Spring Brings....

So, spring is here! The grass is starting to turn green, my plants are starting to sprout. The snow is pretty much all melted away; There are birds chirping. I even saw a butterfly while I was basking in the sun on my front porch yesterday....

Know what other sign of spring I saw today that totally threw me for a loop?
Yep. A freaking BEAR!

No, not these bears. I love theses bears....

Who expects to be driving blearily towards town, anticipating that McDonald's mocha and parfait pick-me-up because the construction crew showed up and I had to move my car anyway, when I look over to admire the sunrise over the fields and see..... A bear.

I had to stop the car and just watch for a few minutes before the black bear ambled off. I did try to take a few pictures, but I'm afraid that they are about as high quality as the Loch Ness Monster pictures of the blurry Big Foot pictures that are floating around out there...

Real Bear Hugs May Prove Fatal

Ever stop to wonder if the big foot picture was just a big hairy Yooper out for a walk? They did try to find Big Foot down by Baraga, just south of me, you know.... Hmmm....

Anyway, back on topic. Blurry bear pictures. Well, I would post them but for two reasons. One: the bear looks like a blurry black blob. In my defense who in their right mind is going to get out of the car to take a picture of a BEAR? That's just stupid! Two: I have somehow misplaced my camera between here and the barn. I know it's in the car somewhere, but not quite sure where....

If I find it, I promise you guys will be in the top ten to know. Mostly because not that many people would actually care about my blurry bear picture.

But really. A bear.

Edited to add: 

See that black dot? That's a bear. A real, live, bear. 

Swine Flu

Ok, I have (a few) real and valid excuses for not posting.
First and foremost, I've been sick. For Friday and Saturday, my throught hurt so bad, that I went out and bought soup, cough drops, pop cicles, and hagen daaz. The ice cream is really what got me through.... I'm doing better now, i can eat and drink without wishing I was dead. I do feel a little stuffed up in my ears, but I figure I'm on the road to recovery. Swine flu-0, Alison-1
Next, we had an epic storm on Sunday. It kind of screwed with my social plans, since I wasn't going anywhere in that rain, not to mention that I'm not sure I could have made it out of the unpaved driveway. During this storm, I lost power in the apartment for about three hours. It felt like I was camping, until I realized that I was playing chess on my laptop and using my cell phone as a flash light and to text people because I was bored. Not quite roughing it...
But anyway, I'm here now to bring you a shiny new post. There is no video, but I figured I would drown you in picture I've taken. Turns out the wildlife comes out to play after a storm.
Anyway, RC was good again today. I think that we might be ready for the show, but probably not. MD said that I tend to throw him away when riding the tests. Great. At least I'm learning this now instead of after I show.
Deli keeps getting better and better. She's still got that balking habit, but it's not nearly as bad as it was. Now it's more of a thought then a plan or avoidance. As it turns out, she's best if I only lunge her a little bit, then ride for 20 minutes, or so. That was she's not too tired to walk/trot/canter with me on her. I've said it before (every time, actually), but I freaking love this horse.
Now for the pictures:

There were probably 5 butterflies around this plant....

This little guy was sitting next to me today while I was watching MD work a horse and tossing a piece of hoof for Tempi... It's not easy sneaking up on a lizard. Just call me Naturalist #1...

And the final picture is of freshly clipped... kinda... Tempi