Dog Park and Wild Life

On the way to the dog park I came across this lone female Mule Deer, just willing to be photographed.

The grass is getting very tall, and approaching 4 feet high in places. Some of the local farmers are starting to make hay, but it is still very rainy.

Don't look now, but you have hairy ears!

 She is in very good shape. I suspect she is a yearling from last year.

 Back at the Park, Daphne met up with Percy, a 4 year old Golden. They have not seen each other for many months, but picked up the relationship right where it left off. BFF. Daphne's Kong on a rope, not to be messed with, but rather be shared.

 Both are very stubborn and will not give up! Lots of growling going on and tug of wars.

 Daphne normally wins and is a master of playing keep-away.

Getting Out Again

Now that the 3 week Monsoon has ended, I was able to get out and about. Daphnie and I did an 8 km walk on the Town's paved walking trails. The bush otherwise was too soggy.

I came across this very cooperative Mule Deer. I told Daphne "No" and she just sat with me and watched.

 You can see why they are called Mule Deer. The ears are very expressive!

 She was curious and walked up to about 20 feet away.

 Then off for a pronk. Note all 4 feet are off the ground. They hit with all four feet and bound.

 Back for another peer at us.

 What are you guys up to? How come that dog isn't chasing me?

 The natural grass is getting up close to 4 feet high.

 Yep, if it weren't for my ears, I bet you would walk right past!

Question for All You Horticulturalists Out There

About 5 years ago, we planted 4 Oriental Poppies. Each year they have produced  magnificent flowers, more and more each year. This year we have had 24 blooms, all nice and orange, as they should be.

 The flowers are stunning!

 However, this year we have had one white poppy, now gone and today out pops this pink one. The originals were all single root plants, producing orange flowers.
How did the white and pink variations sneak in?

Now, I am not complaining, just curious. There are no other poppies in this end of Whitecourt, and no others that I have seen any where in Town.

I guess I will have to go and contemplate  my navel until someone comes up with an answer.

Bits and Pieces

You may have noticed my new header picture. It is about the only "bright" thing to happen in the last three weeks. Note the Teddy Bear. Daphne is spoiled! We have had rain, rain and more rain for three weeks. The gardens are stalled out, or drowned. The walks have been limited to paved paths and the photo opportunities almost nil.

I guess that is my whine for the day!

I did manage to get a picture or two of a Great Blue Heron in a marsh at Rotary Park. The marsh is now flooded and the Athabasca River is up to flood level. (Did I mention we have had rain?)

 The Goslings are about the size of their mother now.

 This woodpecker kind of looked waterlogged.

 I did catch up with a Solitary Sandpiper sitting on a log.

 Same Sand Piper different view.

Think dry, and warm!

Mixed Bag

Today was the first day in a week without rain! I came across a few things of interest.

The first was this slightly (well very) pregnant Whitetail doe. This is the normal time of year for the fawn (s) to be born. She is very, very close! I did see another doe with a gangly thing running to keep up across the field. I figure that one was maybe 2 days old.

 A couple of mallards were in a small slew which was grossly over flood stage. They were not in any hurry to move, even with Daphne eyeing them up.

 I found a couple of Killdeer along a sandy spit. When they sit, they are very hard to spot

 They blend in very well

 Unless, as shown in the next two photos, they flop around and do the broken wing act to get me away from the nest. I didn't look very hard to find it.

Its good to back out sleuthing around.

Life is good! Right?

A Time to Frolic...

Fresh grass, warm weather, life is good!

Nesting Time in the Yard

Here is the spot on my deck where I can keep track of all six birdhouses. I can zoom in on all of them with the camera without moving, At the peak of the garage is the house that the sparrows appear to have settled on. Last year it was occupied by chickadees.

 I don't know what time of Sparrow this is. I am guessing Harris's Sparrow.

 Another one is occupied by House Wrens. Yes, I know, the house needs repainting!

 Watching the bird trying to get an oversized twig into the nest is interesting.

 Full of songs

 And here are the Mr. and Mrs. together. How she is going to fit through the hole, I don't know

The tree swallows are trying to pick a nest out of the 4 others, but haven't settled on one yet.

More pictures to come when they settle in.

Another First for Me!

Today, Daphne and I ended up at the river on our daily walk. I thought I saw a Muskrat playing in the rather stiff current. Then I realized that Muskrats are lazy and stay in calm water or swamps. I took a few shots when he surfaced and then found out it was a River Otter. He wasn't very cooperative and would not come to shore.

Note the very impressive teeth! 

He was very sleek and graceful!

You can see most of the long tapered tail. Now that I know where he is (was), I will keep a look out for him in the future.

Big Health Improvement!

Here are the steps that I have taken to improve my health significantly!

Conditions before:

My weight was at 210 pounds, about 30 pounds over where I should be. I was tired, fatigued would be more like it, sleeping 9 hours at night and napping one to 2 hours during the day. My muscles ached constantly. My feet and legs cramped almost at will. I had to force myself to walk any where. My wrists hurt constantly and I was wondering if it was arthritis or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It was difficult to get 3500 steps per day on dog walks. All in all I would say life was almost at a survival level.

Conditions after three months:

I have dropped 20 pounds of my 30 pound goal. All my aches, pains and cramps are gone and I am back walking my goal of 10,000 steps per day and I am enjoying it! I am back to sleeping 8 hours a night with a few naps during the week. The wrist pains are gone. The fatigue is  normal, but with cause like after walking more than 10,000 steps per day. I am still 75 years old and have not regenerated.

How did I do this?

First of all, I cut my food intake back significantly. I don't believe in dieting as I found in the past the weight that went comes back over time. Instead, I went on a routine schedule. For breakfast, I have two pieces of raisin bread with butter and an apple. I like raisin bread! For lunch I will have something light like an ice cream bar and a banana. If I get hungry in between, I will have another apple. Suppers are normal, but at half portion size. Once the stomach shrunk, I stopped being hungry.

I Googled my symptoms and started looking for vitamin deficiencies. I found pretty quick that as a person gets older, the body muscles do not tale up magnesium as they should. Magnesium is required for health muscle mass. There is apparently no easy test for mag deficiency (according to my Doc). I started taking magnesium citrate at 250 milligrams. Within 2 days my aches and pains were totally gone! After a week when my walking steps increased, I found the aches were starting to come back. I upped the mag to twice a day and have stabilized at that. I dropped some other medications such as a pill used for acid reflux. It turns out I shouldn't have been on it because apparently anything over 8 days may harm the kidneys. When my stomach muscles stopped hurting due to the magnesium supplement, I haven't felt the need for it.

I still stay on Vitamin D3 and B12 du to or shortage off sunlight.

What Have I learned?

I have had ultrasound and  X-rays to try to determine the cause of my troubles with no results. I found I had to do my own root cause determination to find the cause. This procedure I used regularly as technical director in the pulp and paper industry, and it worked in my case . Doctors can miss the root cause. When I talked to my Doc on the effect, he did say that too much mag can cause the runs. So far I have avoided that side effect!

Where am I now?

My weight is coming off slowly and I see my goal of getting to 180 pounds being achieved by July.
I am back up to wearing my dog out with 10,000 steps per day. The fatigue, stomach pains and other muscle pains are gone and I feel much as I did 30 years ago! I do not have arthritis or carpal!

Life is back to being GOOD again!

Hope this helps. I am not a medical doctor and can only say what is working for me. Google can be a good source of information!

Watching the Sandhill Cranes

Daphne and I went for a small walk today while waiting for the Boss to be done with a meeting. The small walk turned into a sit down at the edge of a field to watch a Sandhill Crane perform. I didn't see the female. I'm assuming she was in the bushes at the edge of the field. Daphne was off leash, and I just told her to come and sit, and she did while I took a few photos (about 60). I won't bore you will all of them!

 They have an enormous wingspan!

I'm not sure what is with the lumps on the head. If he was a bear, I could see him popping his cheeks to show annoyance.

 Here is a view of the knobs. Cranes don't grow horns, so that can't be it.

 So long, adieu, until we meet again!