Let's go for a walk

 Come on! Let's go for a walk!

What'd you say? Are the dogs coming?  Of course, they're going outside, too.  Oh!  They just heard a magic word.  Outside!  Did someone say outside!?

Here we go, out through the yard on a grassy path through a mix of yellow grasses, rusty red leaves, and grey bushes.  Ansel, gardener extraordinaire, laments the dreary colors of this time of year, but the birds don't mind.  The thick shrubbery is a haven our feathered guests, not to mention good food with berries, seed heads, and several feeders stocked daily with sunflower seeds.  Cardinals, jays, junco, sparrows, woodpeckers, goldfinch, house finch, wrens, nuthatches, and pine siskins are the regulars.

Now, we're going past the old shelter covered in vines, and filled with firewood.  The wood stove is hungry, and we keep it fed. Inspections of the shelter must be done, and Antro is the dog for the job.  He checks all the nooks for rodents, and other critters that only his nose can identify.

On we go to the old apple orchard.  Only a few old apple trees remain, and the spaces have been filled in with younger trees.  Some were planted to provide a screen from the road, and others food and shelter for wildlife.  Are you enjoying the winding paths cut through the tall grass?  Watch the dogs bound through yellowed grass.  Their tails whip the air in excitement.  Nose down in a hole, sniff, sniff, snort, butt in the air, tail a'whorl.  Okay, let's go!  Cici runs to catch up at a whistle and call, Antro and Silly, the terriers, linger at the scent for as long as possible.

Next, we're heading for the pine grove planted over 30 years ago...


On a different note...

The blog turns 3 years old today.  I hope you've enjoyed the blog this year.  Here are a few links to some of my favorite posts of the year.  I would love to hear if you had a favorite post!



Rambles

Abstract Snow

Mushrooms to Study

Hello Amphibians

A Year at Bolduc Lane

Little Silly's Big Adventure