Varmints!

On an Easter afternoon about 5 years ago, my dog had a memorable encounter with a gopher in my backyard. He had been digging after this rodent; and finally, on that Sunday afternoon he got it! However, that gopher bit him on his lip. My dog has not forgotten this insult. When he goes walking at the gopher infested park in our town, he continues the hunt for this lowly beast. My dog becomes Carl Spackler. Today, as we were ending our walk, I saw what I thought was the remains of a squirrel that a coyote may have torn apart. Then the thing moved - jumped. Holy Smokes! It's a gopher above ground. My dog was on like Donkey Kong. He jammed his nose down that hole blasting his giant head into the ground. His snout must have sucked out all the oxygen from the tunnel system in one breath. He immediately started in excavating the area with rigorous swipes of the ground with his island size paws removing buckets of earth. Sadly, he came away empty pawed. The gopher got away again. Perhaps he will use the Elmer Fudd technique next time since the Carl Spackler way has proved fruitless.

And The Oscar Goes To...

This is what was going on on the patio this morning. The panting and other noises in the background are the dog trying to get into his cookie jar.

Shopping

When you're shopping in the grocery store and see someone you know do you aim your cart their way or spin around and go in the opposite direction? I'm a spinner. I do not care to visit much. Maybe I'm anti-social. Maybe I'm a snob. Maybe I'm bashful. Or maybe, just maybe, I'm completely content with my own company. If I've spinned on you, please don't take offense. I just don't have anything to say.

Full Moon Rising

On February 11, there was a full moon rising in the east. I wanted to capture the image of the moon behind the cupola on the shed in the backyard. I waited for the moon to get up high enough. Dang. It was cold out there. Just as the moon was getting into the proper position, clouds came through.

This is what I came up with. Maybe I can use it for Halloween.

Testing

My puppy loves to take walks in his park and dig for gophers. He has only encountered one live gopher in his life; but when that thing bit his lip - it was WAR! Now he digs up gopher mounds in search of his enemies.

McKelvey Ave. - Beirut

Holy smokes. The SWAT team was here for a drama in our neighborhood we've never experienced. I'm sending a Flickr invite to those of you I know have an interest in the images. Note: These will not be made available to news media. They are all MINE!

http://maybellinesgarden.blogspot.com/

I started a new blog even though I'm not so hot at it. My intention is to help those that can't get to my backyard see the work being done there. If you would like to stop by Maybelline's Garden and leave a helpful gardening comment or just be a Looky Lou, I'll appreciate it.