Happy Father's Day

Father's Day 2011

The Sunday to honor and appreciate the love of our dads. It is a special day for so many to celebrate. And sadly, for some of us it is not. Joe and I try not to dwell there. 
But we love to celebrate!  So today we will celebrate the privilege Joe has of being the father of two great kids, and we honor all the dad-friends and dad-family that love being a Dad and cherish the Trials and Tribulations that go along with this role. I hope a day never goes by that Conor & Megs and Jerren & Pat don't feel loved If only every person had a dad who sincerely felt and lived the words in Brett Dennen's song, Don't Forget, therapists might be out of a job.Whenever I hear the song, I picture one of my favorite dads, Jimmy Sellers singing it to his little girl, Charlotte.We have friends who are great fathers. Jimmy Sellers is one of them.


Tadpole has been with us for a week now. We notified the local humane societies in case someone had lost him and not left him. We have checked all the streets for Lost a Great Little Dog signs. We took him to the vet yesterday, to check for a microchip--none--and to start him on puppy shots for parvo and distemper. He is between 10-12 weeks old -much younger than we thought. This week Tad has learned to sit. This week we have learned that it is wonderful to be loved by a little dog.

May all children have fathers who

 sing, "Don't Forget"by Brett Dennen 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPAaOZGxQeg

Dingo loving on Tadpole

Loving Life

Dingo enjoys a little wrestle time

Singing together

Hugs

Happy Go Lucky Tadpole

I am sitting here this morning with the cutest little bit of a dog sitting on my lap. With a head about the size of a golf ball, large liquid eyes, and a visible skeleton he reminds me of a tadpole. He  can’t be 2 pounds. It breaks my heart that someone could drive down a barren dirt road, open the car door and put this little dog (any dog, cat or pet) out and drive off. What did this poor little pup think when the car drove off leaving him alone.

My dirt road has become a favorite dumping ground for cowards to get rid of unwanted pets. I, along with many of my good neighbors, have taken in these discarded pets and we keep them, find them good homes, or resort to taking them to the local humane societies. We do the dirty work for the irresponsible pet owners who feel it is better to throw a pet out in the country to fend for itself, rather than drive to the humane society and place the pet in a safe environment with a chance of adoption.

I have yet to find anything wrong with this little guy. I'm no expert, but he looks like a Chihuahua/mini pinscher cross. He is smart and lovable. He comes when you call him. He willingly goes into his crate and does not whimper, whine, yap or bark. He has chewed on nothing but his new rawhide stick.

He spends all day in the crate while I am at work and sleeps all night next to my bed in the crate. Even if I get up to go to the bathroom he does not whine to get out. In the morning I get up and make coffee before opening his door. While the coffee brews I carry his 2 lbs of squirming kisses outside to do his business. It takes about 5 minutes for him to find a spot, but that is because he spends most of that time making sure I know how happy he is to see me.

He loves to go on my morning walks with Dingo. We cover about 2 miles and he skips along with abounding energy. Dingo got over her short bout of jealousy and now he has a forever protector. This morning as we made our way through the grove, we startled a bobcat. We all froze. The dignified cat stopped in mid motion staring at the two intruders and the hairless squirrel. With a bristled spine Dingo immediately moved between our new little friend and the bobcat. The stare down lasted about 15 seconds before the bobcat turned and slipped into the underbrush. 

Ten year old Dingo, who was once a pup dumped out on this same dirt road, knew the bobcat. Together they lived in this woodsy grove and competed for food in 2001. That year it took me 4 months to convince Dingo that some people were nice and that Forever Weekend Farm was a safe place to live. She has good reason not to trust people and is leery of strangers. To this day she will only get in a car carried as a lump of dead weight. Tadpole seems more forgiving of people. Although I’m sure he suffered the trauma of watching his cruel owner drive off leaving him alone on a hot dusty day, or was it a dark night, he greets everyone with a happy-go-lucky personality. So far he is only afraid of the vacuum cleaner.

Tadpole is a big dog in a little dog body. At approximately six months old he carries himself like a proud and wise 100 lb. Dobie.  He has a happy bounce in his step and an impish burst of speed on the run. He watches television, loves to look at himself in the floor mirror, and he thinks Dingo is the bee's knees! At the present time I am not sure what the future holds for him, but I do know he deserves much more then being left to figure it out by himself on a lonely dirt road.

Meet Tadpole

Tuesday of last week I came home from work to a sad sight. The palm tree that had been the nesting box the last 6 springs for our owls and woodpeckers had fallen over blocking my path to the house. It had broken off at the base and had crushed several potted plants on its way down. I was so upset and the woodpecker mama was devastated. There on the ground under the tree were four eggs. Two were crushed; two were whole.

I looked up and the mama woodpecker was sitting in another palm looking down at the hopeless mess.  The owls left the nest in time to avoid this disaster, but the woodpeckers lost this set of babies. I felt the mother's pain. I wish I could have shared my bottle of merlot with her.

The next night I brought home plans to build a screech owl nesting box. We hope we can make this box attractive enough for the owls to use it next spring. Before I dragged the fallen home site away, I got to look down in the cavity and see the nesting holes from the inside. It was an interesting bird's eye view.

And again I had Friday off and I am loving it!!!!  I watched a movie and hoped for rain. I cleaned out the pond and I got to visit with Keara later in the afternoon. I wanted her to see the wild orchid and we took a golf cart ride letting the dogs run. Keara regularly checks out the animal shelter and knowing I would love to save dogs, she told me of a six month old mastiff that had been turned in.We wondered if the owners could no longer afford to feed her, and as tempting as she sounded, not a dog I could handle with working so many hours. It breaks my heart.

I am pretty productive with the three day weekend. I got some flounder and invited Jimmy and Courtney for a fish fry dinner. I need to see Charlotte at least once a week as she is growing up so fast and changes everyday. Courtney is glowing--the baby is growing--she is a picture of great health! Charlotte was as entertaining as ever. I wish Con and Megs, Jer and Pat got to see her as much as we do!Court and I took a golf cart ride-mainly to check out the wild orchid-but low and behold we saw something odd in the middle of Seminole Road. Was it a cat, a dog, a fox or a rat? It was the latest dumpee on our desolate dirt road--a bony, dehydrated, shaking tea cup chihuahua.

Meet TADPOLE!

Tadpole

A Very Hungry and Thirsty Tad!

Dingo played very gentle with him!

Tad may have some mini pin in him!

Jerren brought me this frangipangi
and it loves where we planted it!

This was hard to look at.

Whooping crane family living on the Mueller Campus

Tad slept all night!

Young male cardinal getting his color.

  

A Frilly Thrill--Happy Birthday Meghan!

Joe and I are enjoying the new summer schedule-4 ten hour days and then Friday off! When Friday arrives we sleep till 7:30 am, enjoy 3 cups of coffee on the porch, watch the birds, walk the yard, read, take a morning nap, wake up, eat a gourmet lunch at 11,  piddle in the yard, take an afternoon snooze, I work on a watercolor and Joe works on his tractor,  plan a gourmet dinner, walk the property with a glass of wine and a Keystone, visit with the owls, check out the Koi pond, and eat an awesome dinner. A taste of retirement! The Belle Glade corn and watermelon are very sweet right now and are usuallya part of the gourmet meals! So are Forever Weekend tomatoes, which I think are as good as the ones I remember grown in Jersey!


We are in dire need of rain and we spend our mornings and nights moving the hoses around keeping the plants watered. Joe discovered a surprise and tonight I walked with him through the crunchy pastures to see what he had found. There in the middle of the wilted bamboo stand was a triple wild orchid blossom. Three beautiful purple, pink, and white flowers on a fragile stalk waving in the dry breeze surrounded by nothing but brown husks. Since this is where Con and Megs have talked of building a tree house, we decided this frilly thrill was a birthday gift for Meghan!! 

Happy Birthday, Meghan!!!

On our way back to the house we saw the baby owls calling for dinner from the front yard oak. Ma and Pa were busy grabbing up grasshoppers from the newly mowed pastures and taking turns feeding them. I was able to take a few pictures, but got some dirty looks from the babies for the interruption.

Wild Orchid for Meghan.
As beautiful as the ones we box up for prom and Easter corsages, but  more gorgeous growing  in the middle of nothing. 

The wild blossoms showcased in the bamboo stand.

We realized we would have missed this beauty if it had not been for the drought.
The dried up bamboo leaves made room for more sunlight and a view.

  

We listened to the raspy trill of the three babies calling for the parents to feed them.

One of three watching Ma and Pa hunt the pastures for dinner.

I'm definitely interrupting the dinner hour.

Watching for a parent to swoop in with filet of grasshopper.

I was so close I could have reached up for a pet, but probably would  have gotten a peck!
Time to go back in the house and let the evening meal be served.