-21C does not keep me from being outside but the howling wind kept me inside today.  It gusted the entire day; making the trees creak and sway.  A couple of them snapped off in the bush behind my yard.  I stepped out only to fill the feeders this morning.  While I was out, the wind whipped up 'snow devils' and sent them twisting across the snow surface.  

At one point this afternoon a gust blew a squirrel right off the top of the fence.  I don't think the poor thing knew what happened.  It landed in the snow at the bottom of the fence, regained its composure and ran up the nearby tree stump.  A woodpecker watched from the suet feeder; probably wondering what all the commotion was about.

As I sat at the kitchen table, I watched the squirrel move back and forth from the stump to the area beneath the sunflower seed feeder.  The wind was knocking the feeder around and the squirrel was cleaning up the seeds.  It hadn't learned its lesson when it fell off the fence.  It scampered to the top of the tree stump.  Just as it got comfortable, another gust blew it off the stump.  It tried desperately to hold on but ended up going over the edge.  It managed to grab hold of the bark before hitting the ground.

The wind was wreaking havoc with the birds as well.  The little chickadees tried to fly from the spruce boughs to the feeders but the wind kept blowing them off course.  A crow was having a difficult time flying into the wind.  It struggled to fly forward. For every foot it flew ahead, the wind pushed it twice as far backward.

The blustery day did not hamper the daily deer visitation.  The three little ones ditched their mamas this morning and came for food on their own.  I noticed that they are either getting taller or the snow pack is building up because they can now reach the hanging bird feeders.  They left but came back just before dark with the does.

I did not want to venture outside in that wind so I pulled out the tree/shrub references and made a list of what I was going to plant in the backyard.  I'll be adding a number of berry bushes for the feathered friends that visit.

The wood stove is lit this evening and it's nice and toasty inside.  I can still hear the wind howling outside the window.  Twigs from the willow next door are breaking off and are littering the deck.  The broom and snow shovel just fell over and there are some drifts building up against the door.  I'll worry about the dig out tomorrow.  Tonight I'm enjoying the fire.