As Halifax Broad would say: "@$#& *$^#" !!!

Local blogger,  "Halifax Broad", calls 'em as she sees 'em.  I admire her free and liberal use of cuss words in her ascerbic, tongue-in-cheek Blog.

My Blog is a kinder, gentler Blog and I studiously avoid the use of naughty words so as not to offend the delicate sensibilities of my dear readers.  (BTW - Did you notice I now have OVER six followers ? )

But today ?

TODAY I want to SCREAM:  " (*%!$#  %*  #*^$%   %$&*   +*!;@#"   !!!!

Oh that's not all.

Not done yet. 

I've saved the "best" for last.

Once we ensured that no one had quills inside their mouth, we set about the painful task before us. 

We took care of Wendy and Chandler first as they had fewer than ten quills each.  Kait held each dog and I snipped the end off each quill and then pulled it.  Snipping the end changes the pressure and makes the quill easier to pull.  That's the theory anyway.  They both were pretty well behaved and it was over in a few minutes.

We pulled the quills out of Trey's face, chest and leg pretty easily but his foot was another matter.
The quills were deep, between his toes, and there were a lot of them. 

He didn't understand that we were trying to help him and he used his great strength to struggle against us. 

And to hide.

Can you see him ?

Can you see him now ?

Poor Trey.

He was utterly miserable.

I stayed in the bathroom with him for over an hour and one by one yanked those buggers out.

I may never go into the damn f**king woods again !

Ooooops sorry. 

Couldn't help myself.

Eagles on the Salt Marsh

Last Saturday at Rainbow Haven I was having a lovely walk on the beach when another walker asked me "Did you see the Eagles on the marsh ?".

Eagles on the marsh ?!!!

I had just walked down a boardwalk from the parking lot and hadn't even glanced out on the marsh.  I promptly hustled back to the boardwalk.

There, out on the frozen marsh were TWO magnificent bald eagles.  One of them was sitting on the carcass of an obviously freshly-killed Canada Goose.  The second one was sitting nearby wishing he'd caught that goose.  Clearly eagles do not share.

The eagle with the goose tried to take off but couldn't get more than a foot off the ground and the gooses' head bumped along the icey surface. 

So there I was, staring open-mouthed at this amazing sight and I'd left my camera at home !  

I decided to risk driving home, to get the camera and come back.  The round trip was just under 20 minutes.

By the time I got back the second eagle had left but the first was still enjoying the carcass and was only a  hundred feet away.  I zoomed my modest digital camera to its limit and then once I got home zoomed and cropped the picture still more on my computer. 

The result is the slightly fuzzy shot below. 

I thought it amusing that the week before I'd driven across Nova Scotia to go eagle watching and found the best views were in my own "back yard".

The next day I thought I saw the eagle again but upon getting my binoculars from my car I realized it wasn't.  It was a vulture now feasting on what was left of the carcass.  Vultures don't kill prey.  They feed on carrion (already dead prey). 

It was too far away for a picture.

I have since learned that vultures are pretty darn rare in Nova Scotia but the sighting was confirmed by a birder in the area so that was two special bird sightings two days in a row.

You can be assured that I always have my camera with me now.

Chandler digs the beach

Have you noticed most of the beach photos are of Wendy and Trey ?   I actually walk with three dogs, not two.

I have one of those throwing sticks and Wendy and Trey love blasting at full speed after balls hurled down the beach.

But where is the third dog, Chandler (the mini schnauzer) in those shots ?  The answer is, he's not.  Chandler has his own beach agenda. 

After parking the car, the dogs and I walk down a gravel road to the beach.  (Wait. Did that sentence make it sound like the dogs park the car? )


While the others are chasing the ball, Chandler disappears ahead of us to his favourite place. His favourite place is a varmint hole.  Keep in mind that the ground is frozen but that doesn't deter him.  Chandler loves to dig.  Dig, dig, dig. 

Can you see the hole in the picture ?  Can you see the little grey bum sticking out of the hole in the picture ?  If you click the picture it will expand to full screen.  The beach and the boardwalk are in the background.

Chandler has been visiting the same hole for weeks.  I walk on to the beach with Wendy and Trey.  We don't see Chandler for ages.  Then suddenly Chandler will come tearing down the beach to check on us, his face all mucky, front legs covered in dirt.   I swear, he's smiling.  "OK.  So you're here" he grins.  "I'm going back to my hole" and takes back off again.

And so that's how it goes for the entire walk.

Two dogs chasing a ball and one little dog digging and checking in, digging and checking in.

Frozen in time

In the winter the waves make many wonderful shapes at the beach...

Frozen waves.

Some big.

Some little.

Some in between

Some forming concentric layers on rocks.

Some mixing with frozen sand in a losing battle to roll back to the sea.

The beach is a magical place in winter.

Just me and my shadows ...

I'm really starting to enjoy my early morning walks with the dogs at Rainbow Haven.

I used to drive Kait to work and then go back home to bed !  Now I take the dogs in the car with me and head to the beach.

It was cool this morning.  Maybe minus 3 or 4.  Light breeze.  Very damp feeling.  But the sunrise was rather lovely and created wonderful long pink shadows of me and the dogs.

We walked from the first boardwalk down the beach to the second long boardwalk and then came back along the back road to the parking lot.

A nice one hour walk.