A Good Week

You wouldn't believe the weather we're having. The sun even shown a few days. The temperature was up in the high forties the first three days. Then it cooled off but was still dry. I decided to take advantage of it and do some of my spring work early. Imagine working outside in February.

I pulled dead flowers and weeds on several flowerbeds and decided on the last two or three to take a before and after picture. This first five pictures are the before. This is the bed just south of the patio beside the walkway down to the garden

 These are along the west side of the patio.

 This south of the patio looking north.

 This is my herb garden just off the southwest corner of the patio.

 This is along the wall on the west side of the patio.

These are the "after" shots.

 We had another bird show up on our feeders. This is a Red Winged Blackbird.

 I kept "Harry" in long enough to take some more shots of our squirrel.

 Her he is getting a drink from the fountain under the weeping Cherry.

 We occasionally get a treat by having these elegant Dove pay us a visit. They feed from the ground so you won't see them on the feeders. They have such a quiet dignity about them besides being so beautiful. No wonder the Lord uses them as a symbol of the Holy Ghost.

 We had another visit by a Flicker and I got a little better shot.

I'm so glad to be a little ahead on the spring yard work. Still have to prune the Peach tree and the grapes and try to get a head start on the weeds in the garden. Its been a fun week. Next week should be interesting. Monday Viv goes to the dentist. Most of you know her aversion to dentists. This is the first time she will have gone here in Washington. That is also Valentines Day and Tuesday is Grandma's birthday. We are taking her and Sharon to the Red Lobster for dinner in the evening. Sunday will be Sharon's birthday. Pops sees the Dr. on Wednesday, Thursday Viv and I are at the Cannery, and Friday Pops has physical therapy. So life is busy and we're all relatively well and happy.

A squirel has shown up to share the corn with the birds. He even chews on the cob as he is here. Harry has a heightened motivation to go outside. In fact  is whining to go out right now. His impatience is testing mine. I'm trying to do this blog, Viv and I have an ongoing "Scrabble" game in progress, and he won't stop whining. As usual, his persistence is winning out.

I already took him out when I fed my animals (Isn't it funny, I don't refer to him as one of my animals, he's my buddy) Well Viv gave out before I did and let him out. She no sooner got sat down when he started barking to come back in. He doesn't like to be alone, although he stays out now more when I come back in than he has done before.
It's fast Sunday so it goes slower than most Sundays. I wonder why they don't call it "Slow Sunday."
Sorry for such a short Blog. We have been getting lots of rain so not much opportunity to take pictures.

More Birds

Some birds that I hadn't photoed yet. This is a male and female "Western Rufous-sided Towhee." Like the "Junco" in the last blog, the male and female can be distinguished by the darkness of their hood.

 This is a "Northern Flicker." I waited awhile to see if would come out from behind the feeder, but decided I'd better go ahead and take it before it flew. I'm pretty sure this is a female. The male has a conspicularly colored, usually red, mustache that runs down the side of it's face.

Both of these are beautiful birds. I'm glad they came along. I love my camera!

Birds and Haircuts

We had a new bird show up recently that I don't remember seeing since we've been here.  This is a Townsend's Warbler.  I haven't been able to get close enough with a camera to get pictures like this before. I love my new camera.

This is the bird that we have the most of. This is a Dark-eyed Junco. I'm not sure how to pronounce it. The males have the darker hoods and the females have the lighter ones.

 It is time for Harry to get his hair cut. Not only because he's so shaggy, but, if you look you can see a bald patch just behind his neck on his back. That is where the vet had to shave him because he had an open sore from scratching while Viv and I were in Germany.

 He looks excited about going to the groomer!?! The groomer sais Harry's very good though, while getting groomed.

 Her we are crossing the street to Neva's Grooming Salon. Yeah, it's raining. Something different!?!

 It was time for me to get groomed also.

 The finished product.

 And the finished product. We had it cut short so the bald spot wasn't so noticeable.

 So Harry and I had a good day. He looks like he needs a nap.

Dumb blog but I've run out of subjects.

Swans

On our way to our weekly assignment at the Mt. Vernon Cannery, we drove passed this huge field of swans. Most of them were not on the grass as these are. You can see the row of swans near the top of this photo. They are not on the grass as you can see in the other photos. That row of swans must have been nearly half-a-mile long. There were thousands of them. We have spotted them in places around Arlington and here in the Skagit Valley near Mt. Vernon, Washington.

 They are stately looking, gracious and beautiful birds.

 I think this one is taking a nap. (On one leg)

 What a beautiful bird! Their necks are amazing, the different ways they can move them and use them.

 I could have watched them all day, but we could only spend a few minutes. We had to open the cannery.

When we got home after our assignment we found out that grandpa had fallen again. He and grandma had gone outside and were working in the yard. As grandpa leaned over to pick up some things grandma had trimmed he fell over and couldn't get up and grandma couldn't help him. Fortunately a passing stranger saw grandma struggling to help him up and drove into the yard and up to the house and helped. It's amazing that he saw them. Grandma gave him a hug as he was leaving which seemed to please him. His kindness and gentleness impressed grandma.
Each time we have to leave for some reason, we worry that something like this, or worse might happen. This time it ended well.

Morning Chores and Our New Calf

Today as I do my morning chores, Viv is following me around with a new camera she got me.   

 I feed the the chickens first thing and start with their layer feed.

 Then I get them some scratch.

 It starts out their day with a treat.

 When I opened the nest box to collect the eggs, this hen wished me good morning!

 There were two eggs in the nest next to hers, and she is probably sitting on at least one more.

 I collect the eggs in grandmas basket.  When the weather is better she likies to gather them herself.

 Next I get some grain for "Pickles" our cow.

 I let her have some so she likes to see me coming. While she is distracted, I work with "Patches", her calf.

Some times "Patches" doesn't like being caught. I keep a halter on him and he drags a rope around all day. It helps him get used to the halter and makes it easier. One of the reasons he doesn't like me today is that I made him a steer yesterday.

 After I caught him, he resisted me more than he has been doing. He was a week old Sunday.

 Notice here the rope is slack and he is letting me rub and scratch him.

 Two or three times a day I take "Harry" for a walk around the property. He is getting to where he expects it and reminds me during the day.

 We usually take the same route but sometimes we reverse it.

 He checks out the perimeter of the property, especially on the west side as he is here.

 Sometimes, if it has come, we pick up the mail.  He stops at the road and lets me cross alone to the mailbox. I think he is trained enough to not cross or go out on to the road. Most dogs in this neighborhood end their mortality on the road which is a dangerous highway. Earlier in the morning I go down and get the paper, the Everett Herald."

 Then I  fill the bird feeders and put out corn for the Blue Jays.

It's only a matter of minutes and the "Seller Jay" is already at the corn. In a few more minutes the corn will be gone. I don't usually replace it more that once or twice a day.

 Some time after these chores are done I will go out and throw down some hay for the cow. I quite enjoy my animals. Isn't this a fun way to start the day?