That Dog Is Walking On Thin Ice

This was the scene at the river as of Saturday. What a difference just a few days can make. The ice is now gone but not without incident. 

There was a tense afternoon when an adventurous terrier decided to go wandering onto the thin ice minus his owner. A local fire department water rescue member was seen crawling out to retrieve the pup as onlookers watched from the river bank. The dog certainly didn’t seem too bothered and might have made its way ashore on its own. I don’t think he was interested in being caught, but falling in would have meant succumbing to the freezing water and drowning under the frozen surface in the current.

Luckily the rescue went well, both the man and the dog made it ashore unharmed. The word around town was the owner had let go of the pup on the banks of the waterway so it could run and play and it made it's way out onto the partially frozen river like dogs will do.  

I’m guessing the family will eventually receive a big bill in the mail for that unintended adventure and the resulting circumstances. As a rule dogs aren’t allowed in the area, it’s an expensive lesson learned. 

It wasn’t a busy last week at work, this is the calm before the summer rush and I'll take it. We both did the Monday, Tuesday, and the rest of the week was booked vacation time. It gave us a chance to try and clean up the yard from winter and catch up on tasks at home. I’m on a mission of putting away winter clothing, outside gear, and not sure where I will find space with our spare room now unavailable. Shovels, boots, winter coats, it all needs a new space. When it was just the two of us it was becoming crowded after fifteen years, now there are three of us so it’s tighter. More people means more “stuff” and you start to get creative trying to keep some sort of working order to it. 

I’m sure many families use door hanging shoe racks and I think they are a great space saver, the problem is the side of the door with the shoes faces our living room. Anyone who pops in to visit now knows what shoes my husband owns. Hang it on the other side of the door you say? There is another shoe rack there too. That door screams shoe addiction. I mean who needs that many shoes? My husband hates throwing out footwear. My feet on the other hand hate wearing it. I’m a flip flop type and preferably barefoot. As I’ve aged no matter what I put on my feet it makes them ache especially this last year, is there such thing as arthritic feet? As soon as I leave work the first thing I do is remove my shoes once in my car. Now I understand why many seniors wear specific type footwear, foot pain can be unbearable and ruin your whole day fast.

This last week was also a milestone birthday for my husband. We had a celebration for him at home. At work he was greeted with cake, balloons, and gifts from wonderful workmates. It was a bit of lunchtime fun complete with a food fight that was hilarious, most important was the big smile on his face throughout it all. When the people you work with are family it means everything. After the messy frosting toss you hug it out, wash it off, and back to work! 

Our next task at home was finding an affordable new microwave. While heating a dish of food in our old one it abruptly died. Upon opening it to remove the dish I realized it was overheated and getting hotter though it was shut off. I’d only had a plastic bowl in it with peas for 2 minutes. Worried about a fire starting I unplugged and ran outside leaving it in the driveway. I wouldn’t mind living without one, I’m old enough that I remember how not to depend on it and heat things in or on an oven. My husband is the microwave guy and a replacement was a must so off we went the following day to find a new one at Walmart. 

We don’t cook whole meals in a microwave. For us it’s used as a convenience to heat up soups, a cup of tea, or side dishes like vegetables at meals. I opted for a smaller Mainstays unit like this red one, I thought it cute but it wouldn’t fit a standard dinner plate so hub said nope. I’m also not familiar with the Mainstays brand appliances. If you’re reading this I’d be interested to hear if you have tried any? They are cheaper yes but worth it? The Google reviews were mixed. 

In the end we went with a Hamilton Beach brand that was slightly larger and it happened to be on sale we discovered (that red Mainstays one was so cute though). Kitchen gadgets don’t impress me nor do I use many. I don’t even use an electric mixer though I have one, I use arm power like my grandmother did. Appliances break, my arms and hands have thus far been more dependable in the kitchen.

Driving home I took the back road where traffic is quieter and more scenic. The trees are starting to sprout and it won’t be long until it will be a beautiful country drive that I can’t wait to photograph. There are many old side roads that lead to various ponds and nature trails where the wildlife often frequent summers. The only thing we’ve seen so far are the wild turkeys, bobcat, and the black bear are out from hibernation.

At this time of year bears will eat anything and everything after their winter sleep until the berries start blooming. A night shot of a bird feeder camera from a local yard shows just that. The hungry guy tore the platform feeder  apart in the dark grabbing at the seeds. I recently removed our feeders until July so as to not attract bears to our yard like we had two years ago. We woke up one morning in 2023 to a mom and two cubs up a large tree in the back yard. They stayed in the tree 13 hours, afraid to come down with people around. They eventually did so once it began getting dark.

I began this post on Saturday, it’s now Sunday. I’m curious what others do these days on a Sunday. I disliked Sundays as a child and have no idea why. It carried over into my adulthood and I’m still at a loss why I don't like it. Maybe it’s because it feels like another Monday before the real Monday. Now that I'm in my sixties I stay home more in general nor do I care to drive far. Not wanting to drive is a big change for me and began about 5 years ago. When I do go out it's almost always local and for short duration, my husband is the same. Here he has his busy hobby of stamp collecting, and I have smaller various artsy projects that keep me occupied. It's strange how mild we have gotten, almost terrifying.

 

Most of my projects are a combination of some sort of photography and journal keeping. It’s interesting how with age my interests change. I tend to gravitate towards ways to create and keep memorable moments in life the last two years. My writing journal I began a month or so ago somehow blossomed into a makeshift scrapbook of part writing, part black and white paper photos. I even bought some stickers to dress up the entries. I obtained a child’s instant print camera off Amazon which works very well for my purpose. I can take a photo in the moment and it will thermal print in black and white on the roll of paper the camera uses, spitting it out once done. I add the photos to my journal here and there. 

Why and what am I trying to create?, I have no darn clue. It’s just a bit of relaxing and fun on the side to keep my mind busy.

Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following this blog.