A woman's view of hunting…with men
guns, dogs and birds
Saturday morning at the dam. Charlie and Orso checked out all of the new smells.
Somebody was definitely here before us.
Charlie hot on the trail of a strange scent.
Orso suddenly remembered that he doesn’t particularly like swimming.
Both dogs enjoyed the morning outing.
What is up with these two? Orso and Charlie are at it again. Once again they lulled me into a false sense of security thinking that they could be trusted to have the run of the house while home alone. I was sure that since AJ was gone that these two hooligans would behave without AJ to instigate raiding the pantry. And once again I was wrong. I should be used to being wrong.
I know that with my foot surgery things have been thrown off. Their routine has changed drastically. But it’s not like they are getting no exercise. We have our best friend coming over every day and walking the dogs, giving them lots of work and exercise. So what happened?
I came home from work and was greeted by Mitch telling me to go check the kitchen and see the gift that the two had left for us. Knowing that was not a good omen, I hobbled into the kitchen to find a mangled jar of my favorite local honey on the counter. Evidently someone, my guess, Orso jumped up on the table and snatched the bottle of honey off the table and chewed the top off to enjoy my honey. There was more than half gone. I hope he gets sick, but not in the house. But he won’t, he’s a Labrador retriever.
At dinner though we discovered another surprise. Mitch went to butter his baked potato and looked at me and asked where the butter was. Not on the table. We went on a butter tub hunt throughout the house, kind of like an Easter egg hunt. We searched under tables and dressers, under the bed and in the corners. No luck. The tub of butter has disappeared. No slimy smears, no bits of plastic about. Nothing, no clue, just no butter. It was as though a master cat burglar had come into the house stole the butter and disappeared without a trace.
Now comes the fun part, watching the dogs closely to make sure they don’t get sick. Poop watch, checking for bits of plastic, is so much fun and something I thought we were beyond now that AJ is not here. Wrong again.
We disturbed a very large bird from its’ perch on top of a power line.
I didn’t get a good look at before it flew off, but it was big.
Charlie was busy hunting in a dead cattail marsh.
The creeks are still very low. Pretty but we need more rain.
Orso coudn’t get enough running around.
It was a beautiful morning just after sunshine. The dogs didn’t
stop running the whole time. They had so much fun, they didn’t really
even mind getting a bath when we got home.
Now I have tired happy and clean babies.
A great start for an early Spring Sunday morning.
These photos were taken with my Canon using a 55-250mm lens.
Thursday the weather forecasters finally got it right. We have been in a severe drought since last June, so there hasn’t been much for them to talk about. It has been so bad that the mere suggestion of the possibility of precipitation has brought a flurry (no pun intended) of continuous weather reports. Our weather forecasters were downright giddy throughout the day having successfully predicting the Great Snowmageddon of 2013. It was touted as the biggest single day snowfall in decades.
They started predicting that the storm would arrive at midnight on Wednesday dropping one to two inches an hour. We got up at 2:30 am and looked outside, no snow, what a disappointment. We figured the weathermen got it wrong, again. We would probably just get a dusting. Well the snowflakes didn’t start to fall until about 7:00 am on Thursday long after we had been up and at work. It snowed with a vengeance for about 5 hours coming down fast and furious.
People were getting their cars stuck in the middle of the roads or sliding off the roads into ditches and just leaving their cars where they got stuck, causing huge traffic jams and wrecks. It was as if a lot of people that have lived here for years had forgotten how to drive in the snow. People over-estimated their ability and under-estimated the conditions. It made for spectacular news coverage. Nothing like a massive blizzard to give the media something to talk about. The media had reporters out on the roadways taking pictures of snarled traffic throughout the city, interviewing stranded travelers and pretty much making nuisances of themselves, as usual.
We ended up with about nine inches of snow and in the process making tow trucks, body shops and car dealers very happy. Business is booming for them.
Oh and Orso thinks the snow is pretty awesome!
In the early predawn mornings when it’s still very dark, no one is awake to see what goes on during my walks with the two terrorists, aka Orso and Charlie. Only the deer and raccoons are around to witness their antics. I’m talking about them jerking me around, getting the leashes tangled up and charging at the nocturnal animals keeping my chiropractor in business.
It’s bad enough going on a walk in the dark and twisting an ankle stepping off the road into the ditch, which I have done on more than one occasion, causing me to wonder if I’m going to be able to walk home when I’m a mile away from the house. No one else is around to see my gracelessness or help me if I get hurt. It’s just the dogs and me. I’ve even fallen over a giant boulder in the middle of the road. I’m that graceful. At least in the dark no one else is there to laugh at me.
Not today though. After I got home from work this evening, I took the dogs on their afternoon walk which is when everyone is coming home from work. The walk down to the dam was uneventful, a very pleasant stroll for the three of us. The dogs were behaving themselves and enjoyed the romp at the dam. On the return trip home we ran into a friend and his two dogs, which I used as a training session for Orso, working on his sudden aggression lunging at other dogs. So far so good, Charlie was a champ and behaved perfectly and after a rough start Orso got into the moment and behaved very calmly walking back and forth in front of my friend and his dogs. We almost looked like a Cesar Milan episode.
After the successful walk-by the dogs and I continued on our way home. We had just rounded the second curve in the road when Charlie circled around behind me to pee on a bush causing me to try and whip the leash over my head and twist my arm around when Orso stepped back toward me. I tripped over Orso and fell hard twisting my ankle and knee. Right there in broad daylight for everyone to see. As I sat there in the road feeling foolish, Orso came over to check on me and let me know he loves me even though I am the most graceless woman in the world.
There’s something to be said for walking in the dark.
Can’t catch me!
Chest bumps!
When it’s too cold to go outside, the best playground is our bed. The favorite game is King of the Bed.
“My Bed”
“Just try and get up here”
“Game on”
AJ taking his time enjoying the new trail.
Charlie does not stop running.
Orso looking for something to chase.
A pretty early morning view.
Orso wants to go out for a walk but not helping get his harness on is more fun.
“See you can do it without me. I don’t have to stand for this.”
Charlie’s just taking a load off and resting
Orso wants to play on the jungle gym too!
A woman's view of hunting...with men 