Honestly … I have a warm roof over my head, work I love, pets that are a joy, a full pantry and freezer. I am so very thankful.

In the last weeks (maybe months): tornadoes, fires, volcano (I am so heartbroken for Tonga!), winter storms in the east … one ongoing this weekend… and Europe, particularly Greece where blog friend Margaret lives. Holy Cow!

Every time that I think of being a bit whiny about anything, I think of Tonga particularly. Three years ago … and I cannot remember exactly how I got started, but I was watching “Gone with the Wynns” (https://www.youtube.com/c/gonewiththewynns). It was the start of my renewed interest in sailing and particularly ocean sailing … not that I want to do it myself, but as a spectator and drawing on my own sailing experience as well as my technical knowledge, it was fascinating to see the evolution of sailing and technology.

Then, 2 years ago, the Wynns ended up in Tonga … stranded in the COVID19 lockdown/closed border situation. They used their time in Tonga to learn about the people. They leveraged their YouTube exposure to raise money for animal rescue and clean water for Tongans. During that time of watching and participating, I myself became involved and interested and learned about a place that I might not have except for the Wynns and COVID19.

So, I felt somewhat personally devastated with the news of the volcano and the impact on the Tonga Islands and the lovely people there.

Not to diminish the losses in the U.S., but here we have so many advantages: insurance, FEMA, so darn much money and resources, advance knowledge (storms) … not quite the same as a cataclysmic volcanic eruption on the remote islands of Tonga or the impact in countries like Greece with not the same infrastructure support.

At any rate, it has made anything that might be considered a problem in my own life … insignificant!

So … walking … yes, it is not ideal, but thanks to a few flurries, it is MUCH better and Emmett and I continue to take advantage of good conditions on the state land. I am beyond grateful that we can take walks of 1/4- 1.25 miles right from the house … boots or snowshoes for me and good conditions for Emmett.

We had another power cut … astonishing! Again in the morning …

So, I bought a portable butane camp stove … thus guaranteeing that we will not have another morning outage!

Yes, I can cook on the woodstove, but since I don’t keep the woodstove going constantly, to get it going from cold and get it going enough to do things like make coffee … hours! Hence, the above.

Meanwhile, cozy mornings with dear Emmett and Oscar …

And lovely walks in the woods.

If you follow my Instagram, this is a repeat …

I typically have the ability to shut out background noise when working … but “hear” abnormal quiet or activity … the TP adventure got away from me.

Turkey tracks … they always make me laugh as they look like directions! Actually the turkeys are headed opposite of the “arrow” … think large chicken claw.

Snow over ice … that is an Emmett skid mark in the snow-ice driveway. Our walk paths are thankfully a bit lumpier and so some texture, but walking has not been great.

But…

I am using poles to give me a little 4-wheel drive and then, one day last week, it warmed up so things were soft and I put on the small snowshoes for a longer outing on the state land.

Also, I wanted to test a clip I bought for my Omni Action Cam.

I clipped the camera to the front of my jacket, top of my chest. It seemed to bounce around a lot, but this camera has a function called Rock Steady to stabilize the video. And, the action cams are made for action. Still, given what it looked like moving on my chest, I am pretty happy with the video.

It was a gray day!

The video is 9 minutes, which is still a bit long. This was my first longish snowshoe this winter.

And I got a badge from my activity tracker!!

If you watched the video, the scenic end point looks like below on a sunny day!!

Well, we can’t have a post without Oscar!!

Yes you can :)

I used clicker training with Auggie, also … for teaching him to come and for not going out:

Clicker training is based on B.F. Skinner’s “Operant Conditioning” but turned into Positive Reinforcement by Karen Pryor when she was tasked with teaching sea animals to perform for the first “Sea World” kind of park.

Karen Pryor’s work is wonderfully documented in Reaching the Animal Mind. If you are interested in the development of clicker training as well as the science behind it, it is a great read! It is not dull at all. The last chapters are more scientific and maybe a bit dullish, but the first 2/3 of the book, the story of Karen Pryor’s development of method, her anecdotes and examples are easy reading. If you thought (as I did before I learned…. ) that clicker training was a gimmick … it is not and this book illustrates why.

I was introduced to clicker training by a young dog trainer that I contacted to help me help Bear, my last Karelian Bear Dog, be more comfortable around other animals. She did not pressure me to use the method, but left some reading material and asked if I would consider it. I read and agreed and we made great progress with Bear. I used some of the concepts to help Bear adjust to kitten Auggie.

And then, I studied more and clicker trained Emmett in addition to going to classes with a local “Karen Pryor Academy” person.

Bottomline, I love the method and how it fosters trust and respect between me and my dog and cat. We have all learned and we all continue learning. And that is another of the key differences: teaching vs training. The idea is to teach … and it is so much less stressful than “training”.

So, Oscar knows “Ring the bell” and we are working on “In your place”. We didn’t use much clicker training, but he is doing well at “Oscar come”. Oscar watches Emmett and I playing and learning things as well as Emmett responding to my requests. It is interesting to see how Oscar learns from Emmett and me. When Auggie was a kitten, Bear was an elderly dog so there was not the same kind of opportunity.

I am ever hopeful that I can teach “off the counter” … a girl can dream!!

As noted in the previous post … it got ugly.

It has stayed ugly! As in above freezing, melting, kind of freezing … ugly. The ground is not much good for walking or playing or anything fun.

Visually, it has mostly not been beautiful – outside, but there have been a few moments…

And one evening…

Moon shadows from a 3/4 moon. Plus the lights of a warm little house. I never fail to be cheered by the lights of home!

Cozy mornings no matter what the weather is like outside!

This Friday morning … Oscar is looking less like a kitten and more like a small cat … and he is full of the dickens … just ask Emmett :)

But despite Oscar’s kitten antics, Emmett stays on the alert … SQUIRREL!!!

So, as of yesterday, Thursday 1/13/2022, Oscar has been part of the family for 8 weeks and is 4 months old. We love him dearly! I think he loves us, too!

Oscar and Emmett play and play and play … and then they nap. I love how they are doing together. And it is particularly nice now with horrible walking conditions … Emmett gets extra exercise via the play.

Oscar is very snuggly with both of us. He also is able to play by himself when Emmett has had enough, and I am working. His active imagination has him playing hilarious hunting games with his toys. I am actually wishing for a mouse in the house to see what happens. Oscar is VERY fast and I know he will be able to catch a mouse … the big question is then what???

I am so very grateful for Oscar. I miss Auggie every day. Oscar often does things that are so like Auggie that I wonder … just like I wonder when Emmett does things like Karl and Bear. Whatever, it is all good and comforting and part of the circle of life.

We woke up to a beautiful 6-7 inches of light, powdery snow!

Emmett and I had a lovely dark o’clock walk with temperature at a comfy 17F … refreshing, but not bitter cold (all things being relative, of course … to us, 17F is not bitter cold :) )

Then I looked at the weather forecast which showed a warm atmospheric river overrunning the cold and changing things from snow – to wintry mix – to rain.

RATS!

I was out at 7:30 to fire up the snow thrower and see what I could get done before running out of gas (me running out of gas!)

By 9:30, with several breaks, I had cleared the wide area in front of the garage, a wide walkway from house to garage and 2 perimeter rounds of the driveway. At the end of that time, it was warming enough that the snow was noticeably heavier for the thrower.

A bit of recoup and then a snowshoe/walk with Emmett.

We managed a late morning snowshoe/walk as well, but by then it was raining :(

And so on.

By late afternoon:

I don’t have photos, but trust me … it is UGLY. Snow is off the trees and snow plops on the ground, plus the normal “yellow” stains from the trees.

I really hate when this happens!

But, I am grateful that I was able to clear what I could and my driveway is cleared via a new plow service … I felt that I had to have paid help … I know that I cannot do it all myself and it is also not fair to rely on my neighbor. But, I don’t have to like it … too much … I feel like I found a good person to do the work at a fair price so onward.

Not much more is forecast in rain/snow, but it is to be a bit miserable as far as above freezing temperatures and inversion clouds, i.e. low, gray cloud deck.

January!

Last winter, I should have changed the oil in my snow thrower.

I did not.

I only used the thrower once (THANKFULLY for the health of the thrower!)

And then…

Spring.

Summer.

Fall.

GAH!

No thrower maintenance.

No, I waited until a COLD day in January (13F) with a Winter Storm on the way (7-11 inches of snow forecast) … to change the oil in the thrower.

I can be an idiot!!!

Despite notes from previous oil changes …

Although I did put a large garbage bag underneath to catch mess and I did have several large pans…

what I really needed was:

For next time.

BUT, I did get the oil changed and also did a clean up of walk and turn around mid-storm.

We are keeping an eye on the weather …

The storm warning is in effect until 11:00 a.m. tomorrow – Friday.

Meanwhile, we are warm and safe and no need to go anywhere – YEA!