Flowers and Cameras

The wildflowers are beautiful and my camera can't do them justice. It is definitely moving into midsummer, and, with the cool days, the greenery has had a chance to flourish... tall ferns, tall weeds , tall grass. Now we're in thunderstorm season, which seems like every day to the frightened dogs. Add the firecrackers around to the thunder and the dogs are too often frenzied.

Off Topic, Perot website

www.perotcharts.com

In this peaceful summer of an election year, I found this new website interesting (since I once worked for Mr. Perot ). Food for thought in the impact of economic tribulation, even in quiet dog kennels (dog food up $3 a bag, for instance).

We have never charged for dog sled rides/training, but this winter, with increased fuel prices , we will be asking a small fee for rides/training/use of dogs, equipment, etc.

Bear meets trail camera

Looks like he's swinging his head side to side. This photo was in entry section to the backwoods trails, below the back dog pens.

High Water Tragedy

One of our kennel friends, Troy, lost his life in a kayaking accident in the high water of the Popple River on Saturday. As previously noted, the Pine was very high on that same day.

Troy was an active adventurer and our dogs had some great times running trails with him. Troy and his wife, Kristen, stayed with our dogs when I visited Alaska.

High Water in Wisconsin

We paddled the Pine River Oxbow today, my favorite spot. Usually at the put in you can see about three feet of boulder protruding... it was underwater today. In Northern Wisconsin we've had less rain than the Southern part of our state with its flooding.

It was a fast paddle with some chop and some headwinds, but thoroughly enjoyable.

Familiar landmarks were not easily seen, most covered with high water. The take out had water up the steps. It was a bit like trying out a previously unexplored river.

More Wildlife, Albino Crow?

I've been noticing this white bird and thought it was a pigeon. The pigeons flock in and the crows flock in to feed on deer corn. But now I think it's an albino crow. I haven't read much about albino creatures, but will see what I can find on this.

Maple Flooring

The forest floor is very interesting in the Spring. We are an unofficial tree farm, with maples far outnumbering the many species. Thousands of maple seedlings dot the 80 acres. Other prolific species are red pine, white pine, white birches, yellow birches, hemlock, balsam and also, there are many choke cherry trees. Oddly, I can only locate one oak tree on the whole 80.

If no cutting is done in the next few years, the white pines and red pines will begin to fill in the fields and we will become more forest like.

There was a doe standing in the upper field looking very ready to have fawns. She wasn't disturbed by me, so I will look again later in the week to see if she has fawns up there.

Walking Dog Friends

Photo: Timber, Sulatna, Chena, Liller (all deceased); Frita, still walking with us!

Just a quick tribute to all of the walking dogs who are no longer with us. Every day was a grand adventure with each of these good dogs. We often met wildlife along the trails, most noteable, perhaps was the day we met a coyote who was eyeing a skunk... we did get away without a whiff. Or the day Timber treed something , which we still can't identify ( groundhog, baby bear, not sure). He also treed a turkey one day. Or the day Scuba went after a bear that was huffing and clawing a tree (two dogs and I turned tail but she investigated). There were a few porcupine incidents. One day Chena mistook a fat porcupine for her big beach ball, running to grab it with two front legs around it. After having the more than 100 quills removed, she never went near her big ball again.

One morning we were walking along and just over a blind rise came a fox. It leaped in the air and turned and ran from the seven dogs. None pursued it, not sure why.

Late Spring Blossoms

Still a very late Spring, as we still have many blossoming trees. I counted 15 apple trees in blossom yesterday, (there are more, just not blossoming) simulataneously with all of the cherry trees. The daffodils never did blossom because of the frost/hail. And finally the lilacs are showing some color, possibly a month behind the usual.

Comparing winter to summer, winter wins hands down for ease of work. Summer requires hauling pails, everything, by hand (no toboggan, snow for sliding), mowing and mowing acres of grass (as opposed to breaking trails), trimming edges for bug control, brushing dog coats, raking and raking straw out of houses, dismantling doors (rather than just adding straw for warmth), but the most difficult of summer are the thunderstorms... the dogs just never get used to them. The hard driving rain is nice for a quick clean to pens, but it scares the dogs too much! It also seems a banner year for hornets and bees.

Most noticeably different: my walking partners are not with me this year... where I would be walking six/seven dogs last year at this time, the mainstays , Timber, Chena, Sulatna and Liller all died this past winter, mostly cancer related. I did take Skinny and Sierra for a short walk last night, but Skinny, great leader that he is , was just itching to fly off in search of great adventure. Sierra tries, with her short little legs to herd him, but he is beyond her capability.

Room with a view

This is one of the things the dogs do for 'fun' in the off season. Frita and her 'kids' created this room with a view. This is their favorite house of six in the pen and looks like they wanted a picture window.

It's a colder than usual season this year... late blossoming for everything. I saw the first fawn of the season yesterday. The dogs are digging deep hideout dens and all are treated for ticks . I've had a few ticks on me but none on dogs so far. Martin was the first dog to get a spring bath, but with the dust it didn't do much good. Bought some new materials for a 'grand' dog house for Skinny, just off the deck. Amazing what is happening to prices for materials and dog food, with the increase in fuel prices.

With this cold season, the stores are late with kiddie pools, so we only have one in a pen so far.