The Perfect Saturday

 

Overnight and continued snow have brought countless birds to the feeders this morning. Consequently, my trusty side kick and I made the rounds of replenishing the feeders in the yard around the house.

Followed by a romp in the new-fallen snow. 

 

 

Ruby lit her Rocket Mode and tore-up a pile of yardage in a flagrant expenditure of puppy energy. Doggo sure luvs herself some winter.

 

Refilled the wood box last. 

 

I have a vision of a book by the fire and a sleepy dog.  This is what a winter Saturday should be…

Schneehund

 

 

The dog loves herself some snow.

From last weekend we got enough overnight to head-out for a post breakfast romp.  Not quite enough for snow shoes but 4-5 inches of white stuff nonetheless.  1.2 miles for me.  Somewhere north of 2 miles for the doggo.  And 3 miles for our guests.

Ruby is absolutely nuts for snow and was tearing-it up at every opportunity.

Then she can sleep it off later..... 

Morning

We rotated a new coffee maker into the kitchen on Saturday.  For any of you that live in rural America, and obtain your life-giving drinking water from a well, you know of what I speak.  The struggle is real.

Sure, our water is clean and tastes terrific.  Not at all like the water city folks have to tolerate.  City utility water that smells and tastes of bromine anti-bacterial chemicals when you raise a glass to your lips.  

An additional reason my water tastes great is because it is rich in calcium having originated 267 feet deep in the dolostone rock formation of the Niagara Escarpment upon which we sit.  Dissolved calcium eventually clogs the works of your Mr. Coffee machine.  And with the passage of time no amount of cleaning can reverse the impact of calcification on the slow brewing of a cuppa joe in the morning.  Yeah, first world problem.  And I digress.

Fall mornings are a terrific way to start your day with your pup and a steaming mug of black coffee.

These are the views I wake-to....

Swamp gas floating just above the ground

And the morning sun peeking-over the machine shed

Life sucks in flyover country, eh?

Pupper

Obligatory puppy photo.

September Night Skies

Technically this is a morning sky viewing opportunity; something I've had the opportunity to indulge since the arrival of our puppy last month.

If you happen to be an early riser for any reason, even if you have to get out of bed to pee, this is worth a look.  The planet Venus in the east before sunrise.  This Morning Star can be viewed with an unaided eye into the morning twilight before sunrise.

She's been there awhile and virtually impossible to miss.  Our early morning view of Venus is only getting better because this very bright planet is going to become brighter as it reaches the height of brilliance the morning of September 19. This is a consequence of the the greatest portion of the planet will be lighted with reflected sunlight.  Enjoy this opportunity while it lasts as with the passing of time Venus will transition to its position in the evening sky.

In case you're wondering why planet Venus appears as the brightest star in the morning horizon it is because of phenomenon known as a Superior Conjunction.  Commit this Word Of The Day to memory as there may be an exam.  I digress.

A superior conjunction occurs when the earth and a planet are on opposite sides of the sun and all three bodies are aligned in nearly a straight line.  Referring to the diagram (below) when Venus is located at the far side of its orbit from us it is behind the sun when viewed from earth.  When that happens its daylight side faces us directly.  The last time a superior conjunction occurred was October 22, 2022.  It will not happen again until. June 4, 2024.

Fingers-crossed for clear morning skies.  Bundle-up and enjoy the show while you can.

Cheers!

Adapted from an image by NASA/ Chmee2/ Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 3.0

 

The Art of Raising a Puppy

By the Monks of New Skete.  It's a book that is recommended reading if you are going to be raising a puppy.

We have a copy that was read, reread and studiously-applied in raising our two pups to adulthood.

Visitors last weekend brought their own copy as they now have a replacement Gordon Setter obtained from a breeder outside of Manitowoc.

They're how driving back home to the mountains of Colorado.  

click on image to enlarge

In a nod to the Badger state the pup's name is Wisckey.