Another Nice Day--A walk in the Yard

Sunday was another beautiful day with highs near 60 degrees. L came home (stayed until Tuesday--had to work on Wednesday). She and I and the dogs went for a walk to check the ponds for ice.

Our pond in the woods still had ice on it.

The pond below Daddy's house was just water, but the levels were up from all the rain we got in January.
Doobie, Snoopy, and Metu checked out the ponds with us.

In a tree along the property line by the melted pond, we saw this pair of Pileated Woodpecker holes.

Later Sunday evening, I went to Sonic to get Mr. M a burger. A funeral procession was headed out toward our road (there's a cemetery about half way down the road), so I decided to take a detour to Lake Westmoreland (a large water department pond with many geese and ducks). A flock of Canada Geese flew up as I approached. I saw mostly the Canada Geese and Muscovy ducks. I took Mr. M his burger and went home. The kids had gone to a Super Bowl Party and M and I had pizza without them.

The Dogs get Ready for Winter

Snoopy is wearing his new sweater for the season (goes on when the weather turns cold, comes off and gets thrown away when Spring comes).
The dog house has been moved from the former puppy pen to the front porch and a new cushion installed. This year, they also have a heated water bowl--comes on when temperatures fall below 40 and keeps ice from forming.

A New Family Member

Friday, Mr. M's cat, Pepper, joined our family. She is 13 or 14 years old and Mr. M's favorite. (Bobo was given to another family and Socks has been left to return to the wild). She seems to be settling in ok. Cheddar hasn't warmed up to her--they ususally avoid each other--hiss if they happen to meet. She is used to going in and out through a cat door, but has to stay inside all the time here because of the dogs.