Category Archives: Amazing Animals

Thoughts on a Tuesday – June 23, 2020

Our forecast is ‘Downpours this morning and scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. Chance of rain 100%”

 

Jimmy Nyakora via Scene and Heard – Match Box Quotes

Other than the downpours and thunderstorms, I’m hoping for a quiet rain. I have no big projects for the day. I wanted to finish weeding my veggie garden, but it looks like that won’t be in the cards today. My husband planned to mow the lawn, but that probably won’t be happening, either. All that will be waiting for us when Mother Nature decides to cooperate.

Our DirecTV system has a nice feature where you can pause a program and it will record it for you until you want to resume watching later. This causes a ‘buffer’ to form, where you can then fast-forward through commercials. We are totally addicted to this feature.

My husband and I have a running ‘discussion’ about why the feature doesn’t always work the way he thinks it should. It will hold about 40 minutes on pause, and then it starts playing. (Hopefully, we have it muted, or else it sounds like the TV is possessed, coming on by itself and talking erupting in the living room while we are in our home office.) Either way, the buffer is filled up and the TV plays. Sometimes the buffer is retained and sometimes not. We cannot see a pattern.

It REALLY irks my husband. He is careful to set it up at night so that we have a full buffer in the morning and he is able to zip through commercials to his heart’s content.  When, for some unknown reason, gremlins have done their work and the buffer is ‘gone,’ he gets frustrated and angry. Our ‘discussions’ haven’t solved the problem. He refuses to call DirecTV to try to get an answer. And so, the ‘discussions’ continue…

We MAY have another raccoon. This would be #6 this season.

Getty Images

The sweet things won’t share, or we wouldn’t have a problem. They eat EVERY seed in EVERY feeder, and many time trash the feeder in their efforts to chow down. My husband will set our humane trap tonight and we’ll see if we capture another member of this year’s family to relocate with the others.

Foundation Pest Control

I mentioned that it MIGHT be the squirrel family we have this year. Yesterday I saw THREE squirrels at once being quite active and athletic on the feeders. That’s the first time I have seen three at one time. One was sitting in the shovel bird feeder, eating the seeds we leave there every day. A second was at the main bird feeder, hanging from his back legs as he avidly ate as much as possible using both hands to grab seeds. A third was in the gallon-sized clear bottle that sits on another feeder in our window. He was all the way inside the bottle, filling his cheeks.

Mourning Doves-Shutterstock.com

We usually have a pair of doves who sit on one of the electrical lines that cross the back of our yard. I haven’t seen them lately. I hope they are okay.

I hope that you are having a really nice day.

 

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Impossible

Cynthia E Varnado-The Honest Kitchen

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Animal Paintings by Slaveika Aladjova

Slaveika Aladjova

 

Slaveika Aladjova

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Who, Not What

Shakepaws.com via Play Bark Run

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Wonderful Animal Paintings

Hazel – Sites at Dartmouth

 

 

Ethel – Sam Dolman

 

 

Bonding – Sam Dolman

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I Love Cats

icatcare.org

“As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat.” ~ Ellen Perry Berkeley

 

Live Science

“I got rid of my husband. The cat was allergic.” ~ Anonymous

 

PetWebMD

“As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time well knows, cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human kind.” ~ Cleveland Amory

 

PetWebMD

“You cannot look at a sleeping cat and feel tense.” – Jane Pauley

 

Trupanion

“Love me, feed me, never leave me.”- Garfield, Garfield –The Movie (2004)

 

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I Love Dogs

Cane Cucciolo Wallpaper by Djlcio

“There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.” ~ Ben Williams

 

Rover.com

“Properly trained, a Man can be Dog’s best friend.” ~ Corey Ford

 

The Happy Puppy Site

“You can say any fool thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, “My God, you’re right! I never would’ve thought of that!” Dave Barry

 

Wallpaper Access

“My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am.” ~ Unknown

 

Petfinder

“The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.” Samuel Butler

 

National Geographic

“One reason a dog can be such a comfort when you’re feeling blue is that he doesn’t try to find out why.” – unknown

 

Live Science

“The average dog is a nicer person that the average person.” Andy Rooney

 

Humane Society

“When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.” ~ Dog Wisdom

 

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The Art of Nick Sider 3

Nick Sider via Emma Taggart – MyModernMet

 

 

Nick Sider via Emma Taggart – MyModernMet

 

 

Nick Sider via Emma Taggart – MyModernMet

 

 

Nick Sider via Emma Taggart – MyModernMet

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The Art of Nick Sider 2

Nick Sider – via Emma Taggart of MyModernMet

 

Nick Sider – via Emma Taggart of MyModernMet

 

Nick Sider – via Emma Taggart of MyModernMet

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Happy Fish

I just finished cleaning out the aquarium, scrubbing the fish, and putting it all back together again. (Okay – I don’t scrub the fish, but I THINK about it each time.)

 

You can see the large gold fish well, but you can’t see the WHITE gold fish.  He IS in there, just crowded out of the picture.

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Peace

Barbara L. Diamond – Boom2Bloom

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Dogs Have a Way

Thom Jones – PlayBarkRun.com

 

We found and adopted Molly in 2005.  She was 15 in February. She brought a light-hearted goofiness to our home, even making our pit bull, Bambi, smile.

Bambi is gone now. We have Amber, a 95-pound 3-year-old yellow lab now. Sadly, Amber is jealous of Molly – after initially getting along fine – and so we are very careful to keep them separated.

I told you recently that we discovered that Molly has cancer.  The vet examined her, cleaned out a really ugly place that had sprung up on one side of her mouth, and sent her home with antibiotics and pain/inflammation medicine for 14 days.  We had agreed that if she had some quality time left, we wanted her to have it.

You see her sleeping at my feet as I type. She now rests well. When she awakes, she is full of energy and barks sharply for us to let her out. Many times she barks again within a very short period of time, knowing that she gets a treat when she comes back inside. She is taking great joy now – gaming the system – going in and out countless times each day. Her bright black eyes sparkle and she grins each time she gets another treat.

She is prancing around the yard, hopping around, playful as she hasn’t been in years. I’m playing with her, then spending as much time as I can each day, giving her as much love as possible. She is getting a lot of happy dog days now, and we are treasuring each one.

One happy day at a time.

 

 

 

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Beware

Liucija Adomaite – BoredPanda

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Thoughts on a Thursday – June 11, 2020

Photo via J. Robert Bennett

Isn’t this a wonderful photograph? I don’t know who the photographer is, but Robert Bennett devotes a lot of his time to protecting wildlife and posts the wonderful photos he finds.

Depositphotos

We have had a busy morning. We caught Raccoon # 5 in our humane trap overnight, so we drove out to the spot where we relocate raccoons and he leaped into the small stream with great energy. (My husband put the trap in the middle of the deck floor, but this one apparently moved it so much trying to get out that he got close enough to our grill to trash the cover.  We will just live with the trashed cover until next year, since the damage is at the bottom of it. ) We are HOPING that this is the last of the family and that we are now free of the sweet, but destructive critters now – at least until next year…

While we were out, we went to the clinic to get the lab work needed for our doctor appointment Monday. Of COURSE, they didn’t have authorization for MY lab work when we went in, even though they called to confirm the appointment for Monday. I have a GIFT for having my paperwork, authorizations, etc. lost, or the statistics that should apply to me, NOT…. I have hoped that I would finally get old enough to outgrow this ‘gift” …

We are finally out of the intense rain we have been having. The weather is gorgeous right now. Sunny, nice temperatures, and low humidity. We have our doors open and are really enjoy airing out the house and enjoying the breeze.

I plan to spray another container of weed killer today, plus do some weed whacking. All the rain followed by sunshine has caused a huge spurt of growth that we are trying to keep under at least reasonable control. My husband just finished mowing the yard a couple of days ago and it already needs to be mowed again.

First, lunch!

Have a wonderful day!!!!

 

 

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Lovely Leopards

ArcGIS Story Maps

 

Big Cat Rescue

If we can teach people about wildlife, they will be touched. Share my wildlife with me. Because humans want to save things that they love.”
― Steve Irwin

photo via RJ Bennett

Wild animals are less wild and more human than many humans of this world”
― Munia Khan

Minnesota Zoo

When you look a wild animal in the eye, it’s like catching a glimpse into the soul of nature itself”
― Paul Oxton

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Cats – Connoisseurs

James Herriot – Country Living Magazine

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Love

Kinky Friedman via PuppyLeaks.com

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Thoughts on a Sunday 6-7-2020

picturequotes.com

Our Sweet dog Molly is better with the antibiotics and pain/inflammation medicine we got from our vet. She is sleeping now, but actually barks to be let outside and then barks again to come back in – playing the ‘system’ of getting a treat for doing that – over and over. I’m playing right along. The swelling on her mouth has gone down a lot and she actually smiles at me when I hug and pet her. Each day is a gift now.

Molly Resting

 

I worked out in the yard early this morning, since the heat index for the afternoon is forecast to be 105 degrees F. My husband had asked me to spray weed killer on the north side of our shop. I mixed up a 2-gallon container and hosed everything down there, plus around my garden and under my planter boxes. I have just put Benadryl Ointment on the tops of my feet and my ankles because they are acting like I must have walked through poison-something-or-other. :0(

I also used our heavy duty tomato cages to prop up our now really bushy tomato plants in both brick planters on the far side of the yard from the main garden. We now have little bitty green tomatoes!  I hooked up the hose and gave both planters a good drink. We haven’t hooked up our irrigation system for the yard because we have been getting a good amount of rain until the past few days. We are due to get the remnants of Cristobal tomorrow evening, so all should get a good drink.

These are the yellow crookneck squash and zucchini plants I put in the garden recently. They are looking happy, but haven’t started sending out vines everywhere yet.

My husband had a second stroke recently. We went to our primary doctor, who wanted him to have tests, but he refused. He said to me, “Last time we did it YOUR way (meaning testsa and doctor appointments), so this time we will do it MINE.” Needless to say, I’m not happy about this, but he is adamant. (If you look up the word “stubborn” in the dictionary, you will find my husband’s picture.) So we will HOPE that he doesn’t have another stroke for a long time (the time between the first one and this one was almost one year.) I will continue to try to keep him as healthy and happy as possible.

Rick James-Quotefancy

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday. Take care and stay safe.

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Cat Quotes – Pose

Lillian Jackson Braun – Bloom2Bloom.com

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The Best Dog

55quotes

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Sad News

Molly

We took our sweet Molly to the vet’s office this morning for a sudden nasty place on the side of her mouth. I thought she had been bitten or stung. The vet called, telling me that it looked like cancer, wanting to know what we wanted him to do. We had an honest, blunt discussion. I finally asked him to look at the place carefully, decide if he thought she was ‘fixable,’ and to call us back.

He called back, saying he was 99% sure it was malignant cancer. She is 15 years old, mostly deaf and has cataracts, as well as cysts, lumps, warts all over now. I asked if he thought she might have any good, fun, doggy time left to enjoy. He said, “yes,”  with antibiotics and pain meds to get her back to the best place possible.

We picked her up about 3 pm this afternoon. She is agitating for food, but we can’t feed her until tomorrow morning. We will then add an antibiotic pill and a pain pill for the day.

We knew this was coming, but the suddenness of this is a shock. We will make sure that we make every day we have left count, giving her as much joy as we can in whatever time remains.

(She is resting comfortably at my feet as I type this.) We have been so lucky to share her life.

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Cat Quotes

Nan Porter – Good Housekeeping

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Dog Quotes

Groucho Marx via Country Living Magazine

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I Love Elephants!

University of Washington

  • Elephants are so clever they can peel their own bananas, corn and lots of other food.

  • An elephant can pick up a coin with his trunk – he can also pick up a tree trunk.

  • The Asian elephant has one finger on the end of the trunk the African has two

 

 Getty Images

  • An elephant lives on average to the age of 70 – the same as humans

  • Elephants are very emotional – they cry when they are upset and squeak and trumpet when they are happy

  • Elephants are so clever they even play jokes on humans

Mother Nature Network

  • In the wild, a mother elephant has help with the babies from other elephants – who are known as Aunties. A new mother will choose her aunties and together they will raise the baby.

  • They love to swim, bathe and play in rivers

 

Mark Drury via John Steed-Save Elephants via Penny Yaffe Krakow

  • A young male elephant stays with the herd until he is about 15 years old. He then leaves and lives alone like most bull elephants

  • Elephants only eat plants, grass and fruit – they don’t eat meat.

 

Journal

  • They love squirting themselves and people with water using their trunk like a shower

  • Elephants are scared of dogs

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Privilege of Animals in Your Family

via Jennifer Ann Mitchell Carroll

We have the privilege of having 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 gold fish in our family.

 

Smoke

 

Abby

 

Molly

 

Amber

We are, of course, hoping all of our animal friends will last forever.

Molly is 15, though, and is almost totally deaf, has cataracts, and mysterious wart-like things and cysts here and there.  She has many days where she totally enjoys life, however.

An example – today I let her out of the front door. I followed her because I wanted to water the elephant ear plants on the front porch, plus cut off one leaf that needed to be removed. As I walked with the cut leaf across the yard, Molly jumped and danced, wanting to play. What a joy it was to see her bright eyes, laughing face, and sweet little body leaping back and forth and barking at me, thinking the cut-off-leaf was a toy!

We are rich in animals. I can’t imagine my life without at least ONE.

I’ll probably end up being an old lady whose house is FULL to OVERFLOWING with adopted pets…

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Raccoon # 4

National Geographic

We captured Raccoon #4 in our humane trap overnight.

We got our mail mid morning and drove out to the stream about 5 miles from the house to relocate him.  I have a happy mental picture of him reuniting with Raccoons 1-3 and enjoying the rest of their lives together.

I’m amazed that he showed up since we had such horrendous weather last night.  When my husband let him out, he just leaped happily into the stream and was gone in a flash.

I really wish we could all simply co-exist, sharing the bird seed we supply. We have learned the hard way, however, that raccoons don’t share. They want EVERY seed, and many times completely trash the feeders. We can’t afford to buy new feeders every other day, or buy more than a 40 pound bag of seed every week, so I’m just pleased that the humane trap we have captures them without harm and allows us to ‘relocate’ each one and give them another chance to be happy.

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Fresh Fish

I love watching my fish check out the different decorations I put in their home each time I clean the aquarium.  They don’t say much about the changes, but they wriggle harder and blow lots of bubbles, so I know they are interested.  You can only see the white gold fish in this pic, unless you know that the orange curved ‘stripe’ on the right side of the tank is the orange one. He is about 4 inches long now.  I like seeing the brightly lit tank, the sparkling clean water, the bubbles of the aerator, and the fish chasing each other. I talk to them – making bright conversation – but they don’t engage in spritely repartee.  It’s a nice, quiet, appreciative relationship.

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Cats

via Jeff Jett – Linkedin

 

 

via Jeff Jett, LinkiedIn

 

 

via Jeff Jett, LinkedIn

 

Kanno Hisao with Maya Ansa and Yaeko Hishida

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Sparkling Fish

Yesterday my husband and I cleaned out the aquarium. My husband actually worked with me, rather than getting impatient and DUMPING stuff, with me struggling to catch it. We ended up with a sparkling aquarium with fish who may be smiling at the nice clean water or may be griping to each other that they were rousted, once again, while the humans made them swim in a small bowl of water with a towel over it – AGAIN.

 

I have ordered a thing that is supposed to help with ammonia now, since the other additions I’ve tried are helping, but no making it so I don’t have to clean the whole aquarium once a week. I’m hoping I end up with a combination that results in definitely smiling fish.

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Pairs

Beautiful World

 

Sri Lanka Frogmouth Birds – Belal Moheb

 

Beautiful World

 

Beautiful World

 

Birds and Blooms Unlimited

 

doves – source unknown

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I Love Squirrels

Zen Design via New Animal Book

 

Jeff Jett – LinkedIn

 

Kanno Hisao

 

Keith Anderson via Marianna Bellantoni

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