Earth Day

  The girls and I are joining Molly and lots of others on an Earth Day walk to admire Mother Nature's handiwork. We didn't go far, just around the yard. 

We started with the huge Forsythia in back of the house. 

Then we stopped at Bentley's plum tree. 

This year we were really lucky to have the plum, cherry and crabapple trees all in bloom at the same time. That rarely happens. The weather had been so crazy that I didn't think we'd have any blooms. We had a freeze two days ago. Yesterday we had tornado warnings all day and today is supposed to get to the mid 80s. Then more rain and cold starting Sunday.

The neighbor has some perky daffodils.

In the back yard the cherry tree is in full bloom.

The crabapples are coming into flower except for the grafted branch that has been in full flower for a week. That was Norma Jean's favorite tree and she usually came in with white apple blossoms all thru her coat.

The Star of Bethlehem flowers are open. They're such happy looking flowers.

We found some little wild hyacinths.

Here are some bright yellow flowers. OK, I know they're considered weeds but they really are bright and happy. And who decides if they're weeds?

This is the best part. When we moved here we had a couple little patches of violets next to the fence. But my bird friends have been busy and now the violets cover most of the yard. They're my favorite flower and they always make me smile.

Even the Oak trees are getting ready.

Isn't Spring pretty? Happy Earth Day everyone.

My New Job

 Hi Everybody,

I can't wait to tell you all about my new, very important job. 

 I'm a tolltaker. That's right, I collect tolls. 

You see when we had lots of dogs living here we would all go upstairs at bedtime and Mom would give us each a bedtime cookie. Then we'd each find our bed and settle down for sleep. But things have changed since the other dogs left for the bridge. You can see here that Mom has just pushed everyone's beds into one corner of the room. I'm the only one now that sleeps in the bedroom. Syd has her crate downstairs, so I have my choice of dog beds.

 

  But I've decided that the routine should change a little so now at bedtime while Mom and Dad are turning off the lights and checking that the doors are locked, I race upstairs and plant my ample rump in the bedroom doorway. In order to get into the room Mom and Dad have to each pay me a toll.

 

 

This is what I accept as tolls.

I can count to four so I expect each person to pay me two treats. If they don't pay, I don't move.

After the tolls are paid, I jump onto the bed for my nightly belly rub.

Then I get down and make my selection of which bed to sleep in. It's a pretty easy job but it pays well and makes me very happy.

Your fat little pal, Mackey

Winter Days

 There have been plenty of cold blustery days this winter.  Some of them have been pretty. I liked these shadows in the snow.

Some have had interesting sunrises, such as this where there are stripes in the sky.

I've spent a lot of time knitting and stitching and reading. Some of my favorite subjects are puppies and kittens. Who would have guessed?

Since the start of the covid lockdown we've kept a jigsaw puzzle going in the kitchen. Sometimes we work on it together but usually one or the other of us spends some spare time puzzling. Here are some of our finished pieces.

 

It's amazing how many new, sealed puzzles are missing pieces. Wonder where they turn up. Two of these have had extra pieces. I wonder if those people got our missing pieces.