bucket hat the best. It’s got character!

  2. Caroline and Iris, you both picked our snowman. The snow was pretty thin by the time my boys got home from school, so our snowman really had a lot of leaves and sticks and dirt in it. And I thought the garden plant container would have been a sure give-away! Neighborhood kids were all participating in the building of the snowman, and there was some difficulty when it came to the face, ultimately resulting in a bucktoothed snowman. But without a doubt, it does have character!

  3. You all got way more snow than we did down here, in Wimberley. We got mostly sleet. Glad your boys got to make a snowman. The best we could have done, was a snow cone.
    You have such good pictures of birds.

  4. Hey, we like snow cones. Add a little flavoring, and voila! I’m loving the birds, though I came home today to find 10+ doves at the feeder and nearby it. They’re BAAAAACK.

  5. It was funny–the birds continued to feed (in smaller numbers) at our feeders during the snowstorm. Jack got one shot of a house finch, sitting at the feeder, wistfully watching the snow as if thinking, “is this ever gonna let up? how will I ever get home?”

  6. Dear Meredith, I have just happened upon your website and have been hugely amused by your pictures of muddy snowmen. They are such fun, particularly the one on the bonnet of the car. It is difficult to believe that you have had so little snow for it seems everywhere has experienced a great deal this winter. That is certainly true of Europe.
    The dogs are lovely but can they all be yours?

  7. Austin doesn’t get much snow most years at all. The last big snow was in 2004, I believe. We’ll take what we can get! Yep, those dogs are all ours. Guilty! The small one we adopted last year, and remarkably he’s made things easier than harder in many ways. It’s definitely a challenge if we want to go anywhere, though.

  8. Meredith,
    Thank you so much for sharing the pictures. We got plenty of snow but it melted before it hit the ground. Alas… South Austin, what can I say. 🙂
    And of course, I especially love seeing the dogs. 🙂 I bet Loki thought he was back with his ancestors and Grover and Sheba being good ‘ol South Austin dogs didn’t know what to think! They all look amazingly happy!

  9. My pleasure, Joyce. I know you have a special place in your heart for all rescued dogs, but especially those you played a part in finding a forever home, and I love to share with you happy stories and pictures.

  10. What fun that was to see the parade of snowmen there in Austin. I’ve always enjoyed watching dogs and children play in the snow. Let me know if you need a little more snow….I’ll send it right down.
    donna

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*Comments -- now with more math!* *