Life With The Crew

Lola

I'm writing this right now with one dog eating his lunch beside me.  Just one dog.  Wallace, the homeless street dog from Romania that we adopted 12 years ago.  He is at least 14 years old now, but we'll never know his real age.  As of yesterday, he is the only dog in the house.  I feel the need to document this, here in this space, on the platform that I wrote almost daily on for several years, sharing my life with the crew - my pack of dogs, cats, various other animals, and my young babe.  My Corgi queen, the first dog that my husband and I got together, the Corgi that started our love of the breed which led us to adopt five more, has died at the age of 17 years, 2 months, and 15 days. 

Lola. 

She had lost mobility in her hind legs almost a year ago, but was still happy, strong, and healthy otherwise, so we used a towel to sling her outside.  She powered around the yard with no hesitation.  Since the New Year, she started slowing down and then recently was diagnosed with kidney failure.  We decided it was time to put her gently to sleep before her kidneys shut down further and she started to really feel the effects.

This dog loved my husband and I so strongly; I swear that is what kept her going for so long.  Even when her eyesight was failing, she would smell us - she knew as soon as he came in the front door from work, she would awake from sleeping if I tried to slip through the room at night to throw wood on the fire.  Lola always wanted to be where I was, that was part of her bossy nature, having to know what was going on and keeping track of me.  For the past several months, she would watch me from her thrown of fleece blankets on the floor - unable to physically follow me, but keeping track just the same.  When she was young, she loved walking in the woods and around the neighborhood, patrolling the backyard for duck and chicken poop.  This dog lived to eat and her last moments were spent licking raspberry ice cream until she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.  

I loved this dog with all my heart and it was returned with the same strength.  My girl is no longer here.  The Corgi era has ended.  I used to walk around the neighborhood with a babe on my back and four Corgis in hand - the neighborhood oddball Corgi lady.  Now I have none and will be a bit lost for a while.  I think about the people that do not have pets or that do, but still see them as "just pets", not true members of the family, sentient beings with their own feelings and desires.  They don't have to experience the pain that is making my heart hurt, but they also don't have the joy of loving so deeply.  I have one dog left and I know how bad it is going to hurt again.  But I will never regret loving an animal - they ask so little and give us their heart in return.  A true gift that is worth the pain, but damn, it is hard.

 

An August Morning in Blooms

It has been several months since I've visited this space.  Not for any one particular reason, just life.  But this morning we didn't have anywhere to go, the not so little babe who will always be my babe, was lounging in bed reading, and the sunlight was looking lovely.  And when I was out there puttering in the flowerbed with my camera, it felt good and I think I felt some stress melt away. 

The past couple days have been hot, while the nights are cooler and I think there is a very early feeling of that season to come.  August here means homegrown tomatoes, pesto making, backyard bouquets, happy pollinators on the native plants that only come into their own this month, Red-tailed hawks circling and screaming overhead during the heat of the day, good book reading in the afternoons (well that is anytime of the year actually), and cooling baths for the horses.  I've been filling up various containers of water around the yard every morning for the birds and insects, along with the large containers for the ducks.  I feel slightly guilty when I have as much water available as I want, when so many in the world have to hope for theirs.

I'm thankful for what I have.

It's Starting

 The brown and yellow fields are just starting to get a haze of green if you look at them in the right light.  Along the streams and drainage ditches, the green is already solid.  It is always amazing how quickly it shoots up, snow one day, photosynthesis in progress the next!  

Sorry for the awful quality of the frog photo, but it was the first sighting!  We also spotted the first turtle in the same pond, slowly swimming down on the muddy bottom.  The nature center where we do a lot of our exploring created three new ponds last Fall.  They are beside a stream and near the large lake.  The ponds are shallow and allow water to flow from one into the next.  Already the ponds are filled with tadpoles and perhaps the turtle we saw over-wintered there.  Amazing how quickly nature can make itself at home if we provide the right conditions.  Build it and they will come!  The photo above shows the work of beavers.  The small stream flowed directly into the lake, but in the middle of the photo, you can see the line of the beaver dam.  The stream has been backing up behind it and the bridge we normally cross only had an inch of clearance yesterday!

I feel that my wanderings in the woods over the past month have been tinged with an almost feeling of guilt.  I read the news and look at the photographs in the mornings and feel such a sadness for the people of Ukraine.  That less than a month ago they were living their lives just like I was - waking up in a warm house, tending to their children's needs, getting ready for school and work, caring for pets.  Now, I am waking up under blue skies, the Earth waking up and showing signs of rebirth, new life, while they are hiding in concrete bunkers fearing for their lives or struggling in a foreign country and not knowing if they will ever return home.  So, I tell myself while I cannot do anything to directly make their lives better, I can be thankful for mine.  So, we head out to enjoy the world around us.

Also in order to feel that I am doing something to help, my daughter and I came up with the idea to hold a raffle drawing.  Her embroidery skills have been improving, so she decided to embroider a small hoop with a big message.  For $5, you get one "ticket in the hat".  We are accepting donations until Saturday morning, 3/19.  We will be sending them through Google.org's matching campaign for Ukraine relief efforts, so your $5 magically becomes $10.  Donations can be sent via PayPal:  [email protected]  Photos can be seen on my Life With the Crew FB page (scroll to bottom of page for link).  For some reason, I could not upload photos from my phone today.

 

 

 

 

Another Great One

This non-December weather is bad for the festive holiday vibes (reading Christmas stories taking place in a wintry world makes me wants SNOW), however it has made for some great exploring days.  The sun was shining bright today, so figured that heading into the woods was a great way to start the week.  Bookwork can be done inside when the sun goes down...

We were surprised to see that the beavers had started work in another area of their pond.  They have damned a large end of the lake and we have explored there for several years.  Now they have built a smaller dam across an area that was just a small stream leading away from two springs.  The water had definitely backed up behind the little dam and expanded the flooded area.  We saw lots of recent signs of beaver activity.  Pretty awesome to see Mother Nature's builders at work!

We love visiting this secret world together.  We saw no other people this morning, which is how we like it.  We head home with our healthy dose of sunshine, an appetite for lunch, and then settle in for hot tea and work.  Makes for a good day.  

Always Time for a Wander

I've talked about the importance of getting outdoors in nature many times before in this space.  I've also talked about how that doesn't mean disappearing for a week or even a whole day in the woods.  Even an hour spent outdoors, tuned into the natural sights and sounds around you, is beneficial on many levels.  While running errands last week, we stopped for a quick stroll along a local creek.  Nothing too special happened, except the sun sparkled on the rushing creek, the Autumn palette of leaves rustled on the oak and maple trees, and we heard a kingfisher call along the stream.

We returned to the car with faces warmed by the sun, hungry bellies ready for lunch, and thankful for safe places to explore.

The Path for Monday

The path for Monday lead us through a beautiful November forest of oak, maple, hemlock, pine, and tulip poplar.

We walked beside ferns, along a rippling stream, over moss and pine needles, marveling at shiny red berries and vibrant yellow maple leaves.

We ended at a lovely lake, calm and clear, reflecting the surrounding colors.

I am glad I had this hand to hold as I walked through the Autumn woods.

A January Morning in the Woods

A beautiful January morning.  Cold, but not frigid (high 20's).  A bit of remaining snow, but easy walking.  We explored a new trail that hooked up with a favorite that runs along the creek.  Icicles, hemlocks, oaks, and poplars.  A bit of adventure.  A great day to be alive.

My New Year's reading is starting with a great book - English Pastoral by James Rebanks.  I loved his first memoir and this one is wonderful too.

More Adventures to Come

And so it is 2021.  I have been writing in this space since I think some time in 2014, but I started cataloging my photos in January 2015.  Here are a few flashbacks.

We are still getting out and about in the not so wild woods of Pennsylvania in all seasons.  We only have one Corgi now instead of five.  I am a much better knitter than I was then.  And my daughter still loves to build snowmen.  The picture above shows her first.  She made five on our adventure today, including one on the ice covered lake and one that looked like a mouse.

Our adventures are longer, but they still involve snacks and storytelling.  Instead of carrying her on my back while skiing or in the trusty plastic orange sled, she can now ski alongside me (and ride beside me on her own pony).  While I now believe that the world of Instagram does have its place, especially for marketing my Etsy shop, I am glad that I am still sharing and documenting in this space too.  To those of you that stop in for a couple minutes break from the real world - thank you.  I hope I still manage to share a little bit of something that will make you smile or wonder.  

Happy New Year!

Enjoy These Days

And so it is the last couple days of May already.  I know that for a lot of people, this Spring has been painfully slow, stuck in a quarantine time warp.  I also realize every day just how lucky I am to live where I do and to have the luxuries that I have.  We have been keeping busy, which doesn't mean crazy busy, but just enjoying life busy.  I've noticed that when we go out for our adventures now, I have the binoculars in hand more than my camera.  That will change as the birding season slows down and the forest fills out - too hard to see those little birds in all those leaves!  On Wednesday, a quick trip to the turtle pond woods provided me a look at a Rufous-Sided Towhee, Scarlet Tanager, and American Redstart.  On the reading and listening front, The Swiss Family Robinsons are a big hit on audio and we have tapped out all of my old Saddle Club chapter books.  I love that my daughter loves to read the same books that I did as a horse crazy girl.  This was a good week at the barn.  At the age of 7 1/2, my daughter cantered by herself for the first time; I didn't start riding until I was 8 years old.  On the same day, I also had a "first" - cantering bareback on the furry pony.  He was very well behaved.  Riding bareback was something that I did not have the chance to do as a child and I love the feeling of freedom.  Unfortunately, my high withered horse is not a candidate for it, even though he has the nice smooth rocking chair canter.  The pony's stride is short and choppy, but it will do.  I shared this picture earlier this week on my IG account.  It is of Frank, my horse.

I don't have any photos from adventures this week, but I will share one of my comfrey.  I love this plant!  It provides such a needed dose of color and insect food during this time when the rest of the yard is still just green.  However, it lives up to its notorious reputation for spreading! I planted some in a barren corner of the raspberry bed to help break up the compacted clay and it is thriving!

The warmer temps are here, we are on the cusp of Summer, things are getting a little more "normal" or at least opening up to a new normal for some.  Take care and enjoy these days - there is at least a little good in every one.

A Mixed May Day

I don't normally read the news at breakfast, but I did this morning.  There was plenty of it, mostly distressing.  On one hand, it seems more than a bit trivial to show you pictures of flowers blooming in my yard.  On the other hand, while I am not a rose colored glasses kinda gal (when something just plain sucks I definitely admit it), but I do believe in acknowledging the positive.  And sometimes you just have to look a little harder for it and sometimes it isn't as impressive as you'd like.  The day after my Dad died, my brother commented to me about how it seems just wrong that the sun could be shining and the weather could be so nice.  In the depths of despair, he still saw that.  A week later, when we were getting things set for my Dad's memorial service, we were able to go out into my parent's yard and pick beautiful blue and white hydrangeas.  A yard that my Dad had spread half-composted compost on for so many years - a childhood memory is seeing eggshells in the flowerbeds.

And on this May Day, there are many such contrasts - people who are protesting to be allowed to work and people that want to stay home out of fear for their health and safety, people that are on the frontlines of the disease seeing its affects every day and people that still seem to think it isn't really a concern, safety precautions or draconian enforcement, beautiful Spring weather that can only be experienced by viewing through a window.  

My family has been lucky.  My husband is legally allowed to work today.  We are healthy.  My daughter is running free in our green backyard, filled with the sights and sounds of Spring.  I am sitting inside right now because I choose to.  Later today I will go to the barn and watch my daughter ride her new pony.  I am one of the lucky ones in this world today and I am very thankful.  And so I will show you the pictures of my flowers.  Because they are pretty, because they are signs of life, because maybe they will make you smile.  And that is not trivial.