Where the wild things are, truffle hound and new friends

Sit back, take the phone off the hook, get a cup of something nice to drink - this is going to be a long post!

Where the wild things are...


First off, let's take a walk around to the lagoon to see all the birds that have been gathering there. There have been dozens of merganser ducks on the lagoon. Here's a photo of a male - those are all feathers in that big bouffant hairdo! They will disappear under water and then you'll see them start popping up out of nowhere.


Here is a great blue heron at the mouth of the creek that runs behind our house into the lagoon. You can also see an egret on the bank. We tried to get closer to get a better shot but he flew off, spewing curses at us! To give you a sense of scale, he probably stands about 5 feet tall!

Here's a smaller heron and another egret right behind our house. The great blue heron was back here too, but he left when we walked over to the bank to get a better look.

While we've had deep freezes overnight, there are still some flowers in bloom, like our neighbor's gorgeous camillias. We have a baby camillia bush planted by our front door that has some tight buds—fingers and paws crossed we might get some flowers when the weather warms up next week.

And here is our new pet! This little male cardinal has been visiting us every day this past week, usually starting around 9:00 a.m. He pecks and flies at the windows all around the house. Mom was afraid he'd hurt himself, but he's not violent, just noisy! We've named him Wolsey after another famous cardinal who made a big racket. For the first couple of days, I'd run up to the window and bark at him, now he's just a member of the family!

The tale/tail of the truffle hound...

So at our New Year's Day brunch, a friend of Mom's brought her these fancy chocolate truffles that Mom put in this shell dish in the living room.

The other morning, when Mom walked through the living room on her way to the kitchen, she noticed one of the truffles in the middle of the rug. Hmmm. How did that get there?

It was untouched, so she put it back in the dish. A while later, she heard some rustling in the living room and —caught me in the act of trying to unwrap a truffle! Mom's still baffled as to how I got them out of the dish as the table is too deep for me to just reach it.

No more truffles for this hound...
and finally...some new friends!

It was warm enough the other afternoon to head to the beach! Hooray!!! When we got there, we met six doggies—it was a party!

This is Blossom, a gorgeous Shepherd mix. And don't be fooled by the pretty name, he's a handsome fellow.

And this is Sam. Who is actually a Samantha. She liked to chase the ball too.

Whee! I love being the dog that the other dogs chase. From left to right is Ben, Cody - a labradoodle that looks like my NYC friend Pumpkin who's a golden doodle, and Poppy, a Cairn Terrier mix. Can't catch me!

Zooming on a wide-open beach is just the best! (By the way, that's Sam's tennis ball, you know I never drop mine for a second!)

Cody really loved to chase Poppy around. He didn't seem to mind. I think Blossom was just happy to observe!
There was this crazy sand sculpture on the beach - we didn't know if it was an ancient calendar or a sundial. But it was very cool!

Ahhh, gotta catch my breath and take a breather...

....ummmm! Nothing like the scent of the sea on a brisk sunny day.

Poppy and Blossom decided to go exploring a bit too far away, so once they were rounded up, they went back on their leashes. Poppy is awfully cute. He is a rescued pup and was found in an awful condition. How can people be so cruel to such a great little dog?

Here he is plotting with Blossom where they'll go on their next adventure. Blossom is a rescue dog, too. He's so sweet and loves a good long scritchy scratch.

As are Ben and Sam. Our hats are off to their owners Sue and Elizabeth for so generously opening their homes and their hearts to these deserving dogs! Just look at that happy smiling face.

Ahhh, quite a wonderful adventure. Now...time for a nap and more dreams of wild things, new friends and dog-friendly chocolate truffles!