The Birds and The Bees

First, thanks to all your nice comments on my last blog about Poppy.  The support of our Blogland friends means a lot to both of us.  She is doing pretty well and so are we.  Hanging in and cherishing every moment.  Of course we’ll miss her when she’s gone but this is a time to celebrate her life.  She has had one of the best of any dog ever and she continues to amaze us with her longevity, despite her health problems.

The picture above was taken today on one of our walks at a boat ramp near Harrisburg, OR.  It’s Poppy among the poppies (or buttercups!!).

One of the things Poppy does for us is get us moving!  Even at her age and being almost totally blind and deaf, she insists on a ride every day.  Trust me, you don’t want to deny Poppy her ride – she doesn’t give up easily!  And of course rides always involves stops and that means a walk so everybody wins. 



When we ride, we always have a camera or two (or three!!) on hand and we have captured some pretty cool shots on our travels.  We have also put up some feeders in our back yard and are getting some great shots of the birds and the bees right here at home.









This bee was really enjoying the lupine in my Fairy Garden.









I love how colorful these insects are.




We’ve had some colorful birds come around too.  Just watching them and hearing their song makes me happy.



A Eurasian Collared Dove scavenges for seed on the ground in our back yard.  I sure enjoy the call of the dove.







A female American Goldfinch enjoys the nyjer seed in the stocking feeder.










The males patiently waits his turn in a nearby cedar tree.









Male house sparrow










And of course those ubiquitous starlings are EVERYWHERE.  Does anyone know how to discourage starlings??








This was not in our backyard but we enjoyed capturing a Northern Flicker at Armitage Park.







Russ got a good shot of an osprey sitting atop a utility pole today.





And guess what we saw right here in Eugene?  We just closed our eyes and pretended we were in Yellowstone National Park!!


So you see, you really don’t have to go very far to see wonderful sights and hear pleasing sounds.  We have driven on roads that we have never been on before, seen things that are totally new to us, and had experiences we might have missed had we been on the road.  We still want to travel again when we are able but until then, there is no reason to sit home and mope just because we can’t make a big trip right now.  Beauty and adventure are where you look for those things and sometimes you don’t have to look any further than your own back yard!

O fer the luv o’ dog!

Want to say first Poppy is still alive and kicking – this is not an obituary, I just wanted to write about our girl!

The bond between man (human!) and dog goes back for centuries but our particular bond with this pooch goes back relatively few years to May 2, 2000.  She was already 3 years old and had been abandoned in her back yard when her people (I use the term loosely) moved and didn’t take her with them.  A neighbor brought her into the animal shelter, and Russ just happened to go by for a visit the day she was brought in.  It was love at first sight and after the required waiting period, we brought her home.  While she was still in “jail” Russ brought donuts to the workers each day when he went to visit Poppy.  He wanted them to treat her right!  One fella finally asked what donut shop he owned and Russ has to ‘fess up to his ploy.

It’s been 13 wonderful years with Poppy so far.  She has been the perfect travel dog, always willing to go anywhere, any time.







She’s gone from a fine young lady…









…to an elegant, if somewhat chunky, old lady.






Along the way Poppy has taught us many lessons, but mostly since she has become old, mostly blind, almost deaf, and just a little senile.

She has taught us how to be brave.  Poppy has arthritis and her left hip is pretty stiff, yet she bravely plods along on our walks as best she can.  If my hip is hurting, I look at Poppy and try a little harder to get some needed exercise.


She has taught us that although our physical senses may diminish with time, we can still enjoy just being alive.  Poppy is nearly totally blind now, but when we go for a ride in the car, she sits and “looks” out the window, enjoying the wind in her face and the scents of nature.  Who knows, maybe she is “seeing” the tress go by and the horses and the cows in some primitive part of her memory.  She enjoys it all at any rate and does not allow her loss of sight to equate to a loss of pleasure in “seeing.”

Poppy has taught us to take pleasure in the small things.  She cannot see much, she cannot hear much, and she is also losing her sense of smell, but she still takes time to stop and smell the roses….or whatever entices her with savory wonders.

Poppy VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We have learned from Poppy, that no matter how bad things are, there is always something to be happy about, even if it is  just being close to the ones she loves.



We almost lost Poppy today.  She has been so filled with anxiety lately and has been having a LOT of trouble at night.  This means we also have trouble at night and have been getting very little sleep.  I don’t think we have had a full night’s sleep since last December.  Poppy has taken several falls and has walked into objects in the yard that she has not seen or sensed in time.  She managed to get herself locked in the bathroom one night last week.  Thankfully, we always get up at night to check on her if she doesn’t wake us to go out, so she was not in there all night long.  We called the mobile vet over the weekend and made an appointment for her to come and attend to Poppy’s final needs at 3:15 today.  We had even arranged for the cremation people to pick up Poppy’s remains.  But when we got up this morning, we found we just couldn’t do it.  We asked the vet to come by for a consultation and cancelled the cremation pick-up. 

Some may think we are cruel or just plain foolish to hang onto a dog this long.  The vet examined her and found that other than her hip, Poppy is probably not in a lot of physical pain.  Most of Poppy’s pain comes from the twice daily insulin injections, the blood sugar testing, the pain of loss of her senses, and the mental pain she suffers at night.  With that in mind, we are going to try and adjust her medications and see if we can get her some relief.  The vet did say we are not premature in thinking about Poppy’s passing and that if it were her dog, she would probably put her down.

I don’t know how long Poppy has left.  It may be a few days or a few weeks.  We will let her tell us in her own way when she can no longer go on.  She has certainly lived a good long time and has had the best life that any pooch could have.  We feel better having talked to the vet and planned how to take that next step when the time comes.  In the meantime, we will cherish every moment and hopefully continue to learn all the lessons that we can from our brave and wonderful girl.

“SO THERE”

♫I’ve been workin’ on the gaaaarden…♪ all the live long day..♫

If there is anything Russ hates more than work, it’s yard work!!  But my sweet hubby has been so gracious this year to help me put in some flowers and pretty up the yard a bit.  If it was up to Russ, he would pave the entire back yard and paint it green if I wanted color!!  But, bless his heart, he knows how much I love flowers and so he is working right along side me to get some in.

We started on the corner garden, what I call my Fairy Garden.”  It is just a bit of color and totally over-run with kitschy faeries.  I realize those cheap little faeries will never win any Better Homes and Gardens awards, but they make me smile and that’s the important thing.





So this is how it looked when we started:
 

This is how it looks now – not quite finished but it’s a good start.


We are doing things differently this year by utilizing planters instead of putting so many annuals in the ground.  That way I can spread Preen around the perennials and it should cut down on the weeding.  Should have some good color there in a couple of weeks.

The peonies showed us a lot of love for about a week, but the relationship didn’t last.  Fickle flowers that they are, they moved on rather rapidly.





















Got some hanging baskets up too and we’re enjoying them.




Sometimes I wish that I could just move to a small apartment and let someone else do all the yard work, but when the work is over, and I can sit outside in the cool of the evening and enjoy the colors and fragrances of the flowers, I know this is where I should be. 

At one time, I thought I wanted to be a full-timer and travel from one end of the country to the other.   Thank goodness, our house did not sell when we were thinking that way because I know now it’s not for me.  I have to have a bit of dirt and a few walls to call my own.  I so admire people who have taken that plunge to full-time RVing and are enjoying that life.  I sure enjoy reading their wonderful blogs. 

I think the important thing is to be true to yourself.  Sometimes the dream is different from the reality and it’s important to make that distinction.  In life there is no “one size fits all” – what we have to do is find the size that fits us. 

We are going to try again to make a short trip with Poppy, this time in the car.  We have rented a house at Sunriver, a resort community in central Oregon.  We’re hoping that with a little more space, Poppy will be able to relax a bit more.  She had a worse night than usual last night so I hope we aren’t making a mistake.  No refunds!!  Her vision is pretty much limited to lights and shadows so we are careful to keep things in their place so she can navigate in the house.  After she walked into a boat trailer at the boat landing the other day, we have decided no more off leash.  We are her guide humans now and will try and keep her safe from all those scary obstacles out there. ♥

Last Night a Nest of Spiders–Tonight a Nest of Ospreys!!

We have been keeping an eye on several active osprey nests around town.  This evening we visited our favorite at the Marshall Island Boat Landing.  Both parents were present and I am pretty certain they were tending to a chick.

The nest is on top of a high-power line.  One parent was in the nest, presumably feeding the chick and the other parent was standing guard.  Click on photo to enlarge.





This one appears to be taking his guard duties seriously – or maybe he’s just on the lookout for a fat field mouse….but I think Ospreys only eat fish.


The bird in the nest was definitely involved in some important task.


After a time, the one in the nest flew off.


As soon as that bird flew off, the one standing guard went into the nest.





It was fascinating to watch, but then, it doesn't take much to amuse us nowadays.  I wish I had my tripod as it is hard for me to hold the camera steady on a long zoom.  I missed the flight as I just wasn’t quick enough.  I hope to go back again and maybe we’ll get lucky and see the chick.

I like this nest better than the one last night, don’t  you?!?!

New Babies at our House

Too bad they didn’t live long!!  Don’t you just love spring (and bug spray)??    Yup, sorry to all the ecologically minded.  I know spiders are important to the garden and if they stay in the garden I leave them alone.  But these were about 6 inches from my back door and there were two nests like this.  NO WAY were they going to come creeping into my house!  I’ll probably have nightmares tonight!!

Lost Cat

This was sent to me by my DIL.  She knows I keep in touch with lots of RVers and she is hoping we can help this cat go home.  She is not involved with the shelter, just subscribes to their posts.  If you know this cat, let’s see if we can get her home.  The rescue is on FB:  https://www.facebook.com/ACCESAnimalSpecialty  
Feel free to link to this blog or copy it or whatever.  Let's just get this kitty home.

Beautiful Oregon Coast Weather

Had a wonderful day on the Oregon coast yesterday.  Started with a great breakfast in Harrisburg – a return visit to Jake’s.  Still Yummy.  We had my sister, Laila, and her hubby, Brian, along.  I always like to give my sis a hard time (don’t worry, she gets even)!



The weather was just wonderful for the drive and the  coast was beautiful.  There was a low hanging fog bank on the horizon and the wind was a bit chilly, but it didn’t really matter.  When the sun comes out in Oregon, you got to take advantage of it.  We went first to Newport and stopped at Nye Beach.  There is a whale skeleton (pieces anyway) at the state park there. 


It was sunny away from the beach but that foggy wind was sure cold right by the shore.  If you look close you can see a couple of people with dogs by the water line about 2/3 of the way up the beach.



Here they are zoomed in on, almost obscured by the fog.  I think they look cold!!


The Yaquina Bay bridge is always beautiful but the fog just added another dimension.




We enjoyed a sunny walk along the historic bay front but the chill wind chased us back to the car before long.


We always like to stop at the Adobe for lunch.  Not only is the food outstanding, the view is great too, with large windows overlooking the rocky Yachats coastline.  I didn’t get a picture of the view this time – we were too busy eating and harassing one another!  But you can see all the windows in this picture.


I love driving from north to south along the coast and since I was driving, that’s what we did.  Going south you are right on the edge for much of the drive and the view is always impressive.  There are lots of places to stop and grab a quick picture.




















“Matter of fact, I CAN read….and just who do you think you are telling to move along?”



I always love this view when you come around the curve and see the huge Heceta Beach stretched out in front of you.  The fog was spotty but still hanging around.


Just a word about how great our Poppy is.  She rode along the entire day and we barely knew she was there.  She had to ride clear in the back because Brian and Laila took her normal seats – the very nerve!!  But she never made a sound and obediently climbed onto the third seat and was a good girl the whole time.  She got out at each stop and walked around a bit, then wanted back in the car.  She is teaching us so much about growing old gracefully.  I can only hope that I am as nice an old lady as our Poppy is.