Well, well, well…here we are although Mum wasn’t expecting to post today because of all the traveling back and forth to Pueblo but she learned late yesterday that she didn’t need to go down today so here we are. Maybe she can relax a bit now. Course this means I’ve gotta scramble like a mad hatter to throw pull something together. But I’m nothing if not a professional, in addition to being a fabulous floof, so I’ll do my level best. Wilson here. I know Mum is overwhelmed and over stressed but I managed to find a few things to share for this week’s edition of Nature Friday. As always, we’re joining those adorable pups from Adventures of the LLB Gang for the last Friday of the month. Be sure to click on their link to see what slices of nature others have shared.
The Mum: {yawning} Thanks House Pony, appreciate you stepping up. I’m a bit brain dead after the last session where I painted the outside window sills in 90F (32.2C) degree temps. After a week of summer temperatures in the upper 80’sF (31.6C), this morning’s crisp temp of 37F (2.77C) was very welcome. It felt great needing to wear a light jacket to take you outside at 6 AM.
Wilson: It sure revved me up. I just wanted to bounce till I got to my favorite potty spot. I hope you buckle up for our morning walk, Mum. No slow walking, okay?
The Mum: Please be gentle with me. I’m old and sleep deprived, buddy.
Wilson: Oh Mum…I’m sure you’ll be okay…
The Mum: {rolling her eyes and interrupting} Especially remember the old part. These days that’s extra critical…so what did you manage to find for us?
Wilson: Well, spring definitely has sprung. Although I think we went from pitiful winter to flat out broiling summer. I finally spotted a nice clump of blooming daffodils around a tree. Aren’t they just delightfully cheerful?
The Mum: Those daffodils are the largest clump we’ve seen yet. The few places we’ve spotted daffodils have been the one off and I always think a clump gives them a much better presence in the spring garden. They did make me smile.
Wilson: Well if you liked them, I’ll just bet you enjoyed yesterday’s sunrise. The clouds were quite gorgeous and left a nice glowing arch to decorate the morning sky.
The Mum: It was very pretty, for sure. And very quiet, something that I rather relish since moving to this peaceful neighborhood. The morning sounds are birds calling to one another, not the traffic and hubbub that we used to face every morning. And it makes me very grateful to begin each day here. When you’re in the midst of hustle bustle, and then you’re out of it, it’s very noticeable. Life is good, even when it’s busy.
Wilson: That’s the spirit, Mum! I know I sure enjoy the birds and all the new smells I encounter and I’m glad you’re taking the time to notice the simple things. The flowering trees (ornamental pears and crabapples that were getting ready to bloom late last weekend) emerged with the warm temps and are providing a beautiful contrast of color to the otherwise scorched brown landscape.
The Mum: I noticed yesterday afternoon some of those same trees are beginning to lose their pretty blossoms. I guess we’re finally getting snow…even if it doesn’t have any moisture in it.
Wilson: Well look on the bright side, you don’t have to shovel. But yeah, I get it. One of the things I found a couple of days ago was the following graphic that depicts the seriousness of the high temps and lack of moisture on the snowpack that the entire state is suffering. Things are very grim with no end in sight. Notice the statewide average is a mere 38%.
The Mum: That graphic is very sobering. While today is much cooler (and very appreciated) moisture continues to not show up in our extended forecast. Mandatory water restrictions are going into effect all up and down the Front Ranch.
Wilson: I know it’s very grim, Mum. We’ll have to do what we can conserving water. For my part, I will happily give up baths.
The Mum: {smiling} Not so fast, dog breath. You still will need to get the occasional bath just not as frequently as when you were going to Lutheran for visits but I appreciate your willingness to sacrifice.
Wilson: Harumph…thought you might say that. Just wanted you to know I’ll happily forego any water torture. But let’s leave our dear readers with a scene that’s not all doom and gloom, with a bit of pretty, shall we, Mum? I liked seeing ducks swimming in the water’s reflection.
The Mum: We enjoy walking nearby on the trail path but when I noticed the canal was full, I just had to check it out and was delighted to see a couple of ducks swimming around in it. I had expected that the canal would delay filling up but it was a nice sight seeing it. I’m sure it’ll be used downstream and the level will fluctuate during late spring and summer.
Wilson: So long as we just walk past and don’t get into the water, I’ll be happy. Well that’s it for me. Do you have any plans for this last weekend of March? Whatever you do, we both hope you are able to get outdoors and enjoy some of the beauty Nature provides. Have a wonderful weekend!
Live, love, bark! 🐾
Hi there, Wilson and Mom! I’m glad you commented on my blog and enjoyed reading yours. I once had a granddog that looked a lot like you, Wilson His name was Biscuit and he was a sweet lovey dovey and I miss him.
I fully understand Mom’s concern about the poor snowpack this winter in our state. I am still hopeful we will get some snow this month, but it doesn’t look like we will get close to what all the rivers will need for the summer. We are also going to conserve water this sping and summer. We live in an Urban Wildland Designatiuon area, so sadly wildfires are always on our mind.
Thanks for swinging by and leaving such a nice comment. We 💙 visitors. 😊
Wilson, your photos are meowsome.
So purrty. We still have so much snow & another 30cm (1′) or more coming in a couple of days.
It has been sunny & the snow is melting but this winter was brutal.
We can’t wait to see the earth, the flowers & leaves on the trees again.
HuMom does worry about the Summer heat, last year we had to pack & pawpare for evacuation due to fire. We also had a small fire on the property.
The weather has been worrisome. HuMom comforts us with a reminder to stay in the moment & enjoy what this day brings.
Thank you for sharing your purrfectly beautiful surroundings.
Hopefully you can avoid the baths Wilson.
Dot & Jerry Underfoot 😻head boops😻
Thanks so much for your sweet comment, Dot & Jerry Underfoot. We haven’t had hardly any snow this winter and it’s alarming as wildfire season has already begun as well as the fact that the snowpack is dangerously low. Over 40 million people use the Colorado River basin for drinking water, alone and dams are so low no electrical power may be made. It’s pretty alarming. But all we can do is enjoy the burst of color spring offers.
Love the flowers! Don’t like the water issues. It seems to me we’ve had lots of rain here, but we’re in moderate drought status and parts of southern Alabama are in severe drought. Not good.
Thanks. Water shortages are very alarming. And flowers that we normally don’t see for a good month are fully blooming. Yesterday I saw lilacs blooming. In March when they usually bloom in April or May! Yikes.
Java Bean: “Ayyy, look at all those flowers! So pretty!”
Lulu: “We saw a thing the other day about how low the snowpack is here in California this year, too! We thought with that massive storm we got a few weeks ago things might have gotten caught up, but unfortunately it’s not even close …”
Thanks, dear Bean and Lulu. There’s not a place in the West that has adequate snowpack. Truly scary prospects for summer.
WOW!!! That Sunrise iss speck-taculur Wilson an Miss Monika!! An such purrty Daffydillss. Wee have snow….not alot…just when wee think it will warm up; it snowss… CATFISH!!!!
THE petalss look so purrty on THE treess an on THE ground…it’ ss so Spring there! Pawsum!
An such a blue river…mee-yow……
~~~head rubss~~~BellaDharma~~~ an {{{hugss}}} BellaSita Mum
Thank you-you’re too kind.The sunrises here are very pretty (and I can see them without too many trees blocking the view like at my old house). Yes, spring has definitely sprung here!
What a beautiful Spring walk. We are enjoying the cooler weather too and, like you, sure hope we get some much needed rain soon.
Thanks for coming along our quickly assembled stroll around the ‘Hood. Mum has been so busy she didn’t think she’d have time to post anything but fortunately she didn’t have to go to Pueblo on Friday. Yesterday was so lovely with nice crisp temps. Today is lovely too and much easier to deal with than days that are in the 90’s!
We’re praying for rain for the entire West. Have a lovely weekend.
What a fabulous job! Did not feel last minute at all. I cannot believe the beautiful daffs and flowering trees you have over there. Here? Still have snow on the ground. Which I would gleefully give you to help out as you need it more than us right now.
Have a fabulous weekend! I’m going to go out – definitely NOT in shorts – to get missing ingredients for the feast I am creating for my son’s birthday. Whole family is coming over. Well… not my sister’s kids but everyone else.
You’re are just too kind. When I realized I wasn’t going to have to go to Dad’s house, I had to scrambling finding photos since I didn’t take many this week with all the driving (painting, cleaning, etc.).
I know you’d happily share some snow with us for which I appreciate. Have a wonderful time creating an amazing family dinner and enjoy the celebration.
You scramble very well! Great shots.
Of course. Thank you! I’m pretty organised so far. There will be those things that I forgot and have to fix but all in all… pretty darn good.
I’m salivating at the mere thought of your culinary prowess and KNOW it’ll be amazing.
I admit I am pretty chuffed at my organisation! I’ll surely post something about it. 😊
Aww you live in such a gorgeous neighbourhood sweet Wilson! So lovely to see daffodils and blossoms as well as water in the canal! 🩵💦 A very happy and peaceful weekend to you both 🤗❤️🐾 xxx
Many thanks, Xenia. Wishing you an equally peaceful and beautiful weekend!
Loving the blossom. We have cherry (pink) and hawthorn (white) at the moment. Enjoy your weekend 😀
Thanks, Paul. Enjoy the pink and white show!
You found some beautiful spring sights and I’m praying you get more moisture. (us, too).
Many thanks for the kind comment. We continue to hope for the best and send positive thoughts your way.
Look at Wilson! What a great job done by the handsomest goodest boy. And yes, I feel you with that cooler weather thing. Coming out of the restaurant tonight, it was nice to feel a chill in the air. I don’t mind summer one bit but I don’t like the oppressive heat and it seems like we go from 40s to 90s in five minutes.
Have a great weekend guys
Thanks Marc. Yeah we’ve been doing the yo-yo weather thing here too. It’s exhausting. One day hot, the next day chilly. Ugh. Summer is my least favorite season. I don’t do well in heat and neither Wilson. We prefer moderate and 90 ain’t even close.
Wilson is a good sport about posing. He doesn’t necessarily enjoy it but he’s doggone great at it. Have a super weekend!
Eesh, I feel that. I would definitely go for 50s. Good for walking, running, breathing.
He’s SO photogenic.
I agree…50 is the sweet spot in my books. And you’re 💯 right regarding the floof being photogenic. Talk about charisma…some days I just can’t stand it!
Hahahaha!
Beautiful blooms- way better than snow. Have a nice weekend. XO
Thank you, Ellen. We really need the snow though or at a minimum, a lot of rain. Hope you have a great weekend.
Hooray for an unexpected break for your Mum! You found lots of nice nature things today Wilson. Have a fun and calm weekend you two!
Many thanks, Terry. A break was just what the doctor ordered. We hope you and the kitties have a swell weekend.
The lack of snowpack is a concerning item for Texas too. Snowmelt contributes water to the Rio Grande River, and less water affects farmers in the Rio Grande Valley. So a lot of us are dependent on the Colorado snow. Loved the daffodils. That clump was impressive. Glad you could get a day off, Monika.
Thanks, John. Yes, it’s going to be a very lean year on the water front I’m afraid. I’d really hate to be a farmer these days. Between higher costs for fertilizer and less water, it’s not going to be a good year. Which medans prices will be even higher than they already are. Sigh.
Glad you enjoyed the clump of daffodils. I love seeing a nice clump like that. It makes them all that much more cheery. We hope you and the pupsters have a totally wagnificent weekend!
Wish we coulds send you some clouds filled with rain! We’re expecting some this afternoon. I loved, really loved that last picture of the red morning sky. Wow! Give Wilson some scritches from me and mooney eyes from Lucy.
Thank you-I wish you could too. I’m going to start doing rain dances if things don’t change soon.
I’d never seen morning clouds like that and thought wow. Wilson says thanks for the scritches which he always appreciates. The mooney eyes are a bonus. 💙 Have a wonderful weekend!
It’s so wonderful to see flowers. We are just beginning with early daffs and green hues on the trees but no flowering yet. Soon! Goodbye March and hello spring!
We’ve been hoping there’d be more spring bulbs but apparently the nearby neighborhood is more about turf (blech). I did see a couple of pretty pink tulips on this morning’s walk so we’ll continue to hope. Have a lovely springy weekend, Kate!
Looking forward to incoming baby duck pictures…one of my favorite parts of spring on the RCT!
I’ve been looking for signs of nests but so far, haven’t seen any among the mallards. Even the Canadian geese ducklings are adorable. Then they grow up. LOL Have a terrific weekend, Lisa.
Haha…100% yes to your Canadian geese comment!!
As adults they are pretty ugly. Or maybe I’m just projecting their personality on their appearance. 😂
They have attitude problems, and the massive poops don’t help either!
Boy howdy you are so right. Nasty blighters they are and I’ve personally watched them chase down BIG dogs. And here I always thought Canadians were so gentle and polite. LOL
Beautiful spring images…but wow, that snowfall graphic sure tells a grim story.
Let’s hope you will get SOME kind of wetness to help with the drought.
Our daffs are not showing their blooms as yet, though the neighbor’s are…Wonder why that is, our are in a southern exposure and theirs are in the open. Phooey. But the few crocuses we have are blooming and so are all the little blue scylla, it gives the yard a blue hue when you see it from a distance.
Take some time to relax, so the stress factor doesn’t become a problem…
Have a nice weekend!
Thanks for the kind comment. Yeah, that graphic shocked me. A week ago the state was at 58%. It’s interesting how some daffodils bloom early and others bloom later in spring. Either way, I like to think drawing them out over a few weeks is the best way to enjoy their cheerfulness. I totally love scylla. They are adorably cute and I always love the blue color. Makes me smile just thinking about them. I’ll have to look for some bulbs to add to my teeny little plot of garden.
Trust me, we whistled well past stress a good 3 weeks ago. It might not be as bad but the traffic down to Dad’s is just horrific and I manage to hit two rush hours (Denver and Colorado Springs). Phooey! People drive like maniacs-there was even a van from Nebraks that was passing people from the right shoulder! 😲 And then the same rush hours on the return trip. There are always a ton of semi-trucks on the highway as well and traffic really gets buggered up. What used to take an hour and a half is now routinely two and a half hours and sometimes three hours on the extra heavy days. Sigh. I’m actually looking forward to a couple of days of not having to drive down there though we’ll have to be ready for the realtor next week. Sending loads of good wishes for a wonderful springy weekend.
Yikes! That graph is terrifying!
With that in mind. I’m surprised that the ditch is running — I thought they had asked people not to start irrigating yet.
Enjoy the cool.
Isn’t it though? Just last week the state was at 58% normal. That was a sobering graphic! I was surprised about the ditch as well. Not sure what it’s all about unless it has something to do with the current water project Arvada is working on. There was a backhoe there this morning scooping out loads of branches. The early morning temps were so welcomed by both me and Wilson. Have a lovely weekend, Amy!
The drought is such a huge problem……I can remember years when we were drowning due to too much rain and now we welcome it with open arms! All or nothing – the weather is changing for sure. Beautiful photos you all – pretty flowers and blue skies and a spectacular shot of the dramatic sky. Hopefully things will calm down soon for you and you can enjoy all the “pretty” that’s there!!!!
Hugs, Pam and Teddy
Thanks so much, Pam and Teddy. Mother Nature is terribly fickle these days and with climate change, the jet stream is all over the map…mostly where people don’t need it.
I think there’s light at the end of the tunnel on all the traveling and work getting the house ready to sell. Have a marvelous weekend!
Beautiful clouds and pictures! I hope you get rain soon.
Thanks, Julia. I don’t think rain will fall any time soon, the extended forecast is very dry. The problem is the jet stream isn’t dipping down like it usually does. Mother Nature is pretty cranking toward the entire western portion of the country while the eastern segment of the country are swimming in moisture. Wish she’d level out and be more balanced. Wishing you a lovely weekend.
When we lived in Colorado, we’d have extremely dry years. Most of the Denver metro gets its water from mountain snow melt, so we always worried when we didn’t get enough snow. The fire risk would be high and fires in the e mountains were common in dry years.
May you have a great weekend.
Yup. Water is always at a premium-the area is a high mountain desert afterall. But this year is exponentially worse. Snow has been non-existent this March, our snowiest month.
Here’s wishing you a lovely weekend, Julia!
Maybe you’ll get some in April.
Hope springs eternal but at this point it likely will not be enough before the heat of the summer. But we’ll accept whatever Nature will dole out. 🤞🏼
🤞
Yikes! Those stats are rather scary this early in the season, on top of leaf-frogging straight to summer temps. Since water is restricted, I wonder if any of those ‘dry’ shampoos work? Probably just deodorizers, but still might be worth a try. I might get this one, what do you think? https://www.honestpaws.com/products/dry-shampoo-for-pets?variant=43758604877993
That dry shampoo has some decently gentle ingredients but like all dry shampoos, the first ingredient is water. I have used a similar product but it’s not overly effective with dirty paws. I think the Honest Paws shampoo might be a good alternative for dogs who don’t have an undercoat.
We’re already well into wildfire season with the high temps and lack of moisture. The ski industry has all but surrendered this year.
I so enjoyed seeing the spring flowers and the flowering trees when in London….despite the biting wind and freezing cold!
Spring blooms always lighten the spirit, particularly when it’s cold and windy! Have a wonderful weekend, Helen.
Beautiful photos as always, but scary weather stuff out west. Doesn’t sound like Wilson giving up his baths is going to make much of a dent.
You’re always so kind with your comments, Debra. Thank you. No snow, no rain and wildfires are popping up all over the place. Very scary.
Yeah, Wilson is trying to get out of baths anyway he can. The boy really despises getting wet. He was just groomed 10 days ago and already his back paws are a light dusty grey instead of the beautiful white they were. Sigh. But he’s very happy walking next to the paved path sniffing in the grass.
Gracie starts looking beige instead of bright white between groomer visits (once a month.) I’m always amazed at how white she is after the groomer’s.
I always love that freshly white look. With Wilson it lasts only a couple of days. I swear, he’s such an animal. LOL
It’s never a good thing when a mom is stressed. We have that issue around here too sometimes. Nice your mom can stay home and relax. Tomorrow morning early we have barn hunt practice and then Mom has to go to her mom for the day to do the laundry, shopping, tidying up, cooking, etc. She is happy to help Gramma but it is a day with a lot of work and one less day off too. Love the photos of the daffodils and tree blossoms. We don’t have any of that yet and it is fine with us. We are dreading the way too early weather again next week. Enjoy your weekend!
Thanks, stress is a bad thing for anyone. I sympathize with your mom. I know all too well the rigors of being a caretaker. Glad you enjoyed the daffodils. They have to be one of the cheeriest of all the spring bulbs. They’re so sunny and bright, it’s hard to not smile when you seem them and a big clump of them is even better! We hope your weekend is full of joy with your Gramma but do take it easy when you can. Hugs and tail wiggles from both of us.
Sorry winter still hangs on in your village. Hopeful Spring will show up soon. Have a wagnificent weekend.
we look forwards to blossoms and pink and white trees… while we wear our winter coats this time sigh… a happy weekend to da ranch