The Dog in Red and the Dog in Pink

Bear is getting Ready for Christmas Dinner

If Looks Could Kill

This is Tender Love, Passionate Times and Always some BLUE

Bird Watching




We were exploring the paths of High Park and we came across the Zoo.
Just look at those eyes watching us.
This bird has a neck with a life of it's own.

You can kind of see it in this video.
We tried to capture it.
It would stretch its neck along the fence like a cat
that rubs it's body along your leg when it is hungry.

Do you know what breed of bird this is?

 

Lucy in Love with ....

her little squeeky baby bunny

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

She really does have a diamond collar on her.

She never barks but here.

If you know your Birds...the tell TAIL MARKINGS are here

I went for a walk today with the binoculars and camera and NO DOGS.
I was lucky to capture this bird in the tree for a long long time.
I have many shots of him, but the one shot of his tail up in the air, the way they characteristically can hold them is very blurry.
Here is is anyway.

Do you know what Bird this is? Please get out your flash cards!

Scent of a Woman

This is a 13 year old Bichon who came to life for another 13 year old Havanese.

WOW! Would you believe it if you did not see it?

This Lady sure gets around!

The View of The Day from Yesterday

Junco on the fence

The new fence has become another perching spot for the birds.

Time to Wake UP Puddles........

You slept in long enough!!!! (note the time on the clock)

My view of the day is still really of yesterday

Today was not a Frosty morning..

but I still have some frosty leaves to show you from yesterday..

(looks so much like icing sugar sprinkled on the leaves)

John sebastian

The Beatles - You're Gonna Lose That Girl

More Frosted Leaves...

look at the crisp sharp white border on each leaf-too cool!
Do you recognize the plant?

My View of The Day

A Frosty Delight.

Sophie on a ROLL

Such a lovely sunny day today,,,cool and crisp and warm

a perfect day to roll in the grass.

Why is Puddles sitting so still?

Is Puddles just watching the world go by?

She was watching the birds on the bird feeders.
The bark you hear is from Sophie.
Puddles is more like a cat.
Poor birds. Luckily we are not out there all day long.

The birds are waiting here (next door on the wire) until we go away



Okay..it is true the house has gone to the dogs..for now

But look what fun they are having!!!!!!!

Sophie and her stick!

Yesterday I discovered that Sophie likes to run in circles

like a mashugana with her stick and without it.

It is way TOO CUTE.

It also tired her out and she had a nice long nap.

Above is just a snippet of the kind of fun she had.

The New Girl in Town

Puddles (a Havanese)

joined the group tonight and this older guy (the Bichon) has come to life!!!

He is in love. you would think he was not neutered by all the sniffing

in the usual dog places that he is doing.

I hope he does not wear himself out too much.

I am not sure he can take it.

I have never seen him so alive .

He is like an adolescent dog again.

A better Look!

This is an older Bichon that I am caring for that has trouble seeing due to eye issues. I noticed that he seems to see better at night. Being curious as usual as to why this might be, and looking to google as usual for the answer, I found this!

"Unlike our eyes, a dog's eyes are designed to function well in low-light conditions. Both canines and humans (and many other animals) have two types of light-sensitive cells in the retina called rods and cones. These cells respond to light and process visual information, which is transferred to the brain for interpretation. Rods work best in dim light and can detect motion. Cones are used in bright light to detect color and details.
The retinas of dogs are dominated by rods, allowing them to see very well with very little light. They can also sense small motions, which helps make them good hunters. However, dogs have about one-tenth of the cones that humans do, so they don't see color in the same way we do."
(the above was quoted from this link)

I think that might explain it!

My View of The Day--------Frosted Fence

Right At Home

So Sunny and so green and so lovely scented. 



It is the perfect spot to do my thing.

It was a real toss up today. It was the perfect day to walk
and yet the perfect day to try out the new dog proof fenced in backyard.

This is an older Bichon I am looking after for a couple of weeks.
He has trouble seeing and hearing and moves pretty slowly
and doesn't really need too much exercise.
He was totally content to just sniff around the yard for a little bit.

Sophie on the other hand wanted to move, so we took a couple of longish walks while the older Bichon was resting inside recovering from his little
outside venture.



Some Fences are Just Fences

This is a really nice look...and when those hedges grow up,

you won't even know it is there!

Finally all Fenced in

Yes, wood fences can be nice,but I wanted the backyard to be fenced in but not boxed in.

Two sides were already fenced in, with two different types of fences. I have now added three!

The cedar hedge was my natural fence, and that looked so lovely.
But sometimes some dogs have come to hang out here, and sometimes I even think of having one myself,

so I needed to fence in the backyard to make this work right. I finally decided on a black chain link

fence because that is the most elegant colour you can do in chain link and it somewhat disappears

behind the shrubs. I have to say I feel a little caged in right now,compared to no fence on this one side, 

but in a couple of years when the hedges grow up, it will be perfect! You notice the birds and the bees and the squirrels can still get in, but the dogs can't get out!!! See this post

Romping around

Leashless Freedom in the Fenced in Backyard

Sophie Rules the Roost ....for now anyway

She is Tiny but Mighty.

and Small Dog Proofed Too!

A long time ago, in another house, We had a fence built so the our big dogs couldn't get out of the back yard by jumping over the fence. I never considered worrying about the little Jack Russell finding a way out.

The fence was built. It was also a black chain link. It looked great and I was so happy

until that very night the little sneaker of a Jack Russell snuck right under the fence and got skunked.

I called the company and they told basically told me TOUGH  LUCK!

Well, that had been a total waste of money and an exercise in futility. I had to put two by four pieces of wood all along the fence bottom to destroy the entire look. I since found out, that they hadn't done their job right and they should have come back to fix it. It was a HUGE COMPANY ...very well known.

Anyway, I didn't want to make the same mistake twice, since little dogs hang out here too.

I found this company that did the fence photos above from KIJIJI. I had had 4 quotes

from different people and they were all about the same,
but Trent from NORTH SHIELDS FENCE seemed to be the most reassuring that he would take special care to help make sure the dogs can't find a way out, and above is an example of what he did by adding mesh strung tightly to the bottom below the gates which were the biggest issue with spaces. Yes, maybe I am an extreme worrier, but I know what tight places dogs can seem to find a way out. I tested by new fence and gates  with Sophie, a little dog(part toy poodle and Maltese) that I am watching now. It seems she can't get out! Yes!!!!! but I still won't leave her unattended at any time in the backyard.

Now This is The Colour of Autumn In Toronto

This is one year later after the new tree was planted..by Leaf

Flowers to Music......something lovely...

A freind sent this to me.....If you love flowers and love the symphony.......

http://player.vimeo.com/video/27920977?title=0&%3bbyline=0&%3bportrait=0href=

Feels like the Tropics

but what plant is this......anyway

 that has been planted in the parks of Toronto?

Is it an Annual or a Perennial?

Will this tropical-feel survive the winter?

A close up of this giant leaf!!!

Two Humming Birds at a Stand-Off.

There was a long run of humming bird action this year from mid July to almost the end of September 2011.

There were not many males however.. maybe two were sighted the entire summer and the rest were females.

Can Hummingbirds ever over stay their welcome?

These photos were taken by The Terminator

 whose has the passion and the patience

to wait for the perfect pose.

Here is The Downunder Dog

Rocky is a MY FULL TIME JOB for Today!

I am doing a little doggy-day care today.

Rocky is hanging out with me for the day only.
He is one Big Baby.
He is a big 18 month old puppy full of SPUNK!
Oh I forgot to tell you what kind of dog he is.
I had never heard of this breed before myself.
He is an Australian Kelpie.
No wonder he always wants to be busy
which is keeping me busy too.
I am not having a lazy kind of day even if I wanted to,
but I am having FUN.

Here is a better look at his side profile.

He looks like a cross between a Doberman and a DINGO.

After 5 hours of playing ,,,he finally curled up and had a nap.

I didn't want to press my luck  to try to photograph him

because my quiet time would have ended,,,,

but here he is after his short nap asking me..

"Are you ready to play with me some more now?"

........11 hours later

just before he was picked up to go home,

he finally fell asleep

MORE COSMO FALL FLOW

Lots of Rain brings Lots of Flowers

 Nothing like the flow of the cosmo



FALL FLOWERS ON FIRE



One day I was sitting in the front of the house, feeling kind of down and this sight caught my eye.
I was viewing the sun shining through the nasturium flowers in the flower beds and it was such a
special light and colour. I was feeling too lazy to get up and grab the camera, but I made myself
because I knew this might be the only time, you can catch it just so........
The funny thing was...I couldn't find the camera.....which got me into a totally new fret...
but I did end up finding it where I had looked already.
I luckily still hadn't missed the moment. I caught the FLOWERS on FIRE

  

The Hummingbirds have hung in there this year!

The Last Humming Bird seen at the feeder this year was Sept 25th 2011.

The last Humming bird seen at the feeder last year was Sept 15th 2010.

Is it due to Global warming? ..our warmer summers?

This year we saw a male on one day only.

The others were all females.

Some were chubby and stout and others were elegant with longer necks.

Some had clean white breasts  and others were dirty looking.

They all had different personalities in how they drank.

One female would keep turning her head to one side.

One would dart in to drink a little and then dart in again.

Some would sit and were very comfortable to to never lift their head

until they were done for that round.

Hummingbird photos are complimentary of The Terminator

Their First Fight !

She Jumped!! The Meeting of the Two on the Ground

My View of The Day

Morning Glories

The Survivor and The Retreater

This baby squirrel has the instinct to live.

It seemed stunned or hurt  when I found her/him on the ground, but once I offered

it some water and food, it came back to life.

How old do you think it is? The mom is no where to be found.

I think she left yesterday with two baby squirrels she rescued from the one way trap

and two were left behind

This is the SURVIVOR, the one who JUMPED!

This baby squirrel retreated. No wonder....it is a long way down!

The way this trap is set up....I would not really call this humane removal.

This is the fifth day.