Retirement Travel and a Weird Mix of Other Stuff
I love walking with the dogs here at the WV place. They REALLY enjoy being able to run, sniff, cavort, roll in stinky stuff, etc. And I just like watching them and observing.
Today I thought I’d give you some random images of things that caught my eye. With little commentary. So you can enjoy your own bit of “quiet.”
I hope you enjoyed this quiet glimpse into my world.
What did you see in your world today?
I may have started with “all is right in the world” except for one thing. We got word yesterday that my Dad’s oldest brother, Bob, passed away. We knew it was coming (based on other news we’d received earlier in the week), but it is still very sad. My heart is definitely heavy on this lovely Easter morning.
We’re at the WV Place (surprised?). We spent most of the day yesterday trying to finish up all the little projects hanging over our heads. Hubby did the last bit of drywall finishing because he got tired of hearing me whine about it. I started hanging the slate tiles on the half wall that flanks the kitchen. There’s one little spot remaining on that wall, and then there’s another little piece of wall to do. I’ll finish that today before heading back to MD.
Hubby made me a fabulous breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns, and biscuits. It was delicious. Isn’t it funny how food always tastes so much better when someone else cooks it for you?
All of my girls are waiting patiently for their morning stroll. And it’s such a nice day, I’m pretty anxious to get out there myself. But first, here are some very Spring pictures I captured yesterday…
(I hope you’re not tired of seeing the Redbuds yet!)
Here a a couple good pictures of the girls. (Post wouldn’t be complete without them!)
I hope you and your family have a lovely Easter.
You can only imagine how saturated the ground is.
The good news? The morning-after light and clouds made for a very cool picture (if I do say so myself).
The bad news? The saturated ground made for some very dirty dogs. Especially since they were hunting.
K is our most-dedicated (fanatical) hunter. Belle has been learning from K, apparently. She discovered this rotted stump earlier in the day on Saturday. Rotted stumps seem to be the preferred homes for mice and other woodland rodents.
Later in the day, while we were walking between rain showers, Belle revisited the aforementioned rotted stump.
She was so obsessed, she stayed there, digging, while I walked to the end of the road with the other girls. That is VERY unlike Belle, who usually doesn’t like to let me out of her sight for more than about 30 seconds.
This is the look I got after calling her name repeatedly. She was obsessed I tell you.
The girl was definitely on a mission. But she did finally give up and leave her stump, near the end of our driveway, to return to the house with me. Maybe because it had started raining again.
Later (right before dinner), Belle and K were tag-teaming whatever critters were lurking under this stump, which is very close to our house. In fact, I could watch them from the kitchen.
I knew they had to be getting dirty. But every now and then, just like with kids, you have to say “what the heck” and just let them have their fun.
Dirt washes off, right?
Belle was the only one who would even stop when I was calling their names.
I actually caught a shot of K’s face. She wasn’t completely ignoring me after all.
That glimpse of her face was definitely fleeting. She was back at in in milliseconds.
They did eventually give up on that stump. Maybe because it was time for their dinner?
During our after dinner walk, Belle was back to the original stump.
She did not want to give up. Notice how dirty her legs have gotten?
I shot a video, too, which I’ll have to share later. She dug and dug and dug. Finally, I tipped the stump over so she could get at whatever it was she was going for.
There was nothing there. Just some old nesting material. Either it was an old nest or the residents had decided to get out of Dodge during Belle’s earlier assault.
She did finally give up on that stump. But even after it got dark, despite the fact that it was raining, she and K kept running in and out, digging (I assume) at the stump right behind the house.
During the course of the evening, Belle got progressively dirtier.
By the time bedtime had rolled around, she was one DIRTY dog.
So much for our cute little princess.
I think she was even a little embarrassed. But that didn’t stop her from going out for more.
This was the last shot of the evening. She even had mud caked around her eyes.
A short time later, after she’d dried, I noticed that the top of her head and sides of her face were crusty with dried mud. I couldn’t let my baby girl go to bed looking like that, so I washed her face for her.
You should have seen how brown those paper towels were. Yuck!
Have your critters been enjoying the wet Spring as much as mine have?
One of my favorite things to do is walk through the woods, looking, listening, and just observing all the subtle natural changes.
I was delighted to see the trees have started blooming.
I was especially happy to see the Redbuds have started blooming. That’s when you know Spring is really here.
I was also very tickled to see this little butterfly (or moth). It was only about an inch and a half long.
Another of my favorite pastimes is watching the dogs enjoying their freedom in the woods. Each and every one of them absolutely LOVE the WV place.
I swear they all run around with big, silly grins on their faces when they are here.
That’s K in a more-familiar state. If you ever wonder why I post more pictures of Meg and Belle than I do of K, this is why. She’s usually got her head buried under something or is dashing like a crazy dog through the trees sniffing stuff. I think she has some cat blood in her. She’s supposed to be a bird dog, not a rodent hunter.
Belle is a follower. She and K were just walking along when K decided to stick her head under that stump. Belle stopped and looked back as if to say, “Hey, wait a minute. What’s under there?”
Belle just had to go back for a better look. K was by that point shoulder-deep under the stump. And Belle was watching closely to see what she would find.
The previous evening, the two young ones had bored out this tree cavity. No rodent is safe in our yard. Not one.
This was Meg earlier in the day, waiting for Hubby to come back from town with lunch. My lunch, not her lunch.
Speaking of Meg, while the young girls were chasing rodents, she was off doing some hunting of her own.
Look what she found…
That is a big bone. I have no idea where she got it. The thing is, it didn’t smell all nasty and decayed like most stuff they drag home. It sorta-kinda smelled like ham. Which makes me think Meg may have robbed one of the neighbor’s smokers.
You should have seen Belle’s eyes light up when she saw Meg walk past with that big-ass bone.
K was too busy hunting to notice the bone right away. But she did finally notice right before I took it from Meg.
They were all looking at me as if to say, “Aw, c’mon, Mama. Where’d you put the bone?”
What sort of Spring changes are happening in your neck of the woods?
When I go out walking with the girls, all I hear are their feet crunching through the leaves. Plus the occasional yips from K when she spots a critter. And Belle’s squeaky toy (assuming she was in the mood to bring it along). There’s also the thundering of feet as one or another of the dogs buzzes me (runs past me very closely at full gallop).
It’s amazing to me how much you can hear if you just stop for a second and listen. And the things you’ll see if you really look.
The dogs are like little kids at a swimming pool. The ones who say, “Mom, watch this. Mom, look at me. Mom, see what I can do?” They get super-excited when I walk with them. We have to do it at least once a day. Usually more. Not that I am complaining. It’s just odd. Most dogs get excited when their person picks up a leash. Mine get excited when I break out the camera.
The many different textures in nature intrigue me.
As does the morning light shining through the trees.
If I were in Maryland, this would’ve just been another piece of trash. At the WV place, it’s a real oddity. How did this balloon get here? The closest Red Robin restaurant is about 100 miles away.
What happened to that tree? Is it alive? That’s not a fresh bend, but the tree doesn’t appear to be dead. I’ll have to try to remember and check it again once the leaves start emerging.
I’m fairly certain these holes were made by one of the many Pileated Woodpeckers that inhabit our woods. Those birds are about 17 inches tall. They look like small pterodactyls flying through the woods. And when they peck away on snags like this one, the hollow hammering reverberates loudly through the trees.
I couldn’t help but stop and look closely at this shell. It seemed completely undisturbed. Yet there was no turtle inside. What happened? Did it just shrivel up? Or did something extract it?
I hope you enjoyed your virtual walk with me.
Do you like walking through the woods, experiencing nature? Or would you rather stick to city streets. There’s a certain allure to both. But I sure enjoy the peace and quiet.
They really are like kids in so many ways.
What I don’t love is their propensity for getting dirty.
That picture is from a clean day.
Last weekend was a bit different.
First it was our food-obsessed Meg.
I think she was just trying to be helpful by cleaning all the ashes out of the catch-tray under our charcoal grill.
She may not look that bad to you, but check out the paper towel I used to wipe her face.
And that was only after one pass.
The next night, at about 11:00 PM, our cute little princess, Belle, went on a mouse hunt.
She’s not quite 4. That’s not gray hair on her face. It’s dirt.
Fortunately (since there’s no bathtub here) she’s small enough to fit in the sanitary tub we’ve got in the garage.
She was DIRTY.
Tonight’s issue is not dirt. It’s aroma.
I have no idea what the young ones found to roll in, but they stink.It’s rather barnyard-like. Not like steaming, fresh manure. More like sun-dried dung.
Earlier tonight, when Hubby was using his air nailer, which is VERY loud, K HAD to be on my lap.
If I were a kangaroo, she would’ve been WAY down deep in my pouch.
Her smell rubbed off on me.
Ugh.
Do your critters get dirty/stinky, too? Feel free to post picture links in the comments.
I love seeing other people’s pictures.