Smartest Raccoons Ever

We feed the feral cats on the backyard porch, but because of Walter's penchant for cat food, if there's any left when it's his time to go out in the backyard, I try to outwit him by hiding the food in the garden cart.  This afternoon, I opened the garden cart and saw that I'd forgotten to take the food out of the cart last night.  This is what I saw:

When I lifted the paper plates out of the cart, all the food was gone.  The clever raccoons opened the garden cart and ate all the food, and then closed the cart, so I didn't even know they'd been in there.  I'm telling you, these raccoons are so smart, they should go on Jeopardy!

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday was our 24th anniversary.  I told Wayne that for our 25th anniversary, we should get "painted alive."  Have you seen that?  The artist uses your body for a canvas and paints the most creative things - you don't even realize what you're looking at until the person moves, and you see that it's a human being!

Wayne is used to my ideas.  He didn't flinch at my suggestion, but he said, "Those models don't have an ounce of body fat on them.  If the artist painted us, it'd be the Michelin Man or the Pillsbury Doughboy."

I still think it's a fun idea.   We shall see.....


Craig Tracy - Painted Alive Book Video

The Mark of Zorro, I mean, Walter

This is my Croc.  This is my Croc with Walter's teeth marks.  Do you see all the tiny little holes?  Inevitably, if we forget to put up the baby gate leading to our bedroom, Walter will take our shoes and chew on them.  Sometimes, he takes one or both of Wayne's slippers, and sometimes, he takes one or both of my Crocs, and sometimes, he takes all four shoes or one from Wayne and one from me.  He chews them on the rug right at the front entrance, so that's the first thing we see when we come home.  In this case, the shoe is still wearable, but he chewed off the strap.  Good thing we think he's cute!

Rain? What Rain?

While everyone else in the country is suffering drought, we are inundated with rain.  It has been raining almost every single day, and sometimes it rains all day or most of the night.  Walter does not care.  He bolted out of the door into the backyard, and he ran around the yard for at least an hour.  When it's time to come in, Walter stands at the back door and barks once.  That's his standard, "OK, I've had my fun, now let me in" bark.  As you can see from the picture, Walter does not melt in the rain.  What's nice about the type of coat he has is that he can just shake once or twice and he's dry.  Wash-and-wear Walter...

 Walter Deer

Tell me this doesn't look like a deer.

Are They Adorable or What?

I keep my camera out for an occasion such as this.  Henry and Zoe are on the window seat, where they have front row tickets to the bird feeder action.  When we first found Zoe, she was only a pound and three ounces.  Now she's bigger than three of our cats, but she still thinks she's the baby (and princess). Wherever Henry is sleeping, she nudges him over and cuddles right up to him.  He returned the favor by putting a protective paw around her.

Walter's in Love

No, he's not in love with another dog or a person.  Here is what he is in love with:

It's an elk antler.  Yesterday, my husband and I went to the dog show in our area, and after watching and admiring all the dogs, we visited some of the product booths.  We asked what this was, and the woman told us it was an elk antler which was the best thing for dogs to chew on, and she said it should last a couple of months.  It cost $15, which seems expensive, but if it really lasts that long, then it's not too bad.

When we got home, Wayne gave the elk antler to Walter.  Delicately, he took it in his mouth and padded over to the carpet in the dining room.  He laid it down gently, and he thoroughly sniffed it.  Walter was occupied for the rest of the day.  He brought it over to the foyer rug and chewed on it forever.  When it was time for him to go outside, Walter picked it up and ran around the dining room table four times before he would even consider letting us put his leash on.  He is absolutely in love with his elk antler.