Category Archives: Animalia

Vertebrate Sapiens

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Humans are so creepy,
with only four legs and
hairy heads and
just two eyes that sometimes
have glassy covers or dark lids which
obscure their eyes completely.

Whenever they see me
they jump and scream
and start flailing their four legs about;
you’d think they’d caught a hornet
in their web.

It’s really quite scary.
I wish they’d leave me alone
and go back to where they came from,
wherever that is.

Sometimes I play with them.
I know it’s not spiderly of me,
but it’s such a kick to hear their squeals when they
pull back the shower curtain and find me
hiding in the bath tub.

This Halloween I think I will dress up
as a human.

The Daily Post one-word prompt: Jump

Weekend Coffee Share 9/17/16

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If we were having coffee, you might ask why I haven’t been posting a whole lot lately. I would tell you I hadn’t really noticed until today, but it’s probably for the best that I post when I have something to share, and not just to meet self-imposed quotas.

I have many interests that seem to ebb and flow: blogging, stained glass, gardening and landscaping (a newly formed interest), home improvement DIY projects, reading, poetry, walking my dog and taking photos, binge-watching entire seasons of my favorite programs on Netflix, playing with my grandkids, playing with my (adult) kids, playing with my food… and probably some other interests that are so far into the ebb stage I have forgotten them for now.

Blogging seems to be ebbing for a bit right now. With the rainy season coming up and more time spent indoors, my posts will likely pick back up. Be forewarned!

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I took my dog Chules to a doggy daycare for the first time this week. It tuckered him out and he’s been napping a lot since. The daycare streams webcams of their play areas so you can see what your pet is up to at any given moment. I admit I spent a lot of time checking in on Chules.

There were a lot more white dogs in attendance than I expected, but I had no problem picking Chules out of the crowd. While other dogs walked or ran around, there was one dog that literally pranced in and out of the camera’s view. That would be my Chules. Perhaps I should have named him Prancer.

I’d better sign off for now. It’s time to attend to something that is definitely not one of my favorite pastimes: house cleaning. Thanks for stopping by and allowing me to put off my chores for a while. If you want to hang around, there’s a pile of clean laundry that needs folding.

No? Alright then. Have a good weekend. Hopefully you will find time to enjoy your favorite activities.

Thank you Diana at PartTimeMonsterBlog.com for hosting the #WeekendCoffeeShare.

Weekend Coffee Share 8/27/16

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If we were having coffee, I would tell you I can hardly believe it’s almost September. I’m looking forward to the arrival of autumn and its cooler weather. The photo above was taken in mid-July, and now the flowers have all dried up and wilted from the recent heat.

This week I’m hosting my daughter’s miniature long-haired dachshund, and he and my Chules are doing their best to keep the lawn watered. It’s a losing battle, but I’m keeping them well hydrated so they can fight the good fight.

If we were having coffee, we might be sitting on my deck in the back yard watching the squirrels as they harvest walnuts from my trees. Sometimes in the late afternoons, the squirrels are so busy in the trees it almost sounds like the crackling of a campfire. Fortunately, Chules is a live-and-let-live kind of dog, so the squirrels don’t have much to fear from him.

My cat Sebastian isn’t much of a hunter either. The few times I’ve seen him actually catch something, he seemed quite surprised and rather confused, not knowing what to do next, and I’ve managed to release the prey unharmed (though a bit damp) from his mouth and send it on its way.

I guess I’d better get started on the day now. I can’t let the squirrels show me up with their industriousness. Thanks for sharing my morning coffee with me. I hope the coming week goes well for you.

#WeekendCoffeeShare is hosted by Diana at parttimemonsterblog.com.

Canine Culpability

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It’s National Dog Day. Let’s celebrate man’s best friend (and world’s worst actors).

 

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“I’m really sorry I did it. Really, really sorry. Um… which ‘it’ did you discover?”

 

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“I don’t know why the cat dug up the water sprinkler, but I scared him away just before you got here.”

 

dog day3

“There’s something stuck between my teeth? How embarrassing. Do you have a mirror?”

 

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Cat: “If stealth were a diet, you dogs would starve. Some day I’ll teach you the fine art of aloofness.”

Dog: “You’re a real pal, cat.”

Cat: “Let’s just keep that between you and me. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”

Weekend Coffee Share 8/20/16

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If we were having coffee… well, we wouldn’t be. Not yet. It’s barely light outside. I’m dog-sitting for my daughter and her sweet Bella seems to think my wake up time should be 3:00 a.m. It’s not.

Nonetheless, I gave up at 5 a.m. and here I sit, eyes half-mast, cold brew coffee not sitting well in my empty stomach, and plotting a very early nap. Like maybe as soon as I get the dogs fed.

I could go out in search of those golden hour photo ops I wrote about yesterday, but the morning sky is hazy today, and the only thing golden I see out the window is my parched lawn. I guess it’s more of a dark straw color, but “golden” makes it sound much more appealing. And almost intentional.

The postal delivery guy accidentally stuck my neighbor’s water bill in my mail box the other day, and when I took the bill over to the neighbor I joked that I guess I could have paid it for him. His response was, “You wouldn’t want to, I’ve been watering my lawn so much this month.”

Hmmm. Did I detect an unspoken “…and so should you,” clause at the end of that remark? Nah. My dead lawn just helps make his look that much greener. I’m actually doing him a favor. Maybe he should be paying my water bill.

It’s getting light outside now. I’d better go feed the dogs. Then I can take my nap. Who cares that it’s only 6:30 in the morning? Not I.

#WeekendCoffeeShare is hosted by Diana at Parttimemonsterblog.com.

Rare Gold: Early Morning Light

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Shortly after obtaining my puppy Chules, we began training. Chules  is an America Eskimo dog, which is a breed known for ease of training, so I was eager to get started. True to his breed, things moved along quickly.

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The first thing Chules trained me in was the absolute necessity of rising early in the morning and heading out for a daily walk before we did anything else. Anything. Like coffee, breakfast, waking up…

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The reward in learning this trick was that I was often out and about during the morning “golden hour,” when lighting is said to be ideal for outdoor photography. Not that I really knew how to capitalize on the opportunity, but I did get some photos during our walks that I was rather pleased with.

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Now that Chules is older, training is less intense, and we sleep in a bit longer. I rarely catch the golden hour anymore, and a part of me misses it. But not the part of me that likes to drink coffee and have an unrushed breakfast in the morning.

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That part of me continues to defy training. As does Chules. I don’t mind, though, because to me, Chules is more precious than gold.

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The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Rare

Eight Things

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Eight things I wouldn’t want to be:

I.  A big fish in a small pond.
8 big fish

 

II.  Just another brick in the wall.
8 brick

 

III.  The lone fire hydrant in a dog park.
8 fire hydrant

 

IV.  A sitting duck.
8 sitting duck

 

V.  On a train to nowhere.
8 train

 

VI.  A thorn in someone’s side.
8 thorn

 

VII.  Moss on a rolling stone.
8 moss

 

VIII.  Caught with my back — or butt — against the wall.
8 back to wall

The Daily Post Discover Challenge: The Poetry of List-Making