Waiting For Ida

Well, there is a late season storm going to come this way. While it's not likely to be a bad storm, it's always smart to be prepared.

While I was filling up containers with water to freeze and washing clothes, I happened through the living room and noticed what the dogs were doing for their preparations - NOTHING!

Perfecting their couch potato position is more like it.... the tight curl.


The relaxed into the pillow head rest.....

....and then there's this. There's always one in the crowd who just has to be different. In this case, it's Guy, who loves to snooze on his back.

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Fall Afternoon

I was out on the evening walk about and came to the persimmon tree. I tried to get the photo of all the dogs staring up, longing for the sweet treats that are so tantalizingly out of reach. Just get out the camera though and they all will turn and look at me. When I tried to tell them to look up, they just gaze off looking for squirrels.

The gazing does make for nice photos....

Finally got Diva staring up, trying to decide if she could jump that high. There aren't any that are ready to eat yet, so we all walked on.

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A Ridgeback and It's Treats

The pears are quite ripe now and the dogs relish them to the point they forget about me walking around the yard. Snacking is the preferred pastime. Here's Guy finishing off his pear.

Here's Darla getting started on her second one. There's only ONE thing that could draw them off.....

A SQUIRREL in the pecan tree.....they can't stand it, gotta get that varmint on the move!

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What a Handsome Fella!

I was thumbing through a catalog today, when a very handsome, male model caught my eye. What a hunk!

Er, did I mention it was a pet catalog? KV Pet's new fall catalog to be exact, and there on page 109 was an eye- catching Ridgeback head.

Hey, that dog looks like Guy...... hey, that IS Guy!



I'd forgotten I'd entered some photos in KV Vet's photo contest. Turns out Guy was one of the three finalists for "cover dog". Beaten by a cute puppy though... what'cha gonna do??

I'm happy ..... it was a great surprize.

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A Typical Evening Walk

We are done with the evening feeding, now it's time to get out and do my evening walk around the backyard.The dogs race over to the gate....start rough housing and streak off for the pear tree.... I get to eat their dust.

Not started yet.... Sizzle (L) and Darla (R) appear to be doing a "double take".

Sizzle throws a foot over Oz..... "Let's rumble!"

Guy comes over from the pear tree....note the pear in his mouth...'cause he wants to get in on the fun when Mama Sizzle puts a whumping on Grandpa Oz....

Guy thinks they are just wasting time with all this posturing... "Let me play, too!"

.... I'll get'em going with my mock charge.... to heck with that pear!

Magic in a still moment... not the prettiest of poses, but he's STILL.


Prize enjoying tearing up a pine cone.... I don't get it... it certainly isn't tasty...

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"Poop" Elf?

The most helpful beetles have moved into my yard!After reading the Harry Potter books, I wanted to have a house elf - instead, I got "poop" elves - even better when you have a bunch of dogs!

This morning, I timed them....a pile of poop at 8 AM, will be a pile of dirt by 2 PM. There's a bunch of them in the yard... by 2 PM, there is no morning poop to pick up. I feel like I've won the lottery!

Apparently there are two working in tunnels below the poop. The female tunnels and the male shoves out the dirt. The female takes the poop below, deposits her eggs in it and a week later, you've got babies feeding on that and on to your next generation.

In this photo, the beetle looks green, but it either has yellow on it, too, or is iridescent on it's back...at any rate, it's colorful.

This pile of dirt is the result of their hard work. Not only do they get rid of the poop, they aerate the soil, too.

I looked up these nice helpful beetles...they are African-Asian in origin. The link is to a taxonomy site, the paragraph below it is from a site about TX agriculture and the benefits of these to cattle.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/6180

From a site about the benefits of dung beetles for cattle and pastures:

Another group are the ‘tunnelers.’ An example of this group is Onthophagus gazella, which typically bury the dung balls under the manure pat or close to the edge. Piles of soil next to the dung pat are indicators of tunneler-type dung beetle activity. Collectively, tunnelers and tumblers are classified as ‘nesters’ because of their behavior in preparing a home for their young. The third group of beetles that use dung are the ‘dwellers’. Most dwellers belong to the subfamily Aphodiidae. They live within the manure pat, engage in little to no digging, and generally do not form brood balls.

If you live in TX, you can get some from the Agricultural extension services.... they are spread out from CA to SC, but no further north than SC. Wouldn't help those north of that line.

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Afternoon Walk About

Believe it or not, this is a photo of a tailless Squirrel....well, not totally tailless, she/he has a short nub sans long hair. It was sitting up in the pine enjoying a pine cone's goodies when the dogs and I came along. Once it got up and scampered away, I saw it was devoid of a tail..... looked like a tree climbing, short tailed rat!

Sizzle (L) and Ozzie (R).... they sure do look alike to be daughter and father.

Darla looking good....though she's a bit baggy in the underline right now... having a false pregnancy.

Guy and Sizzle are startled at the sound behind them... Mr Magic leaping up for a persimmon. He didn't get one....

He only did that because he had just seen Diva jump up and get one and she doesn't share!

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