And here we are at the end of March already.   Hard to believe but time does march on with or without us for sure.   It is really trying to act like Spring here but oh my gosh it is SO DRY!    If it gets as warm today as they say I may drag the hoses out and see about getting some water on my gardens at least and probably the trees.   

The crocus are doing their best to visit and my allium once again as poked its head up way too early and I'm pretty sure the 20s the next few nights will end that.   I've only seen them bloom once since I planted them.

We've had a few more enjoyable days on the deck but the 60s we are supposed to see today are coming in with 50-60 mph winds so unless those are from the North I don't see deck time happening this weekend either.

Ahh but it is so lovely when the sun is out to just sit and decompress out there!   Still too cold to do anything out back and the sun is still too low to get much warmth back there but give it another month or two!   I'm amazed sitting in the living room at night to see how much the sun has moved when it sets.

The hawk couple are still super busy patching up their nest.   My new binoculars arrived this week and boy is it cool to be able to really see them now and how big they really are!   So glad I got all the small dog protection up and taken care of.

Projects also continue.   My knitted rug gets a few rows a week done.   Progress is slow at best.  I try to work on it in the evenings when I need to get my bad leg up for a rest.   Am loving the yarn but not sure how it will hold up as a rug.  Guess we will see!

I finished my shelf for under the TV in the trailer.   Am not sure it will stay though as I received a birthday gift that may work better for that situation and have decided that truly the TV needs to come off the arm for travel anyway.   Still - it is done and in.  We shall see if it stays.  With a shortage of "flat space" in my trailer I might just still need it.   

Of course the corner isn't actually at a true 45 degree angle so that was dicey!

My friend also came over one of our warm sunny days and helped me get the pattern laid out for the truck window  covers.   With my stupid knee issue crawling up on the hood wasn't going to happen and luckily she volunteered to help.  We have  the pattern basics done, it will be 3 pieces not 1 and now I need to get the pattern finalized and decide the tabs and all before I run off ordering fabric.  The plan is that I will do some mesh material on the top part of the sides so when the windows are down air will circulate.   This all will help tremendously when I'm traveling with the dogs and they need to stay in the car for stops, not to mention helping just generally keeping the inside of the truck cool and frankly, secure.

The other trailer item finally checked off the list is a way to secure the expens and the steps on the shelves in the back of the trailer.   I was going to make some sort of box to put the pens in so they'd stay put but  honestly, that meant lifting and rigging them into it.  I also didn't want them rubbing the back of the couch and they needed to stand on their sides.   I "think" I have a workable solution.  Those heavy buggars are honestly the biggest pain in the rear when it comes to figuring out storage.   The stairs then sit in front of them for easy extraction.

Still lots more to do in the trailer but I'm very slowly also getting things loaded back out there (the stuff that won't freeze anyway).    Had hoped to have it ready for a trip to Freezeout to see the geese migration but it's just been too cold and slow going.   So a friend and I loaded up this past Friday and did that trip as a day road trip instead. 

The geese numbers have been pretty sporadic and they were spread out all over the WMA so we really didn't get to see anything fantastic.  We actually say a very small flock closer up down at the end of my road in a neighbors yard!   So these were the only 2 geese photos from this year and then I'll plop one in from a previous (better) trip so you get the idea.  Plus there were BOATLOADS of people up there.

Now here's from years past.....

We even drove up on the bench to see if we could find any feeding - absolutely NOTHING!   There are however more swans this year than in years past - again, spread out but still fun to see and we spotted 5 bald eagles on the one swan pond as well.    We still did the auto loop around the WMA and had a WINDY stop to just get out and stretch our legs (and cow poop snacks for the dogs - ick).  Scared up a pair of chukars while we were there in the hedge row as well.

Since the wildlife viewing was a bust and it was getting towards lunch time I thought we'd head up towards Teton Pass (there is a ski area up there so I knew if it was open the road would be plowed) and see what we could see.  Maybe scope out some boondocking spots for this summer (we can always camp at Freezeout  if they don't work out).    I also hoped we could find a spot out of the wind to have lunch.   We did but the small breeze there was made it too cold to eat lunch out of the truck.  No problemo.

Even with the frigid temps of this water (all out of the snowy mountains) Epic cannot HELP himself - he has to go in.  Crazy dog!

We didn't go all the way up to the ski area but we weren't far from that turn.   We got quite a ways up past the snow line but even up there, just not nearly as much snow as they should be up there in March.   It had more like a "normal" year would have in May.    Sad but true.   Still I have to say that drive was probably the highlight  of the trip.   Pretty quiet and of course scenic.

I was in DIRE need of a day out in nature with the cameras.   I just didn't realize how much and I'm really looking forward to doing it more.  But for now, back to projects and house stuff so that I can go do that!