(Marginally) Tacky Cardigan With Words on It: If Dogs Were Flowers

Mine would be these:

FYI: Dog flowers still smell like dog.☺

If you'd like me to consider a picture of your pet(s) for a tacky cardigan, just post it to the Facebook page!

Bonus bloopers!

Liver flavored "fertilizer"

Oops. 

What kinds of flowers would your dogs be?

A QUIZ! Betcha Can't Guess Where the Dogs Are! (Then again, Maybe You Can.)

Hint: NOT on my kitchen table (for once).

OK, look what I did for y'all on Tuesday!...

Bunny? Or deranged Easter Bunny? ;)
Movie Trivia Alert: Click Play arrow below for a funny 7-sec sound byte!

Flower? Or overpaid canine actor? ;)

Frog? Or dog swallowed by frog? :)

So, friends, just for fun, I thought I'd drop a little 3-question quiz on you today. Just to see whether you can guess where this little Springtime photo shoot took place (and perhaps learn a little something "new"). hehe

Here you go! It'll only take a minute!

Click HERE to take the quiz at Polldaddy.com.

So, how'd you do?! Any surprises?  ;-)

Happy dance for Friday!!!

Doo-dads, Tid-bits and Turkeys

I thought I'd just tie up some loose previous-blog-post-ends today...

But first, does anyone remember Doo-dads and Tid-bits? (I ate them as a kid in the 70s.)

It was like one minute they were in the grocery store and then the next they were gone (and I somehow had three kids and a mortgage - WTFudge?). Speaking of crackers, I really miss Cheez-its. : (
(Update on 5/25, because some have inquired: I miss Cheez-its because I broke up with them on April 9 so I could fit back in my summer wardrobe. It's tragic.)

Let's see...what else...

Oh, yes, BIRDS!

Well, I told you about all the many nesting songbirds in my yard, and that the baby Mockingbirds unfortunately got eaten. :( I don't believe I've mentioned, though, that the House Finch eggs (4) hatched in their nest (that was in the wreath on my front door), but about a week later, the mom knocked all four of them out of the nest on purpose and they didn't make it. (Do you realize what a miracle it is that there are any birds flying around in the sky at all, friends?)

But then, there are the BARN SWALLOWS! A beautiful and lively little bird. We have three nesting pairs and not a one of them (including babies) have met an untimely demise (yay)!

I took these photos for you a couple hours ago.

Do you see four sets of eyeballs, too? :) This nest, along with one other, is attached (with mud) to a wall under my covered back porch.  These babies are almost ready to fly. (BTW, this is our third spring hosting multiple barn swallow broods.)

Here are mom and dad keeping a close eye on me. About a minute later I got dive-bombed by two other pairs.

Not a good quality photo, but if you enlarge this, you can see the forked tail  of one of the birds (far left). The barn swallow has the deepest forked tail of any swallow species.

I'm really bummed about the quality of these photos, but you might recall that my Nikon s9100 with the awesome zoom lens (among other things) got smashed when we took the dogs to the professional soccer game. Yeah, so the camera is currently at the Nikon factory hospital waiting for surgery. And, even though it's uninsured (who knew accidental smashing on concrete was a pre-existing condition?), the cost for surgery and transportation (to and from the hospital) is only half of what I'd spend to get a brand new model (not sarcasm, gratefulness!). ;) 

Anyway, I just wanted you to know the status of the blog photography...and that these recent photos I got of some turkeys aren't really that great either.

Jive Turkey #1
(Oh wait, no one says "jive turkey" anymore! That went out with my Doo-dads in the 70s.)

I like to eat turkey and I am what I eat. 

Actual wild turkey running through my front yard (a couple weeks ago)!

So, I think that about does it for the loose ends.

P.S. Mashed pumpkin is good for loose ends (aka Hersheys).

;-) (wink)

Also, don't forget to enter, before Saturday if you want a chance at winning, our BlogPaws 2012 full conference pass giveaway!

Classic Cardigan: Jon Farleigh Improvises as a Bumblebee

One year ago almost to the day, in honor of spring, I dressed Jon Farleigh and Dewi up as a bumblebee and butterfly, respectively. It was great fun! (For real.)

And because the same exact flowers and creatures are gracing my garden these days, I though it might be fun to rerun the post in which Jon Farleigh has A LOT to say about his particular "bee" predicament.

So without further ado, from April 26, 2011:

With Captions: The Many Faces of 'Bumblebee' Jon Farleigh

#1
Jon Farleigh immediately regretted having gone
with the spicy burrito from Taco Bell.

#2
"Hey, there; wanna see my stinger?" 

#3
"Ackk ackkk ackk...I gotta stop smokin, man."

#4
 "...la la la la la la la la la la la La...
Figaro Figaro Figaro Figaro FIGARO!!..."

#5
"heh heh...Pull my finger."

#6
Jon Farleigh refused to look at the camera until
his person agreed to refer to him as
"The Harry Hornet."

#7
Jon Farleigh just realized he could have saved 15%
by switching to Geico.

#8
"Psst. I see cat krispies under that rose bush.
Let's eat 'em and then give her a kiss."

#9
"Guess what? I peed in your shoes. Oh, my bad, you don't speak dog." 

Bonus: Double Head-tilt

#10
"Say what? Did she just tell us to do the Macarena?"

Toodles!

***

P.S. On a personal note, you all rock for reading, and in some cases, re-reading this and other posts on my blog. I am humbled, as ever, for the time you invest in me, my pets and this crazy chronicle of mine.

That said, and some of you might have noticed, I'm having some struggles keeping up with (replying to and leaving) comments. (More on this another day.) But anyway, please know that I am thankful for every note you've left and that I haven't forgotten about you (and if you have a blog, I haven't stopped visiting you; I do visit LOTS of you)!

I will return (to comment land), but in the meantime, thanks for not calling me mean, cable-TV words...or rolling my blog in T.P. :)

Sunny Saturday Welsh Corgi Scenery

All sunny Welsh Corgi scenic blog posts should come with a butt shot. ;)

These photos were taken in my back yard last Sunday afternoon.

In case you aren't receiving the blog's Facebook and/or Twitter updates why not?, my family (plus Jon Farleigh and Dewi) visited the Busch Gardens (Williamsburg, VA) theme park yesterday (hence this rare Saturday blog post). And I'm pleased to report that the dogs' stay at the park's Pet Care Center went splendidly (as it has in the past).

Look for an update to last spring's review on the blog next week!

Hope the rest of your weekend is just as splendid as our experience was!

The Post in Which We Go to the Birds

In case I haven't mentioned it before, I AM WILD ABOUT WILD SONGBIRDS. The sight and sound of them, in fact, (especially when I can watch them from up close, through a window) is like balm for my soul. So in spring, as it is now, when the birds and the bees are in full reproductive swing, I become a doofy, bird watching, nature gazing fool.

So far, I have counted four birds' nests in my yard, each with a brooding female - two Barn Swallows, a House Finch and my favorite songbird ever, a Northern Mockingbird. And because the mockingbird pair was especially hospitable to my intrusions today, I hope you will indulge me while I share a bit of the photographic evidence. :)

I didn't catch the mama bird on her nest this time (as I accidentally did the other day when I first discovered it), but I did get a good look at the three little blue-speckled eggs inside.

The shrub that hides the mockingbird nest

By the way, all these photos look much better enlarged.

Before I started taking these pictures, I looked all around to see if the parents were nearby. They weren't (or at least I didn't see them). A few minutes later, however, after becoming distracted by some chatting, I looked up to see both mama and dad watching intently from a small maple tree, not 10 feet away.

They both flew when I approached, but since they didn't fly far, I was still able to get a few photos.

The unmistakable mockingbird tail

Although my point-and-shoot (Nikon S9100) camera is limited compared to a DSLR, the 18x digital zoom makes for some pretty cool bird shots.

You might wonder, with its not-so-interesting gray coloring, why this little bird makes me so happy. So I'll tell you. This is half of the reason:

Its song.

Mockingbirds sing their little bird butts off. And not only their own songs, but they can (and do) mimic many other songbirds (and frogs) around them, building up repertoires throughout their lifetimes. 

Mockingbirds also have a distinct (battle cry) call for running off nest invaders and defending their territory from other mockingbirds. 

This call (I hope it didn't startle you), plus the tenacity and bravery these birds display when defending their babies, is the second half of why I love them so much.

They take no crap from nobody.

I have seen them run off birds of prey many times their size, mid-flight. I have seen them swoop over the backs of mischievous cats. And I have seen and heard them scream their heads off at me when I've gotten too close to their babies. (I guess the current pair doesn't view me as much of a threat. Or maybe they're saving it up for when the eggs hatch.)

Yes, I know I cut its feet off. I just like the cool way the branches (and that one punch of green)
add interest to the background. 

And that is all the mockingbird trivia I have for you (today).

If I can get some shots of the babies (without getting pecked about the head and shoulders), I'll post an update.

Have a great one!

P.S. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to post photos of our Barn Swallows and House Finches, too. One day soon.

P.P.S. I'm taking either tomorrow or Friday off the blog, depending on the weather. Sunny is good. :-)

Cute Welsh Corgis and Guys in Ties

This is a cute guy in a tie.

Image Source

This is a cute Welsh guy in a tie.

Image Source

And these are cute (Cardigan) Welsh Corgi guys in ties.

Who doesn't like a cute guy in a tie every now and then?

Carry on!

Some Say Welsh Corgis Like to Herd Kids

Mine only like to herd sheep kids.

It's no wonder I love them so much. ;-)

***

Wishing you loads of fun doing your favorite things this holiday weekend!


Coming next week: Jon Farleigh and Dewi model the latest spring fashion trend.


Disclosure (Sat., 4/7/12, @ 10:08 a.m., as a result of the husband shouting this question from the other room while viewing this post from his iPhone: "Now, why'd you make him do that?"): No sheep kids, regular kids or dogs were harmed (physically or emotionally) during the fake herding session pictured in this post. In fact, all parties involved, including the photographer, (as if it isn't obvious) were willing and gleeful participants. Ahem.