Chalk Fest

I love Eau Claire - there's so much cool stuff to see and do. This weekend was the annual Chalk Fest sponsored by our local publication, Volume One. Here are some pics of just a few of the chalk art I liked.

We have great bike trails around town and along the river, this one reminds me of that.

Don't mess with her.

I like this one best, it's a replica of Mt. Rushmore, but instead of the presidents, pictured are suffragettes. Thanks to these and other courageous souls, women were finally allowed to vote.

A Different Kind of Stick

For the first time, I saw a walking stick insect in our yard. I was weeding and thought, "gee, that's weird, why is there a stick in the plants?" Then upon close examination, I realized it was a walking stick.

..... and Misty's stick wound is healing nicely, her fur is growing back too.

Todd's Adventure

Todd and his undergraduate student took a day off from the research and hiked up Bellevue - nice scenery.

On their hike, guess who they saw? Looks kind of big if you ask me.

Flowers Make Me Happy

Todd bought this great pond plant; it's growing like crazy and now has a flower, it opens during the day and closes at night - really cool.

........and the gerbera daisies make me smile.

Don't Play With Big Sticks

Our lovely yard has lots of trees and bushes, which makes for an endless supply of branches and sticks - one of Misty's favorite things. She loves to chew on them and fetch them. Well............she grabbed a fairly large tree branch yesterday and started running around with it, the next thing I know, she lets out this yelp and comes hobbling back on three legs. My first thought was that she blew out her knee again, but after a closer inspection I knew nothing was broken..........then I saw exposed flesh - OH MY! The end of the tree branch was sharp and she caught her leg at just the right angle that it tore a large area of skin off. So, I turned off dinner that was cooking on the grill and called the vet. Luckily her awesome vet, Dr. Landorf, hadn't left yet, so we headed on over. 7 stiches later, some painkiller, and antiobiotics, Misty should be on the mend.

The pain medication was so strong she looked like a drunk dog, she'd stand in one place, sort of swaying back and forth as if she might tip over. She went straight to bed (the sofa with the red sheet on it) and I camped out on the floor to keep an eye one her. Another handy reason to have a good sleeping pad and sleeping bag. I actually slept pretty well; it's much cooler than sleeping upstairs so I think I'll "camp out" downstairs again. I may as well get a good night's rest before I see the vet bill and worry about paying for it.

Bye Bye Bunnies

Last week Thursday it was time to say goodbye bunnies. They were in their nests when I checked on them in the morning, but gone when I came home from work. Since they weren't in the nest, I walked around the yard, picking up Misty's poop, throwing out the compost, etc. No bunnies in site. Misty has missed lounging in her yard so while I made a snack, she lay in the grass, sunning herself. I should have known better than to let her do that, because in just a couple of minutes, she had gotten one of the baby bunnies. So it was bye-bye bunny in more than once sense of the phrase. I didn't scold Misty, it's not her fault, she was doing what she was bred to do, hunt. I however, felt so awful, extremely guilty, and regretful. Although the bunnies weren't in their nest, I should have known they'd be close by. Sorry mama bunny, hope your 4 other little ones are doing well. We haven't seen any signs of bunnies since, though Misty is vigilant and keeps checking.

What a Treat!

We didn't know it, but we were in for a real treat two nights in a row. Last night, Misty and I went to DQ. Tonight, we had entertainment out the window when mama bunny came to feed her little ones. All 5 of them were under her and once in a while you could see a tiny leg kicking to get a better position. Misty was so excited, she was ready to jump out of her fur; she was shaking and panting like crazy. I finally had to close the blinds on the windows so she wouldn't send herself into convulsions of frenzy drooling over those rabbits in HER yard.

Mobile and Fast

Mobile and fast in this case, does not refer to your internet connection.......it describes these little ones. Here are four of them hovered in their nest, the fifth is smothered beneath the others. It's a very warm and humid day so no pine needles and rabbit fur covering them; perhaps they're getting too big for that and too big for the nest.

A couple of them got spooked and bolted.

Super-duper-cute!

The bunnies are growing like weeds and now have their eyes open. Can you see it's ear an eye? Misty is on to them - so I have to keep a close eye on her.

They are very "jumpy" in their nest and it's hard to get a pictre of them. I think there are three of them, but I'm not sure.

One decided to be adventurous and come further out. They'll soon be mobile on the grass, eating on their own - that means Misty won't be able to roam free in her own yard - she'll be so mad.

Flower Power

I love flowers, just like my mom. A couple of years ago, one of my advisees was very appreciative of my help and gave me this lilly plant - it's bloomin' like crazy this year.

The astilbe is doing great too - you can't help but smile when you look at them.