Kria the Icelandic Sheepdog takes a Winter Swim

Kria my matronly Icelandic Sheepdog, who turns fifteen this spring, fell through the ice into the fish pond today. Hearing the splashing I quickly ran to the pond and pulled her out by her collar. The other Icies were fascinated by her fish and frog smell and they all were running around excitedly. Then I noticed that her whole body was shaking uncontrollably from the cold so we raced inside to dry her with towel and the hair dryer. She is the first and hopefully last dog to pond plunge. Clicking on photos will enlarge them. *

The first Flicker, Colaptes auratus luteus, returned today. He(?) was hungrily feeding on the suet which will hopefully sustain him (her) until ants reappear. Unlike other woodpeckers, they do not dig into trees, dead or alive, for food; the majority of their diet is ants which they find primarily in the soil. An average meal consists of hundreds even thousands of ants. We have black wood ants and black and red wood ants in large mounds here and I've seen flickers feasting on ants as they dig into their hills. They also consume beetles and some vegetable material including some fruit from wild cherry trees.. However, even though they don't dig into trees for food usually, they do excavate nest holes about three feet (one yard or one meter) in depth in dead trees for their nests which have from six to ten eggs. They may be our most abundant woodpecker. While most woodpeckers stay year round, flickers migrate as ants are unavailable during the winter. I've always called them yellow shafted flickers because of the yellow on the undersides of the large feathers. Note the spots or freckles on the belly and the yellow feathers.

Some of the ice was tinted tannish the other day. If it had been later in the winter, I might have guessed the color came from spring tree pollen. I saw my first ship too.

*Kria was VERY upset with her photos - - 

so this one is "Apres le Bain"

Good Morning February 19. 2019

Yesterday Meatball, Mika and Joe's huge and lovable rescue cat, appeared on TV after being retrieved from a mess he's gotten himself into; I took this not so good photo of him. My own rescue "I Ching" could be his sister. Attitude! Yes, looks to me like they both have it!.

They say this moon is special because it's closer to earth orbit now. Regardless, it's very cool.

 Good morning Forestville, Michigan. The first lights and sunrises are coming earlier and earlier which I love.

I love the shots showing bands of ice separated by bands of deep blue water. Maybe that's why I like Danish Christmas plates. Hmm.

The virburnum berries are almost gone now consumed by the hordes of migrating cedar waxwings. This bird was caught berry in beak. Compare the number of berries on the bush now with a shot from a recent post. It's heartwarming to have provided food for them on their journey back home to breed.

From Christine: -

“I hate when people say I’m ‘solitaire’ (or solitary.) Yes, I’m solitaire in the sense of a stone from Cartier, a big solitaire,” Lagerfeld told The New York Times in an interview. “I have to be alone to do what I do. I like to be alone. I’m happy to be with people, but I’m sorry to say I like to be alone, because there’s so much to do, to read, to think.”

Bangsi

This note came from Courtney and Jeff who adopted the Icelandic Sheepdog Bangsi after his recent fourth birthday; he was born on February 15, 2015.

Hello!

It has been quite some time since I have sent pictures of Bangsi, so I thought I would pass these along. He is doing very well and is just as smart as ever. His favorite hobbies are fetch, frisbee, and supervising yard work. He remains wary of big dogs and loud children, but as we have neither it doesn't matter much. He will be starting some at home agility training this spring to keep his mind and body occupied. He has made friends with a miniature Aussie and tolerates our friend's lab who comes to stay now and again. He remains, however, an only child. We think he prefers it this way. He just celebrated his 4th Birthday with a cookie from his favorite local dog shop and a trip to the chilly coast. We hope you are well and that you enjoy the update. 

Courtney, Jeff, and Bangsi

First there's a puppy photo from four years ago and then there are the recent shots from Courtney and Jeff.

I do really enjoy updates. It is so nice to hear how my fur kids are doing. That's why I do this!

Kross Gola Kelinn and Vinlands Totty

Cedar Waxwings

Identified by their head crest, yellow tipped tail, and olive colored wings, cedar waxwings, Bombycilla cedrorum,  are easy to identify when they return from their southerly migration out of our state. I see them in flocks of twenty to fifty birds feeding on the viburnum berries in my yard that entice them to return "home". They are harbingers of spring and their arrival in mid February is a sure sign that, while spring isn't really here yet, it is on the way. Are there rough winter days still in our future. Of course. But soon the balance will shift and a real spring will arrive. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

Today I heard other birds in downtown Sandusky, Michigan starting their breeding territorial calls. Probably just the too common English sparrows or house sparrows, Passer domesticus. Their winter silence has also been broken by the coming change of seasons.

Meanwhile the suet feeding birds are still appreciative of my gifts to them. I love the nuthatches, probably in part because they are not as common as their near relatives the chickadees.

I am hopeful that little Gunnar the Icelandic Sheepdog puppy from Buland farm in Iceland will arrive sometime soon. I'm not sure yet if he will. Crossed fingers.

SNAFU

Here are the Icelandic Sheepdogs on a recent overcast day in Michigan's Thumb. They are always there for me. Karma - that's what I get back from my dogs. And my returnee, Kit. All of them now have their Lyme vaccines and boosters, their Seresto flea and tick collars, and have finished their "cure". Ignore the gray skies out the windows.

Almost every day starts out gorgeous but later on the days here are mostly Michigan Grey - so of course I rise early to get the right start to the day. The sun, when available, sometimes is reflected on the float ice that washes up along the snow drifts. Diamonds in the snow.

After a recent ice storm, the frozen roof ice was sliding off the roof in rather interesting sheets and crashing on the porch - which surprised dogs had to deal with as they exited for potty breaks and yard explorations.

I had dozens of orchids years ago and they did extremely well for me. Even though I don't have as many orchids as I used to have, the ones I do have are special. Because of limited space I have much smaller ones, they must flower in the winter, they must have a splendid fragrance, and they must be "easy". This one surprised me with a great February bloom.

The various species of woodpeckers and their allies the nuthatches, brown creepers, chickadees, and titmice love the suet feeders. They entertain us with their antics.

Two recent mornings that belied the coming gray (grey) days. Is it any wonder at all that I love mornings here.

I'm rising above another SNAFU. A breeder, this one in Iceland, has apparently reneged on a puppy promise because I haven't heard from her in about a week. I'm hoping it's because there's a crisis on her farm. It is, after, Iceland in the winter. The sun, if it rises at all, must be low on the horizon and not be there for more than an hour or so. And I have the temerity to complain about the dark days a Michigan winter. Shame on me. I cannot imagine the determination and the strong will and spirit it must take to survive in the very, very long dark days of an Icelandic Winter.

Don't get me started on my chair again.

I wrenched my lower back from which took me a while to recover. Thank goodness I had David's cane and plenty of food.

I have had some rough winters in my long life. I cannot imagine how my Danish/Swedish/Norwegian ancestors managed to survive the long hard times of arctic-ness.  This current winter has been harder on me than even the winter more than a decade ago immediately following my cancer diagnosis and surgery. Nonetheless, I will persevere and look forward to spring and working in my west forest aka the "door woods". One of the reasons I moved north is that I finally realized that my friends were not there for me so I might just as well be up here alone as down there alone. I haven't talked about that before and I won't talk about it again; I'm OK with being alone even though I'm occasionally but rarely lonely. Thank goodness for Carolyn, David, and Kathy who spend hours on the phone with me as needed therapy.

Early Morning Visitors

Shoveling the snow early this morning I looked up to see two black cats trotting along the edge of the ice pack. I thought they must be feral cats and I was going to try and call them. BUT. When I got back inside with the dogs and dropped my coat, boots, gloves, I took another look using the camera. Not cats, coyotes. I don't know what the wind chill is but frigid. I suspect they were at my bird feeders this morning as the dogs went crazy - I saw nothing.

I realize that the last two weeks of January are, historically, the coldest time of the year so this cold snap did not surprise me. I'm so grateful that Rick Conquergood arrives promptly and clears the snow from the driveway - not that I plan on going anywhere for a few days. It's just really nice to know that I could if I wanted to. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

I hope they keep going and never return. Although I've never heard them howling or calling around me, I do know they are now virtually everywhere, probably or possibly filling a niche left open by the demise of wolves. Tough animals, eh?