Before the Storm~

 After the sunshine of New Year's Day & the following two days, the gray returned Thursday & Friday.  By Saturday, we had our first dusting of snow.  It seemed colder than it was, since the snow was so wet.  

1-6-24  It begins~

Sunday, the sun appeared again.  It felt cold though, the temperature hovering around 30 degrees.  I called Mari Jo & told her we'd be over for a walk.  Finn is always so happy to see Gracie, I wonder if he lived with other dogs in his other life?  When we pulled into park, he couldn't jump out of the car fast enough to greet Gracie.  Gracie was more interested in the cookie she knew I'd have - than Finn!

Mari Jo, Gracie, already dirty & Finnigan

The concrete portion of the trail we walk, was a combination of snow covered, slick, wet & in a few places dry.  Gracie's beautiful white fur coat was dirty in a matter of minutes.  Finn too - sported plenty of mud.  (This was going to make it fun to get him clean before putting him in his new car seat!)

Alpaca's - 

I had to stop to get a photo of my friend Gene's Alpaca's!  He & his wife have always had a couple horses in this pasture, but earlier this year, the Alpaca's appeared.  Mari Jo thinks they have a total of five.  Not livestock you see often in Iowa!

Our turn-around point~

To make just over a full mile going north, we walk the last bit on the limestone.  From this point on through - if there's any snow at all - it covers the trail most of the way to Mineola.  Our sunshine started to disappear too...  High clouds were rolling in & the temperature was dropping.  The walk back was colder than when we started.

Finnigan & Gracie~

Gracie is always attentive to what I'm doing when we stop.  She knows I have those cookies in my pocket.  At one point she used a paw to bat Finn across his nose when he got in her way! :-)  He doesn't care, he likes her anyway.

He's now decided - the thing to do - is bark like a madman at some people who are on the trail!  Especially if it's a bike going by too fast!  There was one man out on a fat tire bike who whizzed up behind us with very little warning & didn't bother to slow down.  Mari Jo mentioned all the barking wasn't good "trail manners", but I see it as such an improvement from the days he was terrified of everyone.

My little tough guy~

He's so much more self-confident!  He owns our place now & lets me know when the Amazon man approaches the front porch!  He didn't let out a sound for weeks after I brought him home.  It was only just before Christmas that he barked for the first time.  So smart - he's very responsive to my tone of voice & likes to please.  We need to work on manners & training.  I'd like to be outside to do it though.  Inside the house is home - a place for him to relax - not train.

January is looking to be a bear of a month this year.  We're to drop into the single digits for days in a row with a possibility of a feels like of -26 over the weekend.  I have one word for it... Burr!