Valentine's Day Cigar

 Saturday, February 14, 2026

Great day for a cigar. 

Beautiful outside. However, it's unseasonably warm. 

Fifty-two degrees at the time I lit up. 

It's staying light just that much longer now. 

The ice in the alley dates back to around Thanksfiving.

There's still a lot of it. I don't think the blade on the snow plow was up high enough when they plowerd back in November.

Great Afternoon for a Cigar

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Cleared all the dying fern leaves out today. Ada came over from next door and asked what I was doing. I told her. She asked if she could help so I asked her if she could put the fronds I was clipping into the leaf bag in the garage.  She was so happy to help. 

She asked what these things were so I told her a wasn't sure other than being part of the fern. I thought maybe they were once leaves or maybe seeds. I'll have to look into that. 

Still so nice out. Sat out back with a cigar. 

Made note of how much of the yard was in shade at only 4:30.

So:"No, ferns do not produce seeds and therefore cannot seed themselves; instead, they reproduce using microscopic spores that are released from the underside of their fronds (leaves) and are carried by wind or water to new locations. If a spore lands in a suitable, moist environment, it can develop into a tiny plant called a gametophyte, which then produces sex cells that fertilize to create a new sporophyte—the mature fern plant." (Info from AI)

Well I guess they're not seeds then. Maybe they're just short leaves? I'll have to look more closely at them next year. 

Daylight Savings Time

Went on daylight savings time yesterday. Above photo is from Saturday at 6:11 p.m.

Sunset at 5:01 P.M.

The sunset today will be at 5:01 p.m. It won't set before 5 p.m. until November. Hope exists.

14 Hours of Daylight

Dale told me today that we're at 14 hours of daylight. I'm cheering up already... 

12 Hours Daylight

Dale tells me the sun came up at 7:05 a.m. and went down at 7:05 p.m.

Setting Sun

I'm lovin' how much daylight we're getting right now and I love how the sun hits the tops of the trees while it's setting. These photos from the neighborhood were taken at 8:30 p.m.!

15 Hours Daylight!

Technically, we're at 15 hours and 2 minutes.


Photo taken at 8:24 p.m.

14 Hours of Daylight

Today we are just over 14 minutes of daylight in Minneapolis. This photo of our neighbor Deb's tree was taken today at 8:36 p.m.

12 Hours Daylight

Technically we're at 12 hours 01 minute daylight.

10 Hours 00 Minutes Daylight

Photo taken at 5:15 p.m.

January 23: Beginning Year 2 of The Backyard - Joe's Almanac

We're past the deep freeze of the last few days. Around 28 degrees for a high today. According to Todd Nelson of the Minneapolis Star Tribune we've only had just over a foot of snow this season which is about 18 inches below normal. Last year at this time, as documented in this blog, we were at about 55 inches of snow for the season. Todd is predicting mid-30s later this week. Sunrise today was at 7:43 a.m. and sunset was at 5:08 p.m. That's 9 hours and 25 minutes of daylight. Above photo taken this morning at

9 Hours Daylight & Full Wolf Moon

We've hit 9 hours and 0 minutes daylight today. It's also the full moon. The full moon in January is also known as the Full Wolf Moon. According to the Farmer's Almanac:

"Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January's full moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule."

The Day After Christmas

50 degrees today. Yikes. It was beautiful but this is kind of scary for December. We're actually beginning to increase in daylight. 8 hours and 48 minutes today. With it being so warm I decided to drain the hose which is something I meant to do last month.

Daylight

I checked the newspaper and it looks like we've got 8 hours and 47 minutes of daylight for both yesterday and today. The photo shows the evening sky looking west from the side of our house.

Got Home Early

Unusually warm for December. Got home a bit earlier than usual so I snapped a photo being it was still light. Photo taken at 4:42 p.m.

10 Hours Daylight

Yesterday we hit 10 hours and 00 minutes of daylight. Last night we fell back and hour and went back to Central Standard Time.

Gorgeous Fall Day Yesterday

It was sunny, cool and beautiful yesterday. Lots of leaves bagged. Many annuals are still holding up. By the way, were just under 11 hours total daylight now.

Barberry Bush

The barberry bush is starting to show some pretty colors. Eleven hours and 29 minutes of daylight today.

12 Hours, 00 Minutes Daylight

Wow, we're half and half! Snapped this shot last night. It's from a neighbor's blooming boulevard. Not sure what kind of flower this is but it sure is pretty. I've seen lot's of them around lately.