Unfamiliar Light and Posts of the Week

Do you see that out there? The strange, unfamiliar light? It's called the sun. Let's go get us a little."

~ Nora Roberts

As has long been the case, on and off, these days, I'm finding myself falling behind with blog reading. The weather is nice. The house is still in a stage of unready and I'm an expert procrastinator. But I will be around for a visit before too much longer, I hope.

I have lots of spring images to share with you but they're all still in the camera right now. The photos below are from that transitional stage between late winter and early spring. If you just squint and ignore the ice on the lake, you'll never know the difference. At the end of the photos, I'll post a short video that tells us once and for all that the spring season has arrived.


Glancing through the kitchen window (yes, it's spotty and in need of a good cleaning), the sun was making its subtle presence known on a very grey day.






I took a walk down to the public boat launch, one afternoon when the ice had just begun to pull away from the shoreline. There was a colourful world of discarded nature just above and below its surface.






Same spot as the water reflects the low-lying branches of a nearby tree.






A short distance up the road, there's a small cottage and trailer rental spot. This was their mailbox which had fallen of its post sometime during the winter.






I posted a photo of this road recently. This is just another view of Paradise Landing - the one through the windshield.






Late day sunlight gave some much needed colour to the landscape across the bay. There was still ice on the lake but the colour bounced off of the clouds and onto the watery patches close to shore. The lake has been pure liquid for the past couple of weeks now.






Here's a close up of the point. Take note of that spot - it will appear in the video below.






And here is a better look at Blueberry Island with just a few remaining patches of icy snow on its beautiful rock face.






Let's zoom in just a little bit closer still. Imagine the view from up there? Some folks do climb it. I bet my adventurous blogging pal, DJan would tackle it in a heartbeat. Oh I know she's a hiker and not a rock climber but she's jumped out of planes, for goodness sake! Lots of them.






On a cool, clear night, early in April, this is how the moon appeared. All crisp and cold and deeply into the serious task of becoming full.






She came in through the bathroom window a few nights later wearing nothing but the branches of still-bare trees. Apologies and thanks to the Beatles.







We watched these two Common Loons take chase across the lake from our far left point of view to the right. Every now and then the one who was in pursuit would change direction briefly and then so would the chaser. They'd quickly return to the business of running away and following. We weren't sure if they were a male and female in a mating ritual or if it was a territorial issue between one of our established bay watchers from last year and a newcomer. Google confirmed the latter. They sure can be goofy birds and I'd have to say that they come by their name honestly. But they're also incredibly beautiful birds and they serenade us with their haunting songs every night.

More photos coming up soonish.

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And now, without further delay, here are the Posts of the Week. The icon below is yours for the taking if your blog post is named as a POTW.

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A GOOD READ

Look Up
by Hilary
at Crazy as a Loom

The Centre of the Universe
by Leah
at the Goat's Lunch Pail

Foxy Lady
by Stephen
at Chubby Chatterbox

The Fad
by Joe
at Cranky Old Man

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PHINE PHOTOGRAPHY

Leucy
by Gail
at Louisiana Belle

Look Up. Look Down
by Daryl
at Out and About in New York City

Foxy Lady
by Daniel
at The Pixel Collective

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JUST PLAIN ALL AROUND GOOD

High-Rise Country Living
by Theresa
at The Run*A*Round Ranch Report

Let's All Shout for Trout
by Crabby
at Cranky Fitness

The Hairy Eyeball
by Yaya
at Whispering Pines

***

GOOD ADVICE
 
What Your Flower Delivery Person Wishes You Knew
by MessyMimi
at Messymimi's Meaderings

When a Photo Becomes the Canvas
by Karen
at What Karen Sees

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READERS' CHOICE

Recommended by: Tabor
In Defence of Nothing
by Leah
at The Goat's Lunch Pail


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Please drop by their blogs for a visit and leave a kind comment if you have the time. Also, please feel free to add your own choices (for any blog except this one) for a specific blog post in the comments section below, where others can see them.

Thank you

Soft and Huggy

You know, sometimes the world seems like a pretty mean place. That's why animals are so soft and huggy.

~Bill Waterson - Calvin & Hobbes

As promised in my last post, below are just a few of them many creatures which have crossed my path in one way or another over the past few months.


I was really MOOtivated to get them posted for you. I saw this lovely beast when I was out driving, one afternoon. The farmer to whom it belonged seemed a bit alarmed to see a crazy woman stop the car to photograph his cattle.






This one goes back to March when I met up with a woman whom I hoped would be making curtains for our new addition. On my way back home, I saw this little guy taking his time, moving on up the road with his small tree branch. He was taking the scenic route, as the sign says.






The beaver eventually waddled over the the left and climbed up the snowbank, leaving his prize behind. Most evenings, we see one or two of them in our lake, depleting our neighbour's brush pile, one stick at a time.






Closer to home, we have Rufus.. or Rufette. Cute as a button and bold as brass. Gotta love red squirrels (even though I know some of you don't).






This was one of the last times we saw deer in our yard. He was checking out our garden. He must have been disappointed with its lack of growth which is probably just as well. They'll be back after hunting season in the fall. I hope.






This Northern Flicker was new to me. Frank had seen them before but I had not. He reminds me of a confused woodpecker, as he spends his time pecking for ants in the ground instead of trees.






Here's a woodpecker that understands what he has to do. It's a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Handsome little guy.






Our feeders attract a number of birds. Among them these darling Red-breasted Nuthatches.






Funny little acrobats.






This little cutie was a bit of a surprise. Frank's son Francis was visiting us and he saw him feeding on the deck railing. He was confused as to what he was. Frank had spent some evenings sitting out there in the dark and assumed it was Rufus getting a midnight snack. Now that the light was on him, it was clear to see that he wasn't one of our usual visitors. Those big black eyes (which I tried to return to their original state as best I could with Photoshop, after they were reddened and washed right out from the flash) gave him away. Frank correctly identified our nocturnal visitor as a flying squirrel. He was unconcerned about our presence, the light, the camera and our chatter. Of course, he felt otherwise about Benny who eventually scared him off.






Last but not least, my own handsome guys who turn 15 this month. Here, they were practising hard at being bookends.

That's it for now. I should have some more photos coming up soon.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms!