This is one of the many birdhouses in my garden. Something about birdhouse I love, can't put my finger on it though. Maybe it is the little treasure I find in there every now and then. A bird will decide to create it's nest in one of the house and hatch it little ones, I love the sound of the baby birds tweeting waiting for their mom to bring them food. Then one day you wake up and they have flown the coup so I wait another year until the new mom's start work on their little families. My way of watching the seasons change, I always know spring has arrived when I hear the sound of the birds.
Went to Bodega Bay and had some seafood chowder at the Tides Restaurant. Bodega Bay is a beautiful little seaside town in Northern California, best known for the movie "The Birds", by Alfred Hitchock, to this day his movies send chills up my spine, oh and that voice of his scary!
Walking along the creak I found this black walnut shell and it looked like there was a heart in it. I did not know how much of a heart until I took the photo. It is Mother Natures of way of saying Happy Valentine's Day, I'm just nuts about ya!
| The French were bred to die for love They delight in fighting duels But I prefer a man who lives And gives expensive jewels A kiss on the hand may be quite continental But diamonds are a girl's best friend A kiss may be grand but it won't pay the rental On your humble flat, or help you at the automat Men grow cold as girls grow old And we all lose our charms in the end But square cut or pear shaped These rocks don't lose their shape Diamonds are a girl's best friend Tiffany's, Cartier Talk to me, Harry, Winston, tell me all about it There may come a time when a lass needs a lawyer But diamonds are a girl's best friend There may come a time when a hard boiled employer Thinks your awful nice But get that ice or else no dice He's your guy when stocks are high But beware when the start to descend It's then that those louses go back to their spouses Diamonds are a girl's best friend I've heard of affairs that are strictly platonic But diamonds are a girl's best friend And I think affairs that you must keep liaisonic Are better bets if little pets get big baggettes Time rolls on and youth is gone And you can't straighten up when you bend But stiff back or stiff knees You stand straight at Tiffany's Diamonds Diamonds I don't mean rhinestones But Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend |
When you squeeze an orange, orange juice comes out - because that's what's inside. When you are squeezed, what comes out is what is inside.
"It is, in my view, the duty of an apple to be crisp and crunchable, but a pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption."
"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” George Bernard Shaw quotes 
Day 37/365 - Thought I would try my hand at a portrait. Could not decide if I liked the black and white or the color version. Not the best have lots of work to do on my portrait skills any suggestions anyone??
When I have had a hectic day and am feeling pretty down and out, I pull out my beautiful china tea cup grab myself a biscotti and sit and relax with a nice cup of tea. Must be some of that English tradition left in me.Afternoon tea (because it was usually taken in the late afternoon) is also called "low tea" because it was usually taken in a sitting room or withdrawing room where low tables (like a coffee table) were placed near sofas or chairs generally in a large withdrawing room. There are three basic types of Afternoon, or Low Tea:
Cream Tea - Tea, scones, jam and cream
Light Tea - Tea, scones and sweets
Full Tea - Tea, savories, scones, sweets and dessert
In England, the traditional time for tea was four or five o'clock and no one stayed after seven o'clock. Most tea rooms today serve tea from three to five o'clock.
Biscotti:
Meet Sparky aka “Sparkles” Sparky is 2 years old and a Miniature Schnauzer Mix (Mutt).
Well last but not least is Sparky. I met Sparky in December of 2008. He was brought in as a stray, he was pretty much a feral dog, a throw away nobody wanted. He was great with other animals but since he had never had any interaction with humans he just did not like us at all. It took me 6 weeks of just going and sitting in the kennel with him, doing nothing other then reading a book, playing with his kennel mates until he finally started to come around to sniff me. Well once that happened I was able to lasso him and start taking him out to walk with me. The more we went out together the more he trusted me, 3 weeks after that I was actually able to pick him up without a fuss. Once he trusts you he trusts you. Well in February I was told he was not getting any better, he was still snapping at people and did not want to communicate so he would probably be put down soon. Well I knew different and I was not going to give up on this guy.
At the time my beagle Skippy was pretty sick and I wanted to bring Sparky home to foster him but Skippy came first at the time. I did not want his last days to be traumatized by a new addition, we had had Cody for just a few months and that was enough for poor Skip. So John kindly offered to foster him; so now we needed to get him used to John and very quickly. So John worked with him for 2 weeks but still no interest, but he needed to get out so we figured if he only had John to care for him he would have no choice but to bond to him and I was right they soon became fast friends. I actually took Cory and Sophie with me as I did not want Sparky bonding with them before he bonded with John. Well two weeks later I lost Skippy, that was two dogs in 4 months I had lost and again my heart was broken. Skippy was one in a million he made me laugh everyday of his life, you could never be mad or sad when Skip was around. Anyway in his honor I decided I would foster dogs instead of adopting, so I took Sparky back to try and work with him so he could find a good home. Well he did with me as I could not give him up, I became a foster failure.
He still does not trust easily it takes him a while before he lets you into his heart. But once he does you have a friend for life. He comes running from where ever he is in the house when I say who is going to give me a kiss, he loves to get big hugs and loves to go for big long walks with the pack. He too is a hunter so poor squirrels do not have a chance at my house. He is a little character, a rascal is what I call him as he always gets Presley or Cody to do something bad so they can take the blame and he can smell like a rose :)
Meet Buffalo Bill “Cody”, Cody will be 2 years old this April and is a Beagle!
Well when I lost my Beagle Lily, at the age of 18 ½ years I told John I could never have another Beagle as no other dog would ever live up to her. Well I have to tell you my heart was so broken when I lost her, I could not imagine my life without this beautiful creature in it especially since she graced me with it for so long. And Skippy her partner was also heart broken I started losing him as well on the day she died.
Just for the heck of it one day at work I opened up the Beagle Rescue page and was going through it and saw this happy face puppy named Ollie. Well my fingers just automatically started typing a letter to the rescue asking if he was available and I got a letter back the next day saying yes and off to Sacramento we went to meet this little guy.
Cody was surrendered to a local shelter at the age of 9 weeks, the owners had only had him for a week. I was told it was because the owners were in the military and they were deployed to Iraq, but why would you even think of adopting a dog if you knew you were going to be deployed….. I figured it was because he was a Beagle and they can be a bit of a handful. Well when I met Cody that proved to be true! He lived in a Foster Home with 4 other dogs and two lively young boys, all of which had a lot of energy. When I picked him up he tried to bite me. His Foster Mom said they had inquiries as he was as cute as can be but when they came to meet Cody they just did not click his energy was just to high. Well it had been a long time since I had a puppy in the house, Presley was the closest thing she was 1 when I got her the year before. But we took Cody out to meet with everyone and he seemed to like the whole gang so I said yes I would take him and off we went.
He is a handful I have to tell you, a typical Beagle and a typical young boy. He loves to speed around the house when the urge hits him and then just spins and spins. He has calmed down quite a bit since I first met him and loves people now, the only reason he did not let me pick him up when we first met is he had a bad flea infection and it hurt him so once I cleared that up he was just fine I have never had a problem with him with people or dogs. He loves to howl especially when he see a squirrel, which sets Presley off and then I get stereo howling! He is a sweet boy and loves to play with just about anything so I have to mind where I put anything down, his most recent acquisition were my house keys, I looked and looked for them for days and blamed John for misplacing them when one day out comes Cody from his kennel with the keys!
Did he replace Lily, no, but there was a new open spot in my heart which he soon filled :)
Meet Sophie aka “Snow Pea” Sophie is 3 years old and a Chihuahua Terrier Mix
We were celebrating Cory’s 1st year with us and we took the gang for a walk around the neighborhood. All of a sudden this little dog ran past us and toward an open field. There were some people outside that asked us did we know who that dog belongs to she has been hanging around for a few days now. So the poor little thing was running around in the street and I was afraid she would get run over by a car, so the chase began. John took the rest of the crew back to the house and I started to track her, and she was a fast one that is for sure. We tracked her for 5 blocks and finally we cornered her in someone’s yard. The owner of the house where Sophie was hiding came out to see what the heck these crazy people were doing in his yard so we explained and he let us in so we could try and nab Sophie. We found her huddled behind a big garbage can and I think she just gave up and let me go over and pick her up. She was tiny, flea ridden and very very hungry. We walked around the neighborhood with her for a while asking people if they knew who she belonged to, and no one knew. We took her to the local emergency Vet to see if she had a micro ID chip in her and nothing. They however were kind enough to give us flea medicine for her as the fleas were just jumping off of her. So we took her home and gave her a flea bath, several times, gave her to plates of food which she happily ate and put her to bed for the night in one of our kennels.
Now outside there was great curiosity, all the dogs came sniffing around the door trying to see who is this new creature mom and dad have brought home. That night I tried to talk John into keeping her and he said no, no, no. We have enough dogs we do not need another tomorrow we take her to the shelter. So morning came and I went and got her, I had named her Sophie by then, this time she happily came out of the kennel and cuddled on my lap. So the time came and off we went to the shelter to turn her in. John assured me the shelter was a no kill shelter and she would be fine someone would come and adopt her. So we filled out the paperwork and they pretty much had to pry her out of my arms, as we were completing the paperwork one of the shelter volunteers happened to mention that Sophie would be transferred to animal control in the morning as the shelter only accepted dogs from a specific area, well animal control is a kill shelter and they would only keep her 10 and if she was not adopted or claimed in that time she would be put down. So the tears started flowing and John looked at me and said we want her back please. So since we had just signed the paperwork they tore it up and told us that we could keep her but if someone came looking for her we had to give her back, which was fine. However, if within 10 days no one came then we could either keep her or return her to the shelter. Well no one came and we did not return her to the shelter.
John said this is not the dog he would have chosen for him self (remember he wanted a German Short Hair Pointer) but this is the dog that was chosen for him, and now he cannot imagine life with out little Sophie. She has a sweet happy personality, and when she sees someone she loves her two little front feet start tapping like crazy until you pick her up.
We are all so glad Sophie found us :)
Meet Cory. Cory is 3 years old and is a Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie).
John had been looking for a dog of his own and he had his heart set on a German Shorthair Pointer, he had grown up with these dogs as a young lad and loved them. Well we were starting our shift at the Humane Society and we went around to all the kennels so I could see who needed a website picture. I went by to say hello to this little terrier “Angus” that I had been working with and that day he had a companion, Cory. John and I both looked at each other and could not believe that this dog was up for adoption, she was a stray and no one ever came to claim her. We took her out for a web photo and John kept mentioning what a good dog she was, so I told him you know you want a doga nd you seem to really like this one, if you feel like you connected with her then you better grab her now as I know she won’t last the day. So by the end of the photoshoot, John was in love and we welcomed Cory into the family.
At first it was a bit tricky with her, she did not get on with other dogs that well. At the time I had Skippy, Lily and Presley. Now Skip and Lily were 17 years old and even when they were young they would never hurt a fly but she attacked both of them and almost put Lily’s eye out. Then she decided to see how she would fare with Presley, well Presley is a very sweet dog and she took Cory’s snapping for a long while, but then one day she just said “Sister you have gone to far” and the next thing I knew she had Cory on her back and I had to pull Presley off. Well needless to say Cory knew her place in the pack was not number 1 and from then on she started to assimilate into the family. Sometimes it just takes time and patience, something a lot of people that adopt don’t have and that is why so many dogs are returned to the shelters. It is a slow process and takes a great deal of commitment.
Cory is another “A” student, as a matter of fact she aced her training class and came out #1. She is now a docile sweet dog. It is lucky we live on the west coast, as Cory hates snow, skis, snowboards, etc. We don’t know why but she starts barking like crazy when anyone walks by with skis or snowboards. Snow I can understand, the poor little girl has these teeny tiny legs and a big body so when she walks in the snow she sinks right in and all we see is this little ball of fluff sunken in the snow.
Well that is it about Cory other then we call her our Supermodel as it is really hard to get a bad photo of this pretty girl.
Meet Presley. Presley is 4 years old and a Black and Tan Coonhound
If you are still hanging on to a dead dream of yesterday, laying flowers on its grave by the hour; you cannot be planting the seeds for a new dream to grow today.
