Deb and Tucker's adventure

It stopped raining for a bit today so Tucker and I went for a little walk up Marble Mountain again. We went on our own so only went up past the small lift. After the rain we've been having everything looked so lush and fresh. As we were going around a bend, I saw what I believed to be a rabbit, sitting in the road. When I zoomed in on it with my camera...I realized it was another stunned grouse.

Mr. Grouse even allowed me to take a video clip. I appologize for the lame commentary and the wobbles in the middle of the clip.

Tucker didn't bother with the grouse. I'm guessing it wasn't challenging enough as it let us get really close. Bored with grouse watching, Tucker went off into the woods and came out with a moose hoof!!!! ewwwwww. Luckily it wasn't attached to anything. I couldn't get it from him so Tucker walked back down hill with this toe in his mouth, stopping occasionaly to have a chew. I managed to get it from him once he was in the car......ewwwwwww!

More Wildflowers

I have become totally obsessed with taking pictures of wild flowers. I've been having some problems using the macro feature on my new camera but through trial and error I seem to be getting better results.

I found these pretty flowers while walking along the pipeline with Tucker yesterday. I haven't been able to find them in my flower books. They have beautiful heart shaped petals with a yellow centre.

.......a long stem with 2 or 3 flowers on each stem.

The leaves are grasslike and are at the bottom of the stem and they seem to like rocky soil in open areas. I would love to know what they are called. ???

Crackerberries (a.k.a Bunchberries) are starting to flower.

Lily-of-the -valley ......Lilies of the Valley......Lily of the Valleys.......argh!!!! You get my point.

I know I showed a wild strawberry on a previous post, but I thought this was a much nicer picture. Now if I could only figure out why this one came out so nice........

Hiking

One of of the many advantages to being retired is that you can start doing some of those things that you wished you had time or energy for when you are working. I love walking and spend quite a bit of time walking the dogs. Tucker and I have explored pretty much all of the Corner Brook Stream Trail system. When Paula comes home in the summer we usually do some of the hiking trails in Gros Morne Park. I was feeling the need to do more hiking so I gathered my courage and joined a Hiking group. They hike most Saturdays or Sundays from spring til fall.

Tucker enjoying one of our many pipeline walks.


Cali enjoys a leisurely stroll in the park but as for more strenuous hiking...well she'd rather be napping in a sunbeam!

So far I've gone for 2 hikes with the group. the first hike was the Corner Brook Stream trail from City Hall to 3 mile dam and back. It took around 4 hours with a couple of stops and a lunch break. Only a small number of people showed up for this hike, all ladies who enjoy the outdoors. Here we were taking a little water break at a place I refer to as my "praying bench" overlooking the city.

This is a view of the stream from the spot where we stopped for lunch.

The ladies enjoying their lunch.

Today I went on my second hike with the group. Actually, except for the leader, it was an entirely different group of people. It was also a more strenuous hike. We walked up Marble Mountain, right up past the farthest lift up to the Doppler, which I assume has something to do with weather. It was a great walk up but the farther we went the windier and colder it got. Too cold to take many pictures, but man what a view!

Three dogs joined their owners on the hike. This is a shaggy dog which definitely has some Sheep Dog in him. I can't recall his name but he was ignoring the view in favour of some wonderful scent no doubt. There was also a golden retriever named Malta and my Tucker.

A view of the Humber River. I think we were a little more than half way to our destination.

The hiking group heading up the last section of the road leading to the Doppler. I eventually caught up with them again.

It was a long climb but definitely worth it. What a view! Unfortunately it was too windy and it was starting to rain by the time we got there and this picture does not do it justice.

I did mange to find a new plant for my collection. Well new to me anyway. Cousin Sara takes pictures of birds but I find plants are much better at staying still. This is an alpine plant called Diapensia...I know this because it says so in my Audubon book!

The next hike is The Old Man in the Mountain scheduled for next Saturday. I'll let you know how that turns out.

What's Bloomin'

I'm finally getting around to posting to my blog again. Elaine had been asking me what was growing in my neck of the woods, and Paula has been missing Corner Brook as this is the first year for a long time that she hasn't come home for a few weeks in the summer. So I took my camera and Tucker for a walk up the Lower Pipeline Loop. It was warm and sunny and we saw lots of blogworthy sights. Tucker even managed to scare off a rabbit....which was moving way too fast to be captured either digitally or by a dog, so you will have to take my word on that.

I found it rather ironic that I spent most of the morning pulling dandelions from my garden only to be amazed at how beautiful they were in the park....Not in my backyard. These are the real Pissdabeds.

Not to be confused with Coltsfoot...which only resemble Pissdabeds.

There are lots of wild strawberry plants.

Common Butterwort are just starting to bloom. These small plants are carniverous . They have a soapy leaf that attracts and traps insects that provide nutrients for the plant.

I saw lots of flowering trees. Some may be wild cherries or whitewood berries. This one may be one that produces a small, edible, purplish berry that some call wild plums or wild pears.

This was the best find of the day. Its a Yellow lady's Slipper or Yellow Moccasin, that was just barely opened. I think its a bit early because I know there are more in the area but this is the only one I saw.

Mosr of the ferns were fully opened but a few were still at the fiddlehead stage.

Mayflowers are pretty much past their "Best Before" date. However, there are still a few to be seen. They actually have another name which I can't recall at the moment, but we call them Mayflowers. Irv used to pick a small bunch for Mom every year. They have a wonderful, sweet smell.

Hopefully we will get some more nice sunny weather so I can continue collecting wild flower pictures. I lost all those I had collected last year....had to have the computer reformatted and neglected to back up the file........arghh.

Critters

I've been so busy looking for signs of spring that I completely forgot about some pictures that I took the last time I skied into the gazebo at Blow-Me-Down Cross Country Ski Park. Kelly's post of the not so ordinary sparrows reminded me of these pictures. It was the 5th of April, the sun was shining and it was warm enough to ski with my jacket tied around my waist. It took forever to get these shots. The squirrels were fairly cooperative, but the chickadees, though very friendly were very quick on wing!

Which do you think is my better side? This one?

Or this one?

Signs of spring -part 3

Once again I went, armed with my digital camera, in search of more signs of spring. I must admit, its getting easier, though winter hasn't completely checked out yet. There is still snow in my back yard and in the woods.

You again....don't you ever stay home?

Pissdabeds! You may know them as coltsfoot ma'am..... a dandelion-like flower.

Some crocuses from my garden.

More crocuses!

What would spring be without some Pussy Willows.........

Now this defintely reminds me of spring. I love hanging out clothes, and I do so as soon as the weather permits. This, however, is my neighbours clothesline and the picture was taken a week ago. There is a little less snow in the backyard this week.

This is Jesse, Mikki and Cali flaked out on my sofa in the den. It has nothing to do with spring but was too cute not to share. Tucker was napping elsewhere in the house. Time for me to get a new dog blanket I think.

Signs of Spring ~ Part 2

Well the second week of spring is here and gone. It brought with it a mixed bag of weather, mild for a few days and then a bit of a spring blizzard and around 10 cm of new snow. So once again it was a challenge finding some signs of spring. But find them I did. Tucker helped.

This is the crosswalk at the bottom of my street. Cars seldom actually stop at this particular intesection which makes crossing it a challenge at the best of times. In the spring it's a pool...no a small pond of water which makes crossing it even more challenging.

They must have heard me complaining, because on our way back to the house Tucker and I saw some city workers filling in the pot holes with bags of asphalt. This is the temporary-pot-hole-fixer kind of asphalt that flies out of the pothole as soon as someone drives over it. Oh well. Its the thought that counts.

We saw three signs of spring while walking around the Glynmill Inn Pond.

There was one patch of bare ground up on a bank!

The swans are back out in the pond. Yes Sara, I know they are mean, but you would be mean too if you had your feet and ass in this cold water all day long....hssssssssss!

And a late blooming mitten tree. They usually bloom in late fall but this one seemsto be confused this year, perhaps because of the long, snowy winter. I'm still searching for a leather glove tree.

This is the most unusual sign of spring that I saw this week. This picture was taken today while I was snowshoeing along the pipeline. the pipeline is actually underneath all of this snow. In the non-snow seasons there are many places along the pipleine where it has sprung a leak. I am guessing that the heat of the spring sun has allowed this one to "Spring" forth, creating a lovely ice-fountain. Cool!