Sometimes hurricanes are good for you, but tell that to my squirrels

I stumped the Science Chimp. But I don't know if it was a fair test or not. Patrick got it right...it's a snail track.



This is Lorelei's snail, Rosie. See why it wasn't really fair? The Divine JZ probably hasn't seen many wild snails crawling on glass. I was in awe of the way the tracks made waves. I thought that snails pushed themselves along on a more lateral plane, but I guess they undulate like snakes.


The hot weather broke today, thanks to both the bracket of hurricanes ruining other people's lives elsewhere, and some cool air from Canada (thanks, you Canadians...you are so polite)
and the girls and I took Nellie to the dog park. Hooper needs "car" training, or at least, a safety harness. We originally tried to take him with him tied to the headrest on a very short lead, but we only got a mile or so...he tried to get into my lap, knocked my drink over, and then attempted to leave the car through the half-closed window. Okay, Hoopie...back to the house.







We found a girlfriend for Bam-Bam!

Her name is Ellie, and she enjoys drooling and long walks on the beach.

About a half second after taking this picture, I was flat on my back with 50 pounds of English Bulldog on my chest. And I couldn't have been happier about it.



This is Bella, a 7 week old St. Bernard/Great Dane mix. She crawled into my lap and went to sleep. I love puppies.



Lorelei found herself in a pile of dogs, and she couldn't have been happier about it.
Today was a good day to be at the dog park...good dogs with good owners...not idiots who talk to their dogs in baby talk and ignoring bad behavior. I called Kathi and left a message, on the off- chance that she was in the area. But she was "working" or something. Slacker.



I always think that I will just happen upon good birds at Armleder Park, but you really have to make an effort to get to the places they hang out. The only bird that was remotely interesting was a lone kestrel above the retaining pond. I see one here every time we visit...I wonder if there was a nest this year?

Now, as I said, the hot weather is giving us a break this weekend, but this squirrel was acting like she was dying:



Why weren't they doing this when it was 101?

Fast and dirty

I didn't take any pain killers today, and now I am paying the price. I seem to be having a bit of a relapse.
Just took two Vicodin, so I better get this down before I get all flubby.
Scenes from today:

Our tika-marked bunny came over to the fountain to sample the weeds (what are those wide-leaved weeds?). If you enlarge the picture, you can see a very fat tick in his ear. Poor guy. I hope he has someone who can groom that off.

The yard birds are starting to bring their babies to the feeders...a young chipping sparrow...

...and a young cardinal.

The tree frogs seem to have left the immediate neighborhood, but the bull frogs have moved in, so we don't feel lonely. I think this guy is trying to make a hula hoop.

"Hi! I is a squirrel. Is you allowed to come out and play wif me?"

Gotta love it. Beetle porn. Shameless hussies.
I am not ashamed to say that I tried to see exactly how they do it. Couldn't figure it out. But I did notice that the "bottoms" kept on eating. It must be boring...beetle sex. Imagine eating a sandwich in the middle of "you know". Must be demoralizing.

I am glad that I moved one of the feeders closer to the windows. First, it can cut down on window strikes (forces the birds to slow down) and I can get pictures like this without zooming.


And the gravy:

"My name is Queen....LAAAAAAAAAA!"

Too tired to type, too pooped to post, too wiped out to write, too blah to blog

I am too tired tonight to be long-winded.
I did three programs today: Two at a school on the west side of town, and then one later in the afternoon on the east side of town, with just enough time to drive between them.
Total miles today: 180.

So, before I go up and hang out with my husband, I leave you with these pictures from earlier in the week:

Remember me saying that our squirrels were amusing?
We are not amused anymore.
The reason this homemade feeder is up, is because the squirrels destroyed the real one.
(It's a milk jug and a chopstick)
These must be young squirrels, because they are small and stupid.

This one needs a caption.
Imagine what is going through the mockingbird's mind?

There's a lot going on in this picture.
I was on our couch, on the laptop minding my own business.
First, Queen jumped into my lap.
Then Nellie laid down on my feet.
Then Isabelle wanted to see what I was doing.
Then Lorelei wanted to just lay down.
Look at how relaxed Nellie is.
If we laid around like that, we would be made fun of.
"Night, everyone.