Wedding

On Friday we are heading up to Maine for my nieces wedding.  She has picked a unique place to have the ceremony and reception. It is taking place at a old fashioned Camp on a gorgeous lake. Our family rented a house on the lake for the week prior to the big date.  Her sister got married two years ago, she had about 250 people and every detail of the entire day reflected my niece and her husband.  The time and effort the two young women have put into their special days is inspiring.  I always thought that I really had no interest in planning such a big event, and now I'm finding out that I missed out.  My own wedding was a backyard affair that was planned in 16 days. My mom took care of everything.  We had a great time, and didn't miss anything, but it was nothing special, except I married the best man alive.  I'm seeing how couples plan weddings that are unique to them as a couple. The entire day reflects who they are.  I would have loved to have a nature inspired wedding. Hubby and I came together over our love of nature.  Since our wedding day came and went 30 years ago, I can dream of what I would have done if I could do it all over again.  

Sunday church

Today was Sunday.  I was up early to feed the baby squirrels and decided to get up to the park right after a cup of tea and their little tummy's were full. We were on the trail by 8am.  As I entered the deeper part of the forest where few hike I felt so alive and such a deep connection with all of nature.  I am a part of the whole.  As I hiked on I felt deeply grateful for this amazing world we have been gifted with,  The beauty and mystery of nature still takes my breath away on a daily basis.  For those of us who seek getting outside at every given chance our lives are so full of such wonder and beauty. While on my hike  I had a lot of nice sightings.  Crows were mobbing something unseen, I assume it was an owl, who was bedding down for the day. Overnight two underground bees nests that were dug up by a bear.  Monty put his head right in the first one, with all of the nest exposed and hundreds of bees around, thankfully it was chilly and they were moving slowly,  so I was able to call him off quickly before he was stung.  With the second underground hole he was up ahead with another dog and by the time I realized what was going on, both had been stung.  Luckily only one sting for poor Monty, it got him in the back thigh. The other dog, Penny wasn't so lucky, she received three stings.  Further on the trail there was a fawn off to the side of the trail, we were hiking quietly and didn't alarm him, so we ended up  staring at each other for a good five minutes.   He wasn't all that far from me, and I knew his mom was close, I had seen here cross the trail a head of me.  Standing perfectly still he watched me with curiosity,  Monty being the great dog he is, sat and waited while I filled my soul with the image of this precious creature.  Moments spent with innocent animals make me want to become a vegan and only eat seafood occasionally.  While I was watching the fawn,  I became aware of 3 fledgling bluebirds testing their wings.  There were also lots of nuthatches and chickadees about.

On the home front, all I can say is holy hummingbird! A few days ago  I put up 3 tiny feeders near my kitchen window and have been entertained since like never before.  Right now I am laying on the couch under the canopy and there is a constant stream of them feeding right in front of me.  They are already in migration mode,  some of these birds could be from further north.  Our males have already departed.  Most of these are juveniles and females.                                                    

Still at it

I can't believe that August is winding down, we are half way though.....where has the Summer of 2012 gone? We didn't do much for the first time in 25 years. We always go away multiple times on all sorts of adventures. I so miss my sons being young and spending so much quality time as a family. I am happy that a week from today....I will be sitting looking at Gorgeous Branch Lake in Ellsworth Maine. We have a nice 11 night vacation coming up, it couldn't be happening at a better time. All of the boys are suppose to come towards the end of the week for their cousins wedding that is taking place on the lake at a beautiful little camp. What a precious idea for a wedding. I am so looking forward to seeing all my boys in one place. I hope we remember to take family photos.

I did get Monty out hiking almost every day this entire year. This Summer he has enjoyed learning to swim, and now has graduated to wearing a float coat so he can spend a lot more time swimming and fetching. He has no body fat, no buoyant second coat or webbed feet, so he tires easy. He is one lucky pup. I love him dearly. August 14th was Petey's one year since passing. I spent a tearful week and then went up to his grave on the date talked to him and left some flowers. I miss that boy so much, he has left a huge hole in my heart. Nothing will ever fill it, he was that special. I've decided though, enough sadness about Petey, My Monty needs me to step up to the plate and get training and enjoy him. He is an awesome dog in his own right, and so much fun to train and hang out with. He is the typical red goof ball male doberman. He is adorable beyond words.

I have continued my quest towards simplicity...it's really difficult to get rid of stuff, but that is still my plan. It's just going to take a long time. I am to have it all done by the time we move into our dream log cabin up on Turtle Point Road. We hope to do a garage sale this fall. I have decided to sell or donate a lot of my books that I don't read or look at. I have also gone though my closet and pulled out clothing that I no longer wear or fit in to, some will go to a consignment store, others to good will. The most important step with my path to simplifying has been to stop buying! That I have done really well! I am very, very proud of myself. Make due, reuse, recycle...words to live by.

I am Squirrel sitting this week. I can't imagine not doing wildlife rehab now, I just love it so.

I

August is already here...where did the time go?

Almost a Newt again

New Babies in rehab

Black boy doing great!

Enjoying the hummingbirds

Hummingbird Moth

Swallowtail

Simplify

As hubby and I enter into the next chapter of our lives, with a change of careers,  I've decided to accept and move gracefully into it.  I have complete faith that this was meant to be and that all will be fine and we will be much happier.   Before I begin my job search in earnest, I've decided that I need to clean out and purge 23 plus years of crap and regretted purchases.  Today I started the real work of Simplifying my life.  It's not easy to let go of *things* but it IS what I need to do. I need to be free from all that binds me, and the clutter I've created isn't going to allow me the freedom I crave.  I want to become a minimalist, and have TIME instead of things.  We will be building our little log cabin in the woods someday soon and we don't need to be bringing lots of things with us.  I also have decided that I want to get into backpacking, to really immerse myself in nature like never before, hubby shares this dream.   So the journey begins.....Simplify my life...for real this time.  Hello Craigslist, Ebay, Amazon and garage sales! 

Blueberries

Went on a 2.5 hour hike up to the AT with my Monty.  Gorged myself on fresh blueberries, they taste so different then the supermarket variety.  The weather was stellar, no humidity and in the mid 70s.  While Monty was taking a dip in the river I spied out of the corner of my eye a Black Bear and a Cub crossing the river.  I quickly leashed the Montman and headed up the trail to where they crossed. They were up the hill and it was the Sow with all 3 cubs.  She grunted and the cubs treed for a moment then slid down and off they went.  A bonus for getting out there and hiking....exercise is such punishment!

Quiet hike

Sitting here all alone at my picnic table, candles lite, eating a delicious meal of Seafood Wor Bar.  Enjoying every morsel of it after two hikes today. We went to Cascade in the morning and just returned from a 1.5 hour hike up in the Co. Park. I decided to wear my barefoot shoes for tonights hike.  I couldn't get over how quietly you can walk with them.  At one point, Monty has stopped to smell something from a distance, so I stopped as well and listened, all of a sudden along comes a fox.  I love when that happens!  I also heard Barred Owls and Wood thrush.  The temperature couldn't have been any more perfect, 72 degrees, no humidity and a slight breeze kicked up.  Talk about heaven on earth. 

Bunny Release Day

Stink Pot

Today I found a really neat little turtle, a male Common Musk Turtle, Sternotherus odoratum.  A small aquatic turtle that ranges in size from 2-4.5 inches long. They live in wetlands and lakes. They live a long time in the wild, up to around 40 years, and in captivity close to 60 years.  Females aren't sexually mature until close to 10 years old. They lay from 1 to a dozen eggs, usually with other musk turtles.

On my hike a very large bear(approx. 400#) crossed the trail directly in front of me, how very exciting that was.  Monty was a good boy and stayed when he was told.

I'm releasing the two baby bunnies tomorrow.

Miss Jean

Hodgepodge Lodge

Miss Jean & Aurora

Miss Jean at Cabin dedication

When I was a child very few people influenced me. I was so completely obsessed with animals and nature that nothing else attracted my attention. One TV person who made a life long impact on me was Miss Jean Worthley. She had a TV show on PBS called *Hodgepodge Lodge.* The show started in 1970.  Miss Jean was a Naturalist who lived in a tiny cabin in the woods with lots of different animals.  She took the local children on hikes and shared with them her vast knowledge of Nature and Animals. She started each show at the Discovery Table where she would introduce the children to an animal. She was living my dream life. In her real life she was a Naturalist who lived on a large farm and who also was mother to six children, four of them sons. Her husband was a Botanist.  Many years later while I was in my local library digging through the nature section as I always did when I had a few free moments,  I came across her book The Complete Family Nature Guide. It brought back so many memories.   I took the book out of the library multiple times and each time I could see that I had been the only one to do so.  I told the librarian that if they were ever going to discard the book to please let me have it and I'd pay for it. One day the library called and gave the book to me! What a wonderful surprise.  I wrote Miss Jean a letter telling her how much her show meant to me and she wrote back and I was able to get a couple of copies of the show from her.  The Hodgepodge Lodge cabin has now been restored and is at the Howard County MD Conservancy and will forever be an interactive nature exhibit for children, what a great tribute to a wonderful inspiring women. Thank you Miss Jean for helping me become who I am.

Trail Running again!!!

I may have found the secret to feeling better for me. I have not trail run in many years. The last few days I've felt a bit like my old self with more energy then I've had in the last few years since the Big M started. I decided that instead of just wearing my usual hiking clothing on my daily hike with my pup, I'd wear my bare foot vibrums, a running bra, shorts, and tie my hair back. Guess what.....I'm back to trail running!  I'm not doing up hills yet nor am I very fast...but I showed up and I did it! I sweat heavy duty and felt like I purged all things bad from my body! I love how you have to be absolutely in the moment you can't think about anything else but what is in front of you or you will fall.  I came home and felt like I was high.   I have missed that feeling! I do strongly believe that if your body hurts you need more exercise, but I myself have fallen victim to my own inner voices, thinking that I'm too old to run, or I'm not fit enough, or this or that hurts...the list of excuses is endless. It's all bullshit. Get dressed and get out there....JUST DO IT! I can't wait to go again!

Trail Run!

Today I did a Trail run and walked the dog later on.  Had a green drink for lunch that lasted me until 4pm!  I may have 2 a day and then eat dinner for a week and see how I feel!  Loving making all kinds of salads and eating tiny portions of meat. 

My oldest son turned 25 yesterday, he went sky diving with his dad, they had a blast!

Bunny Rehabs