Basketball

Since Margaret was out in CA for the Spurs/LA match up, Mike came in to watch the game with me.

He seemed to pay attention for a while.  He is fascinated with the big screen and looks at it as he is walking by when something catches his eye.  He laid over by the chair where Margaret normally sit until late in the fourth quarter when the Lakers went ahead and then he decided that the game wasn't worth watching and he went to sleep.

Which is what I did very shortly after the game.  Oh well, we will get them next year and it was a good season.

Having Fun

This is a great place for a dog.  The puppies and I went for our walk this morning. It is getting so that Blue doesn't come with us anymore.  He used to come everyday but I guess he got tired of the puppies jumping on him.  They love it and they stay fairly close to me until we get near the water and then it is "Good Bye Bill".  They all get in the water and go swimming and then they are out by the time I get down there.

All I see is three wet puppies and now it is time to shake and you sure don't want to be too close when that happens.

Then they run around and play while I look for artifacts.  Eventually  one of them will sniff something out and the others will come to see what new treasure they have discovered.  This morning it involved digging in the sand which made it that much better.  Of course they all wanted to dig in the same spot at the same time so that led to a little disagreement settled by growling and snarling which was put to a stop by a loud shout from yours truly.

They all turned to look at me like "WHAT" but they stopped fighting and went back to digging.  I am still not sure what the treasure was, all I could see was a root from a plant.  By the time we got back home they had dried out and shook most of the sand off of themselves.

It a great place to be a dog or a human for that matter.

Denial

Jack is still in denial about Blue being the Daddy of Mike.  He says that he will not allow Blue to pay child support payments and that he will have Margaret take Blue to the Vet and get him tested.  Margaret and another friend of mine, Mona, thinks we ought to put them both on some TV show and have them do DNA tests on them.  I am not sure it is worth all of that.  Jack says that Blue doesn't make any money anyhow since he is not a very good watch dog, Jack doesn't pay him.

I took the pups down to the river for our daily walk or almost daily walk, there are some mornings I don't make it.  They enjoyed their swim and had a good time.  Little Sister looks like a wet rat when she comes out of the water.

Check out that tail.

They have fun and then it is time to start for home and drying off.  Mike likes to lay there and then Little Sister comes and jumps all over him, giving him no peace and quiet.

Mike and Blue

Margaret showed Jack this picture of Mike and Blue and Jack doesn't think Blue is the Daddy because Mike doesn't have the white place on his breast and because Mike has eyebrows and Blue doesn't.

Margaret told him that Heidi has eyebrows and that Mike has some of her characteristics.

I don't think that convinced Jack so maybe this picture will make him see the light.

How many dogs do you see with tails like this.  Blue is the Daddy.

Puppies Swimming

I took the puppies down to Pebble Beach this morning so they could see the river and go swimming.  Of course, Blue went down there with us.  After seeing Blue and Mike side by side, I am convinced that Blue is the Daddy of at least Mike.  I will be asking Margaret and Jack for child support payments. LOL

The puppies had a good time swimming.  Mike and Little Sister seemed to enjoy it the most with Big Sister sitting on the bank and watching most of the time.

They all seemed to have a good time and now they are drying off and shaking off the sand.

Puppies and Kitten

It seems like the Kitten is quite the brave cat.  It is in the garage every morning when I go out to feed the puppies.  I am not sure if it sleeps there or not but it is there when the feed hits the bowl in the morning.  I don't see it in the afternoons and I sometimes see it at night.  The puppies seem to accept it as being another puppy and they play with it but sometimes the play gets a little rough but so far nothing serious.  The kitten likes to eat.

And the puppies like to sniff.

I say "What the Hey."  As long as all of them are happy, let them do what they want. 

I am trying to get a pet carrier so I can catch the kitten on Monday morning.  After I catch it, I will call Animal Control and they will come and pick it up and then they can neuter it and find a good home for it.  If it stays around here, Margaret's dogs, Mosquito and Blue will have it for lunch.

I know it is trying to teach the puppies.  This morning I looked out the kitchen window and all three of the puppies were trying to climb a tree in the back yard.  None of them made it up the tree but they were sure trying.  By the time I got the camera, they had given up and found something else to amuse themselves.

I placed an ad in Craiglist this morning and hopefully I will find home for them this weekend.

Zoo

Well, the little Carolina Wrens have flown away but the good news is that the Hummingbirds are back in full force.  The first one showed up about a month ago and now I know I have at least 10 or more flying around.  I have three feeders and I fill each of them every other day.  That is a lot of sugar water for such small birds.  I am glad they are back and thriving.  They are fun to watch.  I am sure that Meany is back from last year.  He is the one that chases the others away from the feeders.  I also think that Princess is back.  She is the one that feeds and then comes and looks in the window.  She gets about 6 inches away from the window and hovers there seeing what I am doing inside. 

I still have the two puppies that I need to find a home.  They are cute dogs but I don't need three dogs anymore. Some of you may remember that when I lived in Midlothian, I had four dogs but that was back when I was working and could afford it.  I hope I have some luck getting homes for them this weekend.  They are such stinkers and I really mean that.  I went out this morning and called them and they came running from the brush in front of my house.  When they all gathered around me and were jumping on me, I smelt it.  They had found some dead animal in the brush and they all smelt terrible.  They are great at finding dead Armadillos and bringing them back to the house.  Boy, talk about smell.  Of course, I know that it is the two puppies that I am looking for a home and not Mike that is doing it.  Mike is a good dog and would never do anything like that.

Flown the Nest

All of the little birds have flown the nest.  I believe they are all out of the garage and out flying around someplace.  The really good news is that I didn't see any evidence in or around the garage that would indicate they didn't make it.  I looked around for feathers or bodies and didn't see anything so I am going to believe they all made it and that settles it, so there.

I think I even saw one of them outside but I have no way of knowing if it was one of the babies or one of the parents or just another Carolina Wren.  I like to think it was one of the babies telling me good bye.

Now I will have to find something else of interest to post.  I am sure something will turn up.   I am curious as to how many people read this blog on a regular basis and if you enjoy it or if you have any suggestions, please let me or Margaret know.  Thank you. 

Bill

Leaving the nest

As I was walking out into the garage this morning I saw a bird flying from the nest.  At first I thought it was one of the parents but then I noticed that it wasn't flying real good.  It flew over to the window and then flopped down.  I went over and it was on the ground and seemed to be okay.  It had plenty of places to hide so I wasn't worried about the pups getting to it.  I am sure the parents will come back when I am not in there and teach it to fly.  If the parents are there, they will protect the little ones. 

Leaving Home Soon

These birds have got to be leaving the nest very soon.  The Nest is almost too small for them now.  I am going to miss them when they do fly off but the world will be a better place hearing them sing.  I have found out they are Carolina Wrens.  I had some last year that were resting on my front porch a couple of night.  I guess they liked the place and decided it was a good place to raise a family.  Maybe they will come back next year.

 

Mike is doing good.  He got his first round of puppy shots Thursday and the Vet checked him over and said he was healthy.  The Vet kept us waiting for so long that Mike peed on the table when he gave him the shot.  WTG Mike.  He is still learning how to sit properly for a dog.  He hasn't quite got it but he thinks it is comfortable.

 

Birds

The little birds are doing fine.  I haven't seen the kitten in the garage lately although I have seen it in the back yard up a tree so it is still around.  I have also heard the puppies barking and I suspect that it is the kitten coming in to eat some dog food.  The kitten is either not aware or not interested in the little birds so maybe they will be okay.

 

Hungry Birds

The baby birds are getting bigger and bigger and they are hungry.  I try and stay away from the nest and I even try and not stay in the garage for very long because the parents won't come in the garage if I am in there.  The little birds think I am going to feed them when I look in the nest.  Cute little things now that they have features other than their eyes that you can make out plus they are really starting to get feathers.

 

Mike just lays on the floor and watches me and his look tells me that I can feed him anytime I want.

Birds and Puppies and Kitten

Well, as if I don't have enough of a zoo around here.  Last night Margaret came down to watch the game (which we lost) and she saw a kitten come running out from under the car in the garage along with the three pups.  This is a kitten that I have seen once or twice running around in my back yard but I didn't realize that it had made friends with the puppies.  I think that is neat except for the baby birds in the garage.  Kittens can climb and they will climb if they know the birds are there.  So far the little birds are okay.

They are getting bigger and are getting feathers now and are moving around in the nest more than before.  I guess we will have to let Mother Nature take it course.  After all, most birds (except for mine) build nest in trees and cat can climb trees and most of them come out okay.  Sounds kinda puny to me too.

 

The puppies are growing too and I guess they are friendly since they let kitten sleep with them and share their food.  We found a home for one of them over the weekend, leaving me two more to find a home.

Making Momma Bird Mad

I went out this morning to check on the baby birds and Momma (or Poppa) caught me in the act of trying to take a picture.  I got dive bombed.  It was like being swarmed by a bunch of bees.  I got out of there and left them alone.  The chicks are hungry and need to be fed and I don't want the job so I will let the parents do it.

 

Little Birds on May 1st, 2008

The little birds are getting bigger and now you can see their mouths open.  I was out there this morning looking at them and the parents flew in and saw me and flew back out again so I will have to be careful not to interfere with the feeding program.