Snow - Again

I realize that we often have snow here until the middle of April and it is snowing here this weekend so I'm not surprised but, anyway, enough - please. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

Rufus Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalamus)

This red-headed woodpecker has been frantically storing sunflower oiler seeds in crevices it drills into a dead tree. No sooner does it leave the seed behind than a nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) or a downy woodpecker (Dendrocopos villosus) sneaks over and takes it out. They actually watch the work and then take the seed. (The actual bird feeder is just ten feet away!) Unfair! I identify with the red-headed woodpecker. I know how it feels.

The American Robin is our Michigan state bird. Sad about its name, actually. (Turdus migratorius) The smaller European Robin, to which our Robin is not related, has a more appropriately named breast color, hence - "when the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin' along" - as the song goes.. Orange versus red? I believe the Merle is more like our Robin and pretty too.

The European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) is actually a chat and not even in the same family as our American Robin. I'm not sure but I think the song is for the European bird. (Maybe they call it "red  breasted" although it's orange because nothing rhymes with orange!)

 I was looking for some cocktail napkins I had from back in the day and couldn't find them. And then I did. Now I have none of those sweet remembrances from that lifetime ago.

Circle Tour - Quilts

The Circle Tour is apparently a driving tour around the perimeter of Lake Huron in the US and Canada. Besides the amazing gorgeous scenery you see on the tour, many folks in farms and houses have posted "Quilts". A recent short trip with short distances of my home, we found several of these quilts. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

We found this amazing looking shelter near a local campground. 

This a a large flock of swans near Bad Axe.

The ship traffic is picking up on Lake Huron. These boats passed by in a short period of time just abolut sunset today.

Friday, March 22, 2019

I have been looking for a puppy to add to my Icelandic Sheepdog family for more than a year. Many people have been very kind and have helped me along the way; I deeply appreciate their assistance. (Clicking on photos will enlarge them.)

Kria

The Icelandics I have now and have had in the past are not perfect, nor am I. My mentor when I was just starting my Viking Voyage about twenty years ago, suggested that I list the traits in order from most important to less important that I wanted to have in the dogs that I was going to produce. She also suggested that I list the traits that would be unacceptable.

Kit

That was and is a difficult task but I tried. As I've been looking, I've asked people about their dogs; I wanted to know about the genetic issues, the temperaments, the intelligence, the tractability, the outward appearances, the conformation pluses and minuses, etc. Most reputable breeders are happy to discuss their dogs, realizing that, again, there are no perfect dogs.

Totty

I have always been very thankful for the help I've had along the way. Sadly, as a friend told me recently, I am not very good at expressing my thanks. She called me an 'isolate" which really hurt, probably because it was true. Although I do like people, I honestly don't know how to express that, how to relate to them. Other people make it look so easy. My brain doesn't seem wired that way.

Pila

There's a temptation to blame the way I was raised but many (most) people of my generation were raised the same way; many have overcome their lack of "socialization". Although I have not completely given up on myself, I'm pretty sure that in my mid-seventies, I'm almost completely baked.

Korpur and Bear

Recently a kind person who I respect pointed me in the direction of a litter of pups. I could find out very little information about the pups - those qualities that I wanted to have in my dogs and the puppies I wanted to breed. There were many unanswered and maybe even unanswerable questions. So I dismissed the litter and I was unkind. I deeply regret that.

American Goldfinch (winter colors)

Dawn Today

When the wind and waves are active, the sediment is stirred up and the water takes on a tannish shade. This is more true now because the ice is virtually all gone and the sediments haven;t settled to the bottom of the lake yet. Far out in the distance the water is very deep and the bottom remains undisturbed so it's very deep blue..

I Ching

 Violet