Great Spangled Fritillary!
One of the great pleasures of having a garden is the many visitors it attracts–and I’m talking about the non-mammalian kind. Along with flowers come pollinators, including butterflies, moths and bees. When I take my camera into the garden, I find I am more likely to slow down and look closely at the petals, stems […]
Found and Lost
All of my dogs are good Finders.For example, every one of them can find a microscopic speck of food on the floor. Jasper, in particular, excels at this. He could be running at full speed through the kitchen and pull up short as his big nose catches the scent of Something Good. In my mind, […]
Places Everyone Part II
In my previous post, I began by introducing Pasha lying awkwardly at the bottom of our basement stairs. Like Pasha, our Lilah also likes to sleep at the bottom of the stairs, though in her case, we’re talking about our carpeted center staircase in our current home, with her head resting ever so gently on […]
Places, Everyone, Part I
Years ago, when I lived in my previous house, my Keeshond mix Pasha liked to lie at the bottom of the basement stairs, sprawling in the tiny four foot by four foot space. With his legs sticking out and his head tilted back, he did a pretty fair impression of a dog with a broken […]
A Gardener’s Tail
Scenes from my yard Scene 1: Setting: a garden. Human digs hole. Human gently plants a deep purple petunia in hole. Dog digs hole, unearths petunia. (Hint: it’s the same hole.) Dog runs around the yard with petunia. Roots exposed. Dirt flying. Ears flapping. Happy dog. Dead petunia. (Though said human will try to replant […]
Mother’s Little (or Not So Little) Helpers
Anyone who shares their lives and homes with dogs or cats can tell you that they all love to Help. And they are Very Helpful Indeed. Animals like to Help with all kinds of tasks and chores, whether it’s sorting laundry or cooking dinner or raking leaves. I think there’s some kind of Universal Furry […]
Vocabulary Lesson #1: Cats
There’s something about life with cats and dogs that makes you create your own pet word vocabulary. Today I present some of our cat terminology.
Lilah Becoming Brave
When Lilah first came to live with us, she was scared of everything from my mom’s purse to an anniversary bouquet. With love and training, she became a confident, sweet and friendly dog.
Two’s company, three’s a pack
When Jasper and Lilah first came to live with us, they were nearly the same size, though Lilah was a month and a half older than her “brother.” Those additional weeks–and the maturity that came along with them–allowed her to outwit and outmaneuver Jasper, and enabled her to show her alpha side. As they got […]
Getting to Know Tucker, Part II: Tucker and His Furry Family
It’s amazing to watch the relationships among all the animals in our family change and adapt as Tucker finds his place. There is genuine affection from Jasper and Lilah toward him. And Tucker simply adores his older brother and sister. The cats have come to realize that this new dog is part of the pack […]
Stop, sniff and follow
Put your nose to the ground and follow us on...