Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: winter


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I’m a homebody

Penny here.

Who’d of thought that I’d be writing to you a mere week after my last contribution to mom’s blog? Obviously mom’s life is pretty boring if she’s willing to hand over communication control to me!

But I’m a sheltie — I never ignore an opportunity to communicate! (Sheltie moms and dads know this is true!)

So anyway. We got a bunch of snow last night. Not as much as some of you, but maybe a little more than 4 inches. It’s soft, powdery snow and mom had this brilliant idea that I might want to play in it. Cause, as you know, I’m a sheltie and stuff.

Me on the road outside my house.

Yesterday mom had been up at the neighbor lady’s house drinking tea and talking about important stuff like me. The neighbor lives on a big lot, way back off the road and has a wonderful yard that backs up to woods. Mom thought it would be a fun place for me to play, far away from the road.

So when we woke up to all this snow mom got permission to take me up there to play. Unfortunately she didn’t clear it with me first.

So mom and I are trotting up the nice lady’s driveway and I figure we’re just out there for me to do my job, so I pee and mom says good girl, and I turn around to go home. Because that’s what I always do after I pee, I go home.

Me in the nice lady’s backyard under protest.

But mom says, no, no, baby girl we’re going to keep going up this driveway. Well! I hadn’t been up this driveway before and there was a big camper up there with a cover and there were cords swinging in the breeze and they were scary so I barked at them a lot and I turned around to go home!

And mom said, no, no, baby girl come on up this driveway and she drags me up there and around to the back of the house and I’m scared and I don’t understand and mom finally figures out I’m shaking so she picks me up and cuddles me and walks, carrying all 27 pounds of me, around the yard a bit until I settle down, and then she puts me down figuring I’ll run around sniffing some and I immediately poo.

And when I get done pooing I pull mom toward the driveway so I can go home! Cause that’s what you do after you poo, you go home! And mom is looking for a bag to collect the poo and realizing she forgot to bring one and all the time I’m pulling her back toward home.

Me heading home where I belong.

Mom decided to give in and we trotted all the way back down the driveway and back to my yard, where, once I was safe and sound on familiar ground I played with my leash and attacked her boots and chased snowballs just like normal.

And after I went inside mom walked all the way back up the nice lady’s driveway with a bag and collected my poo.

When she finally got home she was pretty cold and wet and discouraged so we took a nap on the sofa. I slept on top of her to make her feel warm and safe and loved in return for her carrying me around that scary yard.

Me keeping my mom safe and warm.

But before we have another adventure like that I’m going to have to have a serious discussion with mom. Yep, no more surprise adventures when we don’t even get in a car! How’s a girl supposed to know it’s an adventure anyway!

Seriously, mother?

Talk later, your adventure-less girl, Penny.

The nice lady’s house is way up there, far away from my house!


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The great sock mystery

On this frigid Michigan morning, with high temperatures predicted to be in the mid teens (F) and wind chills below zero, I think it’s only appropriate to talk about socks. This is the kind of morning that I want to snuggle up on the sofa with comfy warm clothes under a blanket and my dog, and contemplate life’s mysteries.

Over the years I have purchased many warm socks. To my knowledge they all arrived in pairs, two of each pattern, color and style. But for many weeks I have only been able to find matching pairs on a handful of occasions. Unless there’s a huge pile of socks behind the dryer I suggest that my dog has hidden them on purpose.

This morning, with the wind blowing snow across the driveway, Penny and I head out into the dark to do her business. On my feet are mismatched socks. After all, who decided socks need to match anyway?

Penny agrees. What do you think?


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Bird watching

After a beautiful warm fall it’s finally getting cold now, cold like it’s supposed to be in Michigan in December.

We even got some snow, but nothing near what northern Michigan and the UP got. They had feet of snow fall in one day. We had a couple inches and they closed the local schools.

Why, I remember when I was a kid walking through 5 feet of snow uphill both ways to the bus stop. I’m sure you did too. Kids today.

Anyway, I haven’t done anything particularly interesting lately. Certainly nothing blog worthy.

Unless you count watching my birds as they swarm the feeders during these chilly mornings.

Sometimes we even have a bit of sun and then the birds are extra happy. I am happy too, enjoying the light on their feathers, and the sparkle in the snow.

I am hoping to get to my favorite birding park in the next week or so. We’ll see. It seems like every day fills up with things not going to the park related and I think….well tomorrow…and then tomorrow crazy happens all over again.

But if I ever do get out there I’ll share the photos. Cause there are bound to be some images blog worthy from out there.

Who you calling crazy, mom?

PS: Thank you to everybody that suggested ways to print my blog. I’m going to be doing some research!

PPS: And THANK YOU to everybody that donated to my fundraiser for the Truck Safety Coalition! I appreciate every one of you!


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Titmouse v.s. chickadee

I went out to Kensington this morning. I haven’t been there to walk among the birds in a long time. I have loads of images to share with you. But this little sequence made me laugh.

I hope you enjoy it. too.

Incoming!

Hey! Move over chickadee!
Hold your horses, I’m getting my peanut!
Geeze, I was here first!
I’m out of here!
Talk to the wing, chickadee!
Yep, the patient bird gets the biggest peanut.

When I get some time I’ll look at what else I found and I’ll share the best of it with you. It was a wonderful day in the woods.


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Cee’s photo challenge – dirt roads or pathways

Dirt roads and pathways are everywhere around here. So when I saw Cee’s challenge I knew I’d find something fresh, some place you haven’t been with us before.

This should do, mom! It’s dirt and it’s a path…right?

Friday Penny and I spent all day exploring. We started out at a new park I’ve renamed Penny’s Park. I’m sure she’ll have a lot to say about it and the other places we visited when she’s recovered from all that exploring!


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Looking for that lonely tree

Mike, over at MLCreatons and I had a short comment thread talking about being photographers that are always on the lookout for that one tree standing alone out in a field. I have had similar discussions with other photographers, so it must be a thing.

Anyway, Friday I was out with Penny when we came across this tree. 

Not in a field exactly, but a lone tree with a pretty nice reflection on an unusual sunny day. 

Made me smile. 

Go check out some of Mike’s images, guaranteed to make you smile too.


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I help mom out any way I can.

Hey, Penny here again. 

Mom says you guys don’t need to hear from me so often. She says it’s her blog and shouldn’t be all about me. I like to point out regularly that her life is all about me. 

Ahem.

Mom took me to a new park last week before the snow.

Anyway, she’s had a couple important thoughts on her mind and has been meaning to blog about random stuff for awhile now. As you may or may not know, she’s meaning to do a whole lot of stuff that doesn’t get done. So I decided to help her out by putting together a random blog with some of her thoughts and some of my thoughts. 

You can judge which thoughts are most important.

Don’t worry mom, I’ll write your blog for you!

No pressure to vote for mine or anything. 

So,anyway, she watches a lot of HGTV. Mostly because there isn’t any violence or scary stuff and no one looses anything most of the time. Mom doesn’t like conflict. But she knows that most of it is staged, ’cause there’s no way all those couples can like totally opposite stuff and still be together. One wants to live in a city high-rise and one wants to live on acres in the woods? How’s that supposed to work out?

Me, I think we should all live in the woods!

Don’t you wonder if some of them are still together?

And how come so many of the women come off as so controlling and well…b****y? Sometimes mom has to turn it off because the (mostly) women annoy her so much. And how come the closets are always hers? Where’s he supposed to put his cloths? In the kids’ rooms? Maybe the garage? 

Of course mom has her own closet drama. We won’t go there.

Maybe you could store your shoes in here, mom!

I on the other hand wonder why people’s dogs don’t get to decide where they’re going to live. I think any dog would opt for lots of fenced in land to run on. I don’t know a dog around that likes to go on a walk by first getting on an elevator. And those high-rise balconies? You call that an outside space? What if a little doggie falls off? Huh??

Now THIS is a good outdoor space!

Mom also wonders about this open concept thing. It seems to be what almost everyone wants and she wonders if these people, particularly the young people, have ever lived with other people in that kind of space. 

Is this open concept?

Mom and Dad’s house is open concept. They remodeled it long before that was a thing, and in general I like it cause I can run really fast with no walls to slow me down, but mom says if you live in an open concept house you have to listen and watch whatever the other people want to listen to and watch. 

I’m a big help, right mom?

Sometimes mom would just like it to be quiet. She says she’d advise all those people looking for open concept houses to make sure they each have somewhere of their own to retreat to when they need a little quiet. 

Just image if there were a bunch of kids too! Kids and dogs racing around a big open concept house. Yep….I think that would be perfect, but mom says it makes her head hurt. What do you think?

I think having some kids to play with would be just fine.

And mom’s been thinking about the cable/internet bill. She hears so many people talking about streaming stuff, and she’s not sure she’d even know how to do that. We don’t have any of those subscription things, and sometimes something she’d like to watch is shown only on Peacock or Hulu or Netflix or any number of other services that she hasn’t even heard of. 

Is that a peacock over there?

The cable bill is big enough, why would you want to pay for more when we don’t even watch all the channels we have? Yet….maybe it would be nice to have some other options. Still, shouldn’t we be satisfied with the stuff we already have? Cause mom says we have a lot. 

Personally I don’t care one way or the other. It’s all noise to me. Just don’t have any doorbells or dogs barking on there. And nobody up on that screen better move too fast either. Cause I’ll be on guard, yes I will. I’m watching you all the time, even when I’m sleeping. Constantly on guard to protect my people, that’s me.

Always alert!

In fact, mom and I just came in from a neighborhood walk and about the time we got back to our driveway four trumpeter swans flew over. They sure make a lot of loud, weird noise when they fly! Mom thought it was cool. I just stood very still and watched. 

I’m not always brave.

After they were gone I pulled on my leash and stood up on by back feet and barked very loudly in the direction they had gone. I told them! They won’t be back any time soon! Don’t come near my mom you guys! Yes I can make myself very big, like a grizzly bear, when I want to scare something off.

Mom says I’m nothing like a grizzly bear, and I’m only brave after whatever riled me up is gone. Big brave girl, she calls me. She says this habit of mine doesn’t bode well for future camping.

Gotta keep an eye out all the time around here.

I say she needs a grizzly bear camping with her to keep her safe. What do you think?

Signing off from all this randomness,

Your clerical girl, Penny.