Play ball with me?

I love this dog. She tends to carry tennis balls around like this: half in and half out. This is the dog that chose me. I am so glad that she did.

Slow weekend II

It was a slow weekend. We went to the ranch, staying on the side away from the big, bad cows (who I have been told were probably friendly, I'm just not testing my luck). On the "dog" end, there is a pond, but it's quite small and shrinking in the 100 degree heat. Despite that, Charlie did take a swim....trying to catch those pesky frogs.

After a swim, Charlie does need a bath. Who said that whippets don't get dirty?
Hudi does NOT go swimming:
Gabi is good for a swim....but she tends to stay clean:

Gabi was one of the first to discover that the van does provide a nice bit of shade:

The hay bales also provide shade:

Ahh, the joy of running:

Mati is going out for the basketball team:
Too bad pictures don't capture sound. Mati is running and barking at the same time.


After our outings each morning, the dogs were VERY quiet. I am looking forward to the fall, when staying up at the ranch all day will be an option (I don't see how people lived in this area before AC).

Slow weekend... out takes

This was a slow weekend. I needed some down time. I was going to visit my parents, but my father is back on chemo and the side effects resulted in a request to stay at home. Given my fatigue, that was probably a good thing, but given my knowledge of his disease....I worried from a distance.

We went to the ranch for some run around time. I snapped this shot of Gabi:
For some reason, I really like it. The dried weeds form a nice frame...the tall grass in front is a little distracting, but what is one to do?

The dogs had a blast. I think they are going to enjoy the ranch.

Dumber than a mouse?

OK. I do not like rodents living THIS close. I have set traps. In the process, I nearly flattened my thumbs. I just watched the mice gnawing on a trap. What is wrong with this picture....hmmm?

The good thing about living in the country...

There are some very good things about living in the country. One is the space. I love living on 5 acres, but I love the "field" (i.e. the whippet ranch) that I purchased last winter even more.

"We" have been fencing. Today, I went up to look at the fencing which is nearly complete.

The above photo is taken from the ranch (or cow) side towards the whippet side which will be smaller.

We had a good time running around with the dogs being dogs. Look at the following and tell me that dogs don't smile:

Yes, we were well pleased with our fence:

The whippets seemed a little more "activated" and prone to wondering off than normal. I didn't make anything of it. I also didn't make anything of the large pile of excrement I found. The pile looked like a cow patty, but I figured the rancher or fencer had a horse out there when the fence was going up. There were tire tracks from a pick up on the perimeter. Don't ask me why....I assumed that they had brought a horse out.

All of a sudden, Gabi went running off to the tank at the south end of the property (for those not familiar with the lingo and "tank" is a pond). She would not come back when called. Once, again, I didn't think anything of it except that, perhaps, she was hunting. Gabi seems to be the keenest hunter in my bunch. I was only half way down the field. Charlie followed her, but Mati and Hudi stayed close.

Imagine my surprise when I met the cows....I guess the cow patty did belong to a cow. I did not see Gabi.

The "well-behaved" whippets (and that term is used VERY loosely in the context of this story) decided that they would go after the big bunnies. Although the rancher who owns the cows had told me that he had no problem with me running my dogs on the cow side, I was not intending to test this process with all my dogs at once. Packs of dogs will do things that one or two would not consider doing.

This whole set up was not my cup of tea. I managed to call Hudi, Mati and, eventually Charlie back to me, but Gabi was not wearing her listening ears. I decided to head back to the van, because I feared my ability to keep the dogs with me when there were such big bunnies in the neighborhood was probably limited. Unfortunately, the cows decided to cut me off at the pass, so to speak.

We zigged and zagged, but the cows seemed to KNOW. In the photo below, the position of the van is highlighted with the red arrow....see the problem?

Now, if anyone is a cow expert, please look at the above image and tell me if these are cows from the neighborhood Welcome Wagon, coming to bring me a basket of warm cow patties, or if these are cows from the 'hood, here to protect their turf and knock me and my skinny little dogs into the next county. I chose to assume the latter, thinking that would probably be best for my longevity. If the cows were friendly and now offended by my lack of hospitality, so be it.

In the end, the human managed to fake out the cows with her zigging and zagging eventually reaching the safety of the van. I kept telling myself what my realtor had commented when showing the land, "cows are really stupid", but underneath it, I also knew that they could probably smell my fear. Cows are BIG. There was no doubt in this city girl's mind who would win the battle of cow vs. city girl. I was all ready to give it to the cow.

Once to the van, I decided to drive across the field to "rescue" the errant Goober Girl. Picture this: the pearl white Toyota Sienna mini-van driving across a field of cows....not your usual ranch transportation. I was already feeling out of my element, and this only added to that feeling. I was also very worried about Gabi. I hadn't seen her since she had gone tearing for the pond. I feared that Gabi had listened to her collie side and was herding cows, perhaps being knocked senseless in the process. Thankfully, once I drove the van to the far side of the field she came running out of a tall clump of grass, ever so happy and looking quite pleased with herself (I have no clue what she was doing with the cows).

Do you think this city girl needs to go back to the city?

The trouble with living in the country....

I love being in the "country." Recently, I started feeding the birds....so nice and tranquil....until:
I grew up with a hamster....I loved Jenny, unless she was out of her Habitrail...then she was a Evil Rodent with big teeth that would like kill me if I stepped on her (I had a vivid imagination).

While at Home Depot pondering Rodent Riddance methods, I was told that if I put out mothballs, it would help keep them away. Hmmmmmm. Since the mice seem to be living under the deck, and the dogs can't access that area, I may give it a try.