silliness annual tradition. Diary records from as early as 1841 entry showed weather forecasts had been celebrated among families of German descent in Pennsylvania though most historians agree the custom began in the late 1800’s. According to Don Yoder, former professor from University of Pennsylvania, he noted a Celtic connection and surmised this annual celebration had its roots in “ancient, undoubtedly prehistoric, weather lore.”
Guess it appears that Celtic people across Europe marked a 4-day period in early February, which is the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. Celts observed that Christians celebrated Candlemas (known as Imbolc), which coincided with Joseph and Mary’s presentation of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem. As ancient folk observed sun, stars and animal behavior and those observations influenced their farming practices. They came to the conclusion that the emergence of hibernating animals, coincided with seasonal weather forecasts. Similarly, German traditions observed that badgers or bears emerging from hibernation came around the same time as the arrival of spring. Pennsylvania German settlers apparently substituted the groundhog, which was endemic to the eastern and midwestern United States. Guess you use what you got to keep the myth going, eh? Now that you know the background, let’s move on and see what slices of nature arrived in the 303, shall we?
Welcome to the first Friday of February where we join our friends Rosy and Sunny for their Nature Friday blog hop. Be sure to click on the link to see what others have shared.
I dunno about you, but January seemed to go on forever, and makes you wonder why they do Dry January during such a long month? Sorry, I’ve been out of commission lately, I’m recuperating from an injury that required surgery. Normally Mom keeps me buttoned up with a horrid satellite dish (aka cone) but she took that pic after I had eaten breakfast to make it easier on me and removes the cone so I don’t bang on walls while trying to locate my bowl. Man…I can’t wait to burn that thing! I’m not even getting Showtime.
Anyway…this week the weather has been almost spring-like with temps nearly 20F degrees warmer than average for this time of year (hmm, maybe that stupid rodent is on to something). The hyacinths in our garden began to wake up which actually surprised Mom. With the subzero temps in January, she didn’t think they’d wake up yet, but lo and behold…warmer temps seemed to coax these little squirts upward.
Mom also noticed some daffodils were farther along than we thought they should be. Now don’t go crazy…this isn’t some kind of atmospheric miracle, mind you. When you’re at a Mile High elevation-wise, you’re that much closer to the sun and that makes a huge difference over those near sea level.
We’re noticing it’s getting lighter earlier in the morning and some of the recent sunrises have been pretty spectacular. There’s something about winter sunrises that always captivates Mom’s interest. She’s lucky I’m not supposed to walk very fast so she was able to capture this view before the red sky disappeared while waiting on me.
So the integration of the ‘pink-eyed pony’ who’s probably going to be my brother, has been slow going. We still get somewhat bent out of shape especially when I’m too close to my Mom [yo doofus…she was my Mom long before you arrived…so back #@%$ off] but we’re trying our best. Well that’s not 100% accurate…it’s more like Mom is hyper focused on our proximity to avoid any more collisions or unpleasantness.
Last week Wilson went to the groomer after Mom spent 187 hours dematting his fur (trust me, that’s not much of an exaggeration either-that gallon bag was just from his ears and took almost 5 hours). The groomer said Mom made the job easier for her and Wilson was good getting spiffed up. I’ll admit, that boy does clean up nicely.
Sure his fur is shorter than Mom would like, but it will grow out quickly. The groomer only needed to blend the length from where the mats were cut out. I’m just glad I didn’t have to lose any more fur than what the vet shaved off but Mom mentioned something about trimming up my paws. {Gasp} I hope that was just a rhetorical observation and not real. I’m slow moving right now and wouldn’t be able to escape quickly enough. I hate for my feet to be groomed.
So far, I haven’t decided if I’m going to let Wilson appear as a co-host on my Friday posts. The jury is still out on that one. What do you guys think? Should I let him or just keep this gig to myself? Let me know in your comments.
Got anything exciting on your dance card this weekend? We are planning to enjoy the NHL All-Star Game and then prepare for next weekend’s Super Bowl. Can anyone tell me what the dog is all the hubbub about on this whole Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce thing. I mean, why are people so bent out of shape that a very successful musical star supports her boyfriend at his games? I just don’t get it.
Do you believe Punxsutawney Phil’s forecast will bear out? Whatever you do, we hope you are able to enjoy whatever Mother Nature dishes up.
Live, love, bark! 🐾
Elsa! What happened?! Are you OK? Please take care of yourself, please? Your admirer, Riley
Hey Elsa, you might wanna let Wilson have a shot at it every once in a while and then laugh at him, BOL! Angel Lexi hated sharing her blog, you know. But I’m a bit more generous, especially since my sis Lucy held it together for Angel Lexi until I came and stepped in for her. Besides, it takes a lot of nap and begging time away, so I do let everyone else in the house post blogs on it. Your schnauzer warrior friend, Xena
Elsa suffered a femoral fracture two weeks. A 10” scar with 37 staples (that were removed today). She’s doing well all things considered and now starts rehab for the next 6 weeks.
Poor girl. It must have hurt a lot. The rehab will keep you both busy.
Very busy. They’ll have to be walked separately. This has been like having a newborn baby. I’m so sleep deprived.
Like a newborn..that means sleep when they both sleep, LOL!
I hope Elsa is recovering well, from her surgery, Monika. Nice to see the spring bulbs starting to push through. No sign of them here yet.
Thanks, Sue. She’s doing well, all things considered but it certainly has taken the wind out of her sails. Our bulbs are buried under 6″ of snow but expect them to make a full recovery.
Aww Elsa , sorry to hear you needed surgery and we send lots of healing thoughts your way. Wilson looks so good after his clip and we hope he will learn to understand that there’s enough love to go around for all the family 💞💜💞
Many thanks for the get-well wishes. I’m scheduled to have my staples removed on Monday, paws crossed. We think it will take some time for Wilson to feel more at ease in his new surroundings; he’s lucky Mom is fairly patient though I know she could use a few more hours of sleep at night. Have a good weekend.
It’s nice to see some spring amid all this drab weather we’re having. And the handsome boy strikes again!
Those little bulbs making their way to the surface put a big smile on my Mom’s face. And yeah…that boy does clean up fairly well. I’m just glad it wasn’t me who had to get a bath and haircut. Whew…😉
Happy February to all 3 of you. Hopefully the month has started well. The Phil hub-bub is always interesting … and wow … a lot of people show up! Elsa, I hope your recovery goes well!
The whole Phil thing truly is remarkable. Makes you wonder if the Chamber of Commerce has a hand in promoting it for purely economic reasons. And yes I’ll admit to being just a tad cynical. 🤣
When you see all the people, you’re damn right economics has a role. I’m confident Buckeye Chuck crowd appeal doesn’t come close! Bottom line, embrace it and enjoy it for what it is.
Yes, Wilson looks good. Interesting about Groundhog Day. Always wondered how that came about. Elsa, my favorite Ninja!! I am so glad to hear that you are up and about and recovering from your “:accident” Let’s hope that does not happen again. Benji is still missing his mummy and he looks for every time I come home from the hospital. Anyway, good news is that when we have a nice day (not too hot) I can take him up north with me and he can get to see his mummy for a little while. That would be great for all three of us..
Thank you, John. Yes, Mom prays we never have to go through something like that again and pray hard that Benji will get to see his Mum soon. No doubt it will soothe all of your spirits. We hadn’t realized that Mom’s distant relatives brought the whole Groundhog Day thing with them from Germany (*she thought they were smarter than that) but I guess if it makes people happy for a few hours, that’s probably a good thing, especially these days. 😆 Know we’re thinking of you all and sending “paw-erful” energy your way. 💙
Elsa, I’m so sorry you had an accident that needed surgery. Twiggy was supposed to wear a cone too but we let her off the hook and she never touched her incision. I hope you get better son and take it easy as you heal. Wilson does clean up nicely. I think you should give him some a little time on your post. We all would like to know how he is doing and feeling about his new home. I never put too much stock into rodents in terms of predicting important stuff. Tell mom I’m jealous regarding her budding plants so early.
Thanks for the kind well wishes. Lucky Twiggy…and to think she didn’t try to get to her incision. I wish I had her self control. We sure hope Nature leaves us some moisture or we won’t have a very good garden this year. I’ll talk to Wilson and see if he’s willing to chat with us. He’s all right as brothers go; maybe he’ll calm down once he shares his story. Have a lovely weekend.
Thank you, Elsa. I hope you have a lovely weekend as well.
Oh, Elsa, we sure hope you’ll be as good as new really soon, and bye bye to the cone.
Wilson doesn’t know his own weight obviously…and he sure made a great transformation from a shaggy, raggedy mess to a good looking OES!
Loved seeing your emergent spring plants….here even on the sheltered south side of our yard there is nothing! Though some hardy weeds are trying…weeds, Sheesh! Why do they always grow better than deferred plants??
You know guys, my Mom asked me the same question! What IS it about weeds being so hardy?
Elsa, friend, I hope the cone goes away soon. And do give Wilson a chance. He’s pretty spiffy now that he’s all groomed up, and a brother would be nice, really. You can teach him all about blogging – you’re the expert, right?!
Well…when you put it like that…maybe I can cut him some slack. 🤣
Wilson does indeed clean up nicely.
Of course Wilson gets to share Elsa’s Friday posts — That’s what siblings do, is share.
I went out to our garden yesterday in an attempt to stimulate my vitamin D production and I found two spinach plants! I threw the seed out in JULY trying for a fall crop! THEY LOOKED BETTER THAN ANY SPINACH PLANTS I’VE EVER GROWN BEFORE! I am done with most vegetable plants — I just don’t have what it takes to grow them. Done!
But, but, Amy, I don’t want to share. 😉 Mom feels the same way about herb seeds. She can never get them to germinate. Ever. Sigh. Have a ‘furbulous’ weekend and pass along scritches to Teagan and Zoe.
I’m always blown away by the early showing of your spring flowers. We won’t see nuthin’ till April, maybe end of March, if we’re lucky.
The rodent is a bunch of malarky meant to entertain us, right?
Wilson is looking mighty fine. I hope he becomes a good brother to you, Elsa. Let’s give him a chance, eh?
We saw so little sun in January, I am not sad to see it in the rear view mirror. Of course, February is starting off on the wrong foot, mimicking the previous month. Sigh. Hard to not let it affect one’s spirits!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Spring always delays its arrival in the far northern parts of the hemisphere, but it’ll show up. When you have as intense of sunshine like we receive, it’s no wonder bulbs migrate to the surface.
Yeah, that rodent baloney is probably the result of a covert marketing plan by hoteliers and restaurateurs. Not that we’re cynical, mind you. LOL Here’s hoping some sunshine appears during your weekend.
Yeah, for sure. Our sunrise (not that we see it much, lately) is still so late! 7:14.
Of course we are not .. but yanno 😉
It might show by tomorrow. Maybe.
🤞🏼 🤞🏼 🤞🏼 Hope springs eternal.
That it does!! 💞
Who knew such a handsome guy was under that fluff? Sorry about the surgery, Elsa, hope you recovery quickly! 💕
Many thanks. Wilson must have lost 15 lbs of fur from all those mats and probably could stand to lose some fat lbs next. 😆
We can’t wait for our Spring Flowers to bloom!! I saw a few sprouts at the botanical gardens yesterday and am hoping Spring will get here soon!
After those bitter cold days, we were sure surprised they were peaking out of the ground. Maybe our Mom can visit the botanical gardens here soon-she needs some flower power to cheer her up. Have a pawtastic weekend.
We think Phil’s forecast is a bunch of blarney, but he sure lives in a fun town. Our stop there was so much fun. There is so much to see, we need to go back again one day. Sadly, it has been spring all winter here and we are hating it every day. Time to just give up and face it, no winter this year. Sorry about your surgery. Madison is starting to get back to normal after her major operation. Thankfully she only had a donut for half a day and then Mom modified one of her shirts so she could wear that. Most of the time she had no interest in doing anything with her stitches. Hope you heal quickly so you can keep up with the new guy in your house. Happy Friday!
As I’ve been healing, the skin itches a little so having a cone has been a good idea. Sadly no shirts could be modified to keep me from licking at the itching.
We think the whole Phil things is ridiculous too but suspect it brings adds a lot to the economy of that place. Good for folks having a smile or two especially these days when we’re bemoaning a lack of snow. Hope you have a good weekend.
a pink eyed pony? lol oh my…. we love your brother and we immediately teased our mama with the story of the oesd and the idiot named benny s. … she really wanted to marry this guy just because he had an oesd… she has the craziest ideas ……..
OES’s have historically been viewed as ‘date dogs’ but they’re more interesting than some of their owners. Everyone loves the way they look yet forget about us regal poodles. We think your Mom did just fine with who she chose. He’s a great dog dad. The pink-eyed pony is as big as a small horse and seems determined to make my Mom fall! Don’t be surprised if the next medical catastrophe doesn’t involve her breaking a bone or three tripping over him. 😁
Oh that face!! You’re beautiful too elsa! I love the daffodils 😀 can’t wait to see them here.
He’s nothing if not a looker, that’s for sure and a complete charmer. We’re looking forward to yellow spots of daffodils soon. 🤞🏼Have a great weekend.
Oh no! Sorry about your booboo and hope the cone of shame goes away soon. I tried one on Gus (who is scheduled for surgery) yesterday. He can only walk backwards in it and kind of freaked out. Hopefully he’ll have some good drugs when he has it on. The rodent said early spring. I’m not necessarily a believer but right now I’ll believe anyone who promises spring and sunshine. We’ve had a very dreary and cloudy winter. I should probably buy one of those fancy lights to perk me up. Good luck with your stitches.
Thanks, Kate. I’m glad to be able to be rid of those staples…all 37 of them. Hopefully Gus will have as potent of drugs like me and can breeze through the healing process quickly so he can ditch the cone soon. We should have a cone burning celebration! Have a good weekend.
37 staples! Yikes! Sounds like a blog post!
If what they say about chicks digging scars is true…well there’s about 10″ of digging!
Double Yikes!
That incision was nearly as big as the bill. 😵💫
Poor you. I believe that. Often these events are as horrific to the peeps as they are to the pets themselves (and that’s aside from the $$). The surgery for Gus is only slightly more $$ than his last ER visit.
Pet healthcare is on par to rival human healthcare…without benefit of Medicare (and insurance is equally as expensive). In Denver, there has been a lot of consolidation-big corporate vet practices are snatching up the small ones at an alarming rate and it’s done nothing to help with the cost of care.
I’m not surprised. I use two different vets. One is what I call my meat and potatoes vet. She’s great with the normal. She does not do complicated surgeries nor does she have dental x-rays (which Gracie needed because some of her teeth were broken off and the rest rotted). The other one is a large practice with two locations with sophisticated equipment. If I can use “meat and potatoes” I do because even the drugs she dispenses are much cheaper for the same thing. For Gus’s surgery, I had to go to an even larger animal care practice for a surgical specialist. They run a 24 hour emergency vet practice so I know he will be monitored through the night. Animal care is so different these days. Even the pain meds are wonderful (for them not me!). Totally different approach than 30 years ago.
I do the same here. My ‘family vet’ is a low-cost practice. For Elsa’s surgery he referred me to a (so-called) newly opened low cost practice with all the bells and whistles and diagnostic equipment. If I’d gone to most practices on my side of town, the cost would have been double in price. 😵💫 Yes, vet practices (must like their human counterparts) get money up front. When Norman had bloat shortly after I adopted him, it was a $6,000 hit before they even treated him. Not comforting to know you have only 2 choices in an life emergency-pay a lot for treatment or pay for euthanasia. 😭 I shudder to think of all the good pets that get put down because their owners can’t afford the staggering costs of treatment at a time when they are least prepared to make that emotional kind of decision.
Sadly I don’t have a low cost practice with all the bells and whistles but I shouldn’t complain. There is an emergency practice locally that is even more $$ than the one I’m using for Gus’s surgery. Yes up front. I had to pay half of the high end estimate at scheduling and the balance at pick-up. My dear friend paid $5K for back surgery. Her pup made it threw surgery ok but died 2 days later (still at vet). They don’t know what happened. They cremated the pup for free.
Oh gosh, how heartbreaking. I’ve heard similar stories and have been a total wreck since Elsa’s surgery.
That’s how we roll. Sending hugs.
And back atcha.
we’ve had early spring here in our part of Colorado all January with a couple days of winter. Thanks to climate changes and warming of the earth. I don’t like it at all, summer will be unbearable, and it will be hot longer, which is quite different than we hoped for moving here.
not good news for us to hear early spring.
I wouldn’t put any stock on Punxsutaney Phil. It’s a well known fact that rodents can’t be trusted, irrespective of climate change. March and April are our wettest months anyway, let’s just hope Nature comes through with something resembling wet.
Love seeing those signs of spring in wintry Denver. Elsa, we are all eager to hear Wilson’s thoughts on his new life with you guys…I vote yes to letting him join in!
Thanks, Lisa. Do I have to? 🤣 Hopefully we’ll see some signs of winter between now and the equinox. We need the moisture unlike San Diego. Stay safe and dry this weekend.
Thanks, we are getting our winter rains for sure!
Elsa you gave a good update on the status of things around your place……you’re recovering, Wilson looks like a dog now instead of a mop, and there are signs of Spring popping out of the ground. I think it might be interesting if you let Wilson give “the new guy perspective” once in a while on the blog but only if you’re on board with that. No sign of Spring here by the way – once in a while out of nowhere we have a snow shower that lasts a couple of minutes. A reminder Winter is absolutely NOT ready to leave YET.
Hugs, Teddy
Hiya, Teddy. We’re waiting for a big snowstorm to arrive here this weekend, though we think it may just hit the mountains and only can hope we get a few drops of wet stuff from it. I personally don’t believe in trusting any rodent when it comes to…anything, come to think of it, let alone the weather so we’ll just wait to see what happens. It’s been a lot warmer this winter than in past years and hope Nature gifts us something-we sure need it. Have a great weekend.
I agree about trusting rodents……they’re sneaky!
No kidding. You can’t trust those hoodlums. 😉
So sorry you’ve had to have surgery, Elsa…has you mum tried those inflatable rings rather than the cone of shame?
Wilson does look handsome after your mum’s matt clearance and the groomer’s attentions….from your remarks I suspect he just barges in where angels fear to tread – no malice, but sheer incomprehension!
Let’s hear it from Wilson too….
Hi Helen, yes, she has one though it has a teensy tiny hole in it that she can’t seem to patch adequately. The vet was insistent on the plastic cone but she’s let me cheat a bit especially when I’m drugged up or eating meals. I get my staples out Monday, hopefully he’ll say I can burn the doggone thing. Wish me luck! I don’t think Wilson meant to hurt me, but he outweighs me by about 40 lbs. and I’m…well let’s just say I’m a bit vintage now. We wish you a splendid weekend.