FFF Nature Friday - Special Edition

If Aunty-Yam's FFF and Rosy and Sunny's Nature Friday falling on the same day wasn't special enough, today is also Aunty-Yam's birthday!

We are sending our warmest birthday wishes across the pond. 

Look up in the sky and see

Happy Birthday wishes from me,

They are floating on the clouds so far

To bring them to where you are,

Wishing you a wonderful day!

Happy, Happy, Birthday, Hooray!

Evening Walks

 Evening walks are great. 

You know what makes them even better?

Sharing them with friends.

Wordless Wednesday - Spring Is In The Air

 

Sun Break - by Phod

It has been awful cloudy and rainy here the past week. Lady says it is a good thing because we didn't get enough snow and the water levels are low. Places in Canada are already having droughts. The grey skies and wetness can have an impact on people's mental health. It is important when you get a break and the sun comes out, you get out and enjoy it. 

If you get some sun today, go out and enjoy it!

Phod

Mischief Monday - My Favourite Toilet - by Lee

 Dear pals.

As you know we live on 3 acres, surrounded by bush and field. There are many places to walk and do my business.

Do you know where my favourite place to go is? 

Plotting my escape

Callie's lawn! As often as possible, I try and sneak over and do my business there. Somedays I will refuse until my people take me on a walk by her house. Yes, I have decided Callie's yard is my toilet. 

Phod waiting on the path between houses to see if he can come over too

Lady says it isn't neighbourly to do such things. I say, they don't care (Callie's people have said so much). I guess we should be lucky to have such friendly neighbours. 

Your pal Hailey Bug

Nature Friday - Spring

 Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting this. 

Spring is slowly appearing. 

Lee walking on some flowers

Growth in the garden

Now for a funny story. Lady works in the city 2 days a week. At her office there are a pair of geese this time of year. Her colleagues have named them Charles and Camilla. Lady was working at her desk, and one of the silly birds was pecking and pecking on the window. It did this for like 15 minutes. Clearly they aren't very bright birds!

Thank You!

Wordless Wednesday - Zaphod

 

Trouble on a Tuesday - Girls Misadventure

Dear pals,

Lady got this idea on Sunday that it would be fun for her and I to go on a hike. She has seriously damaged her elbow so is very limited to what she can do physically and  this is not good for the rest of her body or her head, so she thought a nice walk would be fun. 

I was suspicious from the moment she moment she said let's go and snuck me out while Phod and the Man were sleeping. 

There were some good sniffs,

and some interesting art.

I even found a little snow. 

Now this sounds ok, but there were 2 major problems. Problem one: Mud - while we mostly hung low due to all the rain of last week, there were some soakers.

Lady won't be wearing those shoes to the office this week

Problem Two: Because Man was not with us, I had to be extra concerned and nervous and freaked out and all the things. I could not relax and enjoy it. We passed a few people and I barked once but seemed fine.

Hating my life

I hated being there, I hated I couldn't jump into the car and I had to be lifted, and I hated having to wait in the car for 2 minutes while Lady ran into the corner store to get buns for the Man. Phod hated being left behind, although Lady was able to confirm that if we stayed on the outer loop, Phod would be able to come next time. So there was a lot of hate. Lady said she had a nice time and it was what she needed.

I hope next weekend, Lady just stays at home.

your pal, Hailey Bug who did not like this hike

When Will The Snow Be Gone - Winners!

 We interrupt our regular Mischief Monday post to say, we have a winner for the when will the snow be gone contest!

The last of the snow disappeared on April 13, in spite Mother Nature's attempt to bring more in the gross wet snow we had that day. 

Out in the gross wet snow

Snow gone from the last stubborn spot.

This year's winners, with a guess of April 17 are Phenny and Nelly! Congratulations to our friends who have recently left the blogging world, but can be found living their best lives on other social media challenges!

Thank you all for playing! It is always a fun way to welcome spring!

Nature Friday - Solo Adventure - by Lee

 Dear pals,

On Easter weekend I got to go on a solo adventure with my people. Phod was asleep in the closet and didn't know we had gone until we came back and I smelt a little funny. Lady has some guilt about leaving him, but the reality is, the old pup doesn't have the stamina he once did and would not have been able to hike like I did.

It started with a car ride to a place I had never been. 

It was less than 15 minutes to the Denholm Falls Park. Lady had just discovered this even existed last fall and had been waiting to go. We looked at the map of all the trails and then headed out. 

The first stop, a very short way from the start, was the falls. Callie's people had said it wasn't that impressive, but I thought with the snow run off it looked pretty good!

Then the hike really began. It was a very steep hike up a mountain in places. The leaves hid loose rocks and sticks and roots so one had to be careful with one's footing. We saw a few people (you can see over Man's shoulder) and I even met one dog on the path. 

How did Lady get in front of me?

The view from the top was stunning!

If you look at the rocks I am standing on, you can see the marks left by glaciers 10 000 years aog. 

It was decided not to do the full hike up the back side of the mountain as Lady and Man didn't know how steep it was or how much I could do. They are blaming it on me and my old self, but I think they say that because it is nicer than saying how out of shape they are. So we began the step decent down. Lady said she would take walking poles next time she went. 

Proof Lady was with us

Overall, the hour and a half or so we spent hiking was lovely. I had a good time and really enjoyed this solo adventure. I heard hints that I may get a similar opportunity in the future, as it is clear I still have some hike left in me!

Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting this event and letting me share a new part of the hills with you.

your pal, the hiker, Lee

It Was A Week - By Phod

 Dear pals,

The last week has been a very busy one. We told you about our Easter weekend. Lee is going to tell you tomorrow about how I was abandoned some on Sunday. Then Monday was my birthday and there was all the singing. I did get a special treat.  The store was out of birthday treats so Man picked up some hearts. 

I picked the blue one. 

Tuesday was a normal day and then Wednesday it got really windy and our power disappeared. It didn't come back until Friday night. The generator is scary and I don't like it. No power  did not prevent me from having to go to the vet for my monthly shot on Friday (they had power). Man took me as he had the day off and was sad that Tim Horton's was out of plain timbits for me. Saturday Lady spent a great deal of time putting the house back together again and then a mad dash of tidying because the Big Guy asked if he and Grammie and Lady's Aunt and Uncle could come for lunch Sunday. 

Having company Sunday was nice because I got lots of pets and not pictured here, I got to go into my lake! There is still ice on it, but it made me so happy.

So to quote Mr. Dicken's it really was "the best of times and the worst of times."

Your pal the overall very happy Phod who needs a good nap or two because of all the excitement 

Wordless Wednesday - Catching Up With Callie

 

Trouble On A Tuesday - This and That

First trouble was last week in the snowstorm when our power was stolen for 53 hours. Last April it was 102 hours, so I guess we should be grateful it was taken for less time this year. We were happy it was also warmer because the house stayed between 16-18C/low 60F.

Being stressed in Lady's office when we were running on generator

Lady says the second mischief belongs to humanity and the craziness around the eclipse yesterday. She says shame on the media for making people terrified of it. One should NEVER look directly at the sun, with or without the moon in front of it. That is not safe, ever. Many of places she works were closed (one because it was on the peak path and the number of people expected to be out had them declaring a state of emergency). It is just ridiculous. Lady remembers some time in the 80s, walking home from school alone, during an eclipse (this puts her aged 5-9). People said, don't look at the sun, she didn't, she lived.

At any rate, the hype made Lady want to check it out. The Man had no interest and went to work in the office, but because most of her client work was cancelled, Lady was home. She took her approved glasses out and went over and shared them with Callie's people. We were at 97.8% coverage. It didn't get too dark, but did get very chilly. She was happy to share this with them and try out their eclipse boxes. 

Taken by one of Callie's kids, through the glasses

We do think the best eclipse was the one the Big Guy made (and ate).

Mischief Monday - When Will The Snow Be Gone - April Fools!

As we mentioned Friday the snow tricked us with a late April Fool's joke and returned. We ended up with about 6 inches/15cm Wednesday night into Friday. Lady is grateful the garage was too busy last week to take her winter tires. They get removed this week. 

Here is how the snow progressed in our yard and around the neighbourhood over the weekend.

Friday: Winter wonderland

Saturday:

In the field

Between our house and Callie's - can you see the tree down in front of the gate to the garden?

The front yard in the afternoon

Sunday morning (this bunch was gone by the afternoon).

The stubborn spots remain - the septic field

The backyard.

Sorry Molly - nature didn't cooperate and gave us more snow instead of taking it away!

This week we have Liz's guess on the 10th. Will the weather cooperate or will the last of the snow still be here? Looking at the amount of rain expected - it is going to be close!

Friendly reminder to don't look at the sun today friends (or really any day, it isn't safe).