Nifty Nineteen

I was about to post my blip when Hubs wandered into the living room where I was sitting and said "there's a red bird in the tree out there that doesn't look like a cardinal".  Faster than a bolt of lightening, I shot up and spotted a scarlet tanager!  In fairness, I've been hearing one somewhere in the woods the last few days - they sound very much like a robin with a sore throat.  Anyway, he was busy eating the berries off our shadbush (service berry) even though they aren't ripe yet.  This is the very reason I've planted native berry trees in the yard - to attract birds like these who don't eat seeds or suet.  I also heard waxwings this morning but never saw them.  Anyway, this is yardbird #19 - taken through the window since I knew he'd fly if I stepped out onto the deck.  

And in Extra is the image I was about to post - of Jax, my guardian.We had an exciting morning here on the Lane.  I took Jax out for a game of fetch in the backyard which he loves.  As usual, he got a little case of the zoomies and raced in big loops all around our lower yard - pure doggie joy.  And then...he stopped in front of an overgrown spot at the edge of the woods, barking furiously and all hackles at attention.  I could hear something moving back in the undergrowth but assumed it was a rabbit or something small.  Jax was still barking and wouldn't leave the spot so Hubs came out and helped me get him into the house.  I sat down at the kitchen table to eat some fruit and finish my tea when suddenly I saw a very large black shape move into view ... right on our patio!  The damned bear was literally 15 feet from our kitchen window.

At that point, Hubs raced to close the back door and I raced to the garage to get the air horn while Jax clawed at the window barking and growling like a crazy thing.  I opened the other door and blasted the horn which actually motivated the bear to move at a slightly faster pace, off into the woods.  Not 5 minutes later, our neighbor (who I'd called to warn) saw the bear making his way across the Lane.  

Although I am fairly pragmatic about bears, I am not keen to walk Jax on the Lane today.  He's been all on edge since this morning and I'm not confident he wouldn't try to attack the bear which would surely end in disaster.  

In other daily doings - I took Jax to our regular vet to have her look at his eye and see if she agreed with the ER vet's opinion of infectious conjunctivitis.  She is more inclined to think it might be allergy related (Pit bull terriers are very prone to allergies of all kinds and he's half pit, so...). She said to continue the eye drops through Sunday and then discontinue.  His eye looks totally fine now.  As we were leaving the vet, he got all hackle and growly at a cat carrier.  I apologized to the cat's owner, explaining that he'd gotten himself all wound up with the bear this morning and was overreacting to everything.  And, since our cats haven't been to the vet since we got the dog, he's never seen a cat carrier before.  Oy.

We are heading into a three day weekend (Bank Holiday to my friend's across the various ponds).  As usual, we have nothing planned, which is just fine.  We have a million chores to be attended to around the house and I'm hoping Hubs can get out for a bike ride on his brand new bike!  I was hoping to drop my kayak into the water this weekend, but my car is sporadically refusing to start so we are dropping it at the mechanic's shop. Oh well.

Dark with nuts today.

xo
Debbi