Short Rations

I am not a beary happy little bear! We are getting short on honey and Mama doesn't seem concerned about it. She says that I have gotten chubby over the winter - too much honey and not enough exercise! I don't know if a diet from honey is the answer though!

I figured out something else...but Mama got wind of it...

"Sandy, WHAT are you doing?"
 "Ummm... nothing Mama!"

"Sandy , what are these crumbs on the blanket??"
Darn... forgot about that!
"Ummm.... just tidying up!"

 "Sandy, what are you hiding behind your back?"
Why do humans ask so many questions to which there aren't very good answers?
"Ummm... I was just... ummm... checking to see if these emergency rations really did expire in 1997!"

"You're kidding!"
"Well... actually... the ingredients sound like cookie ingredients and I just wanted to see if they tasted like cookie... because that would be a nice substitute for honey!"

"You ATE some of those????"
"Well, just half of a bar... they taste OK and...

[Note from Mama: Emergency rations confiscated from little bear and little bear's tummy was pumped to get rid of any consumed rations. Honestly... some little bears!]

Big Trees

I got to go on an adventure to the big island yesterday! Yay!!! We stopped at a park at one point and there were some super big trees there - red cedars.

 Wow - some of them are 500 years old - that is way older than a little bear!

 This is me in front of one of the trees... but I wanted a picture with the whole tree...

 But they are beary big and tall soooo...

 That's as good as it gets. Can you see me??? That's not even the whole tree either, but any farther back and you'd need a microscope to see me!

It sounds like red cedars are a beary versatile tree... I wonder if you can keep honey in cedar bark baskets???

The Mystery of the Massacred Molluscs

Yay!! I got to go for a walk down to the shoreline today. The tide was super low - way lower than it has been since we got here. Wait, Mama says it has been that low, just at night when I'm fast asleep. Anyhow... this is the lowest it's been during the daytime since we've been here!

I was happily wandering the beach when I came across this... a huge pile of seashells...

They are oyster shells (molluscs). Some of the shells still had bits of their innards still attached. This looks like a massacre to me! Someone ate all these oysters... who could it be?

This calls for Sherlock Sandy!! I put on my virtual deerstalker hat and went off to investigate.

First... interview some potential witnesses... and possibly uncover the massacre suspect! (I have to be careful typing that word because Mama says massacre and masscara look a lot alike but are beary different!)

This oyster wasn't home when I came by... he might have been a casualty too!

These guys were all still home, tucked up snug in their shells. None of them wanted to talk to me... possibly out of fear of retribution from the unknown perpetrator of the massacre!

Oh, here's a big crowd of starfish having a conference... They all said they hadn't seen anything (starfish don't really have eyes so that makes sense).

Mind you, this starfish has one of his legs in an oyster shell which made me a little bit suspicious!

Oh wait!! There are a couple of witnesses out there! They definitely have eyes and they can have a birds-eye view of things...

Mind you... this guy looks a bit suspicious... with his head and neck tucked down... Hmmm, that is an awfully long beak he has... would be great for prying open oyster shells!

But I need more than my suspicions... So let's see if anybody's home in these little holes.

Ah-hah!!! That big old heron took off! That definitely looks suspicious... avoiding my keen questioning and fleeing the scene of the crime...

Oh, the little holes - only had little gastropods in them... they didn't see anything either as they are usually tucked down into their burrows.

And here are a whole crowd of witnesses! They were kind of clammed-up to start with but then I heard a faint whisper from one of them... "watch the bird"... Well, I already figured it was that heron thing but... then I heard another whisper... "the white bird"... Huh?? The seagull???

So I hunkered down behind a driftwood log with Mama's super-duper point-and-shoot camera on zoom and watched the bird... OH!!! Do you see him??? He just picked something out of the shallows and dumped it on the beach... It looks like... it looks like...

He's eating something!!! My goodness... it's the seagull!! He is the perpetrator of the Mollusc Massacre! Wow... who would have thunk it???

Well there you have it, another case successfully closed for Sherlock Sandy! Onwards to the next case!

A Possible Launch Point

After my little flight adventure on Pant-Tchewsday... Griz said we needed to look for a "real" launching point. I wasn't too sure what he meant as I thought the stairwell shelf was a great launch point! But... I am just a junior bear so... off we went!

Ooooohhhh... we are on top of a mountain! A beary tall mountain... With a beautiful view of the water. Except for that silly chain-link fence!

Griz said we needed to climb the fence to get a better view...

 Oh yeah!! You definitely get a better view from here!

 

 Mama was keeping a close eye on me... she knows me beary well! Plus, it was kind of windy out and it wouldn't have been a good thing if I had blown away! I wasn't wearing any pants to serve as a parchute!

 Look at that view...

 Oh, and that's me getting my head in a shot...

Griz said this mountain would make a great launch point for flying adventures. And he should know because he's the older, wiser bear. I actually think a plane would be quite helpful for any flying adventures... or at least a hang glider!

 We got to sit for a while and just enjoy the view...

This view looks south and if you look at the islands way at the top of the photo... those are the San Juan Islands in the United States!! I thought Jerry and Ben might be there but Mama said those islands are a LONG way from where Jerry and Ben live... and Buttons too. Plus, they are digging out from a super snow storm apparently.

Sandy the Paleontologist

Wheee... we went down to the beach today... or rather the seashore... there isn't much of a sandy beach there. Anyhow, I was walking along and saw something beary interesting.

This rock... it caught my eye because of it's concentric round shape...

Here's a better picture... Does it remind you of something? Anything??? It is clearly a rock, but it looks a heck of a lot like a cow patty!!! I think it is a fossilized cow patty... Yup, that's what I think. Any other theories out there??

Down on the Boardwalk

I was a little bored today and decided to go down to the water at the edge of our property. All winter long, there's been water down there... But not today!

I thought something was weird as I walked down the dock... it smelled kind of stinky.

Ooooohhhh... where'd all the water go??

 It's just a big mud flat...

There's only a tiny stream of water in the middle... Mama says it's because the tide is out. But we've had the tides all winter... why is it so low now??? Mama says that tides are complicated, but that during the winter, the low Low Tide happens at night and during the summer, the low Low tide happens during the day. We are moving from winter to summer... so that is why!

I thought that maybe I could walk out to the water but... that looks like very gloppy mud... and Mama says my boots would not survive that sort of a trek!

Poultry Adventures

Don't blame me!! Mama has been very busy lately and no matter how much I tugged at her pant legs, I didn't get on any adventures... other than Pant-Tchewsday of course! But... I think we might be back on track here!

It was a nice sunny afternoon, although a bit nippy. And I've been meaning to show you all my next door neighbours. They are beary friendly to humans but a little shy around little bears. So we might have to sneak up on them!

First... we go through the gate...

And down the stairs - notice the dew on the grass... I'll have to be careful not to get my boots dirty!

 And then we scamper across the lawn, keeping an eagle eye out for...

 This!!! Do you see that pile in front of me... don't want to step on that, because...

It is chicken poop!! Yup, those are my neighbours! Our landlord lives next door and lets the chickens have a run in our yard (fenced in, of course).

They are pretty cute... and I have a favourite one too... now where is she??

Well, those are two of her sisters there - they are called Golden Sebrights. They are a bantam chicken (small). Their sister, my buddy, is a Silver Sebright... very fetching! And very friendly. Mama feeds her worms when the other chickens aren't looking. I don't touch worms... they would get my fur all gooky! Mama made the mistake of picking up a slug (those little grey ones) to feed the chickens. The slug slime was a heck of a thing to get off of her fingers! Imagine what my fur would look like! Anyhow, Silver Sebright must be laying an egg or something.

Oh, and everyone once in a while, a chicken flies the coop... or at least over the fence. This one is called Fluffy, because she has feathers on her feet too...

Before I went back inside, Mama made sure that I hadn't stepped in any chicken poop... it's beary stinky!!

Boots look clean!! Yay!!