In a Word: Anticipation

 It is hard to imagine going camping when we awoke to the sky again covered with clouds and fresh snow on the ground. In the late afternoon the snow melted, the gray clouds lifted and we were once again treated to a spring-like afternoon. I am now anticipating a spring camping trip.
We stopped at Kettle Falls Campground on Lake Roosevelt to let the dogs run. As expected,the campground was almost empty. Some slots were still covered with patches of snow.

Some slots looked ready to greet campers. There was a sense of anticipation today as I wandered around with my camera in hand. The amphitheater seats looked ready to be filled. The swing was ready for a child to jump aboard. The picnic table was waiting for a family to spread out a picnic.

Our dogs were anticipating what critters they would find in the dirt, what fish may be waiting on the shore, and how many new smells they could enjoy during their run.

I also snapped some shots of JEJ, the picturesque trees, and the lake shimmering in the late afternoon sun.

Counting My Blessings #22: Our Dogs

"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion"
~Unknown

If you have visited this blog much you know our dogs are an important part of our lives. Annie is an English Springer Spaniel and Shelby is an Australian Cattle Dog ( or red heeler). They entertain us, are very devoted, and ease my stress each day just by being present. They go just about everywhere with us and that suits them just fine. They have camped, gone swimming in lakes,rivers, and creeks, gone on ten mile road trips, waited in parking lots while we shopped, and visited many parks around the Inland Empire. They let us know when they need a treat, when we have a visitor, or when the cats are getting too rough while playing with each other. The most important part is that they love us unconditionally. I think we came out better on this deal for sure! For that I count my blessings.

Camera Critters: The Incredible Journey Through the Garden

I call this The Incredible Journey because usually Lily doesn't let Annie get this close at all. I just followed them around as they ventured through the grapes toward the field. Click the second picture to get a closer view of Lily making sure Annie is keeping her distance as they do the tour. For other Camera Critters go here.

Camera Critters: Sir McDuff

McDuff is the quintessential subject when it comes to catching critters with the camera. He always loves to pose! To find other camera critters go here.

Camera Critters: Celebrating Our Anniversary in the Wedding Garden

Today JEJ and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. We started our morning in the wedding garden. It is hard to believe we started this garden eleven years ago. Here is the early morning view from the wedding garden. Slowly many of our cats and dogs decided to come and join us while we sipped our tea and coffee and enjoyed the beautiful, cooler weather ( We actually had to use a lap blanket and a fleece jacket!). Of course, Kit is always around when we gather outside.

The next thing we knew Annie and McDuff were moving in closer to celebrate. McDuff decided JEJ's lap even looked more inviting....but he passed on the tea! Isabelle woke up , stretched and strolled over to the garden.Shelby felt she needed to keep my seat warm while I wandered around to take pictures. Another added bonus this morning was the lingering scent of the phlox that moved through the morning air. It was a lovely way to start our anniversary day. For other camera critters, you can go here.

Camera Critters: Perfect Pose

Potter's Pond, northeastern Washington

Yesterday while in the cedar grove Annie thought she became a hound and it was time to tree "something" that moved in the boughs. We never discovered the "something", but she was determined to figure it out. To find other Camera Critters go here.

Comfy, Colorful, Caught ,and Camera Critters

It had been a long time since we had gone to a garage sale. Friday R Gardens Company right up the road used part of their warehouse for a huge garage sale. We loaded up, stopped and picked up our neighbor and got there as soon as it opened. We found those items you can't resist at a garage sale... Christmas snowmen, a great cart on wheels, and lovely pitchers. I glanced at a chaise but lots of people were around it and it was heaped with bedspreads and pillows.

Later that day I starting thinking about the chaise again. It had looked so comfortable. I couldn't remember the color or the price. That evening I asked JEJ if we could return in the morning and check out that chaise. He figured it would have been sold. He wondered where we would put it.

Back we went to check out the chaise in the morning. It was there. It was in beautiful shape and oh so comfy! The price was more than I wanted to pay. The color did not match anything in the house... but I was so drawn to that chaise. I actually dickered with the owner for a lower price. We loaded up the 60.00 chaise and brought it home. After an extreme furniture moving makeover, we found a spot that worked for our new addition.The color is hard to describe. It is a bit of a '70s blend of avocado and gold. In the light it looks a bit more like a bright olive color. It really doesn't match anything else in the room.... but...
if you add a few pillows you can pull it together with the rest of the room....
and add a throw to blend the greens together a bit. It is certainly a perfect spot to blog, read, or rest. It will be a fine place for visiting nieces to sleep... or a visiting sibling to nap!
The chaise got the true test when Annie and Shelby decided to check it out to see how comfortable it really was.
Will we both fit on this with room to spare? Where is IEG and is it okay if we sit here? Oooops.....caught in the act! They both gave it the comfort seal of approval. Now I guess I will need to move the dogs, pillows, laptop, and throw so I can finally check it out while I "rest my eyes".

You can find other Camera Critters here.

Camera Critters: What Shelby Loves About Camping

On our recent camping trip I finally got some good shots of our Australian Cattle Dog Shelby. Shelby is always on alert and ready to go whenever, wherever. She is tougher to get good pictures of because she doesn't stay very still. Her favorite thing to do is take a walk along the creek. Her look of admiration for JEJ shows lovingly in this shot.She also loves wading in Sherman Creek and learning squirrel obsession from her buddy Annie. To find other Camera Critters go here.

Camera Critters: Road Trip for Kit

"Check the car for cats", were the last words JEJ said to us as we departed to meet with Z2's dad in Spokane Valley yesterday. The window had been open to cool down the car and yes, Kit was there. He was ready to take his first road trip. He was a good sport about getting out. To check out other Camera Critters go here.

Camera Critters: Cats Taking it Easy

You can find our cats just about anywhere as the weather gets warmer. They love to explore or find a cool place to take a nap. This is just four of them today. To find other camera critters go here.

Camera Critters: Perfect Poses

Last evening I caught perfect poses of our English Springer Spaniel Annie

and our Australian Cattle Dog Shelby. Sometimes it is hard to catch them so still. Enjoy other Camera Critters here.

Sunday Scribblings: Family and Camera Critters too

The Sunday Scribblings prompt this week is family. With this topic I could have focused on my immediate family, school family, or my extended family. Instead I chose to focus on my pet family. If you have read my blog at all you know we have two dogs and seven cats. Each of them provides entertainment and unconditional love on a daily basis. Here is our critter family tree: starting at the top left is Finnigan, Sweet William, Lily, McDuff, Annie and Shelby, Kit and Isabelle, Kit, Iris, and Isabellebaby McDuff

I love to call JEJ the cat whisperer. He has a certain way with cats. When he moved across the street to my house when we were married, he tried to bring his cats. They did not appreciate our dogs and never really made the move. That was eleven years ago.Ten years ago our neighbors had a mamma cat that would just show up at their house to give birth to kittens. We decided we were ready to have cats, thus Cosmo and Camille came home with us. They are no longer with us, but they turned me into a cat lover and I saw what a cat whisperer JEJ really was.

A year later that same mamma cat showed up at our neighbors to have kittens and we knew we HAD to have two more kittens. McDuff and Finnigan came home to join their siblings and they are now almost ten years old. It is hard to imagine all four of these cats came from the same mother.

In the spring of 2001 I got a call from my sister saying that The Princess had found two kittens in a box behind the grocery store. They couldn't keep the cats and she wondered if there was any way we could take them. Welcome home Iris and Poppy. Poppy vanished as cats often do a few years ago, but Iris is the Queen Bee of the household now.In the fall of 2005 we were down to three cats and we saw an ad in the paper about abandoned cats that needed a home. We went to rescue Isabelle and Lucas. A few months later we were all saddened when Lucas died of feline leukemia. Isabelle still misses him, but Kit has helped fill that void.
That following spring our dear friend SH died. She had two kittens that were about five months old. They had been inside a enclosed porch and had really just had each other. Her grieving husband didn't know what to do with the cats. He was afraid to let them go outside because of wild animals and he already had an inside cat. We knew what SH would want. She had loved those kittens to pieces. We brought a part of our dear friend home the spring of 2006 when Lily and Sweet William became part of our cat family.Did we ever realize another kitten would need to be rescued? Are we just the kitten magnet house or what? Kit showed up in a tree last fall and needed a home. He was not in good health, but had a personality even in sickness that won our hearts. Now we have quite a cat family. Four of the cats are mostly outdoor cats and three others come and go inside and out. They have all been fixed so we don't repopulate the neighborhood. They have all been a blessing and I have began training as a cat whisperer myself. (The last picture with all three dogs before we said good-bye to Lucy.)

Added to this critter family are two dogs. After the death of my dog Lucy we had two older dogs at home- Bluey and Emily. We were at WalMart on day and saw a woman holding a blue heeler puppy. We stopped to ask her about the dog and found out their were more in the litter. All the rest were red heelers. What I learned that day is that JEJ had always wanted an Australian Cattle Dog. The rest is history. We visited the farm and fell in love with Shelby. She is now three years old. We lost Emily in December of 2004. I didn't really think I was ready for another puppy, but when I was reading ads in January 2005 one caught my eye: springer spaniel puppies for sale. After much discussion I made the call to Garfield, Washington and that week-end we took a trip through blowing snow to find our dear Annie. From the first trip home with Shelby they have been loyal friends. Shortly after that Bluey also died so we enjoy the companionship of two dogs. Bluey taught Annie and Shelby "the ropes" before she left us. What a mentor she was!


You can read other Sunday Scribblings about family here. You can see other Camera Critters here.