Filed under: dogs
Sometimes (and by sometimes I mean alllll the time) friends have babies and then they pretty much disappear. It looks like that isn’t going to be the case this time with my friend April. She has always been there for me and is such a good person with a huge heart. And now she has this baby. He’s almost a year old, and also….he doesn’t cry when he sees me like most babies do!
So yesterday I took the morning off from work to get my sad car worked on. April picked me up at the mechanic and we took the bairn to the Tucson Botanical Gardens where I forced him to smell things.
It was just a good day.
I have a membership to the gardens but I rarely go in the winter months. Not much is in bloom….unless you look closely! Some tiny cacti had blossoms. Even the little living rocks! I’ve never seen them bloom before.
living rocks
There were Painted Lady and Queen butterflies everywhere we looked.
Then I got dropped off at the garage with my camera bag and a $3 Swedish Ivy. The plant of my people.
Filed under: dogs | Tags: border collies, cacti, cacuts, desert, dogs, flowers, photography, plants
My dad gave me this cactus maybe 5 or 6 years ago as a cutting. It’ hasn’t grown much or done anything. Then recently little pups have popped up and last night I saw a flower bud. I didn’t notice it earlier because it’s kind of out of the way in a non-watering area. Then this morning…..
late bloomer cactus!
So vibrant. So as long as I had the camera out I thought I’d show you the current state of the plants in my back yard:
Here is one of the night bloomers. Second go around this summer. Two blooms opened last night!
cereus
And I don’t know what this is. These were on sale at Home Depot so I took a chance…
cheery flower
And this guy….
bryophyllum daigremontianum
Also known as a “mother of thousands”, this bryophyllum daigremontianum is about 48 inches tall and will have some interesting flowers later in the year.
And the Basil…
Basil
And for lunch I made a fluffy omelet with this basil, sliced grape tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. So good!
spruce cone cactus
I have a few of these but this one is going crazy. He has been growing straight up all year, then last week he appeared to fall on his side. But now he has turned himself back to fast the other direction. Love him!
mexican fencepost cactus
portuclaca
I don’t know what this is. A friend gave me the cuttings a month ago and he’s really doing great.
cactus
And here! a locust exoskeleton on a carrion plant!
carrion plant
And it’s a good thing the yard is big, because in between all these plants we need room for this:
so, i have a new blog, but it is very border collie-centric!
you can find it here: http://bordercollieproject.com/
i’ll try to start adding more stuff about cody bear to this blog. i know it’s been a while….
we’ve been busy…..
😉
Filed under: animals, dogs, life, love, pets | Tags: animals, border collies, dogs, friends, love, mutts, pets
we’re in the new house!
spree loves the house. that surprised me. i thought the 16 year old cat would be peeved.
but no.
pickles is fin. she loves the place. and after almost a year of horrible illness, she’s romping around like a nut!
but cody bear? he doesn’t like it? he misses his yard. his stuff. the things he barked at.
he hates the dogs that bark on the other side of the new fence and the lack of stuff to watch out the window.
but we’re going to work him through it…..
so here’s to 12. home improvement. healthy dogs. more successful business and lots of loving friends!
Filed under: animals, dogs, life, pets | Tags: animals, dogs, life, pets, photography
and so cody bear and pickles have found themselves house sitting! they’re keeping their friend hannah company while her dad is out of town.
fun for pickles who has been playing with all hannah’s lovely toys, and relaxing for cody bear who is recoving from an asskicking surgery.
we end up going home for meals, as, between the two of them, there are a great amount of pill bottles involved.
hannah enjoys watching pickle play with her toys, but she’s a little older so she doesn’t join in with the romping.
tomorrow we go home. house cleaning and a photo shoot for me. relaxing and getting snuggled for them. you know….much of the same for them.
moving on to the serious news…we find out sometime after tuesday if cody bear’s tumor was cancer. i’m nervous, i won’t lie. but i will be surprised if it is bad, i mean….this is the healthiest the bear has ever been. it will be quite unfair if, after years of trying to get his health in order and achieving, we find he has cancer. that just won’t be fair. no other way to say it.
aside: the house we’re staying has a couch! we don’t have a couch. and i’m sitting on it. so posh!
my feet are on the coffee table and the baby loves are laying beneath my legs. i’ll wake them up soon…when i’ve had my fill of cable tv. oh livin’ the high life at hannah’s.
Filed under: animals, border collies, canine, dogs, life, pets | Tags: animals, border collie, dogs, life, mutts, pets, veterinary
oh my GOD a STICK!
should i be sad that there is nothing in this world that gets me as excited as my dogs get when they see a random 14 inch piece of tree branch?
i mean….i love a good meal with friends, an outrageous sale price is nice, a pint of guinness always hits the spot, but NOTHING gives me the wide opened eyed joyous “holy shit” look on my face that the dogs get with a stick or a piece of beef or a new squeaky.
check out pickles….
also, they’ve got the “no worry” thing down. mommy foots the vet bill, food bill, pharmacy bill…which is high. at the end of october vet bills will be more than….$1600/month.
so keep smiling pickles. keep grabbin’ those sticks cody bear. just please….stop eating dangerous shit and chasing things that will bite you. that’s all i ask. that and for cuddling and some laughs each day.
and thanks.
Filed under: animals, dogs, life, pets | Tags: animals, dogs, life, pets, random, vet bills
even with the tiniest drop in temperature cody bear is back to snuggling in the mornings. he gets so hot in the summer with all that fluff. but the cooler temperatures mean me waking up before dawn with a very patient, cinnamon dog staring at me. as soon as my eyes open he shifts his gaze to the exact part of the bed he wants to snuggle up in and waits for the go ahead!
so that was nice to go back to sleep to. i haven’t been sleeping well because i’ve been worried about cody bear’s tum0r (removal thursday) pickles’ on going weird health issues (x-rays and nutritional response testing wednesday), money and finding a renter so i can move into the new place.
when we finally did get up there was a high speed chase…
followed by a short constitutional through the neighborhood then i was off to work. where i sit now…still worrying.
high points for the coming week: meeting an artist who will paint a cool graphic in the foyer of the new house. (before and after pictures in the future!) photo shoots, vet appointments, team trivia tonight, ….and who knows what else.
Filed under: animals, dogs, life | Tags: animals, dogs, life, pets, photography
why are cody bear and pickles smiling?
i don’t know, really. they’ve had a rough year. perhaps they’re smiling because 2012 is going to be a healthy and happy dog year? sorry i’ve been absent so long. pickles struggled with health all year. we’re still trying to get her feeling better. she is puzzle.
but through it all she keeps smiling and wagging.
as does the bear….who is having a tumor removed next week. the 20th. so please keep him in your thoughts that day.
now….in other news. another reason i’ve been busy: my photography business is off the hook. how did this happen? i just had my first show last month and it was a great success. i’ll get some pics and details up next.
i’m back to blogging. thank god.
Filed under: animals, border collies, canine, dog, dogs | Tags: animals, border collie, canine, cute, dogs, pets
what a joker….
Filed under: animals, border collies, dog, dogs, love, pets | Tags: animals, border collies, dogs, love, pets
hey, i don’t WANT to eat those damn girl scout cookies!
but the little kids are standing out there practicing their guerilla cookie sales techniques. i’ve just come from a vet appointment so i’m feeling depressed and vulnerable. i’m looking for a pick-me-up.
the box is 4 bux. i hand her a fiver. the neighboring brownie says “would you like to donate the remaining dollar to…?” i say sure, but i have no idea what for. could have been brain melting girl scout research. could have been homeless pigs in south america. i don’t know.
just keep the change. i have my cookies. i’m going home with them.
why the need for thin mints? after years of obsessing over cody bear’s ailments and flippantly mentioning my cheap dog, my healthy dog, pickles, she’s been costing me about 300 bucks a week. the dogs….are killing me. and i’m letting them.
i’ve talked about wine and beer pairings in the past. tonight’s pairing?
well, nothing goes better with 100 dollars worth of dog pills like a 4 dollar box of thin mints.
ahhhh. self medicating.
now, back to pickles…
she is overly enjoying her patient role. she is capitalizing on the fact that i don’t want to lose her and hopping in the car whenever she can. “rub my head”, “let me linger”.
“and isn’t it time for medicine? and doesn’t my pill need to be slathered in peanut butter? yes? that’s what i thought.”
meanwhile, the bear is fit as ever. you should see him.
my one wish for all of you is that you can some day cuddle him and feel how thick and plush and luxurious his fur is. but…be warned: if you get to close he’ll suck you in with his gaze and next thing you know…..
you’ll be giving him money for vet bills.
that’s how he got me!
jk. i love them. just venting.
good night everyone.
no really….that’s how he got me….
