“The squirrels, leaping joyfully from branch to branch: not a single one doubts its existence.” ― Marty Rubin.
“Sitting under a tree in a park in the summer, listening to birds and squirrels chirping while reading a good book is priceless.” ― Charmaine J. Forde
“I like squirrels. They’re so adventurous.” ~ Gabby Douglas
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography
“Don’t count your owls before they are delivered.” – J. K. Rowling.
“Owl hasn’t exactly got Brain, but he knows things.” – A. A. Milne.
“The crow wished everything was black, the owl, that everything was white.” – William Blake.
“That little owl with a call as steady as my heartbeat was telling anyone who would listen, ‘I am here.'” – Heather Durham
“Owl was telling Kanga an interesting anecdote full of long words like Encyclopedia and Rhododendron to which Kanga wasn’t listening.” – A.A Milne.
Sasa Montiljo – Wood & Clay – BoredPanda.com
Filed under Amazing Animals, Favorite Quotes
A critter like this was caught in our humane trap overnight. My husband just returned from taking our trash down to the bottom of the driveway and ‘relocating’ the raccoon about 5 miles away from us, hoping he won’t return. I stayed here to get chili started in the slow cooker for tonight and to answer a call or meet the driveway guy coming to our house.
Yesterday we decided that we really need to do what we can to improve our driveway.
I’ve told you it’s long (650+feet), quite steep, and graveled (or ‘chat-ed.’) Having a concrete or asphalt drive would take our winning the lottery. The last time we priced it (about 15 years ago) it would have cost $15,000+ at the bare minimum. Actually, the gravel gives us more traction when it’s icy or snowy, so it’s fine with us.
When we get the washing, heavy rains we’ve gotten lately, though, the top 1/4 to 1/3 of the driveway stays fine. It’s the rest of it – steeper as it goes down to the road that runs in front of the house – that gets ‘washed’ badly, causing ruts, bumps, etc. making it harder to negotiate.
We arranged for a guy to come with a big truckload of chat. He can leave the top alone, and then ‘tail-gate’ the chat, letting some out slowly and gradually as he drives down our driveway. We’re hoping that ONE truckload will be enough because chat, like everything else, has gone way up in price.
A complicating factor is that you get chat when they will deliver. You can’t say, ‘Oh, it’s due to rain today. Can you deliver it tomorrow instead?” It’s totally up to the guy. He hasn’t called, but he may just be getting the load of chat and coming. He just told us it would be today. Also, he MAY call and want to reschedule due to the coming rain. My second hope is that, if we DO get it delivered and ‘tail-gated’ this morning, the rains don’t immediately wash big ruts into it….
“I have found that when you are deeply troubled, there are things you get from the silent devoted companionship of a dog that you can get from no other source.” – Doris Day
“When an 85-pound mammal licks your tears away, then tries to sit on your lap, it’s hard to feel sad.” –” Kristan Higgins
“Happiness is a warm puppy.” – Charles Shultz
“Some dogs live for praise. They look at you as if to say “Don’t throw balls… just throw bouquets.”
Jhordis Anderson
“A watchdog is a dog kept to guard your home, usually by sleeping where a burglar would awaken the household by falling over him.” ~ unknown
“Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in your ear.” Dave Barry
Filed under Amazing Animals, Favorite Quotes
“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me, they are the role model for being alive.” – Gilda Radner
“Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.” – Ann Landers
“Did you know that there are over 300 words for love in canine?” – Gabriel Zevin
“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”– Josh Billings
“When an 85-pound mammal licks your tears away, then tries to sit on your lap, it’s hard to feel sad.” – Kristan Higgins
“Everything I know I learned from dogs.” – Nora Roberts
“I’ll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces
All day through” ~ I’ll Be Seeing You – Eddie Heywood
Filed under Amazing Animals
“There’s always a hidden owl in ‘knowledge’.” – E.I. Jane
“Owl is the grand and rather clever old man of the forest. He can also spell Tuesday.” – A. A. Milne.
“Don’t count your owls before they are delivered.” ~ J. K. Rowling.
“A wise old owl sat in an oak. The more he saw, the less he spoke. The less he spoke, the more he heard. Why can’t we be like that wise old bird?” – Edward Hersey Richards.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Favorite Quotes
Filed under Amazing Animals, sculpture, When Wood Comes Alive
“Bunnies will always have a special place in my heart. They are often discredited as being good pets because they don’t ‘do anything’—ask any rabbit owner and watch how they laugh!” Shenita Etwaroo
“The other day when I was walking through the woods, I saw a rabbit standing in front of a candle making shadows of people on a tree.” Steven Wright
“The dog and the rabbit are telling us not to chase unattainable material goals.” – Kit Williams
“There’s nothing else I would rather do, unless there was a profession that involved cuddling bunny rabbits and kittens all day for money.” – Kat Dennings
“Little rabbits have big ears.” – Virginia C. Andrews
“An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.” -Martin Buber
Filed under Amazing Animals
This is our cat, Abby. She was advertised as a ‘lap cat’ in the paper years ago – an apt description. She has been a part of our family for years now. She tolerates Amber, our yellow lab, allowing her to use her dog beds if she isn’t in the middle of them, taunting her by stretching and yawning and looking as comfortable as only a cat can look. She doesn’t have an audible purr, but if you leave your hand on her, you can FEEL it. :0)
“Cats are smarter than dogs. You can’t get eight cats to pull a sled through snow.” ~ Jeff Valdez
“In a cat’s eye, all things belong to cats.” ~ English Proverb
“Dogs come when they’re called; cats take a message and get back to you later.” ~ Mary Bly
“Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well.” ~ Missy Dizick
“I got rid of my husband. The cat was allergic.” ~ Anonymous
“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
“What greater gift than the love of a cat?” – Charles Dickens
“Read books. Lots of books.”
“Find contentment in creating chaos.”
“Take time to indulge yourself every once in awhile. You deserve it!”
“Don’t be afraid to try something different.”
“Make sure the people you care about know it.”
“Give hugs.”
“Accept everyone for who they are.”
“Be yourself. It doesn’t matter if you don’t fit in!”
“Get into mischief.”
Filed under Amazing Animals, Favorite Quotes
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
― William Shakespeare, As You Like It
“It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it.”
― Maurice Switzer, Mrs. Goose, Her Book
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect).”
― Mark Twain
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”
― Aristotle
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
― Socrates
Filed under Amazing Animals, wisdom
Since our weather is supposed to be sunny and in the 60s this afternoon, I’m planning to spend a lot of time outdoors today. I’ll check on my new spring garden, plus mix and spray as many two-gallon containers of weed killer as I can handle today. (Good exercise, too!)
We caught a raccoon in our humane trap overnight (finally!) so we’ll go out in a bit, get our mail, relocate the raccoon, and hit the store for incidentals on the way home. Hopefully, we can fill up the bird feeders again, unless he’s part of a huge family of raccoons…
I hope you have a happy Saturday.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Gardening, Thoughts on a ________
Filed under Amazing Animals, Awe-Inspiring Photography
Filed under Amazing Animals, drawings, Julie Rhodes
Owl
Wiser than can be
Seeing great at night
Flying quieter over the sea
Making hope shine bright
“The owl,” he was saying, “is one of the most curious creatures. A bird that stays awake when the rest of the world sleeps. They can see in the dark. I find that so interesting, to be mired in reality when the rest of the world is dreaming. What does he see and what does he know that the rest of the world is missing?”
~M.J. Rose
“A wise old owl sat on an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren’t we like that wise old bird?”
“He respects Owl, because you can’t help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn’t spell it right.” A.A. Milne
Filed under Amazing Animals, Favorite Quotes
I was here at the computer reading the news of the day when Amber, our 85-pound-ish yellow lab decided she HAD to have some love and proceeded to flip my arm up with her nose and try to climb up in my office chair with me. We both started rolling around with me laughing my head off as she tried to kiss my ear and bring her back legs up into the chair with me at the same time.
We didn’t dump the chair, but it seemed close. I hugged and petted her until she finally got enough for the moment and started listening to my requests for her to ‘get down.’
An overflowing lapful of dog is a great cure for any worries you’re having.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Filed under Amazing Animals, drawings, Julie Rhodes
Each year we have to defend the food for the birds because we have families of raccoons living ‘somewhere’ around our property. We hoped that we could simply all share the birdseed, but this has never been the case, even when we’ve put out extra, expressly for the raccoons, off the deck.
They come onto the deck, eat EVERY SINGLE SEED plus trash the feeders many times. This combination is expensive for us and frustrating, because we’re TRYING to provide seeds for the birds, plus occasional squirrels.
“Raccoons vs Lewis” season is starting early this year. We’ve noticed the feeder being empty each morning for the last three mornings. Yesterday my husband put out the humane trap and baited it.
This morning we had evidence that a raccoon had 1) emptied the feeder, 2) gotten into the trap, and 3) eaten the bait, broken the cup holding the bait, and then tore out the back of the trap to get out!
So now we’re definitely fighting a wily, strong, and smart raccoon!
My husband took the trap out to the shop this morning, reinforced the back of the trap after repairing it, then brought it into the office so I could help him get the new cup screwed in securely. It is now baited and set again.
Round 1: Raccoons 1 Lewises 0.
We’ll see what happens in Round 2.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Challenges, Changes
“There’s always a hidden owl in ‘knowledge’.” -E.I. Jane.
“Owl is the grand and rather clever old man of the forest. He can also spell Tuesday.” -A. A. Milne.
“A wise old owl sat in an oak. The more he saw, the less he spoke. The less he spoke, the more he heard. Why can’t we be like that wise old bird?” -Edward Hersey Richards.
“An owl is the wisest of all birds because the more it sees the the less it talks.” – Christie Watson.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Favorite Quotes
“The other day when I was walking through the woods, I saw a rabbit standing in front of a candle making shadows of people on a tree.” – Steven Wright
“I’ll give you three guesses, Rabbit. Digging holes in the ground? Wrong. Leaping from branch to branch of a young oak tree? Wrong. Waiting for somebody to help me out of the river? Right. Give Rabbit time, and he’ll always get the answer.” – A. A. Milne, ‘The House At Pooh Corner’
Filed under Amazing Animals, sculpture
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