Good Day

Greetings friends and fans. This is The Daily Bone, and I'm your trustworthy doggie reporter 

Chester L. W. Spaniel.

We had some warmer weather today! The sun was actually out, and it was over 50ºF! 

So we went out in the back yard to see what's new. As you know, our observational method is very simple: look up, look down. You're bound to see some amazing things!

There were several different kinds of birdies in the trees, including robins who were eating the hawthorn berries, cardinals, house finches, juncos, and sparrows. Suddenly we heard: chuck-chuck-chuck-skarrreeeeeeeeeeeech!

It was like fingernails on a chalk board. My ghostwriter and I both cringed at the awful sound.
Up in the  oak tree was a big, screeching grackle!

He was soon joined by several of his friends. 

Long time readers will remember our yearly rants about those annoying birdies. Not only do they make the most discordant noises, but they poop all over everything, and bully the other birdies. They also tend to be vainglorious and have very pompous names like Effluvium Scatterstool, and Ditzy Sournote. I didn't get all the names of this group. They didn't hang around long with me barking at them. I'm sure they'll be sorry they came back from their southern vacations so early in the season. There's bound to be at least one more big snow storm here in WNY. Winter never just sneaks away quietly! As you can see in the pictures above, it's already clouding over.

Anyhow, getting back to our original mission, we looked down and found a few signs of spring.

Daffodils just starting to grow.

Hostas maybe?

There's only a little bit of snow left. It's mostly on the north side of the house. 

The ground is still frozen there, and we found the most interesting patterns in the ice.

Everywhere else, it was getting quite muddy. I've had to get my feet washed in the bathtub after my expeditions in the yard for the last three days!

Oh, this just in: the weatherman said that our warm spell will soon be over. It will be snowy and cold for the rest of the week and through the weekend! Hahaha! I told you those grackles will regret coming back to town so early! 

Harumph! Time for a nap. See you later!

Happy Valentine's Day

Greetings friends and fans. This is The Daily Bone and I'm your dedicated doggie reporter 

Chester L. W. Spaniel. 

Sorry I have not been posting much lately. My ghostwriter has been working on some other projects, and hasn't been taking many pictures. As diligent readers will remember, she had a knee replacement last December. Now she's going to physical therapy to strengthen it and plans to go back to work in a few weeks. 

Last week Jessy, sibling #3 of 4, came to visit! Here she is with her niece and nephew, Lily and Ryan:

I thought she came back to live here again, but alas, she had to go back home to Florida. Her doggie Miss Charlee was missing her. 

But let not your heart be sad!

Today is Valentine's day and I wanted to show you the beautiful card my dearest Princess Leah sent to me.

It says, "You're the only one I'd want at the end of the spaghetti." My sentiment exactly!

I hope the moon comes out tonight (we haven't seen it for days now!) so I can bark some sweet nothings into her ears! 

(This photo from a few days ago.)

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day today!

It's Actually Winter

Greetings friends and fans. This is The Daily Bone and I'm your astute and fastidious 

doggie reporter Chester L. W. Spaniel. 

As you can see, I'm standing in actual snow! But this is not just ordinary snow. It's got a layer of ice on top of it, and a layer of ice underneath it. 

When you walk on it, it's very slippery, and then the top crust collapses and it's slippery underneath. It's not good for running. In fact, for the first time ever, I refused to go out any farther than the birdie feeders. Dad had to shovel a path by the back door so that I would even go out at all. 

Nope!

I'm not running around on this icy crunchy weirdo snow!

Then it snowed some more! It snowed all day, and my ghostwriter said the roads were terrible. They didn't bother to plow our neighborhood until the afternoon. 

Is that the snow plow I hear? It's about time!

There was ice all over the trees and bushes too, and they creaked ominously whenever the breeze hit them. That special kind of creaking noise brings back memories of the Ice Storm of 1991. 

Coneflower seed heads

Pear tree

Arbor vitae bush

It finally stopped snowing around 5pm. Here's a picture of the front of our house with icicles hanging from the roof, and the reflection of the sunset in the windows:

This is the first sunset we've seen in a while!

Then it started to get colder.

Soon the moon started climbing the eastern sky.

I wonder if my dearest Princess Leah can see the moon from where she is across the Pond? 

Good night.

Catch Up Day

Greetings friends and fans! This is The Daily Bone and I'm your faithful doggie reporter
Chester L. W. Spaniel. 

It's been a long time since I posted a report! That's because it's been rather boring quiet around here. So I'm going to start with an amazing story by my Florida associate Miss Charlee.

Hi Chester and hello everyone! Miss Charlee here, your attentive doggie reporter from South Florida, where we had a bit of a cold snap. On January 21, there was a Falling Iguanas Warning!

I kid you not! Those reptiles can get pretty big: up to 20 pounds and five feet long! Can you imagine one of them falling on your car window, or on your head? 

But don't worry. As soon as it warmed back up, the iguanas woke up and climbed back up the trees! 

Thanks for that interesting report Miss Charlee. The weather here in Western New York has been mostly cold and snowy. Surely no iguanas would survive here, let alone fall out of the trees!  

However, we do have the Evil Squirrel Cartel climbing in the trees! They've been out almost every day snarfing seeds from under the feeders. They tried to break into the actual bird feeders, but were foiled yet again! On these feeders, the ports close if something as heavy as a squirrel gets on it.

I chased them a few times. But I was having problems with snow balls getting stuck on my feet.

We cocker spaniels have fur that grows between our toes. It needs to be trimmed every so often. So I went to see my favorite groomer, Miss Jacquie.

Here I am with my fresh buzz cut. Now I'll be better able to chase those scoundrels!

For my next story, the sky this week was an endless source of wonder.
Here are some photos, in no particular order:

The dark spots in this picture are actually snow flakes.

Here in WNY, most of our snow storms are caused by cold fronts crossing over the Great Lakes. This is otherwise known as lake-effect weather. I have not seen any fishes falling out of the sky, though.

I promised my kitty cat cousins, Hanni (aka Hannibal) Maddie (aka Medusa or The Kitten Overlord) and Tibie (aka Tiberius) I would let them know immediately if I ever saw fishes falling from the sky! 

Oh, and one more news item: 

It's been seven weeks since my ghostwriter had surgery to replace her right knee joint. The knee is doing very well, and she goes to physical therapy to do strengthening exercises. 

Good night.

Here is a link to a scholarly treatise about lake-effect snow:

what-is-lake-effect-snow

Snow Day

Hello everyone! This is The Daily Bone and I'm your diligent doggie reporter Chester L. W. Spaniel. Look look look lookie look! Snow! 

Snow squalls have been moving across WNY all day today! 

And since we've no place to go, 

Let it snow, 

Let it snow,

Let it snow!