ANCIENT ROADS

Yesterday I took a hike with a friend on one of North Pownal's "Ancient Roads" which coincidentally happens to be the road we live on. The maintained section of Tubs Rd ends about three tenths of a mile above us and that is where the ancient section begins. We climbed straight up for nearly a mile, vestiges of stone walls lining the track, until we reached the height of land. This is a wonderful time of year to be up on top as the leaves aren't yet there to obstruct the views. And glorious views there are!! It must have been magnificent up there when it was open meadows for grazing. We continued on eventually crossing the line into Hoosick, NY. There are several hunting camps along the road and one ambitious soul cleared quite a large area and has planted hundreds of apple tree whips presumably to eventually attract deer to the drops. Hope he is young as he has many years to wait til those trees bear fruit. At one point we stopped to listen to a couple of Barred Owls calleing back and forth. No spring birds to be heard up there, just the occasional Nuthatch or Chickadee. We were out for a little over three hours. A lovely adventure.

A Day at the Beach

The girls were enjoying the warm spring sunshine yesterday afternoon. The vet was here in the morning to give the gang their spring shots.

Sonnet was a real *STAR*! I think back to the days when she was emotionally unable to tolerate shots and am so grateful for the power of a tongue click and a bit of food.

Today has been perfectly glorious. I spent a couple of hours this afternoon waging war on Garlic Mustard. This will be my third spring and the battle continues although I am seeing the results of my efforts. There is much less this year than last.