Driveway clear out!

 Well, we had to buy a new printer/scanner. We use it a lot, considering we are retired! We scan a number of thing. It refills with ink bottles. We'll see how this goes. I did a print of an article I wrote on animal tracks, and the photos came out really well. 

We had the snowblower taken away, and it should be repaired next week. A part is on order. A new machine is about $3500! It's a great workhorse. 

Feb. 16, 2025!

Things can be quiet indoors. Not in the morning, as they roar around chasing one another. Nutmeg likes to sit on the railing, then jump down loudly on all four paws.

By night time, we hope we've worn them out.

The young man who did our driveway was terrific. In the dark, 8 pm! Very conscientious.

I wandered down the day before. There was a lot of snow from the snowplows. I couldn't even attempt it. 

We are free!

I did the steps twice Tuesday, once on Wednesday! Spring is coming! 

JL took Aster to the ski hill this week. She goes snowboarding while Papa skis. This is almost like being there, without the pulled muscles. 😏

We're having fun watching the Olympics. Again, with all the horrid news out there...  We wondered how they cleaned the half pipe. This way:

Ode to a pine tree

I took a forest walk. Another deer bed beside a small tree. Lots of tracks, including the coyote.

They are difficult to photograph, tracks in snow. This is coyote since you can draw an 'X' across the print. Cats don't have that attribute. 

This is our Bobcat!

Here's a photo of it! Here is the video if you are so inclined.

June 5th, 2025

I saw this snow on the fallen tree on lot #3. It finally gave up the ghost last summer.  

It is such a mess.

It is a tree I have enjoyed over the years we've lived here. Here is Oliver cat in the tree.

 

The flickers and pileated woodpeckers have been at it as it dies.

Snowed in!

 Thank goodness for the deer friends!  They made deer beds just under the white pine tree in the back yard. They removed the snow right down to the pine needles. 

The birch trees in winter. The wood shed is in the background. You can just see the snow on the roof.

I thought it might look better in black and white!

Nutmeg got tired bird watching. Mr. Sun lulled her to sleep.

I had some fun while watching Olympic action!

In more news. They came and took my broken snowblower.

Also, we found someone who plowed the driveway for us. What a relief!

It's a long drive...

It's been quite a season. Faced with the end of the driveway, we have to keep it clean!

Monday I drove the garbage out to the 'curb' as it was -23℃. It's only 100m to the end, but what an end. 

My snowblower won't get into gear. When it works it is a beautiful sight!

He's a fine looking coyote! It's quite the tromp through deep snow.

 

 The turkeys are hungry!

   

 Out west, our grandies are doing Cross Country ski races!

 

Crumbly Acres deer and turkeys

I love the fur coats the deer wear. It is very coarse.

I learned, from the research done by Carol: 

"I knew that deer put on winter overcoats. I didn’t know those hairs are hollow. They insulate, of course. But they also absorb solar heat and transmit it to the undercoat next to the skin."

You can see how insulated they are as the snow accumulates on their faces. 

This shows how they get snow on their face. They nibble at the pine needles. They prefer cedar, but I guess if one is hungry...

   

 We have had 3 male turkeys, toms, wandering about. Soon they'll be looking like this!

I've shown videos 1 and 2, where they are fighting. They know when to stop.

   

 Joseph Brian feeds them, spacing it all apart. They know who is boss, generally the largest doe. We haven't had any bucks about. They have their own winter yard elsewhere. The fawns are a hoot. They roar around, getting chased by the bigger deer. All is good. They know their place in the hierarchy.

   

 Good Bunny, formerly known as Labbit, does clean up on aisle 2!

   

 It was Jordan who called our cottontail Labbit back in the day. Considering he's in university (Jordan, not the bunny), we are switching to 'Good Bunny' to honour Bad Bunny who performed at the Superbowl. 

He's an interesting man, his full name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio and he's from Puerto Rico. He sings and raps on issues affecting young people who have never known prosperity after hurricanes and political unrest. The NYTimes has a great article 🎁:

"Members of his generation say that Bad Bunny, now 31, has given voice to their experiences and fears, all while opening the world’s eyes to Puerto Rico’s fraught territorial relationship with the U.S. government."