Ask and you shall receive

I know it's been quite a while since I created a post and Wendy, in a very subtle way, did mention that she was craving an update, so here it is.  Just for you, beautiful girl.


First of all, an eagle update.  We have stopped by the nest a few times lately but nothing much has been happening.  Unfortunately, we learned that the baby eagle has died.  The paper reported that the father apparently shared some rancid food with the baby, nicknamed Yo-yo, and they both got sick.  Although the father was able to ward off the sickness, the baby was not strong enough and did not survive.  Bummer!  We assume that the parents will now leave the nest and the owls will take it over like they did last year. Hopefully, they will have another baby next winter and we can watch again. 

A Disney post next time, hopefully tomorrow.


Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Pretty, pretty

Mr. Bill seemed to think that if we actually ate dinner by 7 I could find the time to create a post, so here it is.  


To catch up...
Saturday we had volunteered to take a dog from the shelter to a Pet Day program at AAA.  They had lots of things planned including micro chipping, nail clipping, photos, etc.  It was cloudy with rain in the forecast.  We took Apollo, an Akita mix that can be a handful.  He was very good last week but not so much this week.  First of all, he had diarrhea!  Great way to start the day.  And, he was kind of hyper, getting hold of the leash or jacket, or whatever got near his mouth and not letting go.  We no sooner got everything set up and it started to rain, then the wind started blowing, then it got cold.  I mean cold!  47*  We were shivering, the dogs were shivering, the vendors set up in the parking lot were getting soaked.  It started at 10 and was canceled at 11:30.  Didn't have to tell us twice, we packed up and returned to the shelter, which was a mad house.  Apparently the full moon effects everyone.


We came home and took a little rest on the couch, right after we turned up the heat.  Later in the day we went to get a coffee and drove down to Ponce de Leon Park (PdLP) where the sun came out and it was a nice evening, although chilly.

Yesterday we went to the shelter where it continued to be crazy.  There were lots of people there walking dogs.  It seems that the weekends are the days when parents bring their kids to the shelter to play with the dogs.  That means that the dogs are w.i.r.e.d!!!  After walking several dogs each, Bill took Will (a red nosed pit that can jump out of his pen) and I took Buddy, a small brindled pit that's very cuddly and we spent some extra time with them in the sun.  It was a nice, quiet time for all of us.


Then Mr. Bill decided, that since we didn't walk at all the day before, we would walk extra.  We parked at Fishermen's Village (FV) and walked 2.5 miles to PdLP where we used the bathroom and had a rest before walking back.  It was a pleasant walk in a different direction.  We enjoyed coffee on our swing by the river before making a trip to the grocery store.

View of Charlotte Harbor from "our" swing









It was about 7 by the time we headed home from the grocery store.  Being so late allowed us to see this as we passed over the bridge between Punta Gorda and Charlotte harbor...

 

  

  

It was the most spectacular sunset I have seen in a long time.  Then, as we turned into our complex, we spotted this...

It was quite a show, I'm glad we didn't eat till late.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o) 

Birds and boats

It was nice enough yesterday that we went to Ponce de Leon park for a few hours in the sun.  We did find that flying bugs are annoying, whether in Maine or Florida.  It is the time for "blind mosquitoes" as Mr. Bill calls them.  They are larger than black flies but just about as abundant.  One good thing about them...they don't bite. We sat near the seagrape bushes and the bugs were pretty thick.  While Mr. Bill spent some time on his beach towel, I moved onto the grass, thinking they would be less bothersome.  Wrong!  From there I moved to the edge of the sand, near the water.  There was enough of a breeze that they didn't bother me much after that.


We were able to enjoy three hours in the sun...reading, listening to our iTouches and just chillin'.  Mostly, it was nice to be in the sun and warm.  The park is located at the end of a canal which empties into Charlotte Harbor and yesterday boats were constantly going in and out.  Mr. Bill got photos of two of the nicer, larger boats.  Keep in mind that these boats are parked basically in the backyard of the owners because all the properties in this area back up to a canal and the properties are at least as nice as the boats.

 

  

And, a couple of bird photos because there are some funny birds around here and posts are more fun with pictures.

 

Not very attractive; I think it looks like a white vulture.

 (this one's for you, Greg)  Pelican

Remember this pretty bird from an earlier post?  Here's a group of friends.  I think it is a kind of tern but I'll find out for sure one of these days.  

We finished the day at the shelter.  We were the only two there and  tried to get all the dogs out for a short walk before the shelter closed at 5. 


Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Bittersweet

Yesterday we spent the day at the North Port Feed Supply Country Market with our favorite dog from the shelter, Cheyenne.  We took her there to introduce the shelter to those not familiar with it, raise a little money for the shelter and maybe interest someone in rescuing a shelter dog.  We did not go in an attempt to get any particular dog adopted. 

She is such a great dog and I wondered how she ended up at the shelter.  She is seven years old, housebroken, crate trained, walks nicely on a leash and knows some commands.  How could anyone give up such a good dog.  As it turns out, her family moved and could not take her with them.  I like to think they were heart broken, I know I would have been.  


It was billed as a farmer's market but actually, rather than vegetables and such they had vendors with crafts, chickens, rabbits, goats and other assorted farm items.  They did have some vendors with hamburgers (which we didn't eat) and hot dogs (which were very yummy) and there was a live band.  The best of all, it was outside and the weather had warmed up; the sun actually came out.  


Another volunteer had taken a 1 1/2 year old Akita mix named Apollo.  I thought it was going to be an interesting day because Apollo can be quite a handful.  However, both dogs were very well behaved (except when Apollo peed on our cooler).  They were good with kids and uninterested in the farm animals, even the fowl.  I thoroughly enjoyed getting a chance to spend four hours with Cheyenne.


It's all Bill's fault!  He discovered her first.  I let him take any questionable dogs first, then giving me an idea of how they are on a leash.  I don't have any interest in being dragged off my feet by some big bully that doesn't behave well when outside.  Cheyenne would run from one side of her kennel to the other, acting wild.  She had a little sign on her kennel, drawn by a child, telling everyone that she acted wild inside but she is very mild mannered.  She is, in fact, perfect.  She never pulls unless she really has to go to the bathroom and enjoys sitting with you, just being loved.  She has a beautiful, expressive face.  We had started a routine of each walking four or five dogs in an hour and when one of us brought her out, we knew we were done.  We would sit together with her and give her some extra love and attention.  She liked to crawl up onto our laps and give us kisses.  It was hard to take her in when we needed to leave and sometimes I would ask for 5 more minutes...pleeeeeeese

We had her back to the shelter by 3ish, unloaded the crates, boxes, table and chairs that had been taken in two vehicles.  When we left we noticed a couple and their two children playing with Cheyenne in the fenced area where people can get to know a dog before they take one home.

When we went this afternoon, the first thing I did was check her kennel...it was empty and her little sign was gone.  She went home with yesterday's family and the shelter staff said they were a good family.  I hope they have a big yard where she can roll around and scratch her back, which she loves.  I hope they give her a big, soft bed where she can spread out and soak up some sun.  I hope they take her for nice, long walks  so she can stay in good shape.  She was heavy when she arrived at the shelter but had lost weight and was nice and thin.  I hope they give her as much love as she would have had with us.

It's not a very good photo of me.  (I didn't know Bill was taking the picture but he says I should have known because I was looking right at him.   In my defense, he was pointing the camera in my direction but I thought he was playing around with the camera, trying to get everything just right and he would let me know when he was ready.) It doesn't really matter, this is the only photo of me and Cheyenne so it will do just fine.

Bittersweet...pleasure alloyed with pain  We are both happy that after 2 1/2 months, Cheyenne has found a new home.  I'm especially sad that it isn't with us.  


I promise to do my best not to fall in love with another shelter dog; at least not until we can actually have a dog.


Thanks for stopping by...
;o)

Scary doll

When we visited the Old Opera House antique store and museum I found this little beauty scary doll.  This is a face that would scare the bejesus out of a small child if you ask me.  I'm sure it was lovingly made by someone but it looks like they sewed her face on in the dark.  Now that I think about it, it looks like she scared herself silly when she looked in the mirror. 

 

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

Arcadia, FL

Yesterday we drove 45 minutes in an Easterly direction to Arcadia.  We took the trip to drop off the blankets and toys we made for the little doggies.  Originally, we were going to turn them in on Saturday in Port Charlotte, but we are taking a dog to the North Port farmer's market instead.  We hope to take Cheyenne, our favorite dog, unless she gets adopted between now and then.  That would make us happy  ;o) and sad :o( at the same time.


Arcadia was heavily damaged during Hurricane Charley.  We had driven by there a few years ago on our way to Orlando.  We didn't see much reason to stop at the time as Bill was determined that we were going to eat breakfast at a Waffle House!  Just in case you are thinking the same...between Port Charlotte and Orlando, going Rt. 17 rather than the highway...there is NO Waffle House.  not any,zero, nada, zilch, none  We finally ate LUNCH in Winter Haven and it was not at a Waffle House.

After dropping off our donations, we parked and did some walking around the downtown area.  Either they did a marvelous job of rebuilding after the hurricane or there wasn't much damage to this area.  

Apparently, the best way to make a living in this area is to operate an antique store.  There must have been a dozen of them.  We did some window shopping (not much sense buying stuff we have to pack up and move home). We found this cute guy in front of, what else, a book store.

 

  This one makes me laugh because of the sign behind him.  The only reason you can read it is because he's open, too.

We did go into the Old Opera House and museum and were glad we did.

(nice photo Mr. Bill)

This building was built in 1906, used as an opera house, then a movie theater and now is an antique store and museum.  I found a lot of nice vintage fabric and a cool quilt all with reasonable prices but kept control of myself and left empty handed.

 

As you can see, there was a lot of stuff in this place and there were many, many rooms stuffed with stuff.





Yikes...

Across the street was an old movie theater and it's PINK!  I like the broken reflections in the windows.  I think it would make a cool art quilt.

 

and, I missed this little guy completely.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)

We're going to Disney World

Have you heard about "Give a day, Get a Disney day"?  Basically, you volunteer your time and Disney gives you a free ticket.  There are dozens of volunteer possibilities.  We are all about the animal shelter right now and decided that we would make doggie blankets and toys as our contribution.  


I purchased the seven yards of fleece on Friday and started cutting later in the day.  I cut strips, which Bill braided into toys using three different fabrics; one was a fish print, one was blue and one was yellow. (yeah, I know, I should have used a dog print but they didn't have any good ones with coordinating fabrics.)  My blankets required two pieces of fabric that were tied together on three sides with the final side being left open so that the little doggie can climb inside and snuggle if so desired.  Each blanket was only 1/2 yard of fabric...18x44 inches (approximately) so the dog has to be fairly small.  The shelter we were making them for only works with small breeds.  I could make them using a full yard on each side and it could be used by a larger dog although I think I would tie all sides rather than leaving one open.  The blankets all had a floral fabric on one side, two of them had yellow on the other side and two of them had pink.


We ended up with 4 blankets, 13 large toys and 27 small toys.  I did keep one of the small ones for our granddog...Ginger. 

 

We will get a voucher by email which we need to print for our free Disney day.  We did not bring a printer so hopefully we can go to the library and print them off there.  If not, we will have to go to plan B, which we don't have yet.   We should have plenty of time because I'm not going to Disney until it Warms Up.!

Thanks for stopping by...
;o)