Snow and water

The other day when I checked on the cattle Daisy came along with me.   Note: the pile on the other side of the fence are actually fence posts taken from fences I had rebuilt.  I keep tossing the old posts on the pile.  They can't be used for fences but someday I will find a use for them.

My neighbors, Calvin, his wife and son were outside in their pasture and we chatted.  They also had one of their dogs with them.   Daisy hung back for a while but eventually she wandered over as she just had to check out the son's ATV.  Their dog was well behaved when Daisy walked by and she briefly sniffed noses with him.

We all walked to towards the river and Daisy came along.   Part of their pasture is under water.  The son drove his ATV around to the far side.  Then he and Calvin would call their dog back and forth.  The dog would take a straight line and run through the water, some of it chest deep on the dog.  Daisy climbed up a tree near us and stood on a few branches to watch the dog 'act crazy', and also to avoid getting wet then the dog came our way.

After Calvin and his family walked back to his house Daisy and I walked the rest of the way to the river on my property.  Daisy loves water.  The other night she even sat up on the house roof in the rain as it drizzled lightly.  But she is not so sure about the river.  I think that is because the water moves and she can't wrap her head around that fact.  She looks at the water but with a puzzled and cautious look.

Daisy also walked across some snow with me.  The snow was soft and often she would sink in the soft snow.  The second photo shows her front right leg sunk in the snow up to her chest.  At times it was a struggle for her but she was game to try.

In the evening Daisy insisted on laying on my lap as I used my computer.  She is actually sleeping in the following photo.

Three mice

Our precipitation has changed from snow to rain the past few days.  It is almost constant.

Wet!  Wet  Wet!!!

Earlier when I talked of lots of snow, my uncle Larry said they were getting lots of rain on the Coast.  I should have clarified that when I complained of snow, that didn't mean he had to send his rain my way.

We still have lots of snow but now we also have lots of standing water.  And mud.  I had to use my pickup's four wheel drive to drive out of my yard yesterday.

Even with all this rain Daisy caught three mice yesterday: one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one at night.

Yes, she got wet.  But she also caught three mice.

Today she is taking a break and has spent most of the day inside with me.  Right now she has commandeered my computer chair to lay on and I am stuck sitting on a wooden stool as I type this.

More roof action

82 inches of snow so far this Winter.  14 inches base left on the ground.  Lots more snow predicted through Friday.

Daisy is getting restless and tired of Winter and snow.   Now that the house roof is mostly free of snow she often goes up there to watch over her kingdom as the snow is making it difficult to get around.

A few photos from this morning.  Earlier she was laying here and dangling one paw off the roof at me.  When I went to get the camera she moved to this position.

Two mice

This morning I found two mice on my front doorstep.  Daisy went outside at 6 am and at 8 am when I checked for her, I found two fat mice.  Two mice in two hours.

Yesterday I had shoveled the snow away from one side of one row of hay bales.  When shoveling I noticed a few mouse tunnels in the snow next to the bales.  I think Daisy took advantage of access and got the two mice.

Go Daisy Go!

Mouse in the house

This morning after getting out of bed I found a dead mouse in the middle of the living room floor. Daisy had gone outside after 3 am and came back inside after 7 am.  Half asleep I didn't notice if she was bringing a mouse into the house.  Usually she leaves the mice on the front step just outside the door.  I still have the crawl space open as that septic system is still frozen.  I think Daisy found the mouse in the crawl space before she went outside.

I need the snow to melt away from the big hay bales so Daisy can get the mice there.  I moved two more big hay bales out to the north pasture today.  As the tractor held the bale in the air I started to take the twine off the first bale and a big fat mouse dropped out of the bale. The mouse hit the snow covered ground and was stunned for a moment.  The mouse scampered under the wooden pallet the bale will sit on and got away before I could get over to kill it.  Daisy wasn't around.  She was sleeping in the house.