Fetch

More than anything else in this world, Danny loves to play fetch.

When I get home and grab the chuck-it he immediately races down the driveway and waits for the ball to be thrown. Danny will chase the ball until he is exhausted.

However, it seems as if every day this week, it has either been raining or started to rain just as I get home.

Danny has had enough. I threw the ball twice today and that was it.

After the second retrieve he headed into the garage and sat by the door waiting to get in. I picked the ball up and said don't you want to play ?

Danny looked at the rain and tried to nudge the door open with his nose. Enough said!

It can only get better

You know it is a Monday when....

You are walking the dog at 6:45 am and you hear a loud BOOM.

There goes the power I said and I was right. We called the electric company and they estimated the time to fix the blown transformer was 2 hours.

Knowing we had to get to work, we threw some items into our gym bags, drove to the gym and took showers there.

Wouldn't you know when we got back home at 8:10 am, the power was on!

I figured the day could only get better from there.

Hummer is Here

Jeff spotted the first hummingbird at the feeder last night.

By the time I got to the window the bird was gone.

Now I know to keep an eye on the feeder and should see this little visitor soon!

Stargazer Lilies

Stargazer lilies are one of my favorite flowers. They were part of my wedding bouquet and I still love them.

With their wonderful scent and exotic beauty, they always make me stop and take a second look. I tried to grow Stargazers in NC, but had no success.

When we were at Home Depot, they were selling these lilies. I immediately grabbed a pot and put them into the cart.

Now they are sitting on the kitchen table and you can smell their sweet scent immediately upon entering the room.

Karma

Last weekend we gave Danny a bath outside and I mentioned how cold the water was. I thought Danny might be uncomfortable, but focused more on how cold my hands got in the water.

Then fate stepped in today when I went to the salon to have my hair done. After driving 45 minutes, I arrived and was told that the water heater was not working.

There were two options either cancel the appointment or have my hair washed in cold water. I thought how bad could it be, so I stayed. The water started out cold and then turned freezing.

When it was over, the stylist asked how bad it was. I said, I now know how my dog feels after getting a bath outside!

Waiting for Hummer

It has been a month since I put out the hummer feeder and we are still waiting for our first siting of these little birds.

Last weekend, I went to Stew Leonard's and bought some beautiful annuals. These are now in hanging pots near the feeder. I am hoping that the extra color will attract hummer.

TUMI

We had bought a Tumi laptop case a few years ago. Unfortunately, we never registered the bag with Tumi and did not save the receipt. All we knew was the bag was now 2+ years old.

The laptop case was used daily and received a lot of rough treatment. The case itself looked great, but the two plastic clips that held it closed both broke.

We thought it was time to throw out the bag and get a new one. However, the laptop case had been expensive and I thought it might be worth contacting Tumi to see if we could purchase replacement clips.

I was pleasantly surprised when the Tumi representative told me to send the bag to their service center. Tumi would determine the age of the bag and if it was still under warranty it would be fixed for free. If the warranty had expired, they would let me know the cost of the repair and I could decide what to do.

I packed up the bag and for $12 shipped it to Georgia.

Two weeks later there was a Tumi box at the front door. The laptop case had been repaired at no charge!

I am so impressed by this, that I would consider purchasing other Tumi pieces in the future.

1st Bath of the Season

Danny's playing in the compost pile lead to his first Spring bath.

It was sunny outside and fairly warm, so we decided to bathe him in the front yard.

We forgot just how cold the well water would be. After a few minutes, our hands were frozen.

Danny was great - he didn't cry or try to escape, but it was clear that he was not enjoying the process.

Mrs Fox

We had not seen the fox in a few weeks and I was starting to wonder if the fox had found new hunting grounds.

Then the other night during dinner the fox appeared, slowly strolling across the yard, stopping to sniff as he went.

I do not think this is the same fox we usually see. I think this fox may be a female. Her frame was much smaller and thinner but her tail was incredible. Without exaggeration, the tail was twice as wide as her body. She was gorgeous.

Compost

We have a compost pile in one corner of our yard. It has leaves and weeds that are slowly rotting and smell terrible.

Danny discovered the compost pile today. Danny leapt into the compost and happily rolled back and forth. He ignored my commands to stop and come here.

When Danny decided he was finished, he stood up, gave me a Golden smile and happily walked off.

Needless to say that a bath will be top on Saturday's chore list.

Relay for Life

St. Luke's youth group is raising money for the Relay for Life by selling these beautiful roses.

What a great way to raise money in the battle against cancer.

Tulip

A previous owner of our home must have enjoyed gardening.

We had a single tulip spring up along side the driveway.

I decided to bring the flower in, before the deer enjoyed it as a snack.

Attacked

When I looked out the window this morning, I saw that an animal had attacked our bluebird nesting box. The nest had been occupied by a pair of sparrows.

I do not know if a raccoon or opossum attacked the nest or if it was another bird.

I did see blue jay feathers mixed with the remains, but the feathers may just have been part of the materials to build the nest.

Hay

There are two areas in our yard that are more dirt than grass. One is on the side of the house and one is near the pond.

We raked the areas, seeded, and then put down shredded hay. Shredded hay is hay that has been cut into small pieces.

It turns out that the ducks and deer seem to enjoy eating the hay near the pond. That would be bad enough. However, Danny loves to roll in this.

I am not sure if he likes the smell or the feel of the hay as he rolls in it.

Trying to brush the hay out of Danny's hair takes a lot of patience.

To Linda

Hi Maine Mom -

It has been 18 months that I have been living in Connecticut and life is still good. Well, at least most of the time.

I don’t like ears, teeth and nails day. That is when Mom cleans my ears, brushes my teeth and Dad trims my nails. The only good part is that I always get a treat when we are finished.

Now that the weather is getting warmer, my coat has started growing even longer and thicker. Mom can’t figure it out – she says that should happen in winter. As you can guess, this leads to extra brushing and the vacuum always seems to be going.

Mom and Dad travel to see family a lot and I always get to go along. I love car rides, but when we are stuck in traffic (which happens a lot on I-95 to NY), I begin to pant. I even have my own Eukanuba tote bag filled with towels, bowls and a spare leash so I’m always ready to travel.

I love to chase the deer and woodchuck in the yard. Most of the time, I ignore the ducks. However, the other morning, I ran after them (at the edge of the pond) and ended up covered in mud. Mom was NOT happy, but she couldn’t help but laugh at how I looked.

I hope you are as happy as I am.

Love -
Danny

Corn - the Universal Food

I never thought much about corn. Sure, I like corn, especially Silver Queen corn on the cob, but it's just a vegetable.

However, the other morning, I fed Maddy and Paddy their corn and I noticed what they didn't eat, the squirrels and blue jays ate. A little while later, the deer were in the same spot, looking for leftovers.

That got me thinking about all the livestock that eat corn and I realized corn really is a universal food.

This is not a profound revelation, but it is more than I usually think about at 6:00 am while walking the dog.

Where's Hummer ?

The feeder is out and I am waiting for the first hummingbirds to arrive.

I read that hummers usually arrive in CT in mid-April, but I haven't spotted any yet.

Perhaps having some colorful flowers out would also help attract these tiny birds, but they also attract the woodchuck

Sunny Days

On these beautiful Spring afternoons, Danny likes to soak up the sunshine.

Danny seems to never tire of chasing the tennis ball. After a long day at work, I always look forward to some play time with my favorite pup.

Spring in our backyard

Here are some pictures of the spring flowers in our yard.

A lot of the bulbs are just starting to flower.

While driving to the grocery store early this morning, I saw a female mallard lying in the road near our home. She had been hit by a car and did not survive. I was worried that this might be Maddy.

Luckily, when I got back home and began to unload the car, there was Maddy - swimming as fast as she could across the pond and quacking for breakfast.

Look who we met at Union Station...