H A P P Y N E W Y E A R !!!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!  I hope 2017 holds lots of love and happiness for your family, along with a little adventure thrown in for good measure.  Amazingly, I survived the creeping crud.  It's not over till the fat lady sings, the coughing continues, so I've been singing all morning.    

New Years was rather uneventful here.  I took advantage of New York's earlier hour, celebrating with them for all of five minutes before I hit the sack.  I should have stayed on the couch.  Miss Jessie just couldn't get comfortable.  Up down, up down!!  Aaahhhggg.  At 10:45 she finally settled in.  At 11:00 the fireworks began, starting the process all over again.  Unusual for my area, I only heard two M-80's and a few quiet booms before we ALL finally fell asleep.  Lucky me, I got to sleep until 6:00.

Happy New Year to this beautiful baby eaglet too.  Oh my gosh ... what a bundle of fuzzy joy this has been to watch hatch and emerge into the world of wildlife.  Unfortunately, the cameraman yesterday had no clue what a good angle was.  Most of the time we were looking at the back end when the baby was up front.

Look at this face!!!!  If you want to see the images better, I think you can double click on them for enlargement.  Too bad we can't do that for the opposite effect on us.  At any rate, what a cutie patootie.  

In no time at all, he threw his head back and began the mouth-wide-open cheeping that says FEED ME!!

Mom and Dad were ready and waiting.  Remember that disgusting dead fish?  It's now on the edge of the nest at the ready.  Pretty slimy and something you'd never find on OUR dinner table, it just fell apart and slid right down his throat.  It was neat to watch the parents touch just underneath his beak, whereupon he opened his mouth and they scraped bits into it.  Pretty soon he got the message and was eating up a storm.

Mom was being very tender and careful not to drop food, feeding tiny pieces.  Dad fed huge chunks, getting food and slime all over the nest AND baby.  When Mom came back, she had to do quite the housekeeping job before settling down.

Apparently they thought he really wasn't eating enough, because every hour or so they woke him up and fed him more, even though he didn't really act hungry at all.  It was just amazing to watch.  If you get a chance, check it out.    Pritchetts Eagle Cam  

Although it looked like the second egg had pipped, there has been no activity at all.  If it doesn't hatch soon, there probably won't be a baby bother or sister.  

Here's another interesting tidbit.  Eagles normal temperature runs around 106, so if you see them panting in what feels like normal weather, they run a little hot  ...  kind of like me.  That way the cold weather doesn't bother them as much.  Speaking of cold weather, 50 degrees here with rain means snow at 6,000 feet.  Pretty normal winter weather were I live.  This morning, it's 38 degrees and raining.  I just might get snow!

This is MY version of a piece of beautiful dead fish.  A nice chocolate cream pie for dessert today.  I got smart this time and after a quick jaunt to the local tiny corner store for milk, I made another big bowl of mac n cheese last night.  I wasn't taking any chances on using up the milk again.  Today, even with a muddled head, I'm trying for chicken parmigiana.  I'm totally over the frozen dinners.  

I'll be on the couch .......... eating  P  I  E !!!