another icy sunset over the big pond

Another freezing cold walk with Skippy, another icy sunset...

Fresh Pond

the squirrels think its spring

Sometimes I have 5 or 6 squirrels in my yard. They are very frisky. This squirrel is thinking about how he'll get seed out of the bird feeder that is attached to my back window. Its one of those with suction cups right on the glass. The tree he's in is 10 feet from the window. I think too far to jump, but squirrels usually figure something out!

ice hockey!

The ice is solid on the smaller ponds around Boston. Skippy paw is much better and he loves sliding on the ice. What fun!

Fresh Pond

blue ice

Fresh Pond

too many toys!

I don't usually have all of these dog toys out, but Skippy has a sore paw today so I brought the basket of puppy toys up from the basement. And, to be special, Skippy has his cool Red Sox fleece scarf on. He's a real fan - ready for baseball season (especially now that the Pats are through with football for the year).

I feel real bad about Skippy's sore paw - I accidentally stepped on it. Ouch. I didn't see him behind me as I opened a door. Well, the next morning he started limping, then wouldn't put it down at all. I checked it out and narrowed the injury down to the index pad of his left front paw. And it felt warm, so I brought him into see his vet. He checked, x-rayed and said it wasn't broken, but was very sore and warm. So Skippy is taking some pain medicine for a couple of days and limping. Seems better today, so I think it'll heal soon. Poor old puppy!

While we were at the vet I got some advice on winter paw care. Skippy's vet recommends washing paws with water whenever we come in and there's any dirt or grit on his paws. We just go up to the tub and step in an inch of water and spray off the paws then towel dry. Then his vet also recommended Vitamin E oil. Just a drop on each paw and rub it in good. (I like it on my hands too. ) I also like to use wax (Musher's Secret) on Skippy's paws just before we go outside when there's snow or salt on the ground. It protects his paws and prevents snow balls in his fur. I put the wax on his paws and rub a little on his fur wherever his fur will hit the snow. When we get a foot or two of snow, this could be up to his belly. Not that much yet. Anyway, its nice to know how to take good care of Skippy's paws since he's always barefoot. And he's such a good puppy!

aster seed puff

Our little bit of snow has melted and again the ground is bare. Its still very cold, but not like a few days ago when we were down in the single digits. This seed puff is in a field that Skippy and I walked through yesterday.

wildflower

snow flowers

These flowers are in my yard. The snowdrops are almost open, but not quite. Same with the hellebore. We need another warm week for them to open. The yellow primrose has been blooming a for few weeks now. The picture shows one of the new buds.

backyardflowers

fire and ice

Tonight the sun set the clouds and the icy pond on fire. I took this picture on our walk, and almost got frostbite. Skippy wore his coat and has decided he likes it as long as he can wear it on the black side. Black on black looks very sharp!

Fresh Pond

phalaenopsis

orchid

new blue coat

Its been sooo cold that I got Skippy a nice warm coat. I thought it looked very good on him. Handsome. Blue is a good color. But Skippy rolls and shakes and tumbles to get the silly thing off. Oh well. Not his style, I guess.

keeping the pond from freezing over

With a high temperature of about 15 degrees F today, our little back yard pond is one of the few places around with open water. Many birds (and some larger animals) are drinking from it. The pond is 4-5 feet deep - deep enough that it will never freeze at the bottom in the Boston area. We keep a pump running (on a two foot deep ledge on the side of the pond) to keep the water from freezing. I just went out and repositioned the pump so that the water outlet is aiming upward at the pond's surface. If we have a very long stretch of cold weather (more than a week in the teens), or a lot of snow that covers the surface, we float a pond heater on the water. I've kept koi year round in this pond for the past 5 years. Right now they are buried down in the leaves and muck at the bottom and look quite happy. Brrrr!

official badge

Skippy got a new haircut this week. Lookin' good. Also, today was our third Therapy Visit - that means we got our official badge and tag. Skippy didn't want to leave the therapy visit today. I had to coax him out. He likes his new job!

therapy dog pictures

Photos of Skippy at his new job are at the Caring Canine web site: Sunrise of Burlington.

yellow primrose

This primrose is blooming in my back yard. I often buy plants in bloom in the spring and plant them outdoors after they finish blooming. Most winters they do not bloom, but this winter, I have several budded plants. Very pretty and spring-like on an icy cold day in the middle of January.

backyardflowers

Skippy's first therapy visit

Well, it was a really great experience. We went to a nursing facility, a memory-care floor. The residents just loved Skippy and he had a great time with all of the attention. I was told some of the residents who showed great pleasure in petting Skippy rarely smile. Skippy got many smiles. He was at his best: very well behaved and fluffy, fluffy. The photos above are from the walk we took before the visit. Our usual 2-mile walk and a nice swim (since we are now having May-like weather). He ran hard and got very dirty. Then I gave him a good bath and a brush-out, then Skippy did his "work". I didn't take photos on the job, but others did, so I suppose there will soon be Skippy-pictures at the Caring Canines website. They told me Skippy did an exceptionally good job.

first therapy job

Tomorrow is Skippy's first visit to an assisted living facility as a therapy dog. He will have his first on-the-job training session. I brushed him well tonight. His winter coat is very long and thick.

record warmth

Our thermometer is reading about 65 degree F right now. Like a spring day on the 5th of January. I checked for activity in the garden and found several buds and sprouts that are unusual for this time of year. From top: yellow primrose, blue primrose, a one inch daffodil sprout, grape hyacinth sprout, lamium in bloom, epimedium buds and an alium sprout.

backyard