Five Acres with a View

Full Size 1200×798

Even with our tripod, this one was tough.

Full Size 1200×900

Hap was twenty-four years old in May, and is still one of the most handsome horses that I know. Not that I am biased, or anything.

Full Size 1200×900

Full Size 1200×798

I haven’t been getting much in the way of early morning shots because even I don’t wake up that early in June.

Full Size 1200×798

We have been having some fairly dramatic afternoon skies, even when we’ve been spared thunderstorms.

Is It Going To Rain Tomorrow? Simple answers for simple questions. 

Full Size 1200×798

This photo of my other variety of columbines is prettier than the real thing. I think I bought the originals based on what the bloom looked like photo. In reality, these columbines always remind me of Victorian half-mourning. If they ever fail to reseed themselves, I will manage to bear up under the disappointment.

Full Size 1200×798

I am a little embarrassed by these zinnias. I thought, when I grabbed the annual pack, that I was picking up marigolds. My gardening is all about the tried-and-true, survives even in Colorado. I hope the deer don’t like zinnias.

Full Size 1200×798

Jack said I had to upload a photo with Cheney and Orion so viewers could see how much smaller Cheney is compared to Orion. I think Orion was blinking from the flash during this photo. I decided to go with it anyway, since it is very difficult to keep two terrier type dogs sitting at the same time. I tried to photograph Cheney next to a soft drink can, but Cheney was deeply suspicious of it.

Full Size 900×1354

Cheney is a very small, three year old Rat Terrier with Issues who was adopted by my friend when he was about one and a half years old. A couple of months ago, my friend was bemoaning the fact that she would never go on vacation again because she wouldn’t ask a critter sitter to take care of Cheney. My friend is our backup for whoever takes care of our critters when we travel, so I told her he could come stay here. He is also Orion’s best friend, at least when Orion is visiting his house.

Since we were worried about how Cheney would get on, she brought him out for several trial runs. The first time he was worried, but at least not catatonic. (If Cheney was a person, I would say he had some sort of severe anxiety disorder.) During the second, longer trial a few days ago when my friend left for a few hours, he was still worried but actually showed signs of interacting with me, the environment and the other dogs. So yesterday I went to pick up Cheney so he could stay for a few days.

It is going quite well. Yesterday, I was gating dogs into various groups inside the house so they wouldn’t be in a critical mass while they adjusted. I also put Cheney in his crate a few times when he seemed overloaded. After the first few hours, Lody, the old Collie, decided he could be safely ignored. Lightning, the Sheltie, seems to like him. Lily seems to like him. And Orion thinks it is terrific, though I’ve had to put Rion in time out when he gets too boisterous for the other dogs.