Today,I went for a walk out through the fields with Taylor. Taylor is the senior dog here at the farm . He is 12 and although that is old for a dog he is in good shape,but can't hear very well. He and I have the type of realtionship that a lot of married couples have.We ignore each other unless there is something really important going on,like who gets to eat out of the ceramic dog dish or sleep on the love seat,then we fight. But,I digress.

The day dawned overcast and chilly,more like a fall day than almost summer. By late morning the clouds had cleared and the sun was shining. Rather than take the usual route along the creek bed and into the woods on the west boundary line,we went out the lane and over the tilled fields. We came to pile of old wood that was left when the old hedge rows were cleared a few years ago. This has become overgrown with weeds and wild flowers. Today I discovered that there are Thimbleberries growing there. According to Wikipedia:Rubus parviflorus (Thimbleberry) is a species of Rubus, native to western and northern North America, from Alaska east to Ontario and Michigan,[1] and south to northern Mexico. It grows from sea level in the north, up to 2,500 m altitude in the south of the range.It produces a tart edible composite fruit around a centimeter in diameter, which ripen to a bright red in mid to late summer. Like other raspberries it is not a true berry, but instead an aggregate fruit of numerous drupelets around a central core. The drupelets may be carefully removed separately from the core when picked, leaving a hollow fruit which bears a resemblance to a thimble, perhaps giving the plant its name.[3] The berries are small and fall apart easily,so they can't be picked and shipped well. They can be eaten and are rather tart.

In that same clump of wood and weeds we saw a lovely snake. The picture is pretty good,being taken through the grass. The snake was much more startled than I,of course. The snake appears to be just a common garter snake.

Out at the edges of the field,we saw many deer prints in the soft dirt. We see deer often,both early in the morning and then again in the evening as they cross the fields to eat. The picture of the deer print may be hard to make out,but it looks to be from a pretty good sized buck.

After the nature walk,it was back to the house and time for one of my favorite activites...taking a nap.

Henry and the Albion Strawberry Festival

The household was again invaded by the grandson over the weekend. He came to stay and attend the 24th annual Albion Strawberry Festival. This not a dog friendly event( well,in reality,I am not always an event friendly dog),so I stayed home and enjoyed the peace and quiet and couch by myself. The Strawberry Festival is a big event in Albion. There is a parade on Saturday morning along with lots of craft and food booths too. A new event that was added last year is the wine tasting. This features local wineries and is very popular.This link has more information and pictures.http://web.mac.com/albionsf/AlbionStrawberryFestival/Welcome.html

Once that was over,the grandson was back,playing with trains and tracks in my living room and vying for attention and lap time! Even when I went outside for walks he came along and followed me around. It is so difficult being so adored and revered. Finally,he was off to another party and something called a bounce house and I was again Queen of the roost.

It started raining last night and rained hard overnight. It is still raining this morning. The seasonal creek that runs through our property was almost dry. All that was showing was the tall weeds that designated the actual creek bed. I had to go check it all out this morning to see how far up onto the lawn it had flooded. The creek itself was over the banks and this lead to portions of the lawn being under water. I took some time with the Black Kitty ( not available in any of these pictures,as she climbed a tree when I chased her)to wade in the water and run through it. In all a very enjoyable adventure.

Today I stayed home and guarded the house while everyone else went on a boat tour of the Erie Canal. The boat is named the Rose Lummis.The Rose Lummis was built in 1953 in Jeffersonville, Indiania and operated as a tour boat on the Tennessee and Mississippi River. The paddle wheel was removed when she came to Sodus Point where she was renamed after the prominent Saint-like resident: Madame Rose Lummis.

The steel constructed, 49 passenger dinner & tour boat originally offered dinner and sight-seeing excursions on Sodus Bay during the late 1980's

Seeing the potential of the boat, Captain John Cooper purchased her in 2001 and completed extensive renovation work, receiving Coast Guard Certification in September, 2002. Renovations included the completion of the upper observation deck that features comfortable seating for 28 passengers at one time.

The canal itself was,of course, instrumental in opening up, what was then the west and making the movement of goods and people affordable.

The canal is still used by pleasure boaters and features lift bridges at many points. The canal tender drives from bridge to bridge,operating the lift mechanism.

The weather was gorgeous and perfect for a slow cruise down the canal.

This is me with the new chicks that arrived here yesterday evening. It is hard to see them in the run,but they are there. I spent some time barking at them,but this didn't seem to impress them. Later,I learned they came from Andy and Julie's place and with the puppy Suzie in residence, are used to dogs. They are Barred Rocks or more correctly Plymouth Rocks. The Plymouth Rock is a dual-purpose, cold-hardy bird and therefore makes a great breed for the small farm or backyard flock owner. These chickens are often called Plymouth Rocks, but this title correctly belongs to the entire breed, not just the Barred variety. There are seven varieties of Plymouth Rock chickens: barred, blue, buff, Columbian, partridge, silver-penciled and white. I hope they don't crow. We have had chickens before and they crowed,but one was eaten by a fox or coyote and the other one was given away to a better home.....I had better behave so that doesn't happen to me.

Today we went out and looked at the beautiful Iris that are blooming. Everything has bloomed so early this spring,because of the warm weather. The Iris are actually almost part their best bloom and a few Peony are starting to come out. I have put some pictures of thre flowers on here and as you can see ,all that gardening has worn me out. I am taking a well earned nap on the library floor. Its so nice and cool.