boolie

Bad Luck, Good Luck

Tundra swans usually don’t come close to the road at Ridgefield so I was particularly pleased late on a winter’s day to find an accommodating swan. But as I was photographing it, someone else came up and parked behind me and committed the cardinal sin of the auto tour — he opened his car door and got out. Of course the swan spooked and I drove away in frustration and was going to head home, but instead calmed myself and started looking for other things to shoot. The meadow at the end of the auto tour was empty, no herons or hawks or coyotes, so I thought I was done for the day.

But this great egret was waiting for me just past the parking lot and let me photograph it until it was time to head home.

Ball Goes Here!

Age has slowed Ellie this year so she can’t chase balls like she used to, but she still enjoys having me toss them into her mouth.

Snow Day

I had some time off coming in December but took one of the days a bit earlier than expected when I woke to snow coming down. I sent a quick email to work to let them know I wasn’t coming in as I wanted to take Ellie out in however much snow we got. I always enjoy seeing Ellie in the snow, as it reminds me of the day I started thinking about getting a dog while playing with sweet Porter from next door.

The snow stopped falling right after I decided not to go to work, so there wasn’t much on the ground when we went on our walk to the dog park in Irving Park, but we had a good time nevertheless. I brought my camera (the little EOS M, just stuck it in my coat pocket) and took a few snaps of Ellie enjoying one of her favorite activities, snapping sticks in half with her jaws.

Chomp chomp!

The Bed Thief

While Sam would occasionally sleep in one of Ellie’s beds, particularly the homemade one, the thieving of dog beds began in earnest in late July. Coincidentally, this is also when Boo was given free reign of the house. This is Boo on his first day out after a couple of weeks in isolation in my wife’s office in the basement. That week began his gradual introduction into the house at large, we’d let him out for a while but at night or when we were away we still kept him isolated.

Boo was shy and nervous when we adopted him and you could see on his face how exploring the house and meeting the pets was both exciting and exhausting for him, so we paced his introduction even slower than normal. Several times on this first day he’d go up and explore the ground level and meet the other pets and then come back down to Ellie’s dog bed for a little rest. The bed was right outside my wife’s office so he could enjoy a taste of his newfound freedom and yet easily scoot back in to his comfort zone if needed.

He showed little fear of Ellie from the start, and for her part, she was nonplussed by the arrival of the little fellow. So when he stole her bed, she laid down beside it on the hard floor, making life a little easier for the kitten as he began to understand what it meant to be home.

The Dog Bed

Ellie has always enjoyed sleeping on our bed but age has taken a toll on her legs and the other day my wife came home and discovered Ellie had jumped onto the bed but couldn’t jump back down. So after helping her down she took the bed and box springs off the frame and put them on the floor, where they’ll stay.

Spooning

Peace, love, & understanding.

Turnabout is Fair Play

My wife picked up a couple of cat beds to hopefully reduce the cats taking over Ellie’s dog bed, but instead one of the new cat beds got an unexpected guest.

“I Bet My New Dog Bed Sure Is Nice”

Every time I read the headlines of the day’s news, I wish I could sprinkle a bit of Ellie’s personality on everyone around the world. We replaced one of her dog beds but the cats took to it before she had the chance to try it out. She settled for the carpet rather than drive the interlopers out.

They don’t come any sweeter than our Ellie.

HypnoCat

Don’t look directly into his eyes!

Me & Sam & Boo & Who

Sam and Boo snuggle up on my legs as we watch Doctor Who.