Dogs at Play

I know in these photographs it appears that Gracie is picking on poor little Jake. Yeah. Let us review the past 3 weeks, since Jake came to live with us:

Jake is very demanding of my attention. At one point, he was actually jumping up on top of the kitchen table to get to me before Gracie could. That stopped in a hurry. I do like the fact that he loves to cuddle.

If Gracie is quietly resting, or meditating, or whatever else is going on inside that Aussie brain, Jake will approach her and grab a hind leg. In his mouth. He will then pull on it until she has no choice but to go after him or fall flat on her butt. And then the good times roll. They will chase each other all over the house, the yard, up and down off of furniture until exhausted.

The little fart has chewed through one leather leash, and one woven cloth leash. The scary part was he had the leashes on for no more than 5 or 10 minutes. That fast.

Jake likes his paws to be clean at all times. How do I know this? Because he uses all 3 available water bowls as his own personal foot bath. He doesn't dig in the water (like some dogs at the dog park), rather he delicately places his paws, one at a time, in the water and gently stirs it around. I had to buy 2 heavy ceramic crocks to use as water bowls because he kept tipping the plastic ones I've been using for, oh, 2 years now. Sigh.

I am thankful that he has adjusted so well. I am grateful that Gracie has accepted Jake and plays with him every day. He is a cutie, isn't he?
Linda

Race Weekend

Yes, race fans, it is Memorial Day Weekend. If you live in Indiana, there is only one thing on your mind: the Indy 500. Either you are trying to avoid the traffic and turmoil associated with the additional people in town, or you are into the race day and filled with excitement. I'm from Chicago. Yeah.

Here in Avon we have our own races everyday. Several times a day. Sometimes on the hour.....Gracie has been in rare form of late, and she loves to chase her brother. The tables can turn at any second, if he decides to reverse it and chase her. So far she has not grabbed his tail. The day will come, but my little guy does let her know when the play gets too rough.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Linda

A Winner and some class photos to share!

A Winner and some class photos to share!

Just an additional note. I attended some classes 2 weeks ago with the amazing Candy. Here are the pics her daughter took of the classes from Friday and Saturday. Thanks, Candy!

The Backyard

Look at that smile

At play with Gracie

They play off and on all day long. It's the first thing they do in the morning after eating their breakfast. It's the last thing at night before mom tells them to settle down for the night. There are a few quick naps in-between, and then they are off again, chasing one another through the house and yard.

Life is good.
Linda

Sunsets and skies

Under the fishing pier early one morning

View from our balcony as a storm rolled through

I have always been fascinated with taking photographs of the sky, especially when it is storming or about to storm. So staying in an ocean front hotel room for 4 days was absolute heaven.

If we went out our main door to the west, you had a view of the setting sun over the town of Folly Beach. This we did every night, and I have tons of setting sun photos to play with. If we went out onto our little balcony by the sliding glass doors, we faced towards the east and the ocean. The hotel was situated at an angle, so it was more to the southeast. Great view of the fishing pier, which we did walk out on twice.

I think Pat took 500 photos of the pier and beach. I may be exaggerating a bit, but she was glued to this scene, and played with the camera settings. We both switched to black and white at one point. I need to look at those photos more closely before posting them.

Have a great day.
Linda

Magnolia Plantation

One of the bridges over the swamp

Second main bridge

Good view of duck weed

Back to Charleston, SC: we toured the Magnolia Plantation outside of the city. If you go, allow plenty of time and bring your wallet. There are several options as to how you do this, but it boils down to paying for every little tour. We looked at it this way. Are we ever going to return? Probably not, so pay now and shut up. We're on vacation.

The above photos are of the garden/swamp area immediately outside the house. Gives you a good idea of what the original settlers to the area had to contend with. Imagine filling in swamp, loaded with 5 types of poisonous snakes and alligators, to build your home upon. It is very peaceful, and quiet. You do hear the birds as you walk the paths. But we were warned, repeatedly, that if we didn't bring snake boots or snake chaps to stay on the paths. Even then you keep one eye on the ground, because you could come up on a snake sunning. Uh huh. You won't find that information on any of the tourists websites. Trust me.

Duck Weed is the green seed plant growing on the surface of the water. It is not algae as we all assume. It is a plant, necessary to the health of the water and is also food for birds and whatever else lives there.

I loved Charleston and all that we did, and I do want to return. Live there? Naw, not so much. Having that much to worry about in the yard is not to my liking. The second night we walked Folly Beach, we found body parts of sea creatures washed up. Pat was getting super close to take photos when I warned her that it looked like jelly fish to me, and that they are deadly. The tentacles were no longer attached, so we were safe I found out later, but still. This adventure taught me to research an area a bit more than what I did prior to our Carolina's trip.

Enjoy your day.
Linda

The Tree

I'm too tired to take a photograph of this tree, so we'll just pretend I did. Two years ago, right after I purchased this house, Pat and I went on the garden tour of Plainfield, IN. It was a fun day, hot but enjoyable. One of the last places we visited had plants for sale. I purchased three plants. The only one I know the name of is the Siberian Iris that I posted on Sunday. The other two are something or other.

Last fall my friends Eva and Jean came down to spend a weekend. Eva is a master gardener, and told me that the one plant should be in the shade, not full sun where I had located it. So today I moved the two biggest clumps of that plant, and then tackled THE TREE. The other nameless plant came with a small soft maple growing in it's midst. For whatever reason, I was not into gardening last year, and ignored the maple tree. This year I realized I couldn't put it off any longer, so I dug that sucker up. Good thing, because the main root was heading into the slab the house is situated on.

I immediately brought the five foot maple tree to the back yard, in hopes that it would root and take. Not likely, but you never know until you try. It was free and the cost was an hour of my time. I laid the tree down on the ground to dig a hole. Not knowing if I'd remove the tree from the first spot in one piece, I did not dig a new hole first. This is logical, is it not? Not if you have an Aussie named Gracie. While I was digging, Gracie looked at the poor tree, and decided this would be a great stick to tease Jake with. Her mouth (I swear this is true) was just closing around the main trunk when I turned around yelling "leave it". It is extremely windy today, storms are once again brewing, so I'm fighting the wind, the clay that exists all over this state, and the dog who is intent on playing with this new toy that mom has thrown on the ground.

I won. The tree is in the ground, watered and staked so it will have half of chance of staying upright. Gracie is asleep at my feet, having decided that she pushed her Diva act a bit too far with mom today. Life with dogs is never, ever boring.
Linda

Jake

The boy likes his comfort, doesn't he? This has been an interesting 12 days. At first, Gracie didn't know what to make of this little guy. Then she started to play. Then he came home from the vet with that plastic cone on his head, and Gracie was terrified. She wouldn't go near him, to the point I had to blockade Jake in the kitchen in order to bring Gracie in from the yard. A good dog friend told me to take the cone off and watch him like a hawk. If he went to his incision, put the cone back on. If he didn't, leave it off. It's been off for 5 days now.

With the cone off, the play resumed. We had one bad day, where there were several serious altercations, and I was wondering if I had made a mistake. But it was simply Gracie asserting her position as alpha dog, the first dog in the house, and once that was firmly established, the play began again. Jake has a lot of energy, being only 18 months old, and will chase Gracie around the house, around the yard, until she lies down with her tongue hanging out. I love it.

Gracie has also shared a lot more with Jake than she ever did with Sarge, and this is due to Jake's more assertive personality. They sit together in the leather chair in the living room, looking out the window, side by side. I really need to get a pic of that. The bed in the guest bedroom is also shared, looking out that window, watching the neighborhood. Toys and bones are shared, where they never were before. I have made a good choice. This is a sweet dog who just needs some minor work on his manners.

We love him a lot already.
Linda

Spring Flowers

Sidewalk leading to the front door

Siberian Iris

Early morning sun on Iris

I took these photos this morning around 8am. The sun was perfect, with the south side of the house in shade. I wish the Iris blooms lasted longer than they do, because the colors are so vivid. One of my favorites.
Have a wonderful day.
Linda

John C Calhoun Home

The front entrance to the house

Side yard

Side of the home

Fountain in the gardens

Back outside on the street

While walking in the historic district in Charleston, we stopped at the gate to the John C. Calhoun home. This gentleman figures prominently in the city's history. The guide was out by the front door, and she told us a tour would start shortly. We thanked her, and she invited us to tour the garden for free.

It amazes me what they packed into such small spaces, small by today's standards. The house lots were not large, but every home we saw had exceptional gardens. Everything was perfectly manicured, and stunning in color and layout. I now regret that we didn't tour one of the homes, but we didn't know how long we would need to get in everything on our "absolutely mandatory" list.

One day I will go back. Have a great weekend.
Linda

More from Charleston SC

This is Confederate Jasmin

The river walk

One of the row houses

They are not porches in Charleston. It is a veranda.

The gazebo at Battery Park

Live Oaks at Battery Park

The afternoon we arrived in Folly Beach, SC, we ate at a seafood restaurant with open air seating. The entrance was surrounded by this very fragrant, white flower. Pat asked the waitress what it was, and she told us the common name was Confederate Jasmin. It is everywhere in Charleston, and used to accent doorways, balconies, whatever.

After taking the carriage tour the next day, we walked the route again with our cameras spending several hours taking photographs. It was in the 80's, but the heat was not excessive and honestly, felt pretty good. After our winter and early spring, I refuse to complain about the heat again. Ever. The shot of the row house above has an interesting story. This is the oldest standing example of this type of structure in the entire country. And of course it's on the National Historic Registry, as is a great deal of the city. I automatically want to associate Charleston with the Civil War in my mind, but the city dates back to pre-revolutionary times.

Our summer is finally arriving in Indiana. My heirloom and Siberian iris are in bloom, the grass is a beautiful deep green, and everything is thriving. Time to plant a few annuals. Have yourself a great weekend.
Linda

Charleston SC

Private Courtyard

In a church cemetery. I can only guess how old this tree is.

I loved visiting Charleston, SC. I want to go back. There was a great deal that we didn't see or do. Part of the reason was we were dead tired every night. Another reason was we had allowed 4 days for Charleston, and it just wasn't enough time.

The nick name for this city is The Holy City. The churches are beautiful, scattered all over the historic district. As our carriage tour guide pointed out, when Charleston was built the land was all swamp. The pioneers in this area literally filled in the swamp and marshland to build. Land lots are not large, houses very close together. And the churches were incorporated right into the neighborhoods.

During our tour of Boone Hall Plantation, we were told that it takes 100 years for a live oak tree to reach good height. It requires another 100 years to arch over a road, forming a canopy overhead. The entrance to Boone Hall has the famous, much filmed canopy of live oaks leading to the house. This is a live oak tree I photographed in the cemetery above. It has to be at least 100 years old.

Some day I will return to Charleston. Some day.
Linda

Charleston, SC

The view from out 8th floor hotel room, to the left (Atlantic Ocean, for those geographically challenged)

Same vantage point, to the right

Early morning light

Love this!

Mule team used for a carriage tour

Pat and I had spent 2 days and nights in Asheville, then took off on Tuesday morning for Charleston, SC. It was an easy drive, but the heat did increase the further south we got. There was a problem finding a hotel in the historic district, so we opted to stay at Folly Beach, which is 9 miles south of the city. When we checked in, the temperature was 87 degrees, and the beach was packed.

Coming from Chicago and Indianapolis, and an absolutely horrible winter and cold spring, this was a welcome relief. The first two photos were taken within minutes after we entered our 8th floor room. All of the hotel rooms at The Tides at Folly Beach have a balcony that faces the ocean. I lost count of how many times we stood on that balcony and just had to go back and pick up the cameras. Pat was worse than me. I think she took another 300 to 400 photos over my final count of 700.

The third and fourth photos were taken early the next morning. I fell in love with the early morning light on the beach. A corner of the building blocked our view of the sunrise, so we could only photograph the reflection from our balcony.

Our first morning we took a carriage ride through the historic district of Charleston. All of the guides are required to take 2 written tests and 1 verbal test before given a license to be a tour guide. Charleston takes their tourism seriously, and we appreciate it. Our guide was fantastic, and had stories to spin that kept us completely entertained and informed us of the complicated history of the city. If you have a chance, I highly recommend the carriage rides.

Enjoy your day.
Linda

Let the good times roll

Seeing the world with a plastic bell around his head

The first 2 days all he did was bang into everything

Please take note of Miss Gracie's eye

Well, this has been an interesting experience. I knew in my heart that Gracie was ready to have another brother. She had become lethargic at home, mopey, and only perked up when she had someone to play with. Enter Jake.

Jake is 18 months old, so he is younger than Sarge was when he left. Sarge was 5 1/2 when he was killed. Different breed. I don't know exactly what breed Jake is, but it is certainly not Sheltie. Not timid at all. I think what I have on my hands are two alpha want-to-be dogs. So it balances into an equal battle for power. Gracie is not used to this type of behavior. She was used to waltzing up to Sarge and having him surrender whatever it was she wanted.

The second day Jake was with us, Gracie did try that little move. Jake had a Nyla bone, and was laying down chewing it in the yard. Gracie came up and looked at him. Jake picked up and bone and moved 1 foot. Gracie moved, lowered her head, and gave a little growl/whine, as if to say, "Perhaps you didn't understand the statement I was making, Jake." Well actually he did. He picked up the bone and moved 3 feet, ignoring her completely. I am on the deck laughing.

Gracie does not try to steal food or treats from Jake. He let her know that the food was off limits, and he had a right to eat as much as she did. I have a feeling that with the balance of power so even, my life is going to be a tad easier. I'm liking it.

Within the next two weeks, Jake will be groomed and I am going to take him to a manners class. Something he needs.

Have a great weekend,
Linda