My dogs

I just thought I would warn you.    I take a lot of pictures of my dogs, and most of the time they're just your average doggie pics, but every so often I get one that I think I should share.   So you'll have to bear with me.  I'm going to share them here.   My dogs also get to play with other dogs from time to time, and sometimes there's a shot there that is totally awesome.   And then of course there's the posed pictures, sorta, and also...
  Actually, there's more than a few but I'll only bore you with some of the pics.

Mauli and Chimi are both rescue dogs.   Mauli was being 'gotten rid of' because while she had healthy pups, a total of 14 in two separate litters, she was a lousy mom.   We were fortunate enough to get her and had her spayed and so we didn't have to worry if she was a good mom or...  She was three when she came to live with us and as of this post, she is now 14 1/2 and is laying on the floor of my office as I type this.  Her eyesight isn't what it used to be, she gets confused, her legs are starting to betray her, but she's still Mauli, where it counts, in her heart.
She is still the only dog I know that really does like to 'dress up', just isn't really crazy about having her picture taken,

She still loves her tennis ball, one of her favorite games was playing 'goalie' trying to prevent her tennis ball from rolling under the table;

Where did it go?  I see it.

will still play with Chimi,

still gets excited about car rides and beach walks,

Mauli looks like one of the guards in Wizard of Oz, 'You killed her'   See the ball beside her.  She wants it to be thrown again in the lake so she can chase it.

Just a sweet baby girl.

but does prefer to sleep most of the time.    

Along the way she's made some great friends, and one of her best buddies was Nomad, they would play, enjoy the ocean view and nap together.

One of my favorite pictures of Mauli and Nomad. 

Chimi on the other hand came to us a month shy of her first birthday.  She'd been tied outside in a harsh northern winter, and fed, occasionally.    She'd never been groomed,

Chimi the first day we got her.

This is the next day, she had to be shaved, to the skin.  Lots of lesions were found under all the matted hair.

had very few social skills, but became fast friends with Mauli. 

She looked kinda pitiful next to Mauli, but they got along great.

She now loves to play with sticks,

This stick was a little unwieldy, but do-able.

go kayaking,

Loves her Kayaking

play with her friend Sam when she can,

Just out of the pond

Sam's got the ball, and Mauli wants it.

Can't forget her buddy Moose either;

Chasing Moose, for the sheer joy of running

and generally has a good life with us.

Chimi likes to chase Ghost Crabs, but never catches them.

She's a little imp, will push the envelope as much as she can, but the love we get from both dogs is immense.   And I wouldn't trade them for anything. 
Consider a rescue dog for your next pet, I don't think you will be sorry.   There is nothing so grateful as a dog that has a loving home, especially one that has been neglected and abused.   With love, patience and consistency, you too can have a great companion.  

Random Pictures

I sometimes feel as if my camera is a separate and necessary appendage, without which I could not function.   At any rate, I enjoy having it with me and snapping pictures of random stuff, whatever catches my eye on any given day. 
 
Here are a few of my latest shots, in no particular order, with no particular theme,  they just pleased my eyes. 

Pine Pollen washed into the cracks of the sidewalk

Mauli waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

Interesting looking root

Fountain playing in the sunshine

Bugs eye view of baby pine trees and dogs walking away.

Pine Pollen dusted/dipped Pine Cone.

I guess I have to wait and see what catches my eye next week, and that I'll share here...

Favorite Pictures

Pardon me for this, but I wanted to show off some of my favorite pictures.    And if you've seen them before, please enjoy them again with me. 

Frogs in the banana plant

Triumphant Tomato worm

Dancing Heron

Cotton Candy sky

Heron Fishing

Beach

Misty Beach

Sunrise

St. George Island Lighthouse at sunset

Morning Glory

Sunrise framed

Butterfly migration

Brand new Butterfly

So, what do you think, which ones should I enter into a contest? 

Pine Pollen Season

It's pine pollen season here, again and my sinus' are telling me to stop the deep breathing exercises, already!  At least the past couple of days we've had a respite, there was a light rain the other day, which dampened the pollen and gave me some respite from the stuffiness in my head. 

Of course it made a mess on the car, but it washed off.    As did the pollen from the trees, etc.

It looked as if someone had spilled paint on the roadway.

And then there's the artistry of the pine needles themselves using the pine pollen as paint.

With the delicate traces left behind of pollen or the heavy handed deposits left by a careless breeze...

It's painting time again or is that just allergy season is back?

From the sea to the sky, and places in between.

 We went to SGI last week, I'd heard about an organic farm stand over there and wanted to go and see what he was selling.   Got there a little early, so went for a walk on the beach.  It's hard not to, walk on the beach that is, when you have a chance to.   We got down to the beach and as far as we could see it looked as if there had been a lot of plastic bottles blown up on the sand.   I was so disgusted.   Walked a little closer and the random bits of blue we saw, weren't plastic bottles after all.  They were something else entirely.   So we called the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab in Panacea and asked them what we were looking at.   We also shot them a picture via a camera phone (ya gotta love modern technology).    They told us we were looking at Portuguese Man of War Jellyfish.   They also said to not handle them.  Gee, I  never touch anything like that anyway, not without knowing what it is.   I took lots of pictures, figured this was as close to them as I wanted to ever get.   Luckily there aren't a lot of people on the beaches this time of year, but we shared our information with the few we did see.

 As you can see there weren't a whole lot of people running up and down the beaches.   Just the odd bird. 

On the way home we stopped to see a friend, and the Camellia bush was spectacular so I had to take a couple pictures of that as well.

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Let me leave you with a picture of some birds hanging out on the rigging on a shrimp boat.