Hi,It has been great having Mike home. He spends a lot of time with us in the back yard, especially when it is sunny, and lately, warm. We are having our February freeze-thaw cycle. Temps during the day have been as high as 40. The snow is melting and would you believe, we had rain last week!
The small birds have been visiting the feeder Mary has in the back yard. I really enjoy watching them and don't scare them off. In fact, I bet I could nap by the feeder and the little birds would not mind. But my girls scare the little birds and it is annoying to the birds and to me. I think the girls want the bird food. You think those dogs were hungry or something. I can assure you they never miss a meal, a treat, or an ear rub either.
The other day while I was watching he birds, one fell out of a tree and before I could get to it to see if it was OK, a big raven swooped down and got it. I started to bark and chase after it , but I cannot jump as high as a raven can fly. He laughed at me and called me a fat old lady. Well Mr. Raven, don't make the mistake of perching in my yard. While it may be illegal for a human to eat raven, it is isn't for a dog. Your time will come for snatching that little bird. The sea gulls are coming back soon as well as the geese and both don't like ravens. Eagles just tolerate ravens and will chase them off.
I guess Mary heard me bark and let the other dogs out from the garage. Sky asked me what I was barking at and I told her and her sisters about the raven and the little bird. Stormy told me that she noticed a raven hanging around the yard near the feeder. Now Mr. Raven better be very careful around our yard cause Stormy can jump, she is very fast, and not fat like her Mama.
By the way, do you know what I am doing 
in this picture? No? Well I am “Husky Snow Bathing”. Yep, I lay on the cool snow and the warm, suns lays om me. It sure feels good.
Remember Bugle Girl? Well she is in the Navy and doing very well. Her Mom says she is on the fast track for promotion. So if you wish to drop Niki a line here is her new address.
FN NICHELLE CUSHING
301 Surfside DR
TH A2
Goose Creek, SC 29445
If you do write to her, please put a return address on the letter. The military does not think too highly of mail without a return address on the envelope. It may not be delivered and could jeopardize Niki's military career. Her Mom told Mike she is getting unsigned letters with no return addresses.
Niki's Mom also told Mike that her husband, Tom, is deployed back to Iraq. Here is his address if you wish to write. Tom played Santa Claus for us one year during a previous deployment when the Rivers Group (that is you guys) sent goody boxes to the troops in his unit.
Here is Tom's address.
SFC THOMAS CUSHING
HQ USF-I BMO
III CORPS
APO AE 09342
Tom says there is a little coffee express called Green Beans Coffee. He has signed up to receive free cups of coffee that have been donated. According to the Green Beans site, Green Beans is a coffee shop chain with many outlets in the Western USA and also Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan, “In our travels to see the Troops, many share with us their sense of loneliness, isolation and feelings of being forgotten. Their commanders tell us that some Soldiers never receive mail from home. In response, Green Beans Coffee has launched “Cup of Joe For A Joe” to let anyone, anywhere in the world, say thanks to our troops through the simple act of buying a cup of coffee and having it delivered along with their own personal note of encouragement into the hands of a deployed Soldier.”
Here is the web site. http://www.greenbeanscoffee.com/coj/index.php Check it out and see how it works.
Mike told me that this is a cool idea since most of the time, the GI coffee is, well I cannot bark what Mike said about it, but take my bark, it leaves much to be desired. Now Tunny is a coffee drinker, better yet a coffee hog. She will drink anything Mike has in his coffee cup. But according to Mike, even Tunny would turn her snout up at this stuff. So if the military folks serving in the war zone can get a decent cup of free coffee (Joe), lets help them do that.
For you youngin's, a cup of Joe is an old term for a cup of coffee and at one time all GI s (soldiers especially) were called GI Joes. GI refers to “Government Issue”. I never knew Mike was tri-lingual. He can speak human, military and techspeak.
Iditarod time is coming up and that means many of our friends will be visiting Alaska for the big race. That is alway a fun time for us. While Mary will be busy with her visiting friends and helping Donna at Husky Productions, Mike has book signings at Borders and Books Saturday (2/27) 1 to 4 and at the ITC HQ at the Millennium Hotel (3rd floor) Friday (3/5) 11:30 to 1.
Mike's last working day is Friday Feb. 26 and he is officially retired on March 1. He already celebrated by buying both Mary and himself new laptops!
Well it is TLC time.
Take care and keep in touch.
See ya, Icy
All of a sudden Stormy started to bark. She was facing the sliding door which leads to the dinning room. I thought Stormy was barking at Mary or maybe that nasty Raven I told you all about who killed that little finch a while back.. When I looked up, I saw a beautiful Willow Ptarmigan on the roof. The bird was pretty and regal looking down on Stormy, Sky, and Tundra as they were barking at it. I tried to get the girls to simmer down and just enjoy the beautiful day and this gorgeous bird. To me it was a real treat, to the girls the bird was an intruder in their yard.
After chow, Mike came outside with us. He let Tundra run in the front, but Tundra found the bird hiding under one of the vehicles in the front yard. The bird flew to the roof top again and assumed her looking at us at below. I overheard Mary tell Mike that she thinks there is a nest of them in our lower lot.
