August 27, 2014

older then younger

The pet portal at the vets has announced that my girls
are now Seniors.
8 years old this year which doesn't seem elderly to me
and
they certainly don't act it.
BUT then again
they no longer do those cute kitten things anymore
the funny side hop across the room, play with toys.
Maybe the word should be mature.

Others lately have lost their older cats, rabbits and have brought in
young animals and then seem surprised
at the noise and activity level.

How easy to forget how busy babies and teens are.





 And the hounds are aging.

I debated a puppy or a rescue when I got Shunka. 
 Having lost a quiet 10 year old, the thought of taking
 on house training & training and all the trouble a pup is was thought provoking. 
 A rescue was no guarantee of quiet. 

 I opted for puppy and then wondered at my sanity. 
 I can not tell you how often I said to myself & others, 
Good lord what have I done!  
Granted Shunka was Dennis the Menace in fur, 
busy, independent, smart and WILD as any dog I have met. 
 Calling and hiring a trainer is an indicator of how over my head I was.  

Shunka is now 6 and while he no longer grabs every and anything he sees,
(tissues, toilet brush, underwear come to mind)
 he still has more energy that I by a long shot.  
He sleeps more now YEAH, but he has not slowed much.



Bringing in my rescue girl Indigo was to help quiet Shunka.
Neutering was also supposed to help.  HA. 
 Indigo has always been quiet to an unbelievable degree.  
Gives new meaning to coach potato. 
HOWEVER,
Shunka was not impressed. 
 At the beginning it activated him as he decided to spend much of his time 
running over& rolling this invader.  Poor poor Indigo! 
At least that seems to be a thing of the past.

Down the line, would I do puppy again?  Kitten again?  

Judging by the stories of friends and my own experience, I doubt it.
We aren't there.  No decision is needed right now. Yeah!



August 26, 2014

August 25, 2014

August 24, 2014

the dome

bonsai and succulents...

hydrangea, grasses, mosses and violas

the pond being a tad overwhelming....started with 3 small plants

Dome was to be a winter hideaway, my warm getaway, etc.  
AND 
it has been.  

Summer is another animal.  
Right now it is in the 90's most days and things are happy. 

 I have just ripped out some overly enthusiastic vines and put in more bonsai.  

I am finding the strange eclectic combination of bonsai, bushes, grasses, 
succulents, vegetables, annuals and water plants rewarding.  

Not what I had envisioned at the get go 
I just thought veg, veg and veg.
(how boring)
It was not happy and I was not happy
It has, like so much it life, 
shifted and evolved, 
and it is what works 
which is the major part of the dome.


Bottom line is ~
It is pleasing me. 

Full size patio umbrella which gives you an idea of the size of my little annual amaranth.



August 22, 2014

rough seas




living on a bog and river we don't see rough waters often.  
These shots are from Woods Pond on a windy day 
which changed the quiet pond.  
White caps and waves made it look like the ocean.  

August 19, 2014

August 16, 2014

oh shit

I can use that title because it is my blog 
and
it is a statement about what ( shit, poo, poop, scat)
was found in the front yard this morning.




I sent this picture to my friend Janet hoping she would say something reassuring like
No of course this is not bear scat, it is scat of something, anything else
but no
instead she said looks like bear to me

Then she showed me her picture taken this week of bear scat 
and wow, doesn't it look just like my shot minus the berries.

Janet's find.

The good news (I guess) is mine was cold and hers was steaming...FRESH.

Did I want to hear I have a bear in the yard eating dogwood berries?
and there are many more berries on the trees!!!!

Think cat, think stepping outside at night to pee.  

We live in the woods
 and
 moose, bear, fishers, bees, porcupine, skunk and many other things share space.
I like to work on the theory 
that they are shy, 
don't want to meet me anymore than I wish to meet them.  

May not be neighborly yet it feels right for things of this nature.

ps these berries must just pass right through the bear
they certainly don't look digested.

Crazy as it may sound this is actually kind of pretty
 for shit...

opps



I  have fallen off the wagon.

Not like me at all.
I have been buying stuff and been given stuff

&

my rule is and has been 

something comes in/something goes out.



Well that is where I have fallen off the wagon.
that going out part has been badly neglected!!!

Time to pull up my socks and get serious again.

With outbuildings I have a tendency to tuck things
out there when something else comes in
OH- such a bad plan!
and often something seems too good to throw away, give away
and we can use it out here.
Bull and balderdash,
piffle and poppycock!





This morning I wondered over to the yurt. 
 I pulled somethings out of trunks, and drawers 
and brought them home, put them in my car
so they can re-homed to some needy cause.

I can guarantee you that the somethings will find good homes
and that the somethings will not be missed.
We have so much, too much 
and staying on the wagon
helps to keep me and the universe in balance.

It is a start.
Next the nest, the garage, the dome and the house.


August 15, 2014

August 14, 2014

playing in the rain

Walking in puddles is good for the soul.  








And there is nothing better than coming in from the pouring rain
to take a warm shower
and a cup of hot tea.





August 12, 2014

down


It is hard to understand depression unless you have played with it. 
 It is a dark hole that you can't see out of.  

Robin Williams lost his battle with depression.  
Depression won and I and the world are saddened 
that he couldn't look up again and find his way out of that hole. 

 It seems almost worse because he was so big, so rich in his sharing 
He touched all of us with laughter.  

He made us laugh and what a huge gift that is

Laughter, jokes, talent were all his
 and in spite of that talent and richness that he shared 
he was on and off caught in that trap of depression.  

 I have shed tears all morning over this loss and I was only touched indirectly. 

 My heart truly goes out to his family and to all of us. 
.Robin Williams then ... Mork. Garp. Mrs. Doubtfire. Leader of the Dead Poets Society. Hairy guy. Williams had done it all before going Oscar diving as the Bunker Hill Community College professor who mentors Will Hunting.

a friend wrote on facebook....I remember the night at Elaine's, I think we were celebrating Carmela's birthday. My friend went for a pack of cigs in the machine and spotted Robin Williams.but was told by a waiter not to bother another customer. Williams saw the intercept and came to say hello on his way out the door. Such a sweet gesture which made our night. I think this was about 1986. After he walked out I succumbed to an impulse and ran a block to catch up to him and give him a hug and tell him I loved him.I have been seeing clips of him and laughing out loud. 
What a loss. How much pain he must have been in, how very sad.

August 11, 2014

favorites


in my pictures I have some that are better...or that I favor.

August 9, 2014

is a good grass growing year a good year?

This is the year of crabgrass - Well all grass for that matter...the year of grass
we have been mowing every week, sometimes twice a week. 


Our weather is obviously making it Happy beyond belief. 
 It is thriving to a degree I have not seen, 
to a degree I would prefer not to see. 

It is climbing up the side of stumps and into gardens.  
Mowing seems to stimulate it 

to go and grow somemore.

It is like the movie The Birds, 
very very

Terrifying 
~
 you can hear it growing, growing, growing.


August 8, 2014

time moves on

One of my many 
many favorite flowers

Columbine

It is incredibly neat with its spurs
and now later in the season
with its seed heads.
please note the neat bug on the seed heads.

It can throw those seeds anywhere and everywhere
and I am happy to see it spread.