Smatterings

  • walk with me wednesday

    Ice Fishing…

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    I know what you are thinking, little shanties that look a lot like out houses sitting on a lake, men with beer sitting, gazing at a hole in the ice.. nope.  There is another, far more interesting, ice fisher.  I’ve been watching him (them) for days, years.  I know where he lives, what he eats, and I am going to visit.

    With the weather being what it was today, my walk had to be planned before the storm.

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    I wasn’t the first one to check to see if the otters were around.  The coyote had been there before me.  He is a regular visitor.  I knew I could look around because the otter was feeding. 

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    Otters are neat little buggers and have a bathroom out side of their house.  This family uses the same location every year. After the spring rains come and wash through the waste, a mound of silvery fish scales is all that remains.

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      too much information??

    They have a great location for a house…

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    I checked out the area, crossed the bridge and followed a few otter slides.

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    then headed for home…

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    I could have been an otter by the look of my trail.

    21 responses to “walk with me wednesday”

    1. Carole

      That’s awesome, even if you didn’t get a photo of an otter for us.

    2. Carole

      That’s awesome, even if you didn’t get a photo of an otter for us.

    3. Laurie

      Always an education!

    4. Laurie

      Always an education!

    5. Anne

      How fun! I love that picture of the cave/den. It looks like something out of Narnia.

    6. margene

      Oh my, your walk is magical. I need to get out in the mountains now that there is finally some snow!

    7. Carrie

      Actually, no, the bit about the fish scales entertains me to no end.

    8. Cathy

      Ohhh, thank you!

    9. Marguerite

      Wonderful pictures. Enjoyed your walk very much. Thanks.

    10. Dorothy B

      Otters are such cool little critters. I knew that weasels, wild ferrets and mink had separate bathrooms, but I didn’t know that otters did too. Although I should have just assumed that seeing as they are all the same family.
      Great pictures!

    11. Lynn

      I love seeing otters on the ice of a pond now and then – maybe once every two years. What fur they must have to withstand such cold water!

    12. Beth S.

      You have otters? Lucky, lucky, lucky! They are such adorable creatures. 🙂

    13. Joni

      I’m in the process of doing some massive ring maintenance for the FiberArts Bloggers ring and I am contacting you’re missing the ring code. I will go ahead and e-mail you the basic ring code now, but if you don’t get it please let me know. Please feel free to contact me with any questions/concerns. Once you have your code up, if you want to send me a note I’d appreciate it, so I can get you back into the ring that much faster. Thanks!
      Joni

    14. cyndy

      Wonderful post!! Love the otter slides!
      …so that’s what otter scat looks like..;-)
      I hope you can get a photo of them someday!

    15. Diane E.

      Awesome post, thanks for the walk!

    16. Pat K

      Otters! You are so lucky.

    17. hPNY Knits

      OMG!

    18. Christina

      I SO love otters. I’m assuming you get river otters? I’ve never seen a river otter, but we do get sea otters over here. Big fellas. I should get a photo of one for you next time I go to Anderson Island. They usually hang around in the shallower water between the islands and the mainland. They’re surprisingly personable and will play around (but not too close) humans as long as there’s only a couple of people.

    19. Maia

      Great walk, thank you! I didn’t realize otters could live in cold climates; shows what I know about them.

    20. Carol

      Breathtaking…

    21. Fiberjoy

      Enjoyed the nature walk. I could almost smell the soggy snow and melting cold.

  • fowl weather report

    Seriously, if you want to know when something is up with the weather, watch the birds.  Or, if you are like me, your sinuses and / or migraine.  The past couple days the birds have been up to something, preparing perhaps for the nor’easter that is coming our way.  I’ve upped the amount of seed that I cast out onto the ground for the juncos.  All morning there have been dozens of them pecking about the yard.  Yesterday, I saw hundreds of blackbirds perched in a grove of trees, all facing the same direction, west.  Later, there was a flock of probably a hundred seagulls massing overhead.  Everyone is getting ready.  Listen up, they are probably a better indicator than your local weatherman. 

    I’m averaging about 40-60 rows a night on the Trellis scarf.  Not much, but I still love this pattern.  Even the k7tog part.  The sweaters (all three of them) languish in my knitting bags waiting… waiting.  All they need…..  but it’ll have to wait like everything else, until after the SPA weekend.  I’ve probably dyed about as much as I’m going to. There is a batch in the pot now and another soaking in preparation.  That’ll do it.  As Kim wrote me yesterday, it sure feels like being a spender is a lot more fun.

    Stay warm.

    12 responses to “fowl weather report”

    1. Dorothy B

      When the birds begin to speak, it is a very good time to listen up. Sounds like a good one is on it’s way.

    2. cheryl

      The blackbirds have probably heard about the warm weather we’ve been having on the west coast and are looking to see if it’s headed your way. :o)

    3. Christina

      Brr. I’m so glad I don’t live in the NE anymore. I hear about the weather from my aunt, but the best I can do is send more handknits her way.
      The birds are probably wondering what’s up. They came back after a mild winter and now it’s only getting worse.

    4. Carole

      The birds around here were on a feeding frenzy yesterday. We’ve got a little snow on the ground right now and freezing rain is coming down.

    5. Cassie

      I’ve always found that to be true – hereabouts the seagulls come in from the beach and … well, yesterday they were freaking out, in droves. I always listen.

    6. cyndy

      birds and whitetail deer were both feeding very heavily yesterday…today I assume they are waiting it out in the thicket. snow, sleet, snow, sleet for us!

    7. Pat

      I took my own sweet time on Trellis too….I love my scarf!

    8. Beth S.

      The robins came back very early this year (I guess the mild December confused them?) I worry about them starving–it’s not like there are many worms out and about. And putting out seed won’t help them, I don’t think. Poor little things.

    9. Cathyc

      Yesterday waves and waves of geese were flying from the prairie to the foothills (read the city golf courses and parks) so we knew we had another system. 2″ of snow overnight, another 3″ due today.

    10. Kim

      I love watching the birds preparing for a storm. We have so many blackbirds, crows, bluejays and even a few cardinals who make their winter homes here. We have over foot of snow already and it’s still snowing…brrrr.

    11. Carol

      Staying warm is no problem here. I always watch the animals during hurricane season, they know about a week before the weather folks do. K7tog just sounds plain scary! Stay safe and warm.

    12. Theresa

      40-60 rows sounds like a good amount to me – wish I could do that much!

  • walk with me wednesday

    Today was the first day this week that the temperatures ventured on the north side of zero.  Seemed like the stars were aligned for a walk.  Oddly, it felt the coldest yet.  It must have been more humidity in the air.  There was snow,  the kind that was barely visible, almost the crystalization of the air, blowing…. blowing everywhere and hard.  The past couple days I snowshoed.  Not too far, just a lovely, lovely bit, maybe a mile or so.   My tendon has had enough, so today there was only a walk to the mail box, one half mile.  Cold.

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    The most undesirable summer plants are beautiful come winter.

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    Looking up at yesterday’s trail, packed down in the drifting snow.

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    14 responses to “walk with me wednesday”

    1. Carole

      Snow. Sigh.

    2. Diane E.

      A+ photos again, esp the side of the barn shot. Hope your tendon is improving a bit.

    3. cyndy

      The winter walks are so worth it. Short, but as you say, “just a lovely, lovely bit”.

    4. margene

      You walk looks so peaceful. I can hear the crunch of ths snow under your feet. We’re hoping for some white stuff in the next few days!

    5. Tan Summers

      Gorgeous photos. Gorgeous yarn, too. I came over here after seeing you at Margene’s. Where are you that it’s still cold?

    6. Dorothy B

      With wind like that even a short walk can seem like a long one. I haven’t gotten out in quite a while due to the too damn cold temps.
      Your walk is very pretty and I too like the look of a burr covered in snow.

    7. hPNY Knits

      love the pix!!

    8. Cathy

      Getting out is good for soul – the tendon fibers need to be stretched and aligned (??). I, too, went for a walk – around the neighborhood sans camera but with Sheltie. It was good to walk.

    9. lynne s of Oz

      Snow!
      If things continue as they are here, we will be thereish and will experience some snow too!

    10. Theresa

      Great photos! Thanks for bringing me along on your walk.

    11. Carol

      Looks beautiful!

    12. Carol

      Looks beautiful!

    13. claudia

      I love the pictures. Makes we want a hot chocolate.

    14. Fiberjoy

      How’s the tendon these days? The snowshoe tracks drew me along the snowdrift. It’s so beautiful, fills me with longing for silence of snow.

“Our lives are dyed the colors of our imagination.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

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