Bossy Birds

This spring we decided to put a birdbath up so we could watch them do their grooming while we sat on the deck and enjoyed a coffee. We bought a ceramic shallow dish that was meant to go under a large planter believing that anything deeper than an inch would be too risky for the birds and really didn't want to be lifeguarding or performing cpr on a feathered friend. Well the resident robin arrived, checked out the water, squatted then immediately left and made a bee line for the dogs stainless steel water bowl, at least five inches deep! He did manage to throw me a dirty look and give me a disgruntled chirp before abandoning what we thought was the safest bath tub. So I informed my husband that we had to go shopping for a new bird bowl. After an afternoon of finding unsuitable or way too expensive "tubs", we went to Winners and found a beautiful robins egg blue (serendipity re the color?) hand crafted ceramic bowl from Portugal and brought it home for "approval". The robin quickly approved and claimed it as his and his only. Not even his poor mate was allowed to land on it. We named him Cassnova as he would work on building his nest most of the day and then bath twice a day so he would be appealing to his mate. It worked and they had four babies not long after. Poor Casanova would make a quick stop  on his way to find worms for the kids but he had no time for bathing anymore and with a wistful look at the bowl would be off to search for wigglers. Here's the big guy enjoying his grooming.

Tribute to Bija

1997 - 2010

As most of you know our dog, Bija, passed away while we were on holidays in September. We loved her so much that I'm going to try a little tribute to her although nothing will be adequate enough. We adopted Bija from Animal Rescue Foundation as a birthday gift for our daughter but of course, in a family of animal lovers, she really belonged to all of us. We enjoyed almost 14 years of laughter from her antics and many, many walks, at least two or more a day. Everyone along the two and a half km. route we would take became fond of seeing us and we made many acquaintances because of her that we never would have made otherwise. This alone was a huge enrichment of our lives that she was directly responsible for. When she was no longer with us and it was just my husband and me walking, we got calls, cards and people coming out of their homes  to inquire as to her whereabouts and give us hugs and tell us how much they would miss all of us walking by every day.

This is one of the last pictures I took of her and you can see in it how much she has aged but is still beautiful and in good condition. When we first got her she would hide from the camera and the only way I could really get a good picture was with a telephoto lens. It took almost ten years but eventually she figured out that I wasn't going to quit trying so she might as well just pose or at least not run away. Her submission made me a bit sad though as to me it meant that she was getting old and couldn't be bothered running away.

This little video demonstrates how obedient and trusting she was with us. Like most geriatrics she ended up on medication  and from previous experience with medicating pets we dreaded the process of pushing pills down her throat every day. However; in true form for being the easiest dog to live with, she got to the point where she would remind me if I forgot to give it to her. First thing in the morning before she went outside for her "business" she would sit in front of the cabinet where her pills were and practically open her mouth to get them. Occasionally I wouldn't succeed on the first try but she would patiently give me two tries. If I failed both of them I  would get a dirty look over her shoulder at me as she walked away in disgust. As long as I apologized profoundly she would forgive me and muster up for the next try. What a sweetie.

This one is of her getting her exercise. When she was a puppy full of energy, even a couple of walks a day wasn't enough to burn off all that enthusiasm.  She would be wandering around the back yard when all of a sudden her bum would drop, the front legs would spread out in a huge V, and with her head tipped back and a huge grin on her face she would be off doing the circuit. At first we didn't have a fence at the back for some reason that escapes me now, so she would swing way out into the lane while making her turn. Thankfully she was never hit or encountered another dog. The more we laughed  the faster she would run, probably hoping we would join in and chase her. In the video I had to encourage her to get moving, probably the camera made her hesitant, but as usual she would do anything asked of her if it meant pleasing us. It's a bit sad because it drove home that she was getting old, just a few "laps" and she was tired out. Ignore my horrid voice please.

The yard in the video above was before we landscaped it.  This is what it looks like now.

 Here she is in her chair by the window. She spent a lot of time there, watching for other dogs going by, always good for a barking session. If it was a super good day a kitty might  come close to the window and she would be up and stomping and growling to let it know that trespassers would be severely shaken. Those were the best times ever for her. Sadly the last few months were spent mostly sleeping. The chair is gone now but we still look at the replacement and picture her there. We look for her silhouette in the window when we come home from an outing and miss her greeting us as we come in the door. As she got older and deafer she would become confused sometimes and be standing facing the opposite way when we came in, her ears would be up and you could tell she was listening for us but puzzled. I would smile and reach out to gently tap her on her behind and she would jump and whirl about with a startled but happy face when she saw us. Entertaining to the end. I won't go into the details of her passing here as this isn't about that. I just wanted to say how much we loved her, appreciated her presence in our lives and will always treasure our memories of her.

                                                                     Best Dog Ever

Antelope Canyon

Remember to click on all the pictures to get bigger views of them.



This is how we got to the canyon from the hotel. It was a half ton truck with a Hollywood muffler, raised about as high as was legal and equipped with big wide tires. There were two benches in the back about a foot wide and two people would share a seat belt. Behind us at this point were about six other trucks and once we were a bit further along they all spread out and the race was on. It felt like we were part of a Mad Max movie, super fun.

This is the entrance to the canyon and as you can see we lost the race and weren't the first to enter. Actually that turned out to be a good thing as they were all gone on our return trip and we got to take a few pictures without anyone in them. Most of the shooting was overhead and up using the natural light filtering in and reflecting off the walls. Our guide selected me to be the teaching tool and it was "girl, stand here, put your camera here, turn, shoot up, shoot over their heads etc. etc. I was mighty dizzy by the time we got to the other end of the canyon but really did need the help to get some good pictures.

We were surprised at how narrow parts of the canyon were but it was wide enough for groups of people to walk through together. Only a few parts required single file. The swirls on the walls are made during flash floods when the water picks up all the sand on the floor and it circles around and around scouring out and recreating the features of the canyon. The last flash flood raised the floor by four feet with the sand it deposited.

Isn't it beautiful! I actually didn't get to look at it with my own eye, only through the camera as big Al had me busy standing here and there to show the group "that's how we take pictures here".

Now I'm sure there is an animal in this picture somewhere or Lincolns head or something. The native people seem to find images in everything to add importance or significance to it. I think that partly comes from the sameness of much of the scenery where they live that they have to find something to landmark where they are. They're also very attuned to nature and their totems so look for their images in everything.

Now if we were to do a painting or sculpture like this it would most likely be called "busy" but when nature does it it's called spectacular. Look at all the different colors in those rocks!

Anybody got a skateboard?

Can you see why I got dizzy??

You must be getting tired of looking at these, almost done.

This is the end of the canyon, note the shape of the bear in the light area. Big Al took this one. "Give me your camera girl".

See the image of the coyote?

My favorite shot. This is the room that you see so often in the ads for Antelope Canyon, minus the beam of light coming down to highlight the floor although it's in the next room. With all the people going through that day I was really fortunate to get this shot of an empty room.

Anyway that's the sampling of our trip. Hope I didn't bore you too much but figured by posting these on my blog (that I haven't used forever) you could either look or delete.

Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon

This is Bryce Canyon which we found spectacular. I wasn't sure how I was going to get it all in as it covers such a vast area so pictures really don't do it justice. There were 18 miles of canyon road with stops at about 10 different places. We went to the end first and then thought that we couldn't see anything much different at the next one. Totally wrong!! Each viewpoint had something more spectacular and the last one was the dessert for sure. I've only included a small sample of what I have.This one at the left is about the only arch we saw at Bryce although I'm sure there were more to be seen if you hiked down into the canyon. 

 

This was the scenery to the left and the right. We could not imagine how the pioneers in their wagons must have felt when they came to a place like this on their trek to the west. "looks like a good place to stop and settle down to me" 

This part of the canyon was called the Cathedral, wonder why?? It reminds me of the scenery from Lord of the Rings                                                                                                                                                 

The grand finale! Hundreds of feet tall and spread out for miles.

This is the north rim of the Grand Canyon. We were disappointed because it was so drab, big isn't always best but it certainly is that. All the tourists, especially the women, had vertigo and were walking the paths very carefully and holding on to something before they would glance down. Must admit I was one of them as even in hotels I have a hard time going out on the balcony if it's above the tenth floor.

I tried to get a downward shot but it's impossible to see the bottom of the canyon. Best I could do.