What Have We Gotten Into?

Once upon a time, we wandered into a pet shop and bought this adorable little puppy. She looked to be a feminine little dog with lots of little hearts all over her. "Twenty pounds at the most" we were told. She was so tiny.

But now looking back, I wonder if we had listened close enough if we would have heard the snickers behind our backs.

But Victoria was a good choice because Muncie-the-alpha-dog loved her as well and accepted her into the pack. Probably because Muncie was so much bigger and Victoria was so tiny, Muncie knew she could easily put this pee-wee in it's place if need be....

Look how nice Muncie is to Victoria....can't you just hear her saying "Be careful, honey...that last step is a doosy".....


But 3 months have passed, and now look who is towering over whom. Muncie still rules, but only because no one has told Victoria that she could probably take Muncie with one paw tied behind her back.



Did they really say tiny?

Tiny my foot! This is NOT a tiny dog!

Look how long that thing is!

Despite her staggering growth rate, she has proven herself to be a smart dog. She doesn't tangle with Muncie. BUT, she does hold her own in the battlefield with the others.

Her weapon of choice (when she can get it out the dog door).....

A toy sword.

There it goes! SUCCESS!

here she comes....

I wonder who won the battle?

Did I mention that this dog seems to be extremely strong? She can drag a 10 year old as easily as she could drag Muncie (but we won't encourage that sport).



The other thing about this "small dog, half Australian Shepherd, half Blue Tick Hound" is that she has webbed feet. OK. I don't know ALOT about dogs. But I do know enough to know that neither Australian Shepherds nor Blue Ticks have webbed feet.

Those are webs between those toes, aren't they? Isn't that what webbed dog feet look like?


So, if we base her breed on the webbed feet characteristic, these are the possibilities according to Wikipedia: Akita, Brussels Griffon, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Chinook, Field Spaniel, German Shorthaired Pointer, German Wirehaired Pointer, Irish Water Spaniel, Labrador Retriever, Leonberger, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Otterhound, Plott Hound, Portuguese Water Dog, Redbone Coonhound, Spanish Water Dog, Weimaraner, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.

One breed they don't mention is a Catahoula Leopard Dog. This is Sophie's conclusion on Victoria's true identity. Especially since she has one blue eye and one brown which is a common trait for a Catahoula.

Did you know that there are Genetic Tests Available to Detect Your Mutt's Composition
through DNA samples? But, are we really that curious? It wouldn't make a difference what type of dog she is, you know. No matter how big she gets, we will keep her - we're a loyal bunch after all. Still, it would be kind of nice to know what we've gotten ourselves into, don't you think? But then again, maybe a surprise is better. Doggy pot luck. Keeps life exciting that way.

We'll take the good with the bad and love her just the same....just like we do with all people.

The Badness of Cats

Take one really bad dog with puppy teeth that require constant chewing.

(Don't let the fake sleeping pose fool you.)


Add a cohort in crime with very sharp claws that need sharpening often....

And, add a boy who stands on the chew toy/scratching post

(NO. This is/was not really theirs to sharpen claws and teeth on, they did it without permission...and when you have those cute little cushions on the seat of a chair, you don't always notice what goes on beneath the cushion from the bottom side. Until it's too late).

AND......

Any idea how much it costs to repair one of those chairs?


I found out.


I don't want to discuss it further....








But wait, the day gets worse.....

"Mom! Esther left me a present in my laundry basket. Can you come get it please?"

I wonder what it is this time......

Poor baby bird. This is why I don't have bird feeders. We have generous cats and they feel the need to share.

We hope we saved him in time. Poor little birdie. Fly, fly far away...to Robin's Nesting Place, or Mary's paradise , Aunt Bee's Back Yard, or one of those other really nice places..... We love you but it's just too dangerous around here.

Bye, Bye, Birdie.


So....how was your week?

Animal Elections

It's been raining cats and dogs outside this week. And not just this week, the whole month of May has been rainy, rainy, rainy.




So...what do we do on a rainy day?








WE BATTLE!


It's the Re-puppy-kins vs. the Demo-cats!

Representing the Democats:

Queen Esther!

(with Peridot as her running mate)

And representing the Re-puppy-kins:

Queen Victoria!

(With Muncie as her running mate)

And....after a vicious round of back-biting, name-calling, not-so-niceness

Hail to the Chief,

the winner is:


The Re-Puppy-kins!!

Congratulations Victoria. You are president for a day.

Excavating

Ummm....watcha lookin' at Victorina?

Umm...OK....

Watcha doin' Sophie?

" Excavating....want to see all the cool stuff I've found at the bottom of this old compost pile?"


Old compost pile is right. This is the corner that 40 years ago, we used to burn the trash each evening....back when trash burning was allowed. For those of you old enough, remember the smell? It was kind of a pleasant, comforting smell, dont' you think? This corner hasn't seen a fire for many, many years. We did use it for compost once upon a time, but I dont' think it's been touched for the last 5 years or so.


Nothing like getting right down in there and "experiencing" the dirt.


"It's all in the name of Science, Mother Dearest!"

It's hard to see, but she has unearthed old coke bottles, glass fingernail bottles, and other mysterious items that should have never been in the burn pile to begin with. No, Carol, there were no marbles or other childhood treasures. At least not that I know of.....or not the last time I asked. They've been digging back there a lot lately. Looking for more buried treasure I suppose.


BTW...the compost was EXCELLENT! It has been sitting there for years and years. The dirt is rich, black, and beautiful. I should know. I used a lot of it as I planted six flats of flowers today. I would show you the pictures, but that would requiring movement, and I'm too sore to move from this spot. I think I shall stay here forever.......

Another by the way....we've been doing more than just digging in the dirt and planting flowers. We went to see the new Narnia movie yesterday, Prince Caspian. EXCELLENT movie! The kids and I loved it. Well worth the money and missing a bright sunny day outdoors.

We've also moved on to a new book series that we are addicted to: The Dragons in Our Midst series. The first one is Raising Dragons. This is a series of four books by Bryan Davis, that are too good to put down. We actually read the second one straight through by accident. It took about 9 hours and my voice was hoarse, but we couldn't find a non-suspenseful place to stop! Seriously! We're in book 3 right now, and the kids are glaring at me.

It's time to read.

They're waiting.... Not very patiently......

Night-night everyone!

Stuff

Someone is guilty.

"Not me! I wouldn't hurt a flea!"

"I plead the 5th"

"What if I did do? What are you going to do about it? WHAT?"

Sigh....They so know that they are in control around here.

But it was a sad thing. Seth won a free fish at a fund-raiser. He was so proud of his fish. He named it "WINNER". We didn't have a fish bowl (believe it or not), so we did the next best thing.

But in the morning, Winner was a loser. No where to be found. What happened to him in those dark hours of the night? I have my suspicions, and they all involve cats. But, to a little boy, these things are important, so off we go to the pet store.

This fish is named SPIRIT, and it has a new home, complete with a lid. No more cat snacks. (At least not yet).

He's so proud of his little fish.

While we were dealing with life and death dramas at home,

the big boys were off playing.

Guns, rockets.....

I don't get it. It must be a guy thing.

Why would you want to spend all day shooting guns and rockets when you could be out playing in the dirt?

Isn't this pretty?

May

Ahhh.... the mystery of spring, the glory of May.....

You just never know what you might find in the garden when you get up in the morning. These mushrooms definitely were not there when I went to bed.

I know for sure, because each evening Prince Charming and I tour the yard visiting every bed and discussing what needs to be done (not that we end up doing what needs to be done), what we like about the garden, and really, just enjoying what Mother Nature has to offer. We rarely miss an evening. Especially in May when so much is newly in bloom.

Love the Bleeding Hearts



And the Gerber Daisies
You know what else I love about May?

Mother's Day....

This purse screams "Sherry", and I think all who know me would agree.

I just HAD to buy it for myself. It attached itself to me and refused to go back on the shelf. It really wasn't my fault--it just HAD to come home with me.

After all, Mother's Day is the weekend. Right?

I love May.

Garden Bloggers Hoe Down

Its here! It's here! It's THE EVENT OF THE YEAR!

Hosted by Carol of May Dreams Garden.

The First Annual (or is it the one and only?) HOEDOWN!

The first victim --- uh, I mean sweet precious hoe......

What's your name?

"Uh...HOE. Mr. HOE."

How old are you Mr. Hoe?

"Older than the hills. I belonged to Prince Charming's Grandmother and if I remember correctly, her mother. Maybe even her mother..... or was it her dad?"

"I've seen a lot of gardens in my day."

"Hey kid. I'm too old to swing. GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!"

Meet Mr. Pitchfork.

Mr. Pitchfork. Same age as Mr. Hoe.

Old. Old. Old. 1800's old. Well, early 1900's for sure.

I've seen Carol cast a roving eye at this hoe.

She covets it. I know.

BUT. Not as much as this one. This is the one Sophia hides when Aunt Carol comes over.

Doesn't it look majestic? Born before the time of electricity, now at home in a garden with power lines overhead. It knows it's got a job to do, same job as the past 100 years (or so).

It will continue forever more, happily ever after.

At the Zoo....Where it belongs....

Wait a minute...all of our gardening implements seem to be quite old. Is that right? Is that fair?

Yes, after careful reflection, it is befitting of a garden to feel the caress over and over of one with maturity and knowledge, with memories of numerous other gardens embedded in it's metal and wood. Guided by experience, it caresses the earth.

So....we will end this post here... a tribute to the elders of the gardening implements.

Mother Nature

We, as gardeners, like to think we are in control of our domain. But we aren't. That's a myth. Mother nature is in control. And sometimes she plants trees where she wants.

Doesn't matter what we think.

For example. Mother Nature deposited this tiny seed right next to our little pond. Prince Charming insisted we leave it right where Mother Nature planted it. Now, several years later, this tulip tree is a perfect addition to the pond, providing the perfect amount of shade for this area. And the best part, it was free. Thank you, Mother Nature.

Mother Nature wasn't quite so picky as to where she placed this buckeye tree. And see that other "tree trunk"? My sister, Carol thinks that might actually be from the old grape vine that our dad had growing along this fence back in the 70's.

If you look closely, you can kind of see the vine snaking up through the trees.

Isn't this cool? I never noticed the buckeye blooming before. If only Mother Nature had depositing this seedling in the middle of the yard rather than in the back corner hidden by other trees and "stuff".

Here's another Mother Nature dirty trick.

Depositing this red bud tree in such a way that it is forced to grow through the fence. I have tried and tried to kill this thing. I tried to trim it back to the point I was sure it would die. BUT, it persevered, coming back stronger than ever. I probably should have chopped it down, but it's position by and through the fence and in the corner of the house would make it pretty difficult to use a saw on this tree. PLUS, I find it hard to think of cutting down a perfectly good tree that has battled so hard to stay alive. It would be damaging to my soul.

Besides, it's kind of pretty peaking out there from under the eaves, don't you think?

So Mother Nature. I surrender. You may take control. But be nice, please?