Out for a Drive

I came across this immature bald eagle watching a deer carcass. I was hoping he would come down, or fly, but no such luck.

 He was blended in quite well and I didn't see him at first.

 A very regal bird, but still a scavenger.

Also there were lots of Blue Jays

 And a Downey Woodpecker

 The Athabasca River is making ice at a good rate

 The Magpies were settling for left overs.

How Can You Get Mad?

This is a picture of a good dog, sitting patiently for me to play with her, or to be allowed into the kitchen. She is normally not allowed to cross the line.

This is a picture of a not so good dog that likes to show who is boss when it comes to sleeping priorities!

Another First!

I had to run Elaine into Edmonton yesterday, and of course I never go anywhere without my faithful camera. While waiting, I took Daphne for a walk in a grassy area and we found a Jack Rabbit Now you who have these critters as a common occurrence, you are probably saying "So What". Well for me, this a first. He snuck back after Daphne put the run on him, and I snuck back to the car, dropped Daphne off and grabbed my camera. He was very relaxed and let me get fairly close. He is a White Tailed Jack Rabbit.

A Working Day

The garden pumpkins have finally ripened on the kitchen table. The biggest one (15 pounds) was sacrificed  and converted to 4 pies.

 I could not get the edges covered in tinfoil. so the crusts are a little dark.

 After doing the 4 pumpkin pies I decided to advance to my frozen sour cherries. These were cut with a knife and the pits removed. I could have used a little more filling, but, what the heck we now have 2 pies from our own tree.

 I guess I will have to tackle the rest of the pumpkins Saturday.

Another Five Mile Bush Walk

This was at the start of the walk. She was still perky.

Five miles, and no birds or deer to photograph. We did see two Ruffed Grouse, but Daphne spooked them before I could get a shot

 all in all, a good afternoon

Call it Lucky!

We bought these Orchids about 5 years ago and after the initial flowering, nada!

This summer, I got mad and was going to throw it out. Elaine gave an emphatic "No" to that idea.

So, I bought some orchid soil, split the roots, repotted and voila! instant flowers.

 I should have split one of the plants one more time, but I didn't  Anyway, a long story short. Elaine was right and we have flowers for about 5 more weeks. Life is good!

From This........to This

In only two days!

 The Larch, or Tamarack are beautiful

 The access trails are sunny and bright

 Then came the snow!

 It doesn't faze my faithful companion though.

 -3 C, feeling like -10 and she still wants to run! Oh well, only six months till spring!

Bits and Pieces

 I figured that I should maybe post a blog before I forget how! Its been very slow in the great outdoors probably due to the miserable weather. Everybody is in hibernation mode, including me.

My faithful companion is always up for a walk in the woods, or a trip to the Dog Park. Whitecourt is blessed to have a facility as great as Rotary Park! I caught this little guy sitting on a rock wall having breakfast. 

There are still a few Mallards hanging around. If it were me, I would be

in the deep south by now instead of freezing my tail feathers off!

 I have bee adopted by about 6 Blue Jays that are eating my bird seed like its going out of style.
 Then, there is always this guy that figures he should eat for free also. Hopefully the weather improves and I can go farther afield for some photos.

The Dog Days of Summer

A day in the woods with Daphne is great! It gets me out and working towards my 5 miles per day

Over hill, over dale and over logs. Nothing stops her!

 A brief stop at the dog park so that she can show off her retrieving skills rounds it off well

 The Kong retrieve comes right back to my hand.

 Along the river today, I spotted this Osprey. I am surprised he is still around.

 Fishing must still be good!

 This Mule Doe was another bonus until Daphne put the run on her. Daphne does a token chase and doesn't go far. I guess she knows that catching deer is not easy!

Our Blue Jays

I say ours, because they seem to have adopted us, or at the very least, our bird feeder. 

Some people don't like them, but I enjoy their loud and quirky habits.

Hopefully, they will over winter in our neighbourhood.

The nail strips that were supposed to deter cats don't seem to bother them. I put the bird houses in 3 foot iron posts that seem to work well.

First Day of Season

I took a walk for some deer today. All I found were a couple of very young does.

 They were not at all frightened, but posed and posed.

 Finally, one decided to give me the "eyeball" before wandering off.

Why Me?

Today, I drove a friend into Edmonton and got back about 1:30 pm. As Daphne was locked in the house all morning, I took her for a bush walk. I had just stopped the car and let her out when she bounded off the trail after something, likely a small bird.

However, it was a skunk! She came back a few minutes later, whining, rubbing her eyes and rubbing her head on the ground. Yep! She was skunked! She was also coughing, sneezing and trying to throw up. Definitely not a happy camper!

I loaded her back into the car, opened the windows and headed for home. My car now smells like a skunk farm. I headed to the vet for the latest in skunk odour removal. They said to forget tomato juice as it doesn't work.

Instead they gave me a recipe that does:

1 cup of lemon juice,
1 cup of dish soap, Dove or Palmolive
1 cup of baking powder.

Mix them all up together and use as a shampoo, rubbing it well in. Then rinse

It worked very well, but I may have to repeat tomorrow. There is still a slight odour.

I sprayed the car heavily with Febreze, but figure on driving with the windows open for a while.

ALL my clothes and 3 dog towels, and jacket went into the washer with 2 power balls. That seems to have worked!

 I hope none of you experience this experience, but can recommend the home made shampoo.