Time to share some color in my Florida garden!

Very reminiscent of last Jan., Louise. Many coot rafts at the Villages....I miss that winter birding!

Oh everything is so pretty!!

I'm sure you do, Marilyn. This morning we were accompanied by a beautiful white pelican the whole length of the River walk. I wish you were down here! The pelicans have just started to arrive. Nice of them to wait for us! :)

Yes it is, Ronnie. I love this River....always something or someone new to see and sometimes it's roaring rough and other times it's like a mirror and so serene. By the way, on top of that marker buoy is a nest of baby ospreys. Mom and Dad are busy feeding them. We also had a bald eagle along the river one morning. Interesting stuff for morning walks. That's the main thing we love here, and I've loved this River since I was 6 years old and learned to fish here. That was before it freaked me out to kill something living. lol

Always something interesting by the water....I love ospreys, love their whistling chatter.

I so agree, Marilyn! Because this River is brackish water, we see lots of salt water and fresh water fish and fowl, along with manatees and dolphins. Half the time when I see something really neat, I'm caught without my camera. Last year we had a manatee mom and baby surface about a foot in front of us as we were standing on the seawall. That was the most special close-up sighting in a long time. They are not shy around people, so they hung out there for a long time nibbling on the seaweed and algae. By the way, Happy Birthday!! :)

Thank you so much, Louise! I've seen manatees only a few times, but I love them. Today I was trying to do the Christmas Bird Feeder Count, sneaking looks with the binocs when I went into the kitchen....didn't want to be rude to my guests, either! Saw quite a few varieties of birds in little snatches!

We had to move our bird feeders back to either side of the door of our shed, because we can't attract the squirrels since they carry leptospirosis and our NH vet does not want the girls to have that vaccine. Our neighbor's dog had it and was very sick. She thinks we are at a low risk if we keep the squirrels to a minimum here. Lepto is more prevalent during the summer down here when there is so much wash off (containing squirrel urine) and puddling that the dogs drink from. This time of year we get very little rain and any puddles evaporate quickly. Back to my point about moving the feeders.......:( .....now that they are at the back of the yard, I don't see as many birds as I did when we had them within the garden around my breakfast patio.

Oh, bummer, Louise, but better for the girls....I lost a dog to lepto, my beloved Biscuit.... Half lab, half either Giant Schnauzer or wolfhound....she was a 95 pound girl....died at 7, & Garret was 12....she had been his constant companion, & he (along with both Doug & I) were inconsolable!

Oh Dear, Marilyn. How very sad to hear that. I was not familiar with it. My vet here told me that once you know they have it, it's almost too late most of the time because of the damage to kidneys and liver. But then the NH vet, said absolutely no to the vaccine. So, we had to really give it a lot of thought. Bichons have life-compromising reactions to many vaccines, and the compromised cells don't become evident until they are in their later years when their immune systems can't fight off anything. So, we went back to our vet here and discussed it further with her. The tropical areas are most affected apparently, because of the water run-off issues I mentioned. But she felt ok with us not doing it if we took some measures to keep squirrels away from the yard and avoided all standing water with them. How dreadful for your family.

I never heard of leptospirosis

I hadn't either, until Biscuit became lethargic....by that time it was too late...her kidneys had shut down...here is a photo of her.....

What a beauty, Marilyn. So sad. It's a tough call as to allowing all the vaccines many of the vets push. It's regular income for them, so there is a big incentive to get pets into their offices, but there is a growing number of vets that aren't in favor of so many vaccines. Both of our vets favor not giving rabies and distemper together anymore. The girls will have their rabies shot in January and their distemper etc. a month later. Fortunately, my vet here doesn't charge for 2 office visits. The state of Florida has a real scam going here. If you don't have a micro chip in your pet, it costs more than $100.00 extra to license two dogs. Since there is a debate of some significance going on in the veterinary community about the safety of having a foreign "thing" floating in the body with these micro-chips, I don't think that is cool. I understand what's behind the policy, but I don't buy it. It should be my choice whether my pets should have the implants or not without paying an arm and a leg as a penalty. grrrrrrr

This message was edited Dec 21, 2010 7:38 PM

I had no idea thanks for posting the info .. will stop feeding them up on my deck now... mostly for the blue jays but the squirrels always come and join in.. dropping shells the girls can eat... and usually do... Biscuit is a cutie.. just looks hug-able

Thanks.....we got her for free, her mother was a farmdog Lab, who was 7 or 8 when she had 2 puppies....her owners were amazed that she had them.....no idea who the dad was. Our vet thought wolfhound or Giant Schnauzer. Garret was 5 when we got her, & since our area was still "country" all those years ago, she followed him everywhere.....they were totally bonded. It was Garret's first pet loss. Louise, I think that's terrible about the microchip!

The loss of the first pet is really hard for a kid. I think I was scarred by it, and I know my son had a really hard time losing his pets too. His first pet (other than our family dog) was his parakeet named Chirples who died in his hands. He was devastated.

Seems I cried forever when they had to put our dog that I grew up with down. I think I was in 5th grade

I lost my first dog when I was 7....she was a very sweet black cocker.....how awful that your son's bird died in his hands, Louise!

Both of you were pretty young when you lost your special pets. Did your parents give you the idea that pets go to heaven and you would see them again? I find it interesting how parents approach helping their kids deal with death.

I don't remember.

My mother was responsible for Topsy's death....she opened the front door, the dog ran out into the road, & was hit by a car....since there were like 3 cars per day on the road, it was very unlucky....I don't remember her mentioning heaven, I was too sad & mad....my Dad took me to a farm a few months later, & we picked out the next pup, a red cocker mix named Sox....she never accepted my brother who was away at college when we got her....she always growled at him when he came back home!

how terrible... nothing like childhood trauma

:(

I remember a rather stern woman at the Church we attended when I was in grammar school saying that animals have no soul when asked if they would go to heaven. I have always thought her response cold hearted. What I do remember about her is that she was elderly and she and her husband had no children. Maybe she just didn't understand a child's love for its pet.

I would say that is probably accurate, Memory. Many people also say that dogs are distinguished from human beings because they lack the capacity to reason. I find that absurd, and I often enjoy watching the thought process in my dogs as they look & think, look & think, then act.

Here are a few shots from today.....I moved my Talavera urn from Hank and like it better in the island garden in the puppy yard...... I just planted the plants in it, and they need to grow a bit before it looks "right". lol

This is a shot of a pretty pink & blue sky at sunset. This is the view from our front porch...

the grouping of flower pots grows.... :)

Three pots of Jade green beans made it through being covered during the freeze.....

New Talavera turtle was another present for Christmas....

This "white" osteospermum turned out to be purple, but I like it anyway!! :)

Happy New Year to all!!!

And a very happy New Year to you & Hank, Louise! I spent the day with lots of company....felt very nice despite the work & the fact I am now exhausted. Love those Talavera pieces...the turtle is very cute. Really nice to see flowers blooming somewhere.....

Thank you, Marilynn. I'm happy to hear you had a nice day. You continue to impress me with your ability to make things happen that will keep your spirits up, especially as you proceed through the "firsts" in terms of holidays and other special events that you and Doug shared. Proud of you!

Thanks, Louise. I miss him every day. Today at dinner we were talking about Frost, one of Doug's favorite poets, & I had tears in my eyes.

That is perfectly normal and to be expected, Marilyn. You are doing great, but that doesn't mean it won't hurt and you won't miss him as you do. I think the tough thing to do is to go on and stay connected and involved with life even though you feel down and would rather just pull the covers up and sob. That's why I admire your courage so much.

Me too!

Thanks.....you're both very kind.

On a similar note, I really felt for my friend and his sister this holiday. They lost both parents, 46 days apart, this past fall. Ugh.

The holidays must have been very sad for them....

It's rough, but does get easier.

Louise,
What did you use for the floor of your mini patio? I know the picture was back toward the beginning of this thread. I am planning on setting up a small shady patio space alongside my deck. I am interested in what to use for flooring. I will be surrounding it with lots of big hostas and other shade lovers. Right now, though, it's under some snow.
Beautiful pictures! Thanks for them. I have an orchid cactus blooming at the moment which is my New England tropical touch and my hibiscus are in between blooms at the moment but should be back at it shortly.
Beautiful pix!
Martha

Lovely pics Louise, I love where you moved the Talavera urn , Oh and the turtle is lovely!! It would go well w/DB Talavera frog.....

Love it.....why haven't I found any?