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Mystery Solved

Remember this pic of an unidentified critter from the other day?

From ToadMama’s Web Abode

Well, I hate not knowing what critters are called. Like, not knowing if it was a moth or a butterfly was killing me (not really). I looked through a bunch of pics last night — a whole bunch, like hundreds — to no avail.

Finally, I asked someone at the Butterflies and Moths of North America Web site. This helpful fellow responded to my e-mail query and told me it is a Spiny Oakworm Moth (Anisota stigma).

From ToadMama’s Web Abode

He told me that at this stage (photo immediately above), it must have just emerged from the cocoon and hadn’t yet dried its wings. That would explain why the wings were moving constantly.

So, now we know. I hope you feel just as enlightened as me.

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Everything Here is So Green

It is still raining here. Sort of. It is not raining right this second, but it is supposed to rain some more later today. And everything is still wet. It is cloudy, too, so it feels like it is still raining.

The good thing about all the rain is that everything is very green. It’s pretty colorful, too.

I don’t have a lot to say today, but I do want to share some of the artsy pics I shot this past weekend. The first is one I shared the other day.

Why the repeat? Because I want you to click on the image so the large version is visible. While looking at the large version, tell me if you can see the spider peeking out from the top of the flower, on the left, with the big drop hanging off of it. I thought that was a pretty cool accident.

I have a thing for wet pine needles.

This flower is only about 3 inches tall, if that.

The Redbud blooms are starting to fade. If I had a horse, I would name it Redbud. I think that would be a cool name for a horse, but a stupid name for a dog. Not that I ever expect to own a horse…

I shot this one toward evening, which why the light is super soft.

See how green?

I thought these little red leaves were cool.

The red leaves, for whatever reason, are slower to emerge than the green ones.

The same leaves from further back. Just cause I like to experiment.

Look at the big, fat raindrop.

This one is my favorite. It is very artsy, don’t you think?

It is so artsy, I felt it needed a frame. And a name.

I hope you enjoyed today’s little taste of nature.

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Girls’ Weekend in WV

This past weekend was the first ever girls’ weekend at the WV place. It was fabulous.

Unfortunately, timing wasn’t good for Tracey. She couldn’t make it (we missed you, Trace!). But Carol was able to come.

That’s Carol pictured at right. She and I have been friends for over 30 years. Thirty years! Yikes, that sure sounds like a long time. We’ve known Tracey almost as long.

My doggie girls came, too. They love our WV place so much, I can’t imagine going up there without them. Unless I am on my motorcycle, that is.

Anyway, it really was a very nice, relaxing weekend. It rained every day, but we did get a few dry spells. We were inside most of the time and perfectly content regardless of the weather. We were very happy the rain held off long enough that we could grill some steaks for dinner on Saturday night.

I did have a little bit of excitement on Saturday morning. I was up relatively early, thanks to Belle, and decided to load some firewood into the truck while it was still cool. I’d promised my neighbor, Jean, that I’d give her some of the extra wood we have laying around all over the place.

I was pulling small-diameter, 18″ lengths of wood off the stack when I saw this…

… a pretty big black snake. In my woodpile!

Had the dogs not been around, I would’ve shooed it out of there. But they were nearby, so I left it alone.

A little while later, Carol, the dogs and I piled into the truck and drove to Jean’s house. We saw this on the way…

We didn’t visit with Jean and Buddy (her dog) for very long. The sun had finally come out, bringing with it a gazillion gnats. We stayed just long enough to unload the wood and chat for a few minutes, then we all piled back into the truck and went to town.

Sunday was pretty wet. Luckily, Hubby keeps an umbrella in the truck, so I was still able to take the girls for their morning walk.

They don’t seem to mind getting wet. But they sure look pathetic when they come home all soaked.

I think Meg just wanted to take a nap.

Not long before we decided to start packing for the trip home, Belle showed up with turkey poo all over her chin (she likes to roll in the stuff).

She was quite stinky, so I had to clean her up a bit. Unfortunately for Carol, she didn’t notice the poo until after Belle laid her chin on Carol’s knee. Now I know that waterless dog bath works on people, too!

That cute little dog of mine can sure get into some stinky messes!

It was definitely a relaxing weekend. We really missed having Tracey there, though. We’ll have to start planning the next girls’ weekend at the WV place soon!

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Rainy Spring Weekend

The weather this weekend wasn’t so great. It was cold and rainy pretty much all weekend. But my mother-in-law enjoyed her visit at the WV place nonetheless.

You can see Hubby’s Mom, Dena Jeanne Murphy, pictured here with Meg. It was a quiet weekend. We sat and chatted, read, napped, and ate. We walked around with the dogs a bit, too, of course. I can’t go to WV and not walk the dogs down the driveway. They just love that.

Their friend, Buddy, visited a couple of times, too. The floor is covered with muddy dog prints, but that’s okay. They’ll wash off eventually.

My mother-in-law got a kick out of seeing how much the dogs both enjoy the WV place. She remarked that Belle doesn’t know how to walk when in WV. She runs everywhere. Belle absolutely LOVES running through the woods.

This weekend she had a bit too much fun though.

Early this morning, she found herself what must have been a huge pile of turkey poo. This is what she looked like upon her return…

Her neck is black from turkey poo. It was all caked in her ears, too. Her ears look wet, but they aren’t. They are encrusted with turkey poo.

She stunk. Bad.

So bad that I was getting sick to my stomach while cooking breakfast. Hubby took her outside and hosed her off. It helped, but she still stunk. So she got a real bath as soon as we got home to MD.

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Spring? Really?

The first day of Spring arrived officially on Friday. You wouldn’t know it from the weather though.

The bushes and trees are slowly starting to bloom. Despite nighttime temps in the 20s. Yep, twenties. It was cold. Look closely and you’ll see the frost on the tender new leaves.

Saturday morning was a good time for indoor relaxation. Belle is a total lap dog when she’s inside.

The cold didn’t stop Mike from working, though. Here he is adding some finishing touches around the garage door. Meg is helping.

Belle may be a lap dog when she is inside, but the girl loves to run. We didn’t think it possible that we’d end up with a dog that likes to run more than Meg. But we did. This girl is constant motion when outside. She really, really enjoys cavorting through the woods and around our property in WV.

I actually did a bit of work myself this weekend. Between jaunts with the dogs, of course.

I FINALLY installed door and drawer pulls on the kitchen cabinets. Only because Mike threatened to affix bolts on the cabinet faces if I didn’t get my butt in gear! They work well, too.

When I had finished, the dogs got to run some more. They spend LOTS of time outside in WV. Can you tell how happy Belle is? I love watching her. You can just see how much fun she is having every single second when she’s running outside.

I spent most of the day on Sunday cleaning. My mother-in-law is coming for a visit next weekend. Hubby and I are quite excited. We don’t get many visitors. It’s fun having company. I think my mother-in-law will really enjoy it. Hopefully, my parents will come for a visit once things warm up a bit more.

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Back to Nature

After what seemed like a very long absence, we went to our WV place this past weekend. I’m not sure who likes it there more, Hubby and me or our doggie girls. One thing is for sure, we were all happy to be back.

We’ve been working with Belle on recall over the past few weeks. So when she’s off-leash, if we say “come” that’s what she does. She performed beautifully. She stays close to me when we’re out and about. And when I call her back, she comes running. The girl loves to run even more than Meg. Of course, one could attribute that to the 8-year age difference between the two of them.

Here, Belle’s waiting with me for Meg to return.

I couldn’t resist snapping some nature images while I waited. Even in the winter, when everything is all brown and depressing, there’s interesting stuff to see if you just take the time to look.

Meg wasn’t gone too long. And when she came back, we all walked down the driveway to retrieve Belle’s duck, which was left there because Belle is convinced “come” also means “drop everything.”

As we headed back up the driveway, Meg and Belle were happy to see our neighbor Buddy had come for a visit. Buddy loves to play with the girls. And they love to play with him, too.

Buddy has the coolest yard. It is not only several acres in size, but there’s lots of flat space and there’s a CREEK. They had a blast. They both need baths now for sure, but it was worth it.

I have more fun images of the dogs at play, but it’s Monday and I have to get to work.

Reality sucks.