Welcome to the first Friday of 2020. We’re joining our furry friends Rosy and her brothers from LLB in Our Backyard for this week’s edition of the Nature Friday blog hop. Don’t forget to check out other blogs when you click on the link.
January is typically the coldest and driest month of the year. While we didn’t have a white Christmas, a snow storm arrived on the 27th throughout most of the state. It made driving conditions treacherous and I deliberately made sure to arrange my return home accordingly after a lovely Christmas visit with the family.
As you can see looking at Pikes Peak from near my mom’s house, nature is pretty typical for this time of year, i.e. somewhat bland and brown. Pikes Peak with its snow capped summit rises above the Plains like a beacon. Situated just West of Colorado Springs, it’s a view that travels from the metro area to Pueblo often experience on those trademark Colorado clear blue sky days.
Once back home it was just 36 hours when a nice 4-6″ deep storm covered the neighborhood. And it was windy and chilly. For a few days, the temperature barely rose past the 20’s. This week has been moving toward the 40’s and close to 50 on New Year’s day and while some of you may shiver at that thought, trust me…January in the 40’s is a heat spell in Denver. The National Western Stock Show nearly always ushers in frigid temperatures and it starts January 11th. I’m shivering just thinking about it since the arrival will mandate several extra layers just to stay semi-comfortable, much less warm.
While nature has been a bit bland around the Ranch, Elsa experienced an ‘interesting’ adventure yesterday. Welcome the newest neighbor to our hood, Wally, a rescued Great Pyrenees who moved across the street from us. We met yesterday. Elsa was not amused in the slightest bit. Umm, let’s just say Wally’s manners need some work around the ladies. A sweet boy who’s lived his entire 2-year life on an Indiana farm so far, socialization with other dogs is slim to next to nothing and slim left town last week.
The hope is that Wally and Elsa will learn to enjoy one another’s company and have some fun playing ‘catch me if you can’ at get-togethers. Once he stops being a cad, that is, if you get my drift. His size is probably prohibitive for play dates with Sam who is also not much of a player. He’ll stand there wagging his tail furiously but at 14+, he really isn’t much into the game of chase. Not that he ever was. A few dance steps, some serious tail wagging and then a yawn with a retreat to take a nap. That boy has always known how to conserve energy.
Have a great Friday and an even better weekend. While the NFL Playoffs begin tomorrow, we hope you’ll enjoy some outdoor playtime. I plan to go outside and wander about the ‘hood in the nearly 60 F degrees forecast tomorrow. Now where are those mud boots?
Live, love bark! 🐾
We’re just waiting for January to drop the other shoe. And dreading it. LOL.
I’m so glad you were able to arrange your holiday travel plans to avoid traveling in bad conditions.
Enjoy the new year, whatever Mother Nature decides to bring us for weather (and that seems to be a huge mystery so far this winter!).
The weather jinxed my plans earlier when my sis from Texas was here so I was extra vigilant since my car doesn’t have 4WD. I can barely make it out of the alley when it snows! It’s supposed to be 60 today. In January! WTD?
A new furiend! How exciting!
I would be barking my dog head off!
Enjoy the mud sounds wagnificent😉
💜nose nudges💜
We had some of that going on too, but mostly racing away from the big guy. He got a bit too close for Elsa’s taste.
Us ladies need our pawsonel space🐾💜🐾
That’s a real understatement with Elsa. She must have thought she was back at the puppy mill farm the way Wally kept trying to mount her.
Oh that must have been very stressful for her 💜nose nudges💜 Sam needs to step up on her behalf🐾
It was stressful for her. I didn’t bring Sam because Elsa is pretty protective of him when other dogs are around. We’ll work on Wally and see if he can become a nice playmate in the future.
Of course Elsa would be protective of Sam💜
That sounds like a good plan🐾💜🐾
Sounds as if Wally needs to go to finishing school..i saw your cycle discussion…in San Jose, where the roads are hardly wide to start with, we now have cycle lanes all over the place…with no cyclists in them except then the SJ cycle club has a Sunday outing. Result…even more congestion.
After years in an English uiniversity city and then rural France my loathing of the lycra louts knows no bounds…
Elsa concurs. He definitely needs some finishing school sessions!
I don’t mind designated bike lanes per se, but in a very dense neighborhood, removal of parking space and installing a circle in a too small of an intersection where bicyclists never paid any attention to road rules any way seems really dumb and majorly inconvenient for what’s becoming a traffic nightmare.
We sure hope you get out and enjoy the nice weather this weekend!
Any time you can get out is great but in January…it’s a dream.
He’ll really conserve energy by not chasing the ladies but he will be miserable.
Oh boy, Wally looks like fun. I hope you get to be friends soon
He’s a sweet dog just needs to learn some manners. 😉
Good luck with the new neighbor/friend. I am with you, S. I love a good nap over a game of chase any day!
Love and licks,
Cupcake
You and Sam have the right idea! Have a great weekend, Cupcake.
Wild card Weekend is my favorite weekend of the year. Nature will have to wait.
It should be interesting. But all the commercials are killing football for me. It’s hard to watch an entire game anymore.
Happy New Year, looks like a fun buddy to hang around with. Enjoy his company.
Thanks, we’ll see how it goes. Elsa was not impressed on first impressions.
I’m sure Elsa has the power to teach him…he’s adorable btw😸😸Warm Pawkisses for a Happy Weekend🐾😽💞
He really is a sweet and handsome boy. Elsa certainly has a worthy growl and snarl to teach the young whipper-snapper a few things about dog manners. LOL
As a man of a certain age, I totally relate to conserving energy. I could really do with more napping though.
Happy weekend to you, Elsa and Sam and your new neighbor.
Nothing wrong with napping as a priority. Hopefully you’ll enjoy one or two this weekend! Happy Playoffs, happy weekend.
Wally and Elsa look like a very photogenic pair!
He’s a beautiful boy but needs to learn some personal space manners to spend any time with the Ninja. We’ve got our fingers crossed and Wally’s dad is committed to training Wally to be a good boy. He’s lovely around humans, but has never been exposed much to dogs.
Here’s hoping Wally will learn how to play well with others and make a new fur-iend!
We’ve got our paws crossed!
Talking of cold and snow up there: those are the main reasons why Mary’s cousin from Denver [you know she used to live in Lakewood] is moving down here to Frederickburg.
Best,
Pit
Good for her! The cold and outrageous traffic makes one think of warmer climes.
Hopefully Wally will learn some manners or Elsa will lose interest… As for Sam, he is smart to wag from a distance!
We also had a green Christmas but a white new year. Your temps are pretty much the same as ours. Zeke and I are on a mission to get MY steps in, come mild or cold. Only thing I’ll refuse to go out in is rain/freezing rain. I don’t feel like putting myself in any danger, thank you very much…
You’re so right on all counts. Freezing rain is the worst, unless you count melt freeze cycles and clueless neighbors who don’t think they need to shovel their walks. We nearly bought the farm this morning on our walk because of that. 😬
Ugh. Ihear you.
I walked last night with Zeke. The snow on the streets has become slick, so one has to choose very carefully where to step. Kinda ruins the enjoyment of the walk. Thankfully only one section was lie that.
I was so irritated on yesterday’s multiple walks, I took photos and sent them to the city on their complaint website. Enough people, shovel your darn walks for crying out loud! Ours is a highly walkable neighborhood with lots of strollers and a few handicapped people. Try pushing a stroller through thick packed snow and ice. I don’t even know how handicapped people can survive in those treacherous conditions.
The city cleans the sidewalks (where there are some) but where I was walking there are none so you have to walk in the street. I think I shall cave in and go buy crampons for my boots.
They can be a real godsend. I only seem to remember I have a pair when I’m out in the middle of icy walks. LOL
P.S. What a dream to have your city cleaning the sidewalks. That would never happen here. I feel lucky if/when they plow major roads. Forget side roads-the city certainly has. Grrrr
Ummm…. Yeah, maybe you should take them out 😉
Well… they clean ’em, then the plough passes by to clean the street (where the sidewalks stuff goes). But not all towns. There is a big stink going on in Montreal as the Mayor (as my friend calls her: Mayor Sitswhenshepees) has decided cyclists are more important than pedestrians so the sidewalks are a danger zone but the street where the bikes go? Beautiful. It’s ugly out there.
Yeah I hear that. They designated the street on the north corner side of my yard a bike lane path, removed much needed parking for all 4 corner homes, reversed the stop sign orientation and installed a circle at the intersection for “better bike flow.” Yesterday was [another] crash of two vehicles (who now have a clear path to drive like maniacs around the circle) and then there was the large construction truck that blew a tire on the circle which sounded like an explosion a couple days earlier. Traffic is messed up, it’s more dangerous than ever getting through unscathed. And to think the bicyclists never paid attention to the stop sign anyway that they removed. Oh and the intersection is the smallest of the traffic circles installed and there have been multiple accidents from people who don’t know how to navigate it without driving into a downward sloped storm sewer. This is called progress?? Ugh.
Progress. my arse. In Montreal, all along de Maisonneuve Street, the cyclists have a wide side of the street. They thankfully put up traffic lights even for them. So if they cross on the red, I’m hitting them. (OK, not really but I’ll scare the shit out of them, if need be.) I’m all for making the roads safer for cyclists but not if they continually diss the pedestrians and drivers. Don’t get me started on the parking (lack of) situation since. Pain in the ass. And circles? No one knows how to use them!
You’re right on the circle edicate. And the pain catering to these over self-indulgent prats. Your road rage made me chuckle. I’ll be rooting for you.
Glad I made you chuckle. They make me wanna spit. 😉
Well I’m trying hard to keep this exchange PG rated. Guess you probably can guess how I really feel about those clueless idiots I’d just as soon run down as look at. #notreallybutsorta
Yes, you are being very good about it.
😉
But oh if you heard the chatter in my brain…
Honey… I hear it LOUD AND CLEAR 😉
But no worries, I’ll keep it to myself
I knew you would. We think so much alike on stuff like this. 🥰
That we do 😉
🥰
Perhaps Wally and Elsa can learn to nap together. Okay there is tail wagging to be done. Cute.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. Scritches to the pups. ♥
It sounds like a good idea but think neither of them are very big on napping when there’s chasing to be done. Happy weekend.
Looking at first the photo I thought Sam looks so strange! So this boy is a new friend Wally. If he learns how to treat a lady, they will have fun running around. You really have warm there, 60 F is our May temperatures. I know Colorado from a TV series ” South Park”. The Pikes Peak was seen behind their city.
Oh my, South Park made it to Finland? Not sure if that’s a good thing or not. LOL Hopefully Wally will do well with training and be more polite in the near future.
South Park was good, it was just like this life with it’s people. The veil of good behavior just was taken away.
That’s a lovely way to put it.
Mew mew mew wee sure do ‘get THE drift’ Miss Monika!! Wally needss sum eddycation on beein a gentledoggie! Wee hopess hee will calm down so hee an Elsa can bee frendss. An mee cuud see Sam whappin Wally a guud one…do doggiess ‘hap’??
Mew mew mew….
**purrsss** BellaDharma
Sam’s far to much of a gentleman to ‘whap.’ Elsa on the other hand managed to make some rather poignant points. Wally, while sweet as can be to peeps, has a lot to learn about lady dogs and how to be around them. ☺️
Mew mew mew mee iss a guud ‘whappurr; too Elsa! An Sam stand back when Elsa windss up!!
Wally will leern inn time to bee-have….
Poochiess can bee so silly Miss Monika can’t they?
You know it, dear kitty!
Mee sure does Miss Monika! 😉
I lived next to a Great Pyrenees. Hugs with tons of energy. He knocked me over when he said “Hi, how are ya?” 🙂
Tons of energy and tons of hair!
Milo would love to play chase me with Elsa. He’s not one to push his favors on the ladies, so she might just like him. He said to invite her over to our big yard
We’ll have to come when the weather has melted all the snow and see how they interact. She wanted no part of Wally, course he got a bit too close and personal and I think she decided ‘nope dude, not going back to the puppy mill pit farm.’