Voo is HAPPY. just.. Happy.

Blossoms and potential babies

The mock orange is loaded with bloom this year, and smells so good. That's where the Robins have their nest. Great housing choice, birds! :)

The wren house has a nest of.. House wrens. Hee!
SEVEN eggs in there. Someone was overzealous.
They built their nest with some feathers, sticks and a plastic baggie. What on earth?

Voodoo is EIGHT. I can't believe it. He is a senior dog, by definition. Bird dogs do nothing *by definition*.

Happy (granted, late) Thanksgiving!

A ton of wonderful things and people and LIFE to be thankful for this year.

No small part of what I'm thankful for:

I love my dogs :D

DogBlog! Winter

Right now, I can hear my neighbors' dog barking away.  She's an outside dog.
As most of you know, I don't DO outside dogs.
My horrid horde is inside. Because I live inside.
Yes, my house needs cleaned at a professional level, every day.
 I'm ok with the extra cleaning
-to be fair, I track in WAY more funk than The Horde. I need tied outside.  Michael is covered with MY hair. I shed a lot, apparently. I need to find a dog with 14 inch, chocolate brown hair.
To blame said dog.

No judgment here, really.  If you have outside dogs, you do.
Just do it the best way possible. 
Spend tons of time with your dog. Please.
My neighbor dog was an adorable puppy, frequently seen scampering around the porch with the family. Now? She's tied at the far end of their property. We never see anyone interacting with her.
If you only see your dog for moments a day, you WILL miss signs of a cold dog.

Housing is critical in cold weather areas.
Slapping some wood together just isn't enough...
Insulated dog houses
Check out the link. Ordering an insulated house is easier than building one.
Really.  And you KNOW my love of power tools and building.
Should Michael ever banish me to outdoor living, because of my dirty feet and shedding, I'm just ordering an insulated house.

Bedding is also critical. A fleece blanket or a cushy bed is wonderful..for inside.
Outdoors? Not good.
Straw, baby. Stuff their house, keep it fluffed, check for moisture.
Don't get lazy.
Please.

That ALL being said, get ya dogs in the house with you.
Still, no judgment, but...dogs. In house. Please please?

After all, why have a dog if you can't share your total life...like....

Make them wear stupid headbands:

Take humiliating photos of them sleeping on the couch:

Give them ridiculous pajamas:

Why miss out on THAT?

As a side note to having dogs inside with you, here's a status I posted on Facebook recently:
Dog humiliation triple whammy:
1.Countersurfed a squash, 2.while I was on the phone with a dog TRAINER and 3.shamelessly faked death instead of doing Push-ups as I instructed:

Dogs. They keep you humble.

***
A very special thank you to Sarah Wilson for allowing me to link her work. TO DEATH.

Observations..

During the Great Backyard Bird Count, we ran into several other birders at the local hotspot.
Thrilled, since I rarely see other birders out and about..but...
Something struck me.
None of them were under 60 (and of course, guessing at age.  Guessing generously, at that).

I've been birding since I was 16 or so.  Seeing *older* birders wasn't shocking as a teenager.
But now, decades later, it's strange to still be on the young end of the curve.
WTH?
Why aren't more people in their 30s birding?!
----
Yesterday was warm and mostly sunny.  LOVELY!
I received my giant box of vegetable seeds..and today is gloomy and drizzly and horrid.
Tomorrow? Flurries.
WTH?
I think I hexed myself by ordering seeds and messing around in the garden.
----

Have a pile of pics from the backyard bird count...

Red-shouldered hawk VS crow

Oh.... and a bird dog!

200..

posts!  For me? A miracle.  I get distracted by projects, books, the weather.
Pretty much everything.
This is post 201 and I meant to mention post 200 on that post.  See what I mean?

I should have a giveaway when I reach a bigger number.
  I can give away..hmm..some deer?  The Chaos Dogs?  Michael?
Pig!  I'll giveaway Pig!

It's been a full week since we've seen Pig.  I'm guessing she's gone for the winter.
I checked photos from last year and she vanished in early October.
We haven't seen any signs of a dead animal around (not being morbid, it's just nature) so..
Goodnight, Pig!
I saved this image for her official Fall Retirement.

I have amazing aim, huh?
Don't ask how many flowers were tossed (and eaten) before I landed one.
The key to this is breaking all of the stem off and making sure the back of the daisy is as flat as possible.  Just in case you want to try this at home (yeah, don't do that).

Michael's alarm went off at 4 am.
Voodoo expresses our feelings exactly:

Enjoy your day!
Take a nap for us...

Annoyances..mild to moderate

We took three of the dogs for a ride last night.
While we were stopped at our little local store (deer checking station, beer, lotto, local deer jerky..you know, kick ass redneck store!) some jackass peered into the car and said, "Is that a Llewellin? Does he hunt?"
Nope, he's a family dog.
"Wow. What a waste", he says.

Poor Voo..he suffers so.

Rather than get jackass blood all over my car, I just raised my eyebrow and stared at him.
"Uh..nothing wrong with a good family dog, but it's a shame if he's from good lines.."
*stare*
"Well, none of my business"..and he fled.

WHY do people feel it's appropriate to give their completely freaking moronic opinion to complete strangers?
Plus, Voodoo points tomato horn worms and Japanese beetles for me.  This is far more useful to me than pointing pheasants.  I don't have a lot of pheasants or quail rampaging in the garden.

"But you have bird feeders.. and lots of turkeys I can point!"

-----
We're supposed to have gorgeous weather this coming weekend..yayyy camping!!
Wait.  No camping?! Maybe? Depends on Michael's coworkers (not including his work BFF) and head of HR getting their shit together ..for once?
Oh, God..we're screwed.
----
I felt something crawling in my hair and extracted a stinkbug.  A stinkbug that sprayed me.
I took great pleasure in stomping his stankass.
It took three shampoos before I couldn't smell stinkbug.
To be fair, it's not a horrible smell..but Moderately Unpleasant bug doesn't roll off the tongue.
 FYI: Asking Michael to "smell the back of my head and see if I still stink" got amusing results.


Stinkbugs are everywhere in our area (and the freakin' east coast).  Open the door for a few minutes and they swarm in.  They love to hunker down in annoying places like rolls of paper towels, the hood of your jacket or even better- your sock drawer.
"I swear, that stink isn't my feet."

Pigless!

Because I can't get her on a scale, Larry..
Or make her do tricks, Brian...

We are Pigless today.
Plus, it's pouring. Pig isn't hauling her ass out in this weather for any reason.

Yes, I said pouring.  With 25 mph winds.
Yes, we are going camping.  Packing the car and getting the roof bag on should be an event.

25 mph winds at our destination, too.  Setting up the tent should be..ah..interesting.
Chaos Camping, baby!

I'm completely scatterbrained today..so have some random photos of the Chaos Dogs.

DOWN..STAY...and enjoy the rest of the week! :)

Home..

and no worse the wear...except for my knee and ankle (thanks, Voo).

"OMG you take forever to wake up.  Let's go hiking!"

Our tent attracted wildlife...happily, nothing with fangs or claws.

A bit of our hikes....

Random woman, hiking: Awww are you making that poor little baby dog carry his own water??
That's so mean! *simpers*
Me: No. He's carrying poop.
Random woman stares..starts to walk away...
Me: Why should I have to carry it!?  I picked it up and double bagged it..biodegradable bags, no less.

Ah well...

Some hiker out there has a good sense of humor!

Hey, Universe, look over there!
We're trying for another quickie trip next weekend.  Fingers crossed!