Duplicate post

{{!gwi}}

This post was edited by jstell2008 on Thu, Jun 26, 14 at 13:37

I love purple potatoes! What a pretty flower; I never knew that.

Yesterday's harvest from one plant! I love this thread.

I've subscribed to the Daily Mutts...it's a comic strip about a dog and a cat that gets sent to your email. Today's quote was:

It is impossible to keep a straight face in the presence of one or more kittens. --Cynthia E. Varnado

Yup!

Puerto Rico!

Aaah, summer. Finally.

So pretty and summery, Cyn!

My DS & DDIL sent me a family selfie:

Here's my hubby with a 3-week-old Cooper's hawk. There is a nest in a friend's back yard, and last night a raptor expert came over and banded the four chicks. While the expert was banding, weighing, and taking blood from each bird, we got to hold the other three. DH was so cute - as soon as he got the baby in his hands, he started rocking, just like he does with human babies. He didn't even realize he was doing it.

We also caught the mother, and updated vitals on her. The expert hoped to catch the male, who is not banded, but he wasn't cooperating. They are doing a paternity study on Cooper's hawk in the area.

Our Boy Scout troop was invited to watch the process, which is why DH is in uniform.

That's so sweet, Annkh.

I've really enjoyed all of your pics. I hope those of you that suffered mishaps are healing well. After 13 years living in AZ, we finally made it to the Grand Canyon. Amazing, but Antelope Canyon is what really took our breath away.

I always enjoy these threads. So many great shots. Since I'm on pain MEDs for an arm injury, nothing like Lynn's, but painful enough, I'll not try and remember and comment on all. Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed looking.
Here's some of the hail from last month's storm. I waited more than a half hour to go out and get it because I feared it would start again and I didn't want to get hit in the head with one of those things.

This post was edited by justgotabme on Tue, Jul 1, 14 at 22:50

Two from me. One is the view I'll have when our office relocates this week. The second is my most amazing little nephew, clearly relishing his first plane ride.

Such great pictures from everyone!

Phonelady, is that for real? That is beautiful. I understand Canyon de Chelly is supposed to be something too. I wish I knew about it when we were out that way. Maybe now that'll give us reason to go back.

Sometimes things are pretty black and white. Sometimes it's more of a gray area. Sometimes they overlap.

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This post was edited by jstell2008 on Fri, Sep 26, 14 at 19:17

Very true in both respects Annie. Too cute!
jstell, that is beautiful. I wish I had the patience for that kind of work.

Annie......that IS for real. And the picture was taken with my my little ole iPhone. When you enter the canyons, they seem impressive but it is not until you look thru the viewfinder of your camera that the breathtaking colors appear.

We did this loop: Out of Africa, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons, Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. After seeing the previous sites, we deemed Canyon de Chelly to be lovely but a bit of "seen that/done that". There is decidedly one money shot there that is awesome though.

Painted Desert/Petrified Forest certainly interesting but we don't feel compelled to go back. In all, a magnificent trip. I am glad we did it now. I am 65 and I have to say the trek back and forth to Horseshoe Bend and the ladders in the Lower Canyon are not a walk in the park (literally) and I am woefully out of shape. The ladders shown below were the easier ones.

How neat! Thanks for sharing your photos. I think that's going on my list. When we went, we started in Vegas and then went to Hoover Dam, Zion, Bryce, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon and Painted Desert, back to Vegas. The contrast of all lights and flash in Vegas to not seeing another traffic light for the rest of the trip until we returned to Vegas was really something.

Jakabedy - I smile every time I look at that picture of your nephew!

Phonelady, I'm keeping that list too, so if we ever get to the grand canyon we can check out the rest too.

Joey is not suppose to be on the table, but I had to capture his cuteness. I bought two large vases at Hob Lob Monday. I injured my arm when I picked up a large bag of cat food on my next stop and was barely able to get the vases out of the bag, so I just left them on the table. Joey decided I left them there for him.

Burj Khalifa in Dubai-- it was 109 today but a dry heat : )

I live in AZ so I "get" what a dry heat means.

It may not be the 4th yet, but what a light show! We had severe t storms move through our area tonight and I don't ever remember seeing such nonstop lightning...multiple flashes per second nonstop, with a few big cloud to ground strikes thrown in for good measure. Wow it was noisy! More flashes than the paparazzi on Duchess Kate!

Annie, your kittens are absolutely the cutest! I can relate to vet bills, but 18 years and a lot of purrin ', gentle love bites, and lots of licks makes it all worthwhile. The 18 year old was my sweet Siamese Ziggy I had put down almost 3 years ago. My Tabby, Sissy, is almost 17 and still looks like a kitten, although she walks a little slower. And my white long hair Foxie, wishes he were an only child, zealous little guy. I'm just an old cat lover, but my boy Jaxson Brown, first dog in 20 years, is a super special boy.

Thanks, patty cakes. Your fur family sounds lovely. And I know how you feel...even with my new babes, I still miss Casimir...he was our special kitty.

In another slice of life thread, I posted this pic taken from my friends' living room. They live in a idyllic valley in Eastern Washington, where I visit frequently.

I was to go visit this weekend, but then wildfires started erupting and two of the roads into the valley were closed, leaving only one way in and out. I decided, even tho the fires weren't real close that I wouldn't go - things just can change in an instant and a new fire could close the only access. Then she sent me this pic, shot from the same window. Shortly after this the fire burned through the power lines to the whole valley, so no electricity, no water and the fire spreading. They decided to evacuate and are safely out of there (luckily they thought ahead and filled their gas tank, as gas stations are now nearly or are out of gas and everyone is trying to leave). Their home is still safe as far as we know. One fire, just east of them has burned about 350 square miles (as of yesterday). It breaks my heart for all the people affected, towns, homes and ranches destroyed, animals lost, etc.

Olychick - my heart goes out to you and and your friends. I lived in Bellevue years ago and cannot imagine wildfires in Washington. Terribly sorry for what people are going through.

No cute photo, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Wednesday, dh & I saw a puppy on the side of the road so we had to stop and pick it up. We were on our way to a meeting so we ran back home, put her in the backyard and left. She was still there when we came home, right by the gate where we last saw her.

I put up flyers and ads on CL and lostdogs.com but had to work Thursday so couldn't take her to the vet until Friday. No chip. By then we had 0 phone calls and no responses to the ads. I googled for lost dogs fitting her description and there was nothing. We concluded that she was a dumped dog; it happens fairly often in our out of the way rural residential neighborhood. We found her on a road that was heavily wooded and secluded - the perfect place to dump a dog I guess.

She is really sweet but a tad stubborn and refuses to cooperate with the leash, or to come to us even with treats, until she is good and ready. She's still puppy enough that her back end sometimes keeps going after her front end has stopped and she rolls end over end. She's also run into things head on because she wasn't watching where she is going.

She smelled very doggy and was scratching, so we stopped after church and bought some flea shampoo and we gave her a bath this afternoon. This evening, I was working in the yard and she decided to try to drink out of the pond the way the cat does. I shouted no at her and she backed up, and then I heard a splash and she was hanging on to the edge trying to get out. So I hauled her out, and then we both smelled like wet, swamp dog. So I guess I get to give her another bath tomorrow.

She wants to play with the cat soooo badly, and he wants none of it. He has given the puppy two lessons in respecting personal space, but the puppy is pushing for lesson three. They did touch noses unexpectedly, but then they both back peddled. Mostly, the cat gives the puppy a wide berth, except when it comes to food. The cat is determined to eat every bit of dog food in the bowl if the puppy isn't around, and this is a cat that is so picky he paws all the disagreeable bits out of his feeder and only eats the salmon bites.

To say the cat has been in a foul mood lately is an understatement.

Wow, Marti, that puppy is so lucky! To be found at all is lucky, but to be treated as you have. Aww

Thanks, mtnrdredux. He is lucky we found him when we did as we have a lot of coyotes and at least one bob cat in the area. Small pets can't be left out overnight, and one neighbor even had her small dog snatched in broad daylight by the bob cat. It happened about 15 feet in front of her, and right on that same stretch of wooded road.

We do need to find a home for her before we get any more attached, and it would be nice if it happened before Tuesday when I have an appointment at the vet to get her shots.

olychick, that is so awful. When will they know if their house made it through the fire?

From one animal loving marti to another...you are wonderful to have rescued and cared for this poor abandoned pup. Bless you. We want pics, please!!!
An appreciative marti :)

Marti8a...the fire is still not even close to being contained, so it just kind of depends on the weather...it's cooler now which is good, but if the wind kicks up it's anyone's guess. There is a small river between them and that part of the fire, which also helps, but fires jump rivers all the time. It's hard to get reports because there is no power or phone service to the valley, the cell towers have burned, etc. Some people are probably charging their cells in their cars, but there's not much gas, either. This is the largest wildfire in WA history which is saying something because there have been some big ones in the past. Thankfully, so far, there have been no fatalities, which is kind of unbelievable.

DS, a s'more, and a hopeful dog.

My dog Buddy has a new float for the pool this year...you can almost hear him giggling as we make waves for him to float over.

I love this post!

I've had several mini vacations with my kids and grands. First one was beginning part of a June, going to Va where oldest GD graduated from HS with a 5.0+ average! My youngest son(47)went with me. From there we went onto NYC to meet up with middle DD and celebrate my 8 yo GS's birthday~he wanted to go to go 'stand in the front window of the today show' (and did!), visit the Statue of Liberty, Stock Exchsnge(no luck), Central Park, bus tour, Ground Zero, and see 'all the people'! We stayed in Times Square at the Omni Marquis(27th floor)and faced the signs where the clock is and the ball is dropped on NY eve~we were told the room rate is $4000 on NY eve! We stayed for 6 days and saw so much, but not so much that I won't return, next year. Came home for 3 days and oldest DD who lives w/ me took a few days off and drove to NOLA. Ate some great Cajun food, shopped till we dropped, did a ghost tour, plantation tour, Jackson Sq, cemeteries, St. Louis Cathedral, Bourbon St, lots of antique stores(expennnnnnsive!!),and had a ball! Now I'm home and am planning my trip to IL in Aug to have a 3 week visit with my best friend, and antique shop! Also helped youngest DD move into her new home in between all this! Busy is good!!!

I wish I had a life to post about. I love the cat and dog stories.

Patty, it sounds like you had a blast!

Here is a pic of my sweet KoKo taking a quick rest. I apologize in advance if the pic isn't oriented properly. I have it saved in iPhoto and that's supposed to help.

I forgot to mention what is probably the most important trip, the annual girls trip with my 3 adult daughters ~we went to a Charleston this year, and I think it was love at first sight for all of us. My kids grew up in San Diego so that's the sort of scenery/architecture/landscaping they have always related to. Well, Ms. Charleston, SC took our breath away. It will always be a lovely memory along with the few lbs. I gained eating that wonderful southern food!

I love seeing all the pictures of the fur babies and scenery! We're all very fortunate and blessed with what life has given us.

finallyhome, we all have something to tell. Please share something. Even a picture of the view from outside your window would be interesting to us.
I too love the pet pictures, but also enjoy seeing all the other pictures posted here too. I don't always get here often enough to read or comment on everything, but I still enjoy them.

Yes, finallyhome, we all have something to share that we are grateful for, even if it's an interesting cloud in the sky or a roadside flower that blossoms...

Ilene, Buddy looks like Queen of the Nile. So cute!

pattycakes, your trips sound wonderful. I would love to go to NYC.

finallyhome, there is always something going on in one's life, and what seems ordinary to one is interesting to someone else.

Here's the puppy. And in the last picture is the jealous cat. They have been out at the same time, but it's easier if one is loose and the other one contained. Buddy the cat has been in a foul mood for days and now he just walks around growling when the puppy is outside when he is out. The puppy just bops around like the cat isn't there, unless she gets too close to the cat and the hissing starts.

If anyone is in the Dallas area, and wants a sweet dog, let me know. The vet thinks she is a catahoula/labrador mix. She seems pretty smart too. I bought a collar to take her to the vet Friday and she balked at the end of the leash. I've been working with her (in the backyard) and she leads now and comes when called, at least most of the time.

p.s. I am loving all these pictures. Phonelady, those are amazing canyon photos.

Finallyhome, just waking up in the morning able to *see* the sun and get out of bed is even more than some people have the ability to do. You have more of a life than what you think. Have you considered rescuing a dog or cat? Maybe it's something to think about.

Marti, what an adorable dog!

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This post was edited by jstell2008 on Fri, Sep 26, 14 at 19:19

Oh my Marti, she is one sweet pupster! You know kitty would get used to her and probably love having a partner in crime.

Most of the animals in my life have been ones that couldn't find a home or from family members that for one reason or another had to give their pet up. I have been so blessed by them becoming my pets.

Jstell, Hummer is such a handsome kitty. He looks like my Tommy. We lost our sweet baby to kidney failure just before Christmas. I adored that boy and he found us by coming into our garage and curling up in a Pepsi box.

Our dear Tommy checking out the new sink during our kitchen reno.