Thursday, April 14, 2011

A DAY OF FIRSTS

The day is still....there is no wind....the air is carried with voices of children at play under the afternoon sunshine....crows cackle....and Winslow Homer is in hot pursuit of two squirrels chasing one another off into the wood. The chickens bathe in the warm earth and bluebirds twitter back and forth building their nest for a future brood.....It is a day of firsts....first Jonquil picked from the flower bed.... and tulips too....
the grass is slowly turning from brown to green as the last bit of snow melts into the earth....a pair of Mallard ducks swim in a temporary pond alongside the driveway and a formation of Canadian geese fly overhead traveling to their summer destination....laundry flaps in the warm breeze....these are the days we have been longing for....Spring has arrived....how wonderful it feels to sit in the warmth of the sun and read a few pages from a new favorite book....slowly nature is awaking....peepers serenade us with their evening song....and Winslow Homer....well he has incurred a first for the season too....

need I say more....
well....maybe that he is proving all his doctors wrong....I'm still keeping my fingers crossed and toes!

14 comments:

Kim said...

Oh noooo, Winslow got sprayed! Awww, poor little guy.

Denise said...

Ohhh, our son's dog met up with one of "those" last year and it took a very long time for him to smell fresh....but Winslow Homer is a much smaller dog and it is probably much easier to bath him. Hope you are still enjoying the day.....I have wanted to check out that book, please let us know more about it.

Blessings,
Denise

Maura @ Kisiwa Creek Photography said...

OH NO....poor Winslow Homer but even worse...poor YOU! I was feeling really happy for you until I read the last part. So far we've been very lucky in the nearly two years we've lived here in the country...hubby saw a skunk crossing the road just south of our farm one night on his way to work but I guess it thought better than to come around once he smelled our big dog. Keeping my fingers crossed we never experience what Winslow Homer did today! I hope you have a wonderful ...and better smelling Friday...
Maura :)

Farm Girl said...

Not a skunk!!! I hate that so much. I have kept my eyes peeled but haven't seen any yet.
I hope you have some wonderful spring days.

Pondside said...

Oh, naughty Winslow Homer...but how can you be upset with him when you're so happy to see him as his feisty self!?
That book looks good - am off to google it.

Kritter Keeper at Farm Tails said...

oh no, julie!! that is awful...i wasn't expecting those words as everything else you described was perfectly serene. excellent writing. lol...bad doggy!

The Barn Door said...

Oh no Winslow Homer, how could you!!!

acorn hollow said...

oh no a skunk! I hope he smells fresh as a daisy soon. My plants are still not to that stage yet. lucky you picking flowers. I still have a fair amount of snow on my lawn but I will wait.
cathy

Larkrise garden girl said...

Poor you and Winslow Homer.I should not have laughed but I was not expecting the ending being the spray bottles.Years ago a friend came to work and I mentioned something smelled like a skunk. She quietly said it was her! A skunk was under her house and the smell was radiating all the way up her floors to her closet and to her clothes. skunks!

Sarah said...

reading this made me want to go sit outside. Your description of the day left me longing for summer breezes and the sound of them playing in the prairie grasses. Ok, well I was already longing for that, but your words increased the feelings ten fold!
SO, how well did that Skunk Clean stuff work? I've not seen it before. The ranch dogs generally just have to wear it off, but if they are hanging around on the porch much, it might be handy to have some of that on hand if it works!

Genny said...

Julie, I'm so glad that Winslow Homer continues to do well and is enjoying the sunshine and taking his guard duties seriously. The flowers are just beautiful, and daffodils always make me really appreciate the spring. I am going to have to get a copy of that book! The cover is just beautiful.

Peacemom said...

Ticks, ticks everywhere!! That was our first this week down here in Southern NH. Yep, already! We have a skunk also, he's digging little holes everywhere ridding us of all the little grubs. That's okay by me! Of course, we don't have a dog. But, he did invade a really great honey hive that the bees had put into the hillside here, but other then that, he's welcome.

So glad to hear Winslow Homer is doing so well, he's a tough little champ. (oh, and if you check my blog, I talk about chicken dust...at least I think that's what you meant :^) ~Vonnie, NH

Anonymous said...

Little Winslow looks fresh as a daisy even though he doesn't smell like one. So glad he is bouncing back to his oldself.

Mary Ann said...

We are smelling a skunk at night, here, who is passing by (so far). We have a dog we know will love to encounter it, so I am glad to know about... Skunk Kleen! Will look for some right away!