Tentatively spring

Yesterday the temps reached the mid 60s.  I was in a funk so rather than sit around I took the dogs for a walk.   We have a small spring that starts at the base of a tree and I wanted to see what it was doing.   While looking, Phoebe stuck her nose in for a drink and suddenly started acting like a bouncy pup.  Hey mood was infectious so rather than walk the normal walking path we headed into the woods.  

Not all of it is quite so open.   The path home was full of fallen trees,  black mud bogs, ice and snow patches.  I kept to deer trails which works as long as there’s no overhangs.  The deer either just walk under or bound over.  It’s a little trickier for me.

I usually don’t get down to the river because of this grass.  Right now it’s all last year’s grass so it was walkable.  When it’s all green and lush it’s 3 feet tall!  There was a lot of water due to recent flooding but I had my boots on so my feet stayed dry.  The dogs all got involved in chading.

Sadie went swimming with no hesitation.   Phoebe waded then hit a deep spot and ended up swimming.  Tucker fell in and didn’t seem to like it.  I tried getting him to fetch a stick but he said no.

This is a branch of the Pine River and is the border of the back of our property.

The neighbors in back evidently have better access as there’s a bench and a deer blind. 

After a hard run.   They spent a few minutes cooling bellies and eating snow.

Self portrait towards the end.   My mood was much improved.  I made sure to do a couple yoga stretches and some deep breathing as well.  Now if they’ll just be wrong about snow the next few days…

Ice storm!

Yesterday started with icy conditions, tapered off to rain then back to ice.  Classes were cut short so everyone could get home before dark.  This morning there’s a coating of ice on everything.   It’s ice you can walk on if you walk carefully due to the ice pellets giving it some texture.  It’s not sheet ice, at least, on the ground.

Everything has the pebbly ice finish. 

The geese are the only ones out and about.   All chickens are in the barn.  

I think this is the worst I’ve seen it.   I’m just glad I don’t have to be anywhere today.   The cars I hear going by are struggling on the hills.

New alliances in the house

Hobie and Phoebe have begun sharing David’s chair for naps.   Hobie will sometimes share my lap with Tucker.  Sadie has lately been trying to eat Hobie.
Hobie acts like a dog a lot of the time.   He comes when he’s called.   He goes on walks with us.  When treats are handed out he wants his share and mills about with the pack.   It’s an interesting relationship.

I miss my blog!

I was just transferring pictures to my laptop (291 since last time I did so) and realized there were some pretty cool pictures there, and I want to share.  So here I am.

From my adventure Saturday.  My camera will do a panoramic sweep, so I did one to capture the breadth of the shoreline where I was standing.  So much snow still, although Saturday night it began raining and continued through yesterday.  This morning at 9, the temp was 43 degrees. If it continues like this, it won’t matter that I ran out of firewood.  I’ve been quite comfy in the house (although it’s 64 degrees) the past couple days.  And if it does get cold, my dear friend Candy supplied me with a number of phone numbers to get myself a face cord to get me through the last days of winter.  (if the picture is cut off, click on it to get the full effect…it’s quite wide)

This picture made me laugh when I saw it because I remembered how Hobie slipped on the ice when he tried to walk down the windshield.  We had a few days of icy rain this winter.  The driver’s side door on Hank froze shut a couple times.  If I hadn’t been doing yoga, I would not have been able to get in and behind the wheel a couple times there.  Right now at home, the walkway and driveway are pretty much sheet ice.  My Yak Traks are so very welcome then.

 

We almost lost Jack this winter.  The dogs got bored due to the snow and Phoebe and Tucker ended up in the barn.  Sadly, Baby Chicken was killed in the altercation, and Jack was wounded when he fought them.  He had no outward signs of problems, but for a week he was very weak and I’d say close to death.  I had to feed him egg yolks by syringe, and give him water that way as well.  After a couple days of that, his strength began returning and finally he has recovered.  I was very close to putting him down, but David suggested putting him in a cage in the house and seeing what happened.  I’m so glad he did.  When Jack crows, it sounds like the opening  notes to “Get Smart” except in chicken.

I’ve taken such a picture before, but then the orange snow fence showed up in the background.  Since we removed it and I saw the light hitting the icicles, I grabbed my camera and got out there.

 

Sunrise through the snowy trees.  I love it when the light looks physical, like something you could reach out and touch or take into your hands.

 

I finished my orange embellished (encrusted, you might say) quilt.  It’s 12 x 12 and fully covered in various orange things.  This picture pleased me because of the accidental rubic.

 

More orange.  I’m framing it in a shadowbox frame that matches the one my mom made for me.  I plan to hang them side by side.  They are quite cheery with all the orange.

 

A shot with more things in it.  The overall quilt has a pattern within it – there’s a lighter orange spiral circling out from the heart.  I’ll have to see if I can get a picture showing that.

 

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Tucker’s snow face.  He certainly enjoys playing in the snow.  Or he did until he cut his foot.  Now he has to hop about on 3 legs in the snow, because he has an open wound on his foot and the snow crystals seem to hurt him.  Not that this slows him down, mind you.  It is finally healing over and soon he’ll be back to his normal wild self.

 

Tucker loves the recliner.  He reclines it on his own – he figured it out when he was smaller and fortunately isn’t so big he’ll break my chair – and lies on the back.   I should say he flops on the back.  Sometimes he does curl up into a little ball on the back, but for the most part, he flops.

 

Big mouth Tucker jumping and trying to bite my hand.  He’s a silly dog.

 

He’s grown to be nearly Sadie-size.  She hates that.  He is an alpha male and she doesn’t want to give up her alpha spot.  But she’s getting older and sometimes she loses.  They tussle a lot in the manner of wolves, but sometimes it escalates.  Fortunately, they both defer to me and will stop.

 

This weekend he started curling up in the laundry basket.  This was new.

 

From earlier in the winter. Big snow then sunshine.  Getting all three to look at me, that wasn’t happening.  But I liked this one well enough.

Also from my adventure Saturday.  When I pulled up in the parking lot of Lake Bluff Bird Sanctuary, this cardinal was perched right there on these red branches.  Looks like my camera focused more on the background, but I still like this picture a lot.  I love winter branches.

 

 

 

 

Adventure Day

I’ve not felt like getting out and having an adventure in quite some time.   Yesterday I felt it was time.   Michigan Audubon had notified me of nature walks at local bird sanctuaries and the one closest to me (in Manistee,  an hour west) was supposed to be on the second Saturday of the month.   A good adventure,  I thought.   Well,  when I got there I was alone.   I did get out and hike through the snow to a platform overlooking Lake Michigan.

There’s a lot of snow out there still-6 to 8 inches in many places.   There was just enough wind to kick up some wave action.  It was enough to soothe my recent yearning for the sea.   I still miss the scent of the sea but often the sound is enough.  That and all the negative ions.  

It was too cold to stay long so I ended up in downtown Manistee.   It’s a very old fashioned city – they never got around to destroying their downtown in the guise of progress.

I had lunch at a coffee shop,  wandered through a fabric store and a toy store.   There I found this tape for my collection.   The name made me laugh.

It’s a clear packing tape printed with veterbrae.  I plan to use it to reinforce some book spines . 

It was a nice day for driving and I listened to a book while I did.   I had just gotten the audio of Dean Koontz’s
From the Corner of His Eye which is a favorite book.  I like experiencing favorite books in audio format as I always get something new from them.  

All in all it was a very fine adventure.

Tucker

Tucker’s ears are starting to go in different ways.   One is half up and the other is doing a full flop thing.   This is very recent.  It gives him a comical look,  I think.

Blind Date With a Book

At the Traverse library they had books wrapped up with brief synopses on them and a sign challenging folks to have a blind date with a book.   I chose this one.   I still haven’t opened it yet.  It’s like a gift awaiting me.   They recently updated to an RFID system so the book could still be checked out even wrapped.

Happy Valentines Day!

I have the sweetest man.   He sent me flowers today since he is gone.

It’s very tropical but with a traditional twist with the two red roses.

I love how it smells.   The other ladies at work keep teasing me about my smile.  

Giving a Helping Hand

Tucker had an itch he couldn’t quite reach so I put my hand against his
paw to give him more leverage.   He used it!   There was quite a bit of flopping and snuffling going on but he finally scratched that itch.

Also, snow storm fail.  The warned of 8-10 inches is maybe 2.  I was sorta hoping for a snow day.

The Chase

Tucker comes tearing across the hill.

Then as he’s leaving the picture you can just see Sadie on the far right.

I really like this picture of Sadie running.  The late afternoon sun was certainly welcome.