Above are the shadows of my house and my favorite tree this morning. Yesterday was an interesting mix of weather. We had snow, sleet, freezing rain and mostly just plain rain. All day long. Rick made a batch of Caraway Swiss (cheese) and I made broth for turkey soup by boiling down the turkey carcass. Not much else to do. Bella was a bit stir crazy not being able to go out in her yard and play, but otherwise we all managed to stay snug and cozy with a fire going all day in the wood stove to keep off the damp chill emanating from the windows.
We had a good Thanksgiving. How about you? We had more than enough food (we’ll be eating turkey for the next week) and it was good to see friend Carolyn again.
We relaxed and took it easy.
And, best of all, Carolyn got to see bears! Can you believe they made a grand appearance just for her? Friday we were watching movies in the living room just before dark, TV turned up for surround sound and had a fire burning pretty merrily in the fireplace. I happened to see something black out of the corner of my eye through the sliding glass door and thought that Rick must have let Alex outside on the deck. Wait a minute, that’s not Alex, it’s a BEAR. On the deck. Not four feet away from where we were sitting! I kept a calm voice so the dogs wouldn’t be alerted and start barking and said to Carolyn “Quick, look, there’s a bear on the deck.” Rick was in the other room and came to see. Myrtle was up on the deck too but not quite where the cub was. He was standing up on his hind legs trying to reach the bird feeder. They heard us talking and started leisurely back down the stairs to the yard. We stood on the deck outside and watched Myrtle and the cub for a few minutes until they left the yard. Myrtle and the one cub got to the edge of the grass and the cub climbed up the big oak, showing off, as Myrtle decided whether to give up the bird feeder idea or not. We could see other black-ish moving things in the woods—the other cubs. It was hard to see them in the dusky gloom, but they were there.
They came back again on Saturday night around the same time (4:30 or so). I was sitting in the sun room reading when Rick walked in. He glanced out the sliding glass door and said, “Every time I see that old tree stump in the woods I think it’s a bear.” Two seconds later he said, “Wait a minute—that is a bear!” Sure enough, Myrtle and the cubs were roaming around just outside our fence, foraging for food. They were pretty far apart and we could only account for four of the five cubs. They are not staying as close to momma as they used to. They are really getting big.
So we are going to have to keep a closer eye on the yard now. I assume they are getting ready to hibernate (or as much as they ever do here; more like a mini-hibernation.) and trying to fatten up for Winter. It’s nice with all the leaves on the trees gone that we can now see them.
While the weather was nice on Friday, Rick got some slow motion footage of Bella running. I love the second vid of her and what her ears are doing! Check them out below. She continues to grow and amaze us with her intelligence. She’s a very good puppy.
what do you mean i look like “cujo”? who’s that? honestly, i’m very sweet.
Note from Bella’s mommy: This is what happens when you lay flat on the ground to take photos.
I finally wrested the blog away from Bella for a few minutes. whew. Now I know how mothers with young babies feel. Since that is what they do every single minute of their day all they can think about is baby baby baby. Or in my case, puppy puppy puppy! As I type frosted flakes drift lazily past the window. We have the ever-so-slightest skiff of snow this morning. It’s cold and I’ve got a good fire going out in the wood burning stove in the sun room. Alas, I am stuck in front of the computer in a different part of the house and can’t take advantage of its cozy warmth. No matter, it’s doing it’s job.
The little snow was enough to stick to things.
Such as dog butts.
We really *must* get the leaves taken care of this weekend before we get any real snow. The weather is supposed to be cold but clear. Fingers crossed.
I had a visit from the bears yesterday. Unfortunately (or fortunately, however you want to look at it) I was not home. When I got home I let Alex out and he went racing across the yard barking. hmmm, always a sign of something. Once down in the yard it was obvious. The pole that the bird feeder hangs on was toppled over, pulled completely out of the ground. The bird feeder was in the woods. Here you can see the pole on the ground and Bella inspecting the feeder. what’s it doing out here mommy?
She sniffed the area all around where the bear had obviously been and didn’t like what she smelled one little bit. Her tail was down the whole time as her nose worked overtime to take in the scent. The dogs pretty much showed me the path the bear (or bears) had taken. They stood at the foot of the big oak tree and looked up as if to tell me that the cubs had probably had a good time climbing, and then walked along the fence until they showed me where the bears had probably come over, the chain link sagging.
I am assuming it was Myrtle and the Fab Five since my neighbors saw them just a few days ago. My neighbor was on his little forklift driving down their back driveway (sort of to the side and back of our house) when he met all six bears walking toward him on the road. Imagine six bears headed straight for you! How many people ever see six bears at once? He wiggled the forklift tines at them and they headed off in another direction. The cubs are getting big! I’m hoping they visit next week some time when my friend Carolyn is down for Thanksgiving. But you know wildlife will appear where and when it wants to so there are no guarantees.
I even managed to exercise for a half hour this morning with the Wii Fit. I put on the jogging program and was jogging along (in place) when my Mother waved at me from the sidelines as I went by. It just about stopped me in my tracks. It wasn’t really her, just her Mii (the digital avatar that you make for each person that uses the Wii). I remember when my sister and I made her Mii. It was Christmas, the year before she died. We were just about rolling on the floor with laughter as we chose her eyes, nose, hairstyle, glasses. She thought it was a hoot. Now here she is. I had forgotten that the Wii will add in any Miis that have been created into various programs. Rick went jogging by in the other direction, or rather his Mii did. Very odd. I’m glad she’s in the system.
hey mom, i’ve got dandruff ...
Well, that’s about it for now. Just wanted to let you know I’m still here.
i went down far enough into the woods yesterday to find the bog. i got muddy paws. it felt squishy. hey, people pay big money at spas for this kind of thing! mom said no dogs have been in the boggy bits of the yard since uncle bart died. she said i am going to be a water dog for sure. i like to put my feet in water but now my water bucket is frozen. i paw and scratch like crazy at it i get so frustrated. mom wonders what will happen when the pool is opened in the spring. hoo-boy.
[hey, mom said to tell you that she’ll be back again real soon.]
by looking at my angelic face you would think i don’t get into much trouble. mom says trouble is now my middle name. bella trouble robinson. has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
last night i chewed up one of mommy’s socks. she caught me in the act and tooked it away from me. i tried to get it back.
she yelled at me and told me NO!
i didn’t learn much of a lesson cuz this morning i did something even worse. i was only out of sight for a few minutes, but somehow i got dad’s almost-finished-except-for-the-thumb mitten off the stand. look what i did.
mommy was REALLLLLLLLLY mad. i didn’t get spanked or anything, but boy did she yell BAD GIRL BELLA. her face was all red and funny. i knew i had done something wrong but i didn’t know what.
oh dear.
Postscript from Bella’s Mom: Seriously, does anybody have any suggestion on how to fix this mitten? My rescue skills are not the best!
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