Sunday Breakfast

As we were enjoying our Sunday breakfast, I looked out and near the shed was my nemesis, Silverback. Silverback (named after his silver streak) is the oldest, largest and craftiest of the woodchucks in our neighborhood. Due to his extra large size, he inflicts the most damage on our garden. Silverback had not been spotted in the last month, so I was hopeful that he had moved on.

Jeff commented, "I'm not surprised to see him, the Montauk daisies are looking a little bare". I raced to the front window and looked out. 2 days ago the daisies were getting ready to flower, today there are just a few bare stalks!

I sat back at the table and out trots the fox! The fox walks under the bird feeder and all the birds scatter. The fox continues across the yard and into the woods. Unlike the woodchuck, I truly enjoy seeing the fox with his beautiful dark red coat.

Why Aunt Dottie is my favorite Aunt...

Did you ever notice that when you are down to your last Milk Bone, one just finds it's way to you? Well the same thing happens with tennis balls!

I'm down to my last two tennis balls, and lets just say they're a little gamey. Mommy loves to throw them with the ChuckIt, but when they get lost she refuses to go look for them. For some strange reason, she expects me to go find them. Imagine that? I'm a retriever, not a pointer for pete's sake.

So when the tennis balls lose their bounce, my Aunt Dottie freecyles them and gives them to a well deserved puppy. Me, Danny.

Um, I'm trying to sleep here

My Latest Find

While mowing the grass the other day, I came upon a shiny spot in the yard.

"Most likely more broken glass", I though to myself. Most of the time I find broken shards of glass or metal while mowing the lawn and I dig them out so the dog doesn't get hurt. But every once in a while, I dig out a whole bottle. To my surprise, this one came out whole!


This is one of the more decorated bottles that I have dug out so far. On the front it says:
HILLSIDE SPRING WATER CO.
NEW MILFORD, CT.

REGISTERED

And on the back, it says:
THIS BOTTLE
NOT TO BE SOLD
8 FL. OZ.

There are a couple marks on the bottom, but are indistinguishable. And here we thought the spring water craze was something new....

Birding season

As the annuals die in our garden, the hanging baskets are slowly being replaced with bird feeders. The first day the first feeder was out, we had cardinals, blue jays, tufted titmice and chickadees. I thought that it would take longer to attract the birds which we stopped feeding in March.

The second, third and fourth feeders went up this weekend and I realized it was time to buy more bird seed. I bought 40 lbs. which should last a few weeks.

When I saw the downy headed woodpeckers trying to feed, I realized it was time to hang the suet.

What is odd is that our sunflower is bursting with seeds, but the birds show no interest.

In the late afternoon, I often hear the hawks screeching for minutes at a time, but with the leaves still on the trees, they are difficult to spot.

Wilton Center

In the evenings, we often take Danny for a walk at the Wilton Center. Wilton Center has nice wide sidewalk and interesting stores to window shop.

There are some beautiful flowers here. Obviously, there are no woodchucks living near by.

Winter Predictions

If woolly caterpillars can be used to predict a harsh or mild winter, what about a Golden Retriever ?

I'm asking this question, because Danny has already started to grow in his winter coat. It is only September and Danny's coat is full and fluffy. Someone commented that he looks like a fuzzy bear.
Instead of his normal outer coat, Danny is developing a soft thick undercoat across his body. Whenever I look at Danny I wonder if he knows something we don't.

With a coat like this, I predict a long cold winter.

Very Addictive

Only start if you've got plenty of time.

Cat with Bow Golf

Sunday in the Park

On Sunday afternoon, we took Danny to the Westport Dog Park. Danny really enjoys playing with the other dogs and we enjoy meeting other dog lovers.

I am always surprised by how many people go to the park who do not have dogs. We met a young Mother and her baby girl. The woman said her daughter liked dogs, but she did not have time to take care of a dog. So, she brings her daughter to the park, to play with the dogs. I was a little nervous, Danny is big and the girl was very small, but Danny loved the attention. The Mom commented on Danny's beautiful coat and how incredibly soft it was. They wondered if he would like a rice cake as a treat.

We met a group of special needs adults. They enjoyed petting Danny and he stood there contentedly closing his eyes. One man kept saying Danny looked like the dog on tv. Perhaps he meant "Duke" from the Bush's Baked Bean commercials?? Several other people have said that Danny could be Duke.

I am amazed at how well Danny seems to read people. He can instantly go from rough housing with a pack of labs to a calm docile dog who lets strangers pet and hug him. Perhaps all dogs are so attuned to people, but I like to think that Danny is extra special.

Danny & the Aerator

The fall is when I start to get my grass in shape for the next year. It usually starts off with me going over the lawn with an aerator (takes little plugs out the lawn to help with compaction). Then I follow it up with over-seeding using a slit seeder.

This weekend was the aeration weekend. The aerator is a motorized machine about twice the size of a lawn mower.

About half way through the lawn, I turned it off and took a break. Valerie let Danny out and when he spied the aerator in the yard he started to growl. His ears perked up and he started very slowly walking towards it. About half-way to it, he growled again and the hair on his back started to stand on end. By the time he finally got to the aerator, he was in full-nasty growl. He walked around it, sniffed it a couple times, decided it wasn't a threat and continued on with his day.

Sunflower

This spring, Jeff received a free packet of sunflower seeds from the bank. Since I had an empty flower pot, I decided to plant them and see what happened.

I planted 9 seeds and one started to grow. The squirrels dug up the rest of the seeds. How do the squirrels know that you just planted seeds ? I had some left over bird seed, so took some of those sunflower seeds and planted them. Again the squirrels dug them up. I gave up and focused on this one tiny plant.

Surprisingly, the sunflower started to grow and was soon 3 feet tall. That is when the woodchuck struck and stripped off the first 2 feet of leaves. I thought the sunflower would die.

However, this plant was a fighter and continued to grow. I watered it daily and fertilized weekly. Finally the flower began to form and when we returned from vacation the flower was finally open!

As you can see, the sunflower is about 10 feet tall. The face is usually covered with bumble bees. It is amazing that one little seed can produce such a large plant.

Canadian Coin

During our vacation to Niagara Falls, we strolled past a fountain. Check out the Canadian Quarter just about in the middle of the picture. It's actually floating on the water!

Niagara Day 3

There are many beautiful parks and gardens around Niagara Falls.

Here are some of the interesting flowers we saw.

Danny's vacation

When I saw the suitcases being loaded in the car, I knew something was up. I immediately jumped into the backseat and would not get out. There was no way I was going to be left behind!

I spent the week with family in upstate NY. Mom was worried that I would think Grandma's new leather couch was a giant chew toy, but I know better. In fact, I was a very good boy.

I had so much fun! I go lots of attention, walks and there were kids to play with. The best part was sleeping on a King size bed and not getting kicked off in the middle of the night.

I hope to go back again soon.

Niagara Day 2

While we were at the Falls, we went on the Journey Behind the Falls, at which you get to stand behind the Falls and very near the side of the Falls. The water sounds like thunder as it crashes down.

The White Water Walk was beautiful. I did not realize the Falls lead to Class 6 Rapids. There was a duck just floating along the edge of the rapids - the rough water did not seem to bother him.

We also went to the Butterfly Conservatory - the colors on the butterflies are amazing!

Niagara Falls - Day I

We took a couple days and went to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls last week. As you can imagine, everything is centered around the falls.

We decided to get an up-close and personal look at the falls by taking a Maid of the Mist cruise that got us right up to the falls. It was quite amazing and unbelievable that anybody could survive a trip over them. At night the falls come alive with a light show of the falls followed by a brief fireworks show over both the American Falls and the Canadian Falls. Lots of walking the first day, but definitely worth it.

Crossing paths

We have spotted the fox several times in the last few days. When I looked out the window, the fox was standing at the edge of the pond. I do not know if this fox is one of the kits from the spring or one of the parents.

The fox's coat is now a beautiful rich red and the white tip on the tail is in sharp contrast to the red. This is very different from the brown/red spring coat.

Danny and the fox literally crossed paths on our morning walk this week. We were walking down the street and the fox crossed ahead of us. Danny and the fox stopped, looked at each other, and then the fox ran into the woods. A sharp "No Danny" kept Danny from chasing the fox.

Bad Hair Day

Danny got caught in a downpour during his morning walk. I tried to dry him off, but his coat was still damp when I left for work.

The result was a bad hair day. My first thought when I saw him in the evening was Wow! You look like you had a rough day!!

After a few minutes of brushing, Danny was looking like his old self.

Family tree

Our butterfly bush is finally in bloom and the butterflies have quickly discovered its sweet flowers.

Ten years ago, we bought a butterfly bush in NC and gave it as a gift to family on Long Island. For 10 years the bush grew and several saplings were born.

Our bush is one of the saplings. It was given to us last year when we moved to our new home. Last year, the bush was quite small and had few flowers, probably due to being transplanted.

This year the bush is at least 7 feet tall and full of blooms. Now that we know the butterfly bush is woodchuck and deer resistant, I am considering planting additional ones in the yard.

The Sweet Life

Pictures say it all!