Wednesday, March 31, 2010

What do you call it?

Daffodil?

Jonquil?



Narcissus?
Yes.
We call them all those names.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

All it takes is one warm day

Just a little sunshine and one warm day... and suddenly there are flowers everywhere!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Tooth to tell

The horse and I have something in common. We've both had our teeth cleaned recently.
The horse is not fond of the procedure. Does he look suspicious?
He knows something is going to happen.
First he gets shots.
One of the shots is to make him relax.
It makes the horse so relaxed that he can't hold his head up. So it has to be balanced on a sling on top of a pole. The vet is the dentist. He cranks open the horse's mouth with a metal device that holds it open while he works. The vet wears a light on his forehead to help him see inside the mouth.
He smooths down the points on the horse's teeth with a long power tool.
He takes off plaque with a tool that looks like a wrench.
He puts his whole hand and part of his arm up in the horse's mouth to feel which teeth need treated.
Afterwards the horse can barely stand up. I make him stagger around with me so that he can walk off the effect of the shot. This takes about an hour.
I think I prefer my dentist.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Birdbrain

Every year the same thing happens. Some bird catches a glimpse of its own reflection in one of the windows. The poor deluded creature thinks it is seeing another bird. It challenges the reflection - and spends days attacking the window to drive off the "other bird".
This year the tapping and flapping at the window has begun early.
Flop! Thud!

Over and over and over again.
Over and over you hear "Wink! Che-Wink!" piping outside just before the wings hit the window.
Usually the bird is a Robin or Catbird.
Usually the bird is a male.
Not this year.
This year it is a female Towhee attacking the glass.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Broken

This is what the bird feeder looked like this morning. It is supposed to be an indestructible feeder.
The company that made it will give you a new one if it breaks.
I'll bet they are sorry for that guarantee! I have already gotten three or four free new feeders just like this one.
They just didn't know our raccoons!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Socks is supposed to lose weight

Diet? I do not approve of this "diet" thing.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The hawk returns

I looked out the bedroom window and saw this character watching the pond. I think it is the same hawk that was catching frogs last year. I wanted to get a closer look so I crept out the front door and snuck around the house. I hoped he wouldn't see me until I was close enough to get a good picture.
But when I tiptoed around the spruce tree the branch was bare.
It's hard to sneak up on a hawk!