AstroGypsies

Ok, technically, cat on ice, and oh my! What a beauty! I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye as I sat at my computer, looking out at the lake, what the…coyote? Grab camera, Holey moley, no tail, could only mean a bobcat or lynx! I yelled for Mike and opened the sliding glass door so I could get some better shots, less glass…he stopped walking, the cat, and looked up at us, still from a long ways away but he saw the motion, or heard us most likely! He was BIG! Not the little bobcats from Baja, they might have topped out at 20-25 lbs, this one looked almost twice their size. Always a thrill, he looked away and continued walking towards the forest and disappeared among the trees. Lucky to have our view from up high!

We’ve had rain, snow, rain, wind, summer temperatures, OK, almost summer temperatures, some record highs, flash freezes to -16° and then warmth and sun and now perhaps tonight, more snow, just when I could see the ground! NO! The yoyo that is Spring here. The deer bravely attempted a crossing of the ice as well, I was holding my breath, there are holes everywhere, they nimbly picked their way across, looking for an area that had ice right up to the shore, stopped, had a scratch, then carried on. But not today…

In two weeks the lake has gone from snow, to rain covered to back to ice and now…rain covered once again! Tomorrow it may all be snow covered once again!

But hey! I can SEE the canoe again! For now, ask me tomorrow, I’ll take a picture! The small stream beside the road was running like crazy then froze overnight, then was running like crazy again. Our lovely neighbours let me go down and photograph the small waterfall near their cottage, a before and after the freeze!

I was just getting used to walking out to get the mail in my sneakers! It maybe snow boots by Monday! There were pussy willows starting to bloom! I warned them to stay put for now!

…and the Robins are back, with the Grackles and Red Winged Blackbirds. The Jays are not the only thugs in town now! The cats, our small 20 lb. domesticated versions are also extremely happy, chipmunk and red squirrel season has been declared open with the first catch…

We are running about three weeks ahead of schedule Mother Nature…you are very motivated this Spring! The cats aren’t sure when they go out if it’s Spring or Winter! They creep out into the alcove and look before they go anywhere! Last week they all scampered back quickly as two adult eagles were either having a disagreement or perhaps it was just horny eagles! Ha! The screeching made me jump as well! They said better safe than sorry the Mewberries! It’s back to harnesses now that the snow is gone, wild chases will ensue otherwise as Spring Fever hits the felines!

It is fun to watch the cats exploring. We put the batteries back in the trailer and opened it up, was Gamora ever happy! Her home she says! They all had to go aboard and check out where they were raised! They can now sit on the rocks and watch for their favourite rodents!

Several mice have also been caught with a vole and sadly…a very slow chipmunk…they are just doing their job they tell me…I do my best to slow them down;)

Did I mention birds yet? Ha! Maybe tomorrow. We have to clean up a large pine that came down this week on the road out. When it’s really windy, we travel with the chainsaw, you never know what you might come upon. It was also the coldest day last week with howling winds so we did a quick chop, and pulled it to the side with a rope. It will make good kindling!

I’ll introduce you to Oin and Gloin as well…someone has to torment the blue jays;) Our resident black squirrels have made friends with the seed dealer;) do you know the black squirrel is actually the eastern gray squirrel, but with melanism, which is a genetic condition. The ‘proper’ name for a black squirrel is Melanized Grey Squirrel…yeah, we’ll stick with something less fancy!

Stay tuned for Blue Jay exercise and a cat with a shoe fetish and maybe winter again, would that be 3d Winter, or 4th? Ha! Saludos amigos!