updates of sorts
Mood:  not sure
Topic: SEEN AROUND THE PLACE
WELL, i've been ignoring this place, as with most other things in life. the good news is that i've been on a creative binge for awhile, and more active than for a long time.

we had almost no snow this winter until early march, when we got 20". after the snow, i noticed little branchlets falling off the beautiful white pine tree at the corner of my house. i figured it was just wind and didn't think much of it.

well, they kept dropping and one day i discovered why. i have a porcupine that has taken up residence in this tree, in spite of me and my dog being pretty close by. i got worried that s/he might damage the tree so did some web research and found no answers or recommendations. today i got in touch with the DNR and found out that they usually don't stay in one tree very long, so there isn't much liklihood of tree damage. Lucky, my dog, seems to remember his run in a few years ago with a porkie. he got over 150 quills in one side of his face, and cost me over $250, so he SHOULD remember it! i just hope the new city cats have the smarts to stay away from an animal that large.

yesterday and today it was in the mid 70s, which shattered the previous high temp record by 21 degrees. this isn't just a little bit of warmth, folks. it was VERY strange to be out walking around on snow, seeing frozen lakes, and yet sweating in my shirt sleeves. i just hope the summer isn't horridly hot... my electrical bill can't handle it, nor can i.

i'm going to add some photos in my album here, showing the snow and some of the things i've been making.

look what i found!
Mood:  surprised
Topic: SEEN AROUND THE PLACE
i can't believe how beautiful this is.... and it's edible, too. it's a chicken of the woods, or laetiporus sulphureus.

A BLOOM!!!!
Mood:  smelly
Topic: SEEN AROUND THE PLACE
some hard work today (for me, with my own private scale of difficulty) but it was really good to be outside.

i saw the first violet blooming along the side of the road, and down by the river the first two pale lavender butterflies were out. usually i see them as the violets are at their peak. lovely little creatures.

also saw some red twig dogwood so i can go collect a couple of whips and see if i can root them. and some blue flags were up, although just leaves, no buds or blooms yet. it's nice to poke around the river before vegetation and bugs make it almost intolerable to explore the riverbank.

ohhhhhh, and a minnow! first of the season for that, too.

lucky seems intent on undercutting the riverbank. i don't know what he's digging for, but perhaps a muskrat. maybe just frogs.

i'm lucky to live here.

catch up
Mood:  spacey
Topic: SEEN AROUND THE PLACE
well, last wednesday i saw my first maple flowers, and now they are dropping all over the place.
i've been busy doing spring bird things in the yard and trying to make a nice human nest area. i got started with a hammock

i also saw the first dandelion, just last monday, when i had lucky down at the river for his first swim and frog hunting expedition. he went swimming on his own today.

yesterday pairs of ducks were swimming around on a couple of ponds, today i noticed tiny little aspen leaves. lilies are coming out of the ground so i hope we don't get a freeze that messes them up like last year.

today a tree swallow showed up and checked out the house i have up. for a change i'm not racing around playing catchup with the swallows. i am going to try to get a couple of more up, though, since i just found out they do fine in groups.

i'm zonked, time to hit horizontal.

i guess winter's over
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: SEEN AROUND THE PLACE
last week, thursday or friday, 9 days ago now, i saw and heard the first geese. a pair of them flying overhead and announcing their return. then this last wednesday some ducks flapping around the river, perhaps scouting out some calmer waters. and today the final sign... sera brought in her first woodtick of the year, buried in her neck. here we go.............

IT'S SPRING!
Mood:  lucky
Topic: SEEN AROUND THE PLACE
I took Lucky out, me on my scooter, for our first jaunt of the season. We got down to the river, through some remaining snow and mud, to find the ice is out and the water is high. On the way back, and we were almost home, Lucky found a hungry raccoon. The 'coon was thin and scraggly looking, but pretty big and not in a mood to take any guff from an old dog. The two of them circled the tree a couple of times, me yelling frantically at Lucky to just leave it alone. He came back to me, or almost, a few times but just HAD to go back to the raccoon. Finally he agreed to keep going with me, so we went way up the road as a reward for him.

This is the first raccoon i've actually seen here, although i have seen their prints. From the way Lucky acted when we got back, i think the raccoon might be living in my shed. That would explain the huge hole gouged out of it's roof a couple of years ago.