Two for Sunday

There was an oak tree on the fence line in our front yard for years. The trunk was mostly in the neighbor’s yard, but it had grown through the fence and tree branches hung over both yards. A couple of years ago we had the tree taken down, but the remains of the stump are still embedded in the fence. Now there are mushrooms/fungi growing on what’s left of the trunk.

It was exactly 1 year ago today that our sweet Sophie passed away. She was a beautiful, happy, loving girl and we still miss her every day. Here is one of my favorite photos of her–taking a nap on my robe, with her head on her hedgehog toy.

Christmas Anoles and More

Pleasant weather on Christmas morning means that anoles were out enjoying the sunshine. I saw at least a half dozen anoles on the fences.

Another Christmas anole.

I held off on picking our ripening cherry tomatoes until today, so I could say we had a harvest on Christmas day.

More little tomatoes. The one on the right had split and had to be discarded.

Max thoroughly enjoyed his first Christmas with us–probably his first Christmas in a home with a family. He loves dog toys, so we got him a batch of new toys. I wrapped them loosely in Christmas wrapping paper (he also loves to tear up paper), and Max had a wonderful time ripping off the paper and finding his new toys. Here he is checking out a squeaky purple bird.

And here he’s cuddling with a furry blue lion.

I spotted this red flower growing up over the fence in my neighbor’s yard .

Last for today is my favorite Christmas card photo ever, from 2014 . We missed our sweet girls Sophie and Lulu today.

 

A Few for Friday

The Eastern Phoebe was back again today. I’ve been seeing it often over the past week or two.

With Christmas coming soon, I’ve been thinking of Sophie and Lulu and missing them. We always had fun with them at Christmas, with new toys for Sophie (who loved to play with toys) and some special treats for Lulu (who ignored toys but loved to eat). It has been 8 months now since we lost Lulu, and almost 7 months since we lost Sophie. Here are a few memories of our girls.

 

A Few for Friday

Sophie and Lulu are always on our minds and in our hearts. We mention them often, remembering funny and sweet things they did. We have a group of photos of the girls in our dining area where we can see them every day, and right now the vase of Thanksgiving flowers is just below them.

Max was very excited about Thanksgiving, probably his first inside a house with a family. He seemed amazed by the turkey–he kept poking his head up to stare at it on the counter or on the table. And ever since then he’s come to look at what’s left of the turkey in the refrigerator every time I open the door. He got a bit of turkey in his supper on Thanksgiving and again tonight, which made him very happy.

There was a row of 26 pigeons lined up along a nearby wire this morning–too many to fit into one photo to post here without turning them all into dots. So here are a dozen of them, about half the group.

And here are  4 more, looking as if they’re conversing in pairs.

 

Belated National Dog Day

Yesterday was National Dog Day, and since I forgot to post dog pictures yesterday, I’m posting them today.

Here’s Max in the yard yesterday, celebrating National Dog Day with his new toy.

My dear Sophie and Lulu. I still miss my girls every day.

This was Bonnie, our little sheltie mix. Twenty years ago I brought her home from the animal shelter as a puppy. She was a sweet, gentle, smart little dog who lived to be 15.

Another dog from the past, our basset hound Buddy. He was a rescue dog in search of a home and we took him in. Buddy was an amazing agility dog! Agility is not a typical dog sport for basset hounds, but Buddy loved it so much and earned a couple of titles.

I did not take this beautiful action shot of Buddy–I was running the course with him, directing him to the obstacles. The photo was taken by a wonderful agility photographer, Tien Tran, at a trial about 15 years ago. I have always loved this picture!

 

 

My Twinn Doll on Friday

I realized it’s been quite awhile since I featured any of my dolls, so today I got out one of my My Twinn dolls for photos. This is one of the 23 inch dolls, with vinyl head, lower arms, and lower legs, and a stuffed body with an armature. These dolls can stand alone and can hold many poses. My Twinn had many different face molds to choose from–this little girl has one of the Asian face molds called Berkeley. She was made when the My Twinn company was located in Virginia in 2003.

My Twinn had many choices of hair color and style, eye color, and skin color. This Berkeley has dark brown hair, brown eyes, and light tan skin. I removed her original eyes and gave her the eyes she has now, which I like much better. She is wearing a striped top and tennis shoes from My Twinn, and I sewed her elastic waist jeans.

One more of Berkeley. My Twinn has unfortunately gone out of business and no more new dolls are being produced, but used dolls–often in nice condition–can be found on ebay.

Last for today is one of the last photos I took of Sophie. I missed her a lot today, and I looked for photos of her from this spring. She looks happy out in the yard here.

Sunday Photos

More mockingbirds after the tomatoes today. This one was on the fence, preparing to strike. Lots of speckles on this young one’s chest.

This mockingbird grabbed a tomato and flew off with it, landing at the back of the yard. The bird dropped the tomato which rolled off to the right, out of the photo.

The young mockingbird found the tomato a moment later and stood guard over it while other birds approached.

Max kept busy trying to guard the tomato plants and chase away the birds. Here he is, keeping an eye on things. We’re enjoying Max, especially now as he’s settling down. He’s still a bundle of energy and needs lots of play and exercise, but he’s much calmer than he was when he arrived.

Not a day goes by that I don’t miss my sweet girls Sophie and Lulu–Sophie with her happy smile and constantly wagging tail, and Lulu who always begged me for belly rubs and dog cookies.

 

 

 

 

 

Dogs on Thursday

Just a few dog photos today. Here’s Max in the yard, giving a big yawn. He likes to settle down in the grass near the back door, just lying there and looking around.

Lying around in the grass doesn’t always last very long, though–Max is a busy, active boy. Sometimes he gets started running really fast in big loops around the backyard, including circles around the shed. He’s kicking up a little dust behind him here.

He sometimes likes to take a toy outside with him.

He couldn’t be happier–out in his yard in the sunshine, lying in the grass, playing with his toy.

And here’s one of my favorites of my girls Sophie and Lulu. I was taking photos of them sitting together, but the girls touching their noses together was unplanned and spontaneous. I’m happy I have this shot.

Tuesday Photos

Full moon.

Swallowtail kite. I’ve seen the kite several times recently, but this is the first time I got outside with the camera before it flew off. Unfortunately it was pretty high up in the sky, so the photos aren’t as good as they might have been.

One more of the kite.

Max on one of his daily anole hunts.

Max looking happy and handsome. He loves going out in the yard with me.

I still think of Sophie and Lulu every day, and I miss them both every day. I’m glad I have so many photos of my girls. This is Sophie looking out the front window as she was waiting for me to come home.

Funny Sophie, trying hard to be inconspicuous as she attempted to stalk a nearby bird. It never worked for her.

And sweet Lulu, enjoying some time in the sun.

 

Birds and Dogs on Tuesday

I saw branches stirring in the tomato pots today, and finally a visitor emerged and hopped down to the ground: a little Carolina wren. These birds are naturally curious and can’t seem to resist inspecting everything they see.

One more of the wren.

We had a thunderstorm this afternoon, and when it was over, I saw this mockingbird holding its wings open. They do this sometimes when catching insects on the ground, but this bird was up on a post just after the rain, so I suspect it was drying its wings.

Mockingbird looking down below for insects.

This bird puzzled me and I finally had to turn to a bird identification group for help. They said it was a male house sparrow. House sparrows usually have darker, richer coloring on their wings and back, but the group felt this bird was still a house sparrow. House sparrows are considered common birds, but I don’t think I’ve seen one in the yard before.

Richard came out to see Max again today. He stood up on his hind legs, gazing down at Max.

Nose to nose here.

Thinking about my girls today, so I looked for a photo of Sophie and Lulu. I still miss them so much.