Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts

Saturday, June 25, 2011

And Summer Goes On And On...

I never want it to end. 

 Summer is the best time of the year. Here, it doesn't get dark till around 9:00. 9:00. When your little, that's almost cruel, because it's your bed time and it's still light outside. That was annoying, but it also meant more time to play outside. Instead of having to come in at seven, when you're not ready, you get to come in and fall right to sleep.
 This summer, my brother and his wife got their dog, Frannie. She's a rescued mixed breed. They're trying to think of a better name than the one she was given at the rescue center.  It looks like she is  going to be a fairly large dog, because she's only around 14 weeks old now, and she's the size of a beagle. Is she not cute? I already love her. :]
How could anyone say no to this face? She was such a good girl too! Now I have a new buddy whenever I go to my brother and sister-in-law's house. Their cat, Mr. Kitty (xD), isn't that social, but Frannie is so sweet. Is it bad that I get along better with dogs than people? Oh well. At least dogs are always there for you. :D
 My sunflowers are coming up nicely, although, so far, they're heads aren't as big as they usually are. They're already very tall though! Several or at least two or three feet taller than me, and I'm 5"7. I'm always proud of my sunflowers. They grow so big and tall, making them perfect models for my photography. One of my favorite pictures that I've ever taken has a sunflower modeling in it. ( Go to my Photography Page to see it. It's the very first one, with my old blog name on it.) Sunflowers are by far the best flowers out there. I remember when I got my first sunflower head. We had visited my Aunt Julie and she had a bunch of the Russian Mammoths (Those are my favorite types of sunflowers. Many people think they're the only type of sunflowers but there are plenty more, like Autumn BeautyLemon Queen, which is the type of sunflower above, and Teddy Bears.). Anyway, she gave me the head of one and I held it the whole way back home. It wasn't till around two or three years I go, when we moved into the house we're in now, did I start planting sunflowers every year and cooing over them as they grew. Like I said, I love sunflowers. (And guess who does a painting of them! VAN GOGH!!!!)
These are my mom's roses that have moved with us three times and are still living. They've been through a lot, but they're still fighting and looking beautiful. This is not my favorite picture of my mom's roses, but it's the latest I've taken. (All these photos where taken yesterday.) And, these roses have never really poked me, or made me bleed, which is a plus for them. I've actually never really been a rose fan. I never found them as pretty as everyone else. I do like white roses though! But sunflowers are still the best. Tall, strong, bright, and full of tasty food!
I'm actually not sure what these are. They're a type of flower my mom planted and I had no clue she did. I'll have to ask her about them...
Another flower! Whose name I don't know. xD Yeah, I do SOME gardening ( although this year I didn't do too much.), but I never really learn names. Don't worry, I'm not bad with human names. I learn those very well.
When we first moved into this house, all it had was some bushes for plant-life. Not a single tree stood in the yard (well, there was a dead one that was threatening to fall on our house, so it was removed.). We've been at this house for 4 years, since I was 12. Since then, we've brought some life to the yard. We've added three raised garden beds, planted flowers along one walk way, planted flowers around the bushes and our front porch, and torn up some of the terrible plastic from around the bushes. We've also brought a little life to the sad looking grass. Sure, our yard doesn't look 100%, but I think it looks a lot better than it use to. I'm sort of proud of what we've accomplished.
This is one of my favorite parts of the house. You can't really see it, but there is a walk way that leads from the road to our front porch and our side door. The one that leads to our side door runs along this brick wall with a flower bed in it. It's really hard to explain. Anyway, I love to jump of the small, brick wall and into the soft, spongey grass that sits there. In the summer it's a nice to relax against the brick wall. It also makes for great pictures and, when you're playing a imaginary game, make a perfect spot for a river. And when I'm feeling inspired, I head there, because it reminds of some place you'd find in a story book.

Gracie. I've made a post about her before. Goodness, what a cute dog she is. Grumpy too. She's sitting on the couch with me right now, growling at Frasier (our J.R.T), for no reason at all. Mr. Big'n'Bad (a.k.a Frasier), jumps up every time. Ah, Gracie. The one dog that will model for me. She's around the age of 9 now. You never realize how much white hair she accumulated  until you look at older pictures of her where almost all her face is black and brown.

Yesterday, I got to end my brief photo session with cursing a butterfly for not sitting still. This is the best picture I could get because every time I got close enough to actually get a picture, it flew away. My zoom on this camera is pretty freaking amazing, but if I want to get pictures of insects, which I always like to do, I'm going to have to expand my lens collection. That defiantly doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. :]

Much Love,

(I own none of the example sunflower pictures.)

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Photo Challenge: Introduction/Gracie

"This your chance photographer bloggers! Pick up your camera and take pictures, at least once a week, in the Photo Challenge! What is the Photo Challenge? There are several questions that are for several weeks of blog posting. At least once a week, answer the questions with a photo you took. It has to be a photo taken by you and no one else. Under each photo explain your answer. Have fun, Photographers of the Blogger-sphere!
              List of subjects/questions:
  • One of your pets.
  • What is your favorite school subject?
  • Where do you like to spend most of your days?
  • What is your favorite 'get-a-way' spot. 
  • Who do you look up to?
  • What do you love to do most?
  • What is your favorite hobby?
  • What do you spend most of your time doing?
  • Your favorite article of clothing.
  • The best part to your house.

  • Favorite place in your town.

  •  Best food in town (that you know of.). 

  • What is the best book you own?

    •  Favorite house around town. 

  • (And now for the hardest...) The best picture you have EVER taken.  
Enjoy! (And be sure to share!!!)"

 Are you ready for the first part of Lia's photography challenge? Well, let's see! The first subject was...*checks*...one of my pets. Well, lucky for me I have pets out the wazoo, so-I have plenty pictures of them too!

Photo Challenge- Week 1- Day 1


One of your pets. 
Gracie-My Rat Terrier 

This is Gracie, an old Rat Terrier. Most people haven't heard of the breed and ,when they see them, mistake them for Jack Russell's (who are now 'Parson Terriers' Blah.). Since we have a Jack Russell (Lord, help us.) people think he is her brother, although it's obvious that they have a different build. For one, Gracie, who we didn't name, has more of an Italian Greyhound build, which means she's slender, not stocky. Her nose is longer and more pointed than J.R.T's (Jack Russell Terriers). 

Example:
Well, okay, she's kind of FAT in this picture...
Anyway, my Gracie- girl has been with us for a long, long time, compared to the first dog that I was ever able to claim 'mine'. I believe I got her sometime in 2004 or 2005. I remember my dog Blade, who I had only for five months and made my life pure bliss, died in the beginning of December. My loving Aunt Julie was the one who located Gracie and gave her to me for Christmas. In my family, you must understand, that animals are more than just, well, animals. They're a living, thriving part of our family. In other words, we go around calling our pets our 'sisters', 'brothers, 'daughters' and 'sons. Yeah, pathetic, but I don't care. 

Anyway, I remember that I wasn't excited about Gracie. In fact, I'm ashamed to say, I didn't even want her. I mean, come on! I had just lost the greatest dog known to man, who had become my closest friend, no joke. And I had only gotten to know him for FIVE months. Imagine meeting a sibling for the first time then having them ripped away from you suddenly. I know, others have gone through that and it's been much more traumatic, but to a seven or eight year old it's devastating to lose the dog that changed your world. 

So, I didn't want Gracie. I didn't like her name, it was too common. I didn't like her size, I was use to big dogs like Irish Wolfhounds. I just didn't want her. 

Then, my Aunt shows up around Christmas with her in a dog crate. She sets her down in the living room, opens the crate and out comes Gracie, the new best friend. She had a red bow around her neck that looked AMAZING against her black, white and brown. Her size? Well, she sat perfectly in my seven year old arms. Her name? I could deal with it. And I have. 

Now, I don't know what I'd do with out Miss. Gracie. She's sweet, until she sees vermin that MUST be taken care of. Hence the name 'Rat Terrier'. Every opossum around here must know about Gracie: The Killer. And, now that she's gotten older (she's around ten now.), she's gotten grumpier and constantly snaps at Frasier, the J.R.T.

And, Gracie has only snapped at me ONCE and that was because I accidentally sat on me and I think she thought I was Frasier..., she has snapped at my brother and mother (don't worry, we've stopped that. Not tolerated here!) but never, ever did she snap at me. I always believed it was because she knew I loved her best and that we were together for everything. She's also the only dog we can let out of the house with out a leash. She's a smart on. :]

Every time someone new walks through the door she has a routine of wagging her tail hello, then rolling over and waiting to be patted by the new-comer. She folds up like paper and can curl up into tiny little balls, so she fits perfectly anywhere. 

In other words, the dog I thought I didn't want is now sitting in my lap, sniffing me and bringing me so much joy. I love to hold her tight, bury my face in her fur and have a good cry when I need to. She's a great dog and she's mine. OH, I love ALL our pets, but she is mine and has stuck with me for a nice long time. I don't love her more than any other pet, I just know she's the perfect pet that I almost rejected. (And she makes a great model! Her son is a model. He's on calendars. :D) 

I love you, Gracie!

Gracie's Nicknames: Skittles, Gracie-Gray, Gray-Gray, Toodle-Too and Little Miss Gracie. I bet your dog isn't as cute as mine. ;]


Love,
Lia


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