Cookie's Blog

Since nothing apparently has been going on, our dog, Cookie, has decided to start her own blog, right here! Spring is fully upon us, as evidenced by the daffodils in full bloom, and one of Cookies favorite activities is to go to the trail near our house.







It has plenty of trees to sniff, a paved trail to walk on, and lots of squirrels for her to chase! It also has a wonderful stream for her to play in!

Sometimes she just likes to look out and contemplate life.

She even brings Jen and me along with her!

At the end of the day, when she's all wet and dirty, she even gets treats!

Brinkley and Cookie

This past holiday season saw the adoption of two new members of the Branson family: Brinkley and Cookie!

First up, Brinkley, Grandma and Grandpa's smart, playful, and communicative (he has many different meows) housemate:

The day before we were to leave Texas, Jen fell in love with a puppy awaiting adoption outside PetSmart. So of course we had to bring her home with us. We think Cookie Monster (as we call her - she came with the name Cookie) is part Lab, part St. Bernard, and she's 8 months old. Which means she's large, and she loves the snow. Oh, and of course chasing squirrels up trees.

Weekend Blizzard

Blizzards* here are pretty unusual, happening maybe once or twice in a decade. This weekend we received more snow than we got all of last year, perhaps the last two years.

*We call getting over a foot of snow a blizzard down here. Most of you probably call it "Thursday".

Friday night it began snowing. Jen had, fortunately, braved the grocery store earlier that day, and we were well stocked for a weekend at home. The supermarkets here become hotbeds of frenzied activity whenever the merest threat of snow is mentioned.

The next day we found ourselves literally snowed in.

Jen weathered the enforced isolation as best she could. It was touch and go for a bit.

Our two cats were of different minds regarding the snow. Collette, the older cat, was not impressed.

Posey, our more outdoorsy cat, however, did her best to get out and play.

The snow did get too deep for them, and Jen inculcated me to the great Canadian tradition of shoveling snow. Here we are ready to wage a futile battle against the building white stuff.

We also had to cater to the needs of our fine feathered friends. I had to re-fill the bird feeder three times that day. Hordes of grackles, wrens, sparrows, blue jays, cardinals, and even about 20 crows spent time eating in our back yard, much to the consternation of our cats.

By Sunday, the snow had stopped, and people were beginning to dig themselves out. We might as well, sometime.

The kids are testing out their musical abilities. Sadie's is an adaptation from her school concert and Matthew's is a rendition of his favorite superhero song.

I think you all know that I have been making custom leather knife sheaths for some guys through the gun and knife forums I participate in. Well it was all really a build up to me wanting to make a knife of my own. I finally did it.

I chose this style as it incorporates details I like in a hand made knife and the size is because I mostly use (or rather play with) a knife around the yard pruning bushes and stuff.

Here's some pics.

Let it Snow!

Saturday was fun in Maryland. We actually had to break out the snow shovel! This is a bit unusual for the beginning of December and caused great excitement. It also made us stay home for most of the day... people around here do not know how to drive in the snow!