Speaking of Christmas Trees..

So I mentioned a few moments ago that my sister and I looked at balsam trees on our first walk yesterday. Of the hundreds out in the swamp, from 3 inches tall to 40 feet and up, we found 3 that would do including the one I had selected in November.

First up, the tree I picked out last month and was approved by my brother. This one is the farthest away from the house unless we put on waterproof boots and drag it through the swamp, As my boots leak badly it would have to come back along the trails, about half a mile.

The Original Choice

Second is this nice little tree right by the driveway, it's cute, it's small and probably isn't strong enough to support some of my heftier ornaments. Perhaps next year assuming we are still living here.

Perhaps Next Year

And now there is this third tree we discovered in the apple tree clearing out in the swamp that I probably ignored on my initial scouting trip in November. It's tall, probably close to 15 feet and nicely shaped. We have chosen this one, we shall cut it down today. This ought to be interesting as the last time we did this with a shorter one it sort of fell on me. Wish us luck

THE CHOSEN ONE

Back for the Holidays

My younger sister, boyfriend and pup Lyra, Luna's niece came back to the swamp for Christmas on Friday. Lyra had her head out the window and was making all kinds of noise, she knew where she was going, it was funny. And when Ziggy heard her he started doing the same thing, running about like a maniac like his long lost friend had come home. Here is a video of the insanity when they met.

The next day we went out on our first walk and surveyed possible Christmas trees including the one I had originally picked out a month ago. And then Lyra found a good spot to sniff. and Kaylee had to join her.

On our second walk, later in the afternoon while Lyra ranged ahead, Kaylee found a stick and Ziggy decided he wanted it, too.

It is Snowing

And I have a puppy.

Took me a minute to get my phone camera activated, but upon encountering the initial small accumulation  on the deck, Kaylee decided to eat it and ate her way across. She has since run in and out of the doggie door and jumped onto my lap. Presently she is chewing on things next to Ziggy. The forecast is for 3-5 inches. Walking in it with her ought to be fun.

There was a dusting the other morning, but nothing as puppy entertaining as this. More photos will be forthcoming assuming she doesn't just ignore it.

Kaylee is 5 Months Old Today

It's hard to get a decent photo when she's wrestling, as she was this afternoon with Seamus, the new dog next door. But later this evening I did manage to get this while she was sleeping. She is so cute, and getting so large!

5 months old and sleeping with her tongue out

Seamus and Kaylee slightly paused in wrestling

Seamus is a border collie, blue heeler mix adopted by my neighbor from the local shelter nearly 3 weeks ago. Ziggy and he became fast friends and wrestled like maniacs, keeping Kaylee from joining in due to her size. In less than 3 weeks she is big enough to keep up and poor Ziggy's bad back is keeping him sidelined.

Building Is Done for the Year

Hal has said "enough". I can't blame him because it's only 39 degrees outside and it's gloomy, we've had sleet today, winds are up and down, and this sort of weather has been on and off since the 2 sheets of steel we put up last month. However, we did manage to get two more sheets up on the north side of the house on November 1. Certainly not what we hoped to have done by the end of the year, but you can't control the weather.