Today’s post is an homage to Sock Monkey Day which occured over the weekend. Speaking of weekends, where the heck did it go? Most of mine was all about getting my taxes done (don’t ask, it was 5 hours I’ll never get back at one of those first come, first serve tax prep places for seniors that don’t make appointments-I even arrived 2 hours before they opened, and it still took all morning), today’s Monday pic pretty much describes how I feel.
At least the “Pony” humored me (notice Elsa also left her trademark calling card by removing an ear). Here’s hoping Monday treats you well and you don’t suck at poetry.
It’s time for another Nature Friday post. Holy canine…it may be the first of March already but it won’t stop us from joining our pals at Adventures of the LLB Gang. Be sure to click on the highlighted link to see what other posts were shared.
Elsa: 🎶 humming and singing 🎶 Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo…here comes the sun, 🎶 and…oh, Hiya. It’s me, Elsa…just chillaxing on the sofa this morning…
Wilson: {interrupting} Blimey, how come you are allowed to get up on the sofa and Mum always makes me get down?
Elsa: It’s simple, dog breath, I. am. me. and I’m a Ninja. I think they’re called special rights and I was grandfathered in. You’re just the new guy. You have to earn those privileges though I’m certain that ain’t happening any time soon…not only are you the new guy but you’re a gigantic, new guy. There are different rules for the likes of you.
Wilson: I say, that doesn’t seem fair at all. I’m gonna go ask Mum for a clarification. {gallops into other room hollering} Oh Mum…how come Elsa gets to get up on the sofa and I don’t?
The Mom: ELSA!! Get down…NOW! You’re not supposed to be (a) jumping up while you’re still recovering and (b) you’re not supposed to get up on the furniture. Period.
Elsa: Wait, I’m not supposed to get up on the furniture? When did that rule go into effect.
The Mom: Remember, I’m trying to train Wilson from getting up on the furniture and decided it was better to make the sofa and my bed off limits to both of you.
Elsa: Well that’s just dumb. I never agreed to that and besides, I’m feeling pretty good recovery wise so there’s no need to not let me get up on the sofa.
The Mom: Beg to differ missy; I’m the boss. The current rule in place is that no dog shall be allowed on the furniture.
Elsa: {grumbling} Well color me unhappy about that rule. {turning toward Wilson} Way to go spoiling things, blabbermouth.
Wilson: W-h-a-t?? I just asked for clarification with the hope of fairness.
Elsa: Considering I am recovering because of you, I might add, I should be allowed special privileges. Way to put the kibosh on my freedoms, fur ball. Harrumph!
Wilson: {contrite} Sorry, didn’t mean to get you in trouble. So shall we soldier on and share some views of Mother Nature from around our neighborhood? I say…we’ve experienced the gamut of weather and nature this week.
Elsa: No kidding. First there was the Snow Moon…Mom of course was too lazy didn’t grab her big camera [in fairness, the battery needed to be charged so I’ll forgive her this time] and she used her cell phone as it was setting early in the morning. This was the best she could do given the limitations of the phone camera and tall trees blocking our view.
Wilson: I contemplated howling at it but then thought better of it. Mum keeps telling me I’m not supposed to bark in the house and I’m working hard on learning better self-control behavior now that I’ve found my voice.
Elsa: Apart from the blaring decibels, you’re not a wolf, new guy.
Wilson: Well there is that too. And as the new guy, can I just say the weather around here sure does a lot of vacillating. One minute it’s lovely and warm and the next it’s snowy and cold. The ducks didn’t seem to mind but let’s just say I prefer it less wet and chilly.
Elsa: Jeez, you’re such a wuss! It’s bracing and refreshing.
Wilson: {Shivering} To each his own, eh? But the day after the snow squall, Mum and I noticed elements of spring trying to emerge. We saw more blooming bulbs. These little lovelies were quite colorful and I for one, love their stripes.
Elsa: Those are crocuses. They’re often the first of the spring bulbs to bloom. Here’s a solid purple version and a pic with another daffodil and crocus.
Wilson: I say, those are quite grand! They didn’t seem to be any worse for the wear after yet another snow storm arrived. It seems like every other day that white stuff falls around here.
Elsa: Boy do you have a lot to learn about gardening in the Mile High City. If you don’t like the weather, just wait ten minutes. Snow doesn’t seem to bother these guys-I’ve seen them completely buried and yet they’ll still bloom. Look at these reticulated irises and the first of the baby blue grape hyacinths. Mom loves them both and always shouts when she catches first glimpses of those hyacinths.
Wilson: I know! We were just returning from a long walk when she caught sight of something blue and tiny before we got to the gate. I was worried by those squeals and thought I had to protect her.
Elsa: She was likely more worried that your gigantic ‘hooves’ would squash them. You do tend to plow through stuff rather unceremoniously.
Wilson: I beg your pardon…I’m as delicate stepping about as any sheepdog.
Elsa: I rest my case, Big Foot.
Wilson: {disappointed at the criticism} I might be large but I do have feelings and now you’ve gone and hurt them.
Elsa: Oh please…you’re a big oaf…own it dude.
Wilson: I’m sure I’ll recover…with the proper treat to console my bruised feelings.
Elsa: {eyes rolling} Oh brother. Never fear, the treats will continue to flow your way, for whatever reason. Especially when you go to Grandpa’s house next week. I swear the whole family spoils you rotten. I don’t get it.
Wilson: What’s not to get, I’m a handsome bloke who loves people and they love me.
Elsa: Hmm, is that so? I’m a bit selective although I really do love people. I just make them earn my attention without having to flaunt it.
Wilson: Trust me on this, sister…you catch more flies with a wiggly bum and soft puppy eyes. I mean not many people can resist this face.
Elsa: {eyes rolling at the shameless pose} If you say so. We hope you have a great weekend and hope Nature delivers more early signs of spring. Make sure you get outside to enjoy it and have a great weekend.
We survived last week’s snowstorm and are waiting for the arrival of the next one sometime this weekend, or so they say. Hiya, Elsa here. As always we’re joining our friends from Adventures of the LLB Gang. Click on the link to see what other posts have been shared.
I’m still recovering from surgery but am doing well actually. Thank you all for your kind get well and recovery wishes.They mean the world to me and Mom.
Lots of you said I should let the foster dog pony get in on the action with posting so without further adieu, here’s the newest Ranch Hand and I’ll judge let him give you his perspective from around the ‘Hood. Hope I haven’t made a mistake by letting him in on today’s post. This whole foster biz seems to have made him a bit anxious and I don’t wanna spin him into a tizzy. And now, live from the corral…I present…the Pony!
Wilson: Umm, don’t mean to get off on the wrong paw with you or your readers, but my name is now Wilson.
Elsa: You say tomato, I say tomahto. Anywho…you need to show them you’re a real live Ranch Hand before your introduction is official.
Wilson: Oh, you mean the one with the hat?
Elsa: {Gasp} Look, you big galute…that’s not a just hat-that’s a Stetson and it’s legendary in the West. You need to forget everything you knew about Missouri…you’re a Colorado doggie these days.
Wilson: {in a snooty British voice} I. beg. your. pardon. You must understand, I’m new to this blogging thing but will do my utter best to try and contribute in a meaningful manner.
Elsa: Oh puleez…what’s with you British guys and your high falutin talk? Save it for another time, dog breath.
Wilson: Well blimey…so sorry. I’ll share a pic of me out in the snow after getting groomed last week. How’s that?
Pointer or sheepdog?
Elsa: Save it, bucko. I can see this is going take some time and energy getting you familiar with how things work around here.
Wilson: {somewhat miffed} Right-o. Well, like you mentioned before, we received some snow. It was heavy and wet after an entire night of rain. It was quite crunchy trying to walk on it-I kept falling through.
Elsa: Well, if you weren’t such a chonker, you might not have fallen through. Now you know why Mom has you on a diet.
Wilson: Are you saying I’m overweight? I’d say all the grooming and removing of mats took a lot of excess weight off. See how trim I am now.
Elsa: {eyes rolling} Trust me, Mom will continue to keep the portions small for a while. Sure, she’ll say something like “it’s good for your joints” or some other ridiculous thing. Get used to it and be prepared to be hungry for a while.
Wilson: {frowning} Oh dear…I’m not sure I’ll be able to survive here. I do like my meals.
Elsa: Forget crumpets and tea, dude. You’ll get two small squares a day and Mom will walk your fat tush off right before she takes me out on my rehab walks. It’s going to be interesting between the two of you, as to who loses the most weight. {snicker}
Wilson: Oh dear…this IS going to be quite the adjustment. How in the world am I going to survive?
Elsa: Relax, you’ll never go completely hungry, Mom just wants to get your weight a bit more under control. She’s already had to resize your collar because it was getting too loose. And trust me, there will always be a treat (or two) around the Ranch. I’ll make sure you get a snack.
Wilson: Bravo! That’s right proper of you helping me adjust to this new lifestyle. I still miss my old family and packmates. You do know my old Mum unexpectedly passed away. I loved her so much but do love my new Mum now. Still it’s been quite the adjustment over this past month but I’m really trying hard to learn how to fit in.
Elsa: For the record, she’s MY MOM. But you’re doing ok so far (even if you caused my injury). Mom says you’re pretty smart and I promised her I wouldn’t hold a grudge. I realize you have a lot to learn. Mom explained to me that you grew up in a tiny little town and the city can be a rather intimidating reality. I mean, come on…you’re doing so much better on walks now from when you first arrived and you’re improving a bit each day. Before you know it, garbage trucks won’t even register in that big, fat head. Got any other pics of the snow? My readers want to see nature at her finest.
Wilson: {clearing throat} Right…it started out like most snowstorms but then it just kept snowing and snowing and snowing. It was pretty though and I found it bracing to run around outside in it.
Wilson: Here’s a view from the sofa that made my mind spin on the day after. It looks unlike any snow I’d ever seen before with that melting/freezing thing going on and with the sculpting wind. Looks like a lunar landscape a bit.
Elsa: Like you’d know about the lunar landscape, although it is the Chinese New Year this week. It was a weird storm, dumping 6-15 inches over the metro area after a night of rain-something we never get this time of year. But you know, things don’t seem any worse for wear for the bulbs, do they?
Wilson: They seem to be fine and most of the snow has gone now but we’re waiting for the next storm which may start later today and be a repeat of last weekend.
Elsa: Don’t hold your breath. One of the things you’ll learn about Colorado weather around here, it’s changes on a dime-and weather forecasters simply cannot be trusted to be accurate. As long as I still get to enjoy some snow cones, I’ll be happy. This was right after my staples came out. I felt like I earned it and Mom seemed to agree.
Wilson: I’ll keep that in mind. So can I share this little guy who I encountered on a walk? Mum’s eagle eyes spotted him, I totally missed him. I’m just learning about other critters; Mum refers to them as tree rats. I’m not a fan of them and have tried hard to run them down catch them. Not sure what to do if I’m able to catch one but Mum still won’t let me go after them.
Elsa: Yeah, Mom is like that…she wants to protect you from potential problems with face to face meetings with wild animals. She also is extremely adverse to being turned into a human kite and since I’ve noticed you possess lightning quick reflexes, but will learn she’s not as easy as you think she’d be when she’s been lifted off her feet.
Wilson: I did surmise that. But I’m a crafty lad, you never know what I can do.
Elsa: Shush you big oaf, you don’t want to give up the element of surprise. Best that you keep your big trap shut. Moms of all stripes aren’t amused by the element of surprise so don’t wreck it by blabbing any moves in advance.
Wilson: {in a hushed voice} Oh right…will keep that in mind.
Elsa: Well that looks like we made it through without killing each other. Guess it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. Bravo me.
Wilson: Ahem…I did mention that I could be a sport here and hope you’ll give me another chance in the future.
Elsa: Let’s not get carried away. A lot depends on how I feel and whether or not my readers like your by-line. How about we just say…we’ll see.
Wilson: Roger that. So do I get to ask what everyone’s going to do this weekend. I heard something about some big football game. While we had them in Missouri, in Britain, we call it ‘soccer.’
Elsa: Trust me dude, around here the only sport that matters is hockey. You’ll learn that soon enough. Finally, we would be remiss if we didn’t wish everyone a safe and prosperous Chinese New Year. Have a great weekend everyone.
Wilson: Oh yes, please do have a splendid weekend.
Happy Groundhog Day. Elsa here. If you believe in the predictions of some chubby Pennsylvanian rodent, looks like that Gobbler Knob resident, Punxsutawney Phil, predicted an early spring this year. While I’m not convinced a groundhog can accurately predict Spring’s arrival, apparently this phenomena has been celebrated for ages. How did this custom originate, you ask? Well, I’m here to give you a bit of background on this 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.
Note to self, remember to close the door or close the lid. I woke up to loud lapping the other night and discovered a clean bowl apparently isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Blech.
And for all those people wondering what ‘Not Sam’s’ new name is, after two weeks of pondering, ‘Wilson‘ seems to fit the bill. Of course he ignores all names when it comes to moving over on the bed and/or sofa, but am hoping eventually I’ll be able to break through the language barrier once he realizes his new identity. Being on the bottom of the dog pile makes for interesting snoozes and way too many knee and leg cramps.
