She's on her way!

I drove Ameranth and Anna down to R.I. this weekend to visit family, then over to Connecticut on Monday to my cousin Marlow's house. He's her ride to Maryland as he had to drive to PA for business and generously offered to take her down today. Thanks again!

On Saturday we went to a beach a couple of miles from my folks to get a photo of the pair on the Atlantic Coast, midway up the Narragansett Bay. This area used to be the Quonset Naval Air Station, developed during WWII and closed in the 70's. The airport is still there, but it's mainly small private jets now and much quieter than it was when I was a kid. Most of it is an industrial park, with new cars coming in on huge container ships, and other businesses of varying sizes. The town got the golf course, and has opened several beaches, a boat launch and a very nice bike/walking path. Blue Beach was deserted on Saturday so Anna was able to run free to chase the seagulls.

Ameranth reported the water to be freezing, and the day was not terribly warm, but at least it was sunny. We had not seen the sun in Maine at all, for the past week. Of course, it rained again Monday. Hopefully the weather will finally dry up and she won't be soggy all day as she starts her walk on Wednesday. 

Dogs

Since losing our wild child Rosie, we have changed our routine a bit. Besides trying to get out on the road walking to help Anna get into shape for her upcoming trip, we have been letting the two dogs loose in our back yard. Our back yard that is an 8 acre pasture and two ponds. 8 Acres that  has only electric fencing for the horses that visit in the summer.

It's been going pretty well. They zoom out of the gate and run down to check for ducks in the little puddle by the road, then run after them to the pond in the opposite corner. 

 This picture taken last fall, is of the seasonal pool in the middle that usually dries up completely in the summer. Right now it is filled with little tadpoles and growing grass that fools Boomer into thinking he can run across the far end. He chased Anna yesterday and it was like watching Wiley Coyote. Full tilt run from solid ground into a foot of water. I think he actually skimmed the surface for a second!

Anyway, the dogs have been surprisingly good, and we were pleased...until yesterday.  We called them back and Boomer showed up to be rubbed down and put in the back yard, but Anna disappeared, only to be seen running across the street to visit Snowball, the elderly lab next door. Snowball, the perfectly behaving dog that never leaves her yard. They had a brief sniff and visit and I brought Anna home.

Today we drove down to the library and took them for a walk from there, a brand-new experience for Boomer.  He usually runs right out to the car, so we had only Anna leashed as we left. Big mistake. He charged up to the two cats lounging out front and the scuffle resulted in 2 indignant cats escaping quickly, leaving Boomer with a mouthful of loose fur and a bleeding nose. Lesson learned? I hope so, but doubt it.

Since they were excited about the trip this morning we decided we would skip the pasture excursion today. Boomer goes out with me every morning to get the paper and is always very good. Out, pees on the way down the driveway, and back inside with me. Anna always sniffs him as he modestly comes back, trying not to rub his freedom in her face, but managing to convey his satisfaction with his solo outing.

Today he wanted to go out when I got the mail. I checked outside and no cats, so I let him out. Big mistake # 2. Down to the mailbox and halfway back was fine. Then I see him pause, prick up his ears and take off down the road. After an older gentleman with a baby in a stroller and a huge dog on a leash!  I think I may have mentioned Boomer's lack of social skills before- he snarls and charges up to any dog he meets, the bigger the better.  As I ran the hundred feet to retrieve him, I see him launch himself at the dog, who lunges to meet him, pulling the man sideways, tipping the stroller! Thank goodness his dog was well behaved (since mine isn't) and no one was hurt. He didn't have much to say, as I breathlessly apologized while trying to grab my obnoxious beast. Boomer knew I was annoyed and it took a minute for me to grab him. Then trying to lead him back while bending over to hold his collar, roughly a foot above the ground, was a treat. He twisted himself out of the collar but had the grace to accompany me home. He knew he was in disgrace and kept a low profile for the next hour or so.  Bad dog, bad bad dog.

Anna was on the chair in the living room watching out the front window and she gave me a look when I came in which was easy to read. "That's what you get for letting that little dip out, and not me."

Winter Fun

One of the bloggers I follow, Kelly from In Real Life, is training for a marathon and showed lovely pictures of her outdoor run. In the winter. In Canada. I salute her energy and determination, and I look forward to following her progress.

My own interactions with winter have had their highs and lows this year. The 'highs' I showed last week as I conquered Mt. Porchroof and cleared the slopes.

We left the ladder in place, partly in case we needed to rake the roof again, but mostly because we didn't feel like wrestling it out of the snow bank. The snow bank that I had made much bigger and that the dogs have decided is their preferred route on and off the porch.

 

They also like to pose up there, pretending to be Yukon King watching for Sgt. Preston, I presume. While I had to help that snow off, (thanks to us messing up the pitch while building the darn roof) a nearby shed roof took care of itself, unnoticed until ...dun dun dun..the Great Escape!  Sitting at my computer facing the porch window, I saw a flash of black from the corner of my eye. I looked up to see Boomer running towards the corner of the yard- the corner of the yard where the shed roof meets the fence! 

It was still too high for Boomer, but the other two were already out of sight. Anna and Rosie were on their way to the local sushi bar, right across the street. Jack Traps sells bait fish during the winter and I don't know if he dumped his dead fish, or customers left them, but there were frozen fish all around his giant ice trap flagpole, from minnow size to 5 or 6 inches long. Anna rolled, Rosie gulped. 

I grabbed a shovel and went to move a mountain of snow while Ameranth headed out to get them. Then she walked over the fence to tackle the other side. (That's a six foot fence, by the way) The 2 inch crust of ice that let the dogs stay on top was not enough to keep us from plunging thigh deep in snow as we shoveled. I trenched further along the fence as well, since I was there and I knew the successful escape would have Rosie trying again.

Sure enough, when we took them out back the first thing they did was run to the corner, then Rosie prowled the perimeter, raising her nose to assess the height. We thought she couldn't make it out and we were sorely mistaken. A few minutes later the other two let us know Rosie had flown the coop. Rosie now has her bathroom breaks on a 20-foot leash and I am hoping we have a thaw soon.

Ameranth and I had a hard time not taking this personally, seeing that we had all just come back from an off-leash walk in the woods. An off-leash walk that ended with the two huskies running into a low part of the field, out of sight, then popping up to cross the road into a neighbor's yard. Thank goodness the house is empty, since they were right up on the steps making themselves at home. 

Once more, we swore that they could never be allowed off leash again. At least not together- Anna is good at listening to Ameranth when she's alone.  Rosie gets her 'wolf look' and starts slinking away, pretending she doesn't hear a thing. Later she rests her head on my leg and promises she will never stray again. She needs a 12 step program. Actually, that's what she's on right now- she can take just about 12 steps on that 20-foot lead!

Dutch Island trip

As threatened promised, here's what we did Sunday. For many years J's family has made a day trip to Dutch Island but this was the first time for Ameranth and me. One of his brothers lives in FL and brings his boat up every year when they come to visit, usually around the Fourth. The island trip is often done during the week, and we are not around. Last year J went out, but I didn't, probably because we had the two devil dogs with us.

As I said, J's family grew up with a boat and had visited the different small islands in the area many times, so he was excited about getting the chance to revisit one. There are ruins of Fort Greble near the center of the island so he, his sister Trish and a couple of nephews hiked in. The nephews went back after J and Trish assured them they would be fine returning by themselves.

No surprise, they got lost. I think I may have mentioned J is directionally challenged, and I've been told the sun was overhead and of no use for navigation. Ha. They milled about for a bit, then headed downhill towards the shore, any shore, coming out quite a bit away from the camp. Staying by the water, they circled back, and the nephews eventually found them, guiding them back to civilization and a beer.

J told me the island was around 4 miles long- after I saw it, I checked Google- just under one mile long, honey. Around 100 acres. But it is lovely, and the family had staked a claim to a little cove just behind the lighthouse at the southern tip.

We drove down to a beach just across from this end, and waited for a pickup, after meeting two nieces, a nephew-to-be and their dog, Henry. It was fun going down there because we lived on that road before moving to Maine, and Ameranth remembered walking down to swimming lessons. Although she was just 6 when we moved, I'm not surprised she remembered the walk- it was at least 1/2 mile, (I'm being conservative, since I mocked J, but I think it was closer to a mile) and uphill both ways. No, really, the road goes up a long slope, then down steeply to the shore.  Sectaurs would be in an old-fashioned heavy stroller, and I seriously worried about losing control and tumbling down that last bit.

That's the bridge to Jamestown, a much bigger island, in the background. This beach is where the URI Bay Campus is located and this is their dock:

 There is a little beach to the north which has a sandy bottom, and that is where the kids had their lessons. So they weren't dealing with a slippery rocky bottom, just cold salt water, tides and waves. (When they started lessons at the lake in Maine, they wanted to know when the tide changed) J insists that the water in Groton, CT where he learned to swim is much colder than the water in the bay here. 

Anyway, after a looong wait in the broiling sun, our transportation showed up and we all got on board without much fuss, even Anna and me. A zippy ride over and we disembarked just as well.

We could only stay a little while, since we were double-booked and had to get to my side of the family for a relaxing end to the day.  I don't know what kind of boat the FL brother-in-law has- it's not huge- but the RI b-i-l has a Boston Whaler and man, that ride is a lot bumpier! I'm not sure why Boston Whaler drivers seem to feel that they have to speed directly across any waves or chop, but we got back to shore extremely quickly and didn't bounce overboard as we feared.

All in all, it was a very nice weekend, beautiful weather and the extreme heat wasn't so bad with a shore breeze.