Showing posts with label animal children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animal children. Show all posts

Dog Days Of Summer ~ August 3, 2017

I trust this post finds you well and everything right in your world, my friends! Summer is in full swing, with all its beauty that I enjoy so much ~ lovely flowers, sweet birds, bright sunshine and tropical temperatures of late. However, we continue to have our fair share of rain. As a matter of fact, another thunderstorm is rolling through as I write this post, which I did not expect any rain today really! It's in the forecast for the next couple of days, though, so when I awoke this morning, it was on my mind to get the lawn mowed today. And with this afternoon's storms, it's a good thing I got to it earlier than I usually do. If it were let go any longer, I'd have rakings to tend to, and I always try to avoid that! With our very large yard, that becomes a big chore. Maybe that's why so many people these days just hire a mowing company to come in and take care of their lawn. Do you mow your own lawn or have the professionals do it? Right now I prefer to handle the job myself!

While mowing, I love watching the Swallows swoop down. When they first started doing this, I thought it may have been because they actually were trying to follow me and play while I mowed...... But that was not the case at all! Upon further assessment, I realized it was because the mower stirs up tons of bugs that are hiding in the grass, causing them to take flight for safety. THEY are what the Swallows are after ~ and what a sight it is to see these graceful beauties swooping down to catch a quick snack.

Romeo recently had 2 small cysts removed, and an unanticipated teeth cleaning, but I'm glad
he's in tip top shape now. During his pre-op assessment, the vet determined it would be best to clean his teeth while under anesthesia, since they've never been professionally cleaned in all his 8 years. He's coming on the age where he'd start to have problems with infection from abscesses and teeth falling out from rot. Since I certainly don't want that, I opted for the cleaning now. The poor little boy was seriously high when he came home due to the pain killer they'd given him! We were thankful to see him return to his old self within a few days. He just got a bath and nice groom at the salon, so he's looking very handsome, and reminds us of a little lamb. It's hard not to spoil him when he looks so darn cute and cuddly!

Last week we had our road chip sealed. Have you ever had that done to your road? While the process went smoothly and quickly, its after effects aren't so great. With all this rain, it helps to keep the dust down, but that noise...... ooooh! Nothing can help that but time! We, and all our neighbors, slept so poorly the first night or two from it. Since we don't live in a small neighborhood or on a side street, rather on a semi-primary, kind of part country road that seems pretty popular, we have traffic all night long. Not heavy, but still, it's traffic. And sometimes it even sounded like cars were pulling into the driveway. I guess we have at least another week before the sweeper will come down the road to remove the excess "gravel". Then they'll spray the lines on the road. It'll be nice when that time comes!

Well, I'm so glad I had the chance to visit with you, and share some of what's been going on in my world. As I always say, I truly miss my visits with you and not posting for long periods. Come nicer weather, I do so much more outdoors and I generally don't really sit down til mid evening. (And here we are with darkness falling much sooner than before!) Then I have the problem of needing toothpicks to keep my eyes open!! ~ Lol! But I'll do my best, and until the next post, take care my friends! 

 ~ ♥ ~

Settling In To Winter ~ December 12, 2016

It looks as though Winter is here to stay. For a while anyways. (You never know with this crazy weather that's been happening all across the country.) And before we know it, Christmas will be upon us!

I finally took the time to decorate our tree. I didn't pull out the big tree this year, but our medium sized one will do. I also have two smaller trees on display this year - one in the dining room, and one in the kitchen.

Here's the main tree in our living room. It's strung with both colored and white lights. In this picture I only had on the colored lights.


And here it is with just the white lights. 


Lastly, here it is with a mixture of both.......


I really enjoy just the glow of the colored lights in the morning and evening. Sometimes the white lights are pretty by themselves. I guess it depends on the day and my mood! 

During the day, I like to see a more festive look to the tree, so I usually have it lit with both the white and colored lights. This year my ornaments are lots of birds and gold, silver and white globes.... This often attracts the more mischievous one of all my kitties - Ziva. She is a sly one, that precious little girl! The birds, and globes, and oh, those pretty, twinkling lights are just too tempting to bear....She can't seem to keep her paws off of them! :) 
"Is she looking? 'Cause if she is, I can't steal a darn thing from the tree!"
~ * ~

A Change of Season ~ December 3, 2016

While Checkers napped, the cold winds blew, snow began to swirl and accumulate, and Autumn gave up its last long hold to Winter. Just before Thanksgiving, Winter made it's frosty presence here in the Northeast, howling and blowing, making a mess of the roads and cancelling school for not only ours, but many of the neighboring districts. There's just something about that first, wild, crazy snow storm that gets everyone kind of excited about what's going on outdoors, despite the chaos.

I had hardly just finished raking up the leaves strewn around our yard, when the storm winds blew leaves from yards round about us back into our own yard. As the snow began to accumulate, I found the two together made for a pretty picture.
But when the winds picked up later that afternoon, howling through our trees, visibility was quite compromised, and I was glad for our safety indoors and the cozy fire crackling to keep us warm. 

Shortly after Thanksgiving, the air warmed again, melting all our snow, and bringing out some Bluebirds that I haven't seen in at least a few months! One was checking out the clay pot Dean and I made into a simple nesting spot for birds such as Sparrows and Robins. Hmmm, who knows? Maybe the Bluebird will decide that's just the perfect home for it, and will plan to move in next Spring!




No matter the season or weather, I always enjoy those times when I can capture pictures of moments of all that's going on around me, both indoors and out. ☺

I hope you're all happy and well, my friends! What's been going on in your world these days?

 ~ ♥ ~

Tis Tuesday Evening

....and all through the house, 

every precious fur baby is sleeping, 

Melissa

Joanna

Romeo

Checkers

Ziva

except for one who wishes she could find a mouse!
 But this tantalizing feather toy
will just have to do!

Jessica



 ~ ♥ ~

Two Cuties = Too Cute

I guess there are some "ruff" (no pun intended!) days in a dog's life....

And I guess Romeo just really needs to hit the "massage parlor",
a.k.a grooming session, once in a while
for a little R & R....

Which I find absolutely hysterical.
And so does Dean. 

I mean, come on, how hard can a dog's life really be??!!

But, alas, this is what I came upon while puttering around upstairs, finally ending up in our room to put some clothes away.


And....the session continued....
While Romeo just laid there, relishing in all the attention.


Whenever Ziva isn't monopolizing Romeo's time, Missie is waiting there for session #2!!

The dog just does not know how good he has it!!

And one day, Ziva's tongue is going to fall out from all that grooming.

Even A Small Cabinet Helps

Lately we've been battling a bit of extra "stuff" on the kitchen counters. Since my counter space is limited, I need to make the most of it, where I have it! So, I did some figuring and measuring, and decided that there was a small area at the end of the coffee pot counter where a narrow, upright storage cabinet would most likely fit. This prompted an enjoyable trip to the local home improvement store where we were able to purchase a cabinet to meet our needs. (It was the last one they had in stock!)

It would just require figuring out a new place for the display shelf currently occupying that space. Hmm....

Ah! Here is where I could relocate my display shelf, with just a bit of rearranging.

The nearly bare corner actually looks cozy now!

Once home, Dean got right to work putting together our cabinet. The only bad thing was there were only 2 color choices to pick from - white and dark brown. I had hoped they would've had oak, but I settled for white as it at least matched the counter tops. I was on standby to assist, and take pictures, of course! :)



Checkers stopped by during the process for some attention and loving from Dean.

Once all the pegs were in place, each panel of the cupboard was secured into another, and screwed together.

The manufacturer now provides a neat little gadget that helps to hold those tiny nails for securing the back board to the cabinet. How clever!

Once the nail has been tapped in to stand securely, you remove the gadget and finish hammering the nail in.

The final job - screwing the door hinges in place, then hanging the door on the cabinet!
Completed and in place ~ what a beautiful fit. I love how Dean's suggestion of cabinet top accessories really finished off the look!

Look at all that extra space! My heart was so happy with such a little addition that made a huge difference. To date, we have neatly filled all of the shelves and the installation of this cabinet has been a complete success!
  
~ ~
Don't you just love a simple home improvement project?

Buongiorno ~ "Good Morning" in Italian

Good Morning, tea time. You help me to start my day in a nice way.

Good Morning, Romeo. Yes, it's time to play again!



Good Morning, Checkers. Yes, it's morning already! 

Good Morning to you, too, Melissa! Yes, you're still my most cheerful greeter!

Good Morning, Ziva. Yes, you're safe ~ there's nothing to startle you just yet! 

Good Morning, sweet finches. Yes, your welcome singing is as lovely as ever!

~ It's a been a beautiful start to the morning, but now it's time to get on with my day ~

GOOD MORNING TO YOU, MY FRIENDS. 
Yes, I'm so glad you stopped by! 
Have a meaningful and special day. ❤️

A Day In Pictures

Here at home sweet home:

It snowed.......again. No surprise there! It is, after all, winter. But this time it was a gentle, pretty snowfall, instead of the wind driven, lake effect snows we've had of late!


 ~ ♥ ~

 And since Dean has finally returned home from his long, out of state job.....He'll take care of the shoveling today! Phew....
But you'd think we live in Alaska by the way he's bundling himself up ~ Lol! He says being in Florida for so long has spoiled him.....anything under 60 is freezing!! :D


I couldn't help but to snap a few pictures of him "enjoying" the cold and snow. ;) And he can't resist but to smile at my pleasure in all of this!
~ ♥ ~

It was a day to get several loads of laundry done......Mmmmm, I just love the clean scent of laundry fresh out of the dryer!
~ ♥ ~

In between laundry loads, I looked through one of my favorite bird books. I'm getting excited for new ideas to attract birds to my yard this year!
~ ♥ ~

Well, what do you know? I found a large cutting board that I completely forgot I have! Now where do you think I might have found this - perhaps tucked away in the back of a kitchen cupboard? No, silly! It was tucked away in my roll top desk, just where I'd think to look for it, right? 
(Apparently, after having used it as a lap board for my old computer, I never thought to put it back in the kitchen for future use! Wow. I wonder what else I may have hidden around the house?)

Gee, and this is such a nice cutting board to have been without! Since I have a few others, I just never gave the whereabouts of this one much thought! Well, anyways, I'm glad to have it back where it belongs. :)
~ ♥ ~

The house smelled fabulous with the scent of this fresh baked bread. (The loaf didn't even last 24 hours. After all, I'm not sure I know of many people who can resist a slice or two of warm bread just out of the oven!)
~ ♥ ~

And last, but certainly not least, Romeo entertained us with quite a few funny faces....among them was this one. It's like a sideways grin that really cracks Dean up, especially when Romeo is looking quite shaggy like he is now!

Oh, Romeo, you funny little man!
~ ♥ ~

THE END