Happy Mothers Day to all the moms! I have yet to call my mom, but we typically do our Sunday call in the evening, so I guess we will stick with it. Gracie and I did give Nora her present, some moo-la to spend on flowers and vegetables for her planters and garden. It is getting to be that time of the year where she will be loading up on all that stuff. It is still too early to be putting things into the ground, but in any small planters that can be brought inside or covered up she will be getting going on those.
Our trees are still in hibernation, but the grass is greening up nicely and a few folks have already even cut their lawn. The bugs are still hiding for the most part, even though it was a pretty nice week. We were in the 50’s for highs most of the week and even into the 60’s for Friday and Saturday. It has also been nice and dry and quite a bit of sunshine. Most of the outdoor yard work that I could get done has been done and I even spent some time in the woodshop working on the very early stages of the shelves for my work desk. I have five computers that I use, three of them are set up on a shelf that sits on the desk, while the other two hang from hangers on the wall. Once I am all finished with the shelves, I will be sure to share a pic of them, as they will be a little more than your typical shelf.
Not much else went on this week. At least that you all would find interesting! No drone flights to speak of. I did do a real quick flight right outside our house, but only to check a few things. Hopefully I will be able to get out and the weather will cooperate to allow me to get a flight in this week. I am really loving that thing and see doing a lot with it. My confidence still needs to grow before I fly it when the wind is blowing. As you can imagine, there are not too many days when that is not the case up here. Many mornings are, but by the time I finish with my work, the boundary layer has become activated by the suns energy and the winds are blowing.
The pups and I have gotten into our morning walk routine every day. They are so cute, it did not take long for them to get used to the fact that as soon as I was done with my shower, it meant we were headed out for our walk. That was always the routine until we stopped this winter. It is nice to be getting out and enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having of late, as well as catching up on what is going on in the neighborhood. Not gossip wise, but the important stuff, like what trees have fallen, how full the swamp is and any critters that have been passing through. The other day we happened along a pair of daffodils that have busted through and shown themselves.
Friday evening it was nice enough that the girls decided we should head out to do some fishing. I am not a big lover of fishing and do not even have a licence yet, so I did not do any fishing, but watched them gear up and then wet their lines, as well as kept an eye on the pups. Up until now, Gracie just bobber fished, dropping her line straight in, or having someone cast her rig out a bit for her. On Friday, Nora taught Gracie how to cast with a lure and she did a great job and caught on very quickly! I don’t know who was more thrilled, Gracie for accomplishing the art, or Nora for Gracie loving it so much that she now has a new fishing partner! Either way, it is a win-win scenario. I will most likely tag along with them and keep tabs on the pups on most of their trips, but it is nice to know that if I am pre-occupied or not feeling like it, Nora will have her go-to fishing buddy!
For me, it was nice to just relax and watch them fish, as well as watch the dogs explore. It’s neat how the dogs sure are in their element when we get around water. They just never stop tromping around, either looking for something or sniffing something out. Millie even did a cool agility thing. There were some logs floating near the shoreline and she initially just put her front two paws on one of them that was sticking out into the water and floating. The next thing I know, she has put all four paws on it and is walking along it. I scrambled to get my camera and catch a shot of it, but was a bit too late. While walking along, she came upon another log that came in at around a 90 degree angle to the one she was on and decided to walk on it. Unfortunately, it was smaller and less stable and even a bit more rotted, so she lost her footing and all I was able to capture was the moment when she lost her footing and hit the water, but it was so cool to see her walking along that log- especially as it was floating and not stable at all! Not bad for an 8 1/2 year old lab, heck, not bad for any aged dog!
So this morning, Gracie was feeling especially helpful in wanting to take care of the pups. It has become her job to feed them every day and she does a great job at that and never complains. After breakfast, I went into the bedroom and found Huck and Millie chilling out on the bed, so decided since it was a Sunday, I would chill with them for a while. Not long after that, Gracie joined us, but did not last long chilling. Instead she grabbed the brush and started to brush Huckie out. This is not the first time she has done this. In fact, she has probably been brushing the dogs out for as long as she could hold and work the brush. What made this morning different was the fact that she brushed him out for over an hour. I should have probably gotten a picture of the two of them to share with you, as they both looked about as content as can be.
Not long after that, I was in my office taking care of my Sunday work and Gracie came in and joined me. We then heard the clanking of one of the pups tags against the side of the water bowl. That happens when the water level gets low and they have to really dig in there to get a drink. It is a convenient method for letting us know that the water bowl needs filling up. Gracie has gotten big enough to be able to fill the bowl at the bathroom sink and return it to its spot, so I asked her if she could. She did right away and then I could hear her fiddling around, doing something. She is not one to sit still for very long, so I have gotten used to her working on one of her “projects”. It was probably about 20 minutes later when I finished my work and Gracie grabbed my hand and had something to show me. She had filled up a bunch of empty cans and plastic bottles and put them around the dogs water bowl so it would be easier to put more water into the bowl! Never a dull moment around here!
So I am one day away from the 18th anniversary of moving up here! If I did the math correctly (accounting for 2 leap years), it would be 6571 days ago. I can still vividly remember much about that day and I hope I never forget those details. It was probably one of the most exciting moments in my life and I was fortunate enough to share it with my dad. I sure made that poor guy work hard unloading all the stuff I had! Not only enough furniture to completely fill up a 3 bed-2 bath home, but a bunch of woodworking equipment to boot! He never complained once and after driving 7 hours to get here, then sitting at the closing for an hour or so, we were both able to get the moving truck fully unloaded before the sun set. In ways it seems like a lifetime ago when that day happened and in some ways, it seems like last week. One thing is for sure, I sure did make the right decision to move up here. I have NEVER regretted it and pray I NEVER have to leave. It has truly been a dream come true to live here and something I try very hard to never take for granted.
Good night from the Keweenaw..
–JD
