Posts from the ‘Pets’ category

From the front snow cave

I know I said I wanted snow…

Above – this morning, laying on my stomach, just inside my front door with the camera pointed down the “walk”

Below – after shovelling the roof and the sidewalk

So…the snowblower…it blew some snow and then it coughed, spit and quit…several times…

Big John’s wanted to come today to get it and try again – at no charge – but my road is not plowed and neither is the highway, according to a neighbor, so I told them to wait until driving was better. Those 2 sweet young men who do the pickup/delivery and played with Karl – no sense risking their lives over a snow blower!

And the mechanic at Big John’s listened to my attempt to mimic the noises the blower made and he never laughed. He listened…and asked questions!! I am still a fan of Big John’s.

Karl…Karl has had to move from the front porch, to the walk, to the driveway, to get a spot where he can keep a proper eye on his yard.

Adam is back.

There is a certain benefit to the snow cave thing…

Snowblowing, shoveling, snowshoeing – it is thirsty work.

From the front snow cave…

Sometimes you have to stir the fire

I will be working away and suddenly notice that I don’t hear the fire. I know I just added logs.

When I go to check on the fire, I see that the logs have settled together, blocking the air that allows the logs to burn hot.

It usually takes just a bit of nudging with the poker to open up a bit of space for air to bring the fire back to life.

I was stirring the fire a day or so ago and a blog post on Sunny Rising Leather titled Throwing Oranges came to mind.

From the post:

…what we need to do to get off our well-worn path of frustration is to “Throw an orange”, and I guess I meant we’d follow the orange we…just…threw (?) It makes total sense in my mind..

Perhaps it meant that we distract ourselves with something bright and different and watch where it lands, somewhere completely foreign and exotic compared to our constant.

The post was written in November, after the election and as the economic crisis was in the forefront of the news. The comments to the post are moving as well – particularly Naomi’s. But the thought and the followup is that we may all have to make adjustments in what we do – not just a spending less thing, but a “what do I do for a living” thing. For many, it might be a time of not finding employment “as usual”…and so what are the alternatives?

The world is not going to and has not come grinding to a halt. There will be things that need doing, opportunities maybe outside of our normal “work”. Those that are willing to “throw oranges” ….or “stir the fire” may find that needing to do that fans the flames of their lives.

Stirring the fire, moving the logs – [the ordinary or usual things of our lives] – so that the coals – [our hopes, dreams, desires] – can breathe and come to life strong and bright. Or perhaps stirring the fire so that our hopes, dreams and desires or another way are visible.

This last post of 2008 does come from the front porch. A blustery wind is blowing in the tree tops but it is coming from the south and feels warm…ish. It is snowing, but the temperature is 34. It is supposed to get cold behind the warm front of this next storm, but at the moment, the temperature is at odds with the sound and sight of blowing snow and howling wind. Perfect, in my mind, for this post.

To close: Bob and Karl…veterans of dealing with life turned upside down…

A Happy, Warm, Wonderful NEW year to all – From the Front Porch.

Karl’s dilemma

hmmm….there is a perfectly wonderful dog bed on the front porch…

Oh…

I shovel off part of the roof. The additions to the original part of the house did not include new roof trusses. The front part of the roof and particularly the porch roof is extremely flat. Two problems – the bathroom vent gets buried quickly and the snow load on the porch roof can get ugly fast. It is much easier to push off 3-6-8 inches of light fluffy snow as it comes down than to dig out a foot or more of heavy compacted snow…ask me how I know this…

The roof dump interferes with Karl’s “view” of his yard. What is a dog to do?

Singing apparently helps…

At least the heated water bowl works.

More to the grayish

A gray kind of day yesterday as storm #3 prepares to move in. It was not “due” until after 11 – my work week (a short one!) is filling up and I decided on a last pre-Christmas supply run while driving was decent. I started back home about 11:30…

…the weather people nailed this one – at least the start. It was windy, snowing lightly and most of that snow swirling around. The highway was actually fine, no accumulation on the road until I got to my own…

The road and scenery looked a bit different than last week in the motorhome.

Almost home…

One of my acquisitions from this day’s trip – a heated water bowl. Karl didn’t mind the change and it adds a bit of color to a day which tended more to the grayish.

We got snow

We got a bit of snow…about 10 inches by midday. Karl blazed the trail for our early afternoon walk, although I think a few deer had gone before..

This explains a lot…

Yep.

I didn’t do much better…my hat after my snowblowing. The rest of me looked pretty much the same as the hat and Karl’s face.

We got snow.