Happy Friday!

Fergus

This is the first thing I see when I get home from work.

Happy Friday!

A Squeezable Willy Nilly - Late

So, instead of spending my Saturday morning on the computer, I planned to clean out the laundry/mud room, which is a horrid mess and will only get worse with the onset of winter. Guess where I am? Yep, sitting at the computer. I missed posting for Willy Nilly yesterday, but 'they' say, "Better late than never." Right? This week we are to post 5 things we should or shouldn't squeeze. So  here are my five:

1. The first thing that comes to mind is—Zits! Ugh! Never squeeze them. Gross! I was traumatized in high school by someone, who will remain annonymous, squeezing a zit in study hall!

2. Grandkids! Love grabbing them up and squeezing them tight. Now that they are getting older, they will probably start running away when they see me coming.

3. I squeeze tomatoes and fruits to see if they are ripe enough to suit me. JD is quick to chastise. Something about bruising. Then how will I really know they are ripe?

4. There is the toothpaste tube. I squeeze it until I'm sure I've gotten every possible bit on my toothbrush. A legacy from my father who lived through the great depression and was always frugal.

5. When target shooting, one must squeeze the trigger. I'm learning to shoot JD's handgun. I'm not a big fan of guns, but after our uninvited guest a few weeks ago, I decided learning would be a good thing.

Linking to Willy Nilly Friday Five

Now may as well post a critter. Video of Fergus seeing snow for the first time.

Guess we better be prepared. The weatherman is predicting a bad winter!

Linking to Saturday's Critters

Blue, Red, and Yellow Plus Some

Guess what? I didn't go to work yesterday (Saturday)! I will probably go this afternoon for a while, but NOT all day. The Democratic party has picked a candidate to run for Circuit Clerk in November.  The newly appointed clerk begins his reign next week, which means I go back to doing ONE job. Yay!!! All those other responsibilities are gone. I feel like a building has been lifted from my shoulders. I just hope, if he is good at the job, he wins in November. Otherwise we will be back to another new clerk.

Of course, I didn't get to lounge around on my day off. I spent the entire day dancing with Mrs. Mop! Have I mentioned how much I dislike housework? I used to enjoy it, now I would much rather play.

 The sunflowers were a busy place Friday night. Indigo Bunting.

Mr. Cardinal and his wife, but she wouldn't show herself.

 The Goldfinches were dining, as well. Again, the Mrs. was camera shy. 

The pretty yellow petals are all falling onto the ground. I'm not sure if it is the birds landing on them and knocking them off or if they are merely falling off. They are not as pretty as they were. But the birds make up for the missing petals.

 I planted some sunflowers in our garden, but they are slow to bloom. This is the first.

I also planted zinnias and they are in full bloom.

HAPPY SUNDAY!!!

Linking to the Bird D'pot

Reflection and Reflective

This is yet another shot of Bro O's pond. My go to place for reflections. On this particular evening, it was cooling down. It was a nice evening for gardening.

Linking to Weekend Reflections

1. Somewhere between 2:30 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. last Saturday morning, we had an uninvited visitor. Someone kicked in our front screen door and tried to shoulder his way inside the house. I called 9-1-1. Thankfully the police responded within 3 minutes, before he got inside. The Sheriff's Department is 1/2 mile away.  It turns out he was probably just a very drunk guy who lost his way after a party next door, but we didn't know that at the time. It was a very scary experience.

2. It's been a long week for a short one. I'm supposed to have today off, but due to too much work, will be spending the afternoon in the office. We had our 4th of July celebration last weekend. Four of my five grands came for the fireworks. Fergus was extremely happy to see them. He seems to have a special love for the littlest one. Not a good shot in the evening light with lots of movement. But it's the only one I have where you can't see his face. Can you see the love? Those two are on the move constantly when they are together.

3. Dogs and Firworks. My beloved dog, Willie, was terrified of fireworks. I couldn't have him outside, so I would give the poor boy a vet-approved tranquilizer and leave him inside the house where he vibrated in the bathtub until his food lady came to rescue him. Fergus, had a totally different reaction. I could tell he was a bit concerned as to what was going on, since he backed up against my legs and stayed there, but he watched the whole show. I'm one happy food lady. Thanks Anni for the story about your dog. I leashed Fergus, just in case.

4. I decided not to take any pictures of fireworks this year. After all, how many pictures of fireworks do you really need anyway? Usually I'm messing with the camera or cameras and only see the show through the viewfinder. This time I ooed and ahhed with everyone else. 

5. Hubs has to work this holiday weekend, so after I get back from the office, I'm going to spend time with Fergus. He has been sorely neglected this week. We will go for walks, toss his favorite ball, and throw frisbees until he hasn't any breath left, or I keel over—whichever comes first. I'm betting on the latter.

Happy 4th!

Linking to Willy Nilly Friday Five

Willy-Nilly 5

Wow! A new photo theme. This one is called Willy-Nilly Friday Five. Yay! Rules? Well the rules are— there are no rules. Well except for the directive to post 5, count them 5 random thoughts, link up, and visit some blogs. According to our head guru, Tanya,wil·ly-nil·ly is an adverb—without direction or planning; haphazardly. That's the way I live life, haphazardly. So here are my five: 

In case you haven't read my blog before, this is Fergus. He is celebrating his 1st Barkday, today, Thursday, while I write this post. He has filled the void left when Willie crossed the rainbow bridge. Willie was a much calmer sort. Fergus is a bundle of energy and keeps us old folks on the go. Not a bad thing. Fergus can destroy a dog toy in seconds, well, unless it is made by Kong. This red dumbell is made by Kong and he is obsessed with it. We gave him two more balls and a squeez toy for his birthday. He is in doggie heaven.

Fergus is also obsessed with his Pop. I will do in a pinch, but Pop is the bestest human ever. Pop was busy filling a watering can to water the window boxes. Fergus is busy watching his pop from the confines of our screened in porch. Note the tongue hanging out gathering lots of slimey saliva to smear on his red dumbell before begging you to throw it. And if you don't readily accept it, he keeps nudging you with it, thus wiping all the slime on his humans.

As I posted earlier in the week, I went to granddaughter's dance recital last Saturday. I did find one other picture I can post without showing her face and this is it. It's the final pose of her hip hop dance. Did I mention she was a wonderful dancer? Oh, and I'm not biased at all.

One of my favorite things to do is look for deer while out driving on the country roads. We often see them when coming home in the evening from our garden on Bro O's farm. This is one we saw a couple of nights ago. She was all alone eating some of Mr. Farmer's new soybeans. Mr. Farmer won't be happy, but I enjoyed seeing this doe.

Small towns really don't provide much entertainment for the kids, so I was happy to see what was advertised as 'Family Day'. I drove by in the early afternoon and it looked like everyone was having a good time. I hope it becomes an annual event. We need more fun for the kids.


Linking to Willy Nilly 5

Take That!

Last Monday was Book Club/Writer's Group night. Since I was early, I decided to drive by the covered bridge to see if there were any birds lurking about. I didn't find any bird opportunities, but did find a dog. I thought he was a stray since I didn't see a collar, but he looks well cared for so he probably lives at the house up on the hill behind me. I dug out my camera to take his picture...

 ...and he promptly walked away, leaving me with yet another moon shot for my collection...

....lifted his leg, which is a 'lifer' for me...

 ...and then turned around and looked at me as if to say, "Take that!" I guess he didn't want his picture taken.

Then there is my beloved pup, Fergus. His pop bought him a new toy. He is obsessed with it. So much so that we had to hide it when he wasn't looking. We put it in the cabinet, which you see behind him. Unfortunately, the nose knows, so we had to give it back or risk having sawdust in the carpet. I think it is laced with the doggie equivelent of catnip.

Linking to Saturday's Critters

What's in the box?

Back to last Saturday and a visit with Tex and the Grands. (I should explain. Daughter's nickname is Tex but is not related to TexWisGirl. Daughter merely grew up in Texas, so up here in middle-of-nowhere Illinois, she is often referred to as Tex) Anyway, back to my story...

Fergus was in the back yard playing with his best friend and my youngest grandson, LL.

When suddenly Fergus saw a box, slowly moving across the grass toward him. Oh my! What could it be?

Oh, it was only LL trying to confuse the Ferg. LL and Fergus were running, chasing each other, playing catch with the basketball—basically having a ton of fun—when a fierce chattering began high up a tree in the neighbor's back yard.

Seems Mr. Squirrel wasn't happy with all the noisy laughter. He climbed down from the tree and jumped onto the roof over playground equipment in another neighbor's yard. He continued his rant...

...and continued his rant. So I told him a thing or two and got out my camera.

Mr. Squirrel didn't like having his picture taken, so he took his bad self up into the leaves in a poor attempt to escape the camera lens—all the while still giving us a lecture. Ha! I got him anyway.

Linking to Saturday's Critters

A Horse Barn Needs a Good Fence and a Dog

On one of those rambles through the countryside...

...I found this horse barn.

  With a fence...

 ...up on a hill.

Or, how about a boy, a dog, and a trampoline in front of a fence or three?

Linking to Good Fences

Hornswoggled

Saturday, Hubs had to work until closing, so I took Fergus for his first walk around Lincoln Log Cabin Historical Site. Just after we saw the Swallow in the post below, we started down a hill, rounded a curve, and saw the hog pen. He was enjoying some new scents and walked along with his nose to the ground, sniffing every blade of grass along the way. He seemed to like the delicious stench of hogs as we walked closer and closer to the pen.

Fergus looked up briefly, and then resumed sniffing as he moseyed along. His nose was within inches of the fence (Why oh why did I not have my camera on video setting?) when a massive hog snorted a thunderous snort mere inches from a Fergus' ear.  My brave little fella let out a sound that can only be described as a scream and immediately reversed until he was back on the path. All the while he was reversing at the speed of light, he was making a strange noise, something between a squeal and a bark. I've never heard anything quite like it before. He was running backward so fast I'm sure he broke the sound barrier. I don't recall hearing the boom, but then I was laughing so hard I probably wouldn't have heard it anyway. Poor baby. I bet next time we visit he will take the long way around the hog pen.

A Fergusless view of the same fence and gate.

This fence was farther down the path. Fergus didn't get to see the sheep, they were all inside the barn for the night. Fergus is a Border Collie, supposedly a sheep herder. I wonder if he would be as afraid of sheep as he was the hog.

Linking to Good Fences

Monday, Monday

Why is it two days at home are a flash and two days at work drag by? Monday is here again!

I spent a large part of the weekend playing frisbee with our pup.

Have you heard that Border Collies are one of the smartest dog breeds? Actually, not one of, THE smartest breed according to Animal Planet. Poodles and German Shepards are next in line.

Below is our much loved Fergus, yes, you got it, a Border Collie. He is extremely intelligent in every aspect except one. When tossing a ball or a frsibee, he is great at catching them, but it's the release he has trouble with. He refuses to give up the ball or the frisbee. Instead of bringing it back, he lays down to have a chew.

I don't know how to solve this problem. Perhaps I need more frisbees to get him to let go of one and catch the other.

Any suggestions?

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Linking to Mosaic Monday

Tomorrow is Rubbish Tuesday. I hope you will join in and post your old and/or deteriorating i.e. house, barn, outbuilding, something rusty, antiques, interesting junk, or something in pristine condition which just happens to be old. 

Blue Monday

Fergus has a lot of energy, which means he requires a lot of walking, running, and tossing of frisbees. Last Saturday I took him for a walk down by the covered bridge.

The clouds disappeared and the sky turned a beautiful shade of blue. The snow was almost gone, the ice was melting, and the birds were singing. Had me dreaming of spring.

Today we are expecting temps in the 60s. Too bad it's a work day!

Linking to Blue Monday

Fergus the First Six Months

Okay, so I know I haven't been posting in forever. Too much work, too little time to play. I am going to try to post at least once a week, which should help me get back into the groove.

Well, there hasn't been much to take pictures of anyway. Mostly just snow, snow and more snow—and ice— or a trash barrell stuck in the ice.

Hope this snow we are expecting misses you.

Fergus Update

Fergus is getting bigger. He is now officially tall enough to leap up onto the bed. He likes comfort.

 Last weekend I took him to my daughter's house to meet his human sister and his niece and nephews. He gave them a run for their money. Now they are asking for a pup of their own. All kids need a dog, especially boys. Fergus got to meet their 2 cats. He wanted to play with them, but all they wanted to do was puff up to look like blimps and turn their tales into what looked like a wire brush. He tried to chase them, but they would either run down the basement stairs or upstairs to the bedrooms.  Fergus is afraid of those scary stairs.

 Fergus enjoyed taking the kids for a walk down the sidewalk, dragging them as far as the playground at the school.  He had tons of fun and is looking forward to his next visit.

Happy Tuesday!