Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: winter


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Happy as a sheltie in the snow

Penny here!

Hey! Did you know we got a bunch of snow a week ago? I’ve never seen so much snow in my entire life! Well, OK. My entire life has only been 13 months, but still.

OK mom! I’m ready, throw the Frisbee!

I kept bugging mom and dad to take me out to play and they kept saying it was too cold. Too cold? Are they crazy? I’m a sheltie for goodness sake! I love the cold!

I ran so fast mom had a hard time getting all of me in the frame!

But mom and dad said I didn’t understand, with the wind chill it was something like -18 degrees Fahrenheit which, for those of you in Canada is about -27.7! Mom said that is really cold and I wouldn’t want to be out there.

I said yes I would too, and I begged and begged to go outside. Mom and dad said I was quite annoying. I call it persistence.

Mostly I loved to run and jump! Some people think I’m a rabbit!

Finally mom dug around in some drawers and found my sister Katie’s boots. My feet are bigger than Katie’s feet were, but she still managed to get them on my feet. Only because I let her, I might add.

Come on mom, throw it again!

I was not amused by the boots, and she doesn’t have any still images of me wearing them. She took a short video of me, short mostly because I wouldn’t walk much wearing them. I thought they were ridiculous.

I’ve got it, mom! Notice I’m not wearing any stupid boots!

When we went outside I accidently (on purpose) lost 3 of the boots in the snow drifts. Mom had to go back out into the dark and cold to find them. She says she’ll get them on tighter next time.

Sure mom.

Life doesn’t get any better than this!

Anyway, finally it got a little warmer, and today it was warm enough to go play in the back yard!

Mom’s artsy image of beautiful me!

Boy I had fun! Mom threw the frisbee and I chased it down, pounced on it, and brought it back to her.

Hustling back to mom with the prize!

Then, usually, I chewed on her ankle until she threw it again. You have to keep moms on their toes, you know.

Nom, nom, nom.

Then I saw a BIG STICK in the yard and I headed right over there. You all know how much I love sticks, right? Well this one looked just perfect!

Wow! The mother of all sticks. You’re mine, stick!!

But then mom called me, really loud, and I knew she had treats in her pocket, so I turned around real quick and headed back. 

Coming mother! (Notice the piece of stick in my mouth!)

I scored big time for coming right back to mom when she called me!

We spent a lot of time out there in the back yard. She kept trying to get me to stay while she walked away.

I’m a happy girl!

I don’t know what that’s all about, I like to be right up next to her all the time. She backs up to get a better shot and I scoot forward the better to get a treat. 

I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than run and jump!

I personally think that makes me a very smart dog. Don’t you agree?

Just throw it mom!

Anyway, mom got a few good shots of me playing in the snow. They say it will all melt next week, so it’s good I convinced her to go out with me.

I have the best yard, don’t you think?

Next week I’ll be muddy. I’m sure mom will think I’m just as cute.

Right? Right!!

A snowy face is a happy face.

Talk later,

Your snow-girl, Penny


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From my window seat

Last week we got our first significant snow of the season. We’d been enjoying unseasonably warm weather for most of December and January, while at the back of our minds we worried about our landscaping that needs a blanket of snow to survive until next spring.

Mr and Mrs Cardinal dine together at our windy, snowy, deck railing.

A definite benefit of being retired is that we don’t have to worry about commuting to work in a blizzard. If we don’t want to go out we don’t go out. It’s just one great perk of getting older.

A little chickadee tries to warm up with some suet.

Sometimes we forget there are benefits to aging.

Two female European starlings unsuccessfully try to share what’s left of the suet.

Anyway, I digress. 

After days of warning from the pessimistic weather folks the storm hit us very early on Friday. First there was rain, then ice, then snow. 

A male downy woodpecker impatiently waits his turn.

Early Friday, while taking the dog out for her morning ritual and stepping carefully down the icy driveway in the dark, we noticed a neighbor mincing his way down the street with his dog. 

Mrs Cardinal desperately tries to figure out how to get to the suet.

Of course we went out to road to talk. Penny got to kiss Oliver, (the dog) who is somewhat besotted with her. The neighbor said there were some trees down up the road. I said I hadn’t looked out back yet.

A blue jay uses his tail for balance in the wind.

As the morning filled with light I saw that we, too, had some bending trees, some limbs down, the typical damage we usually sustain in an ice storm. I sighed. Little by little our birch trees are coming to the end of their lives.

A chickadee launches after his meal.

We’ve lived here over 30 years, I guess it’s expected. Nothing lives forever, right?

A disgruntled goldfinch.

Throughout the weekend the snow came down, blowing sideways from the northeast. We made very limited trips outside, only for doggie necessities. 

Mrs. Redbelly shows off her pink tummy.

Mostly I sat in my chair with a view of a couple of our birdfeeders, watching the frenzy. And eventually, over the weekend, I got a few shots of the birds frantically eating, puffed up, trying to stay warm.

You can see the purple and green in her feathers. 

I had to fill all the feeders, the thistle, the oiler, the peanut, the suet, at least twice a day. I even spread extra oilers on the deck railing, and under our rocking chairs that are turned upside down for the winter.  

The colors on the back of the blue jay are beautiful too.

Little birds, and bigger birds too, were everywhere. As the food ran out they waited anxiously in the trees, coming down to wait closer as soon as I’d step out the backdoor. My birds know I’ve got their backs.

Even the dark eyed junco, who usually likes to eat on the ground, was hungry enough to try the twirling suet feeder.

And I know you’ve all seen photos of my birds at the feeders before. So in this post I tried to show you more unusual shots, a little attitude, a bit of wing. 

It was a busy, windy, weekend!

I feel very lucky to be able to sit in my chair by the window and watch the entertainment happening just on the other side of the glass. 

I hope you all enjoyed it too!


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Another year flies by

Somehow we’re headed toward the new year already. Day after tomorrow will be the first day of 2024, and nothing I can do will stop it.

Time is moving so quickly, it’s all a blur.

It hasn’t been easy, 2023, and part of me is happy enough to see it go. But it’s all moving so fast I wonder, if in a week or so, I’ll be welcoming 2025. 

We all need to spend more time sitting still and listening.

It seems I blink and whole months have evaporated. I’m almost afraid to blink again.

Here’s hoping 2024, an election year in the US, encourages us to work together rather than against each other, helps us find new ways to connect with each other, and highlights the good inside so many of us.

Santa has headed back to the North Pole, now it’s on each of us to find our own joy.

I am hoping. But maybe I should just blink us into 2025.

We can hope.

Happy New Year everyone. I’ll see you in 2024. 


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I’ve been busy!

Hi there, it’s me, Penny!

Boy I bet you’ve been wondering where I’ve been! I know I’m probably the most important concern on your minds all the time, and in the interest of getting you to relax, I’ll bring you up to date on my adventures.

Me in my chariot.

There have been plenty.

Since it’s the holiday season I guess I should start out with my walk a week or so ago. I got to go to a park with my friend Whisky and his mom. (And my mom came too.) There were Christmas lights everywhere!

My friend Whisky-Roo and his mom.

There were lots of people and their dogs walking around and I was a pretty good girl about not barking at stuff. Even when people came out of the dark and startled me.

Sometimes I get worried that Mom isn’t paying attention to all the people walking by when she’s taking pictures.

Mom said it was pretty hard to get pictures of me looking at her cause there was so much other stuff for me to look at!

We spend way too much time sitting in front of stuff when we should be walking, Mom!

Then this week mom took me to Davis Lake Overlook Park, which is near my house. I’ve only been there one time before, and that time we walked in a different part of the park.

I think we should go down the yellow trail, Mom.

So on this walk everything was new to me. Boy I had fun sniffing. I’d go from one side of the trail to the other, nose always to the ground.

I feel like I’m wearing camouflage, Mom! I blend right in!

Mom said I did very good not being scared of being in the woods. When I was a little girl the big trees kinda scared me, but I’m a big girl now, and a lot braver.

Mom asks me to sit in front of stuff all the time. I think she needs to have an intervention.

Then guess what? My Uncle P. came to visit us! It was his first visit since I moved in. He’s so much fun! I liked him right away. A couple days ago he and Mom took me back to Davis Lake Overlook and we walked on a completely different trail there. 

My Uncle Paul. 

Part of it even Mom had never been on before! Mom says she might rename this park Penny’s Park. I think that’s an excellent idea.

I stay very focused on mom. When she says “OK!” I’m going in for my treat, yes sirree!

Mom says she’s still thinking about it. She says change is hard.

I think this is an excellent park and should definitely be named for me.

Anyway, we had a great walk even though it was foggy and cold. I didn’t mind that a bit of course. 

I gave her my best pose down by this little pond. It’s my Christmas present to her.

I loved walking with Mom and Uncle P. They thought they’d be wearing me out so I’d be calmer when we got home. But the joke was on them - I wanted to play, play, PLAY when we got back. 

They, on the other hand, needed a nap.

Never underestimate a Penny.

Silly people. They should know by now you can’t wear an Unstoppable Pretty Penny out!

Hee, hee.

Well, I might have taken a LITTLE nap.

Talk later, it’s time for me to go open my Christmas present, your Unstoppable Girl, Penny.


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Snowy baby pictures

Hey Peeps, Penny here. You don’t mind being called Peeps, do you, cause I think of you all as my people! Yep, every single one of you. Mom says you can never have too many Peeps, and since I’m just a baby still, I’m taking her word for it.

Speaking of baby, mom took a bunch of pictures of me a thousand weeks ago when we had lots of snow, and she’s hardly shared any of them! Mom says she doesn’t have time to sort pictures cause she’s running around making sure I’m happy.

Personally I think she needs to hone her time management skills, in fact, as I recall my sister Katie told me this very same thing. Mom gets tied up with too many things and stresses out. Katie and I both suggest she just focus on the puppy all the time. I think mom’s stress level would lower right away if she did that.

What do you guys think?

Any-hoo, I’ve been bugging her (my most important job as new puppy in this household) to post my baby snow pictures before the daffodils bloom. I understand once the yellow flowers start showing up I’ll have to do a lot of modeling, and it would be embarrassing to still be working through snow pictures. Bad for my modeling career, you know, to be so far behind.

So far I’m still sleeping through the night and I’m mostly house trained. I can sit when asked but I’m not going to stay. No siree, there’s no stopping this girl when I get moving, and I’m mostly moving all the time.

Mom puts me in a timeout if I get overly excited or if I’m cranky. It’s not so bad, I have a big cushy bed in there, and some of my toys and a water bowl, so I don’t really mind going into my timeout pen. My Auntie calls it my rest stop. I do mostly fall asleep in there, so it’s a good place for me.

And when I wake up mom or daddy take me outside right away. I love my yard, but there’s a lot of presents from the resident deer out there that are apparently off limits. I don’t know why, I think they smell fabulous! Sometimes mom and daddy are no fun.

So this is my life right now. No parks quite yet, no walks with friends (I don’t even know if I have any friends!), no visits to the store, no adventures unless you call a sedate walk down the driveway and back an adventure.

WAIT! I DID have an adventure!

Mom promised me one last Friday and I was sort of excited. Not a lot excited because, never having had an adventure, I wasn’t even sure what an adventure was, but kind of excited. We ended up at the VET! And they stuck me twice!! I’m gonna check with Katie, but I’m pretty sure this is not what she was talking about when she told me about all the fun she had going on adventures.

Well, Peeps, I’ll sign off for now. Time to get a little shuteye in my rest stop. If you can, please poke mom for me (I do plenty of that but a girl can’t be poking constantly, it’s not lady-like) and see if you can prod her into taking me on a real adventure soon.

I’m counting on you,

Your adventure-girl, Unstoppable Penny.


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Wordless Wednesday lost

Mom says we missed Wordless Wednesday. She says it’s Thursday now and I need to move on, but seriously, I think Wednesdays are perfect days to showcase me, especially during my cute puppy days.

Cause everybody knows that puppyhood doesn’t last forever.

Mom called my name, so I turned right around.

So I have tasked mom with making sure she posts a picture of me, her Adventure Girl, every Wednesday.

I figured I better speed it up, in case there were treats.

And, because she messed up already, I am requiring additional photos today. Sort of an advance on future Wednesdays, just in case she loses track of time again.

Just the THOUGHT of treats made me leap for joy!

I’ve only lived with mom and daddy a month and I can already tell I’m going to have to keep them in line. They mumble something about being retired but that’s not going to fly with a puppy in the house!

I’m coming, mom!

I’ve got so much to tell you, but for now, over and out,

Really mom? One piece of kibble for all that?

Your feisty chewing whirlwind Adventure Girl, signing out!

Play hard, sleep hard, that’s my motto.


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Learning to puppy

It’s been a long, long time since we lived with a puppy. Some thing had to be relearned immediately. Some things are lifestyle changes that we can grow into even as she grows.

When you have a new puppy you have to look in all directions before you move your feet. She could be anywhere and most of the time she’s behind your feet, between your feet, next to your feet or chewing your feet.

When you have a new puppy you must never ignore sounds no matter how faint. She’s almost always doing something and sounds are your first hint of it all going wrong.

Tearing sounds, gnawing sounds, throw up sounds, peeing sounds, the sounds of toenails racing in places she shouldn’t be, clanging sounds of food bowls being overturned, the sounds of shoes being dropped in other rooms…the possibilities are endless.

When you have a new puppy you must give up cleaning, unless it’s cleaning up poo or pee. There’s no time to do anything but follow your adorable little puppy around, ensuring there’s less poo and pee to clean.

When you have a new puppy you give up your luxurious long morning snoozes. Little puppies have little bladders and need to go OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW! It’s OK, because being an older new puppy parent you probably need to GO RIGHT NOW too. Hopefully not outside though.

And speaking of snoozes, when you have a new puppy you learn to nap when she naps. Which, if you’re perfectly honest, is quite often. And you’re probably sleepy (see early morning observations above) so take that nap!

When you have a new puppy your vocabulary is reduced to “Awwwww” and “NO!”

When you have a new puppy you must remember she’s not the dog you had before and will probably react differently to things like opening the oven door or blowing your nose or using tinfoil. Or she might react exactly the same, crazy way.

When you have a new puppy you have to learn to manage the leash with a twirling, dancing whirlwind on the other end.

When you have a new puppy you spend more time down on the floor than you have in years, playing ball, tossing chicken toys, tickling tummies, and laughing.

When you have a new puppy you need to stop wearing earrings because little squirming puppy kisses turn to chewing on hair, noses, chins and ears. And earrings are irresistible.

When you have a new puppy that has fallen into a happy, exhausted puddle of puppy nap right in the middle of the living room floor, you tiptoe around her and settle in a nearby chair to watch her sleep.

Because she’s so cute. And because everyone knows to let a sleeping dog lie.

Happy 3 month birthday, little Penny. Welcome home sweetheart.