Our backyard photo journal - a collection of pictures of Skippy and the plants and flowers in our backyard. Also pictures from Skippy's walks & stories of his therapy work. Skippy is working hard at learning to be a Therapy Dog.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

white mountain vacation

crawford notch arethusa falls
chipmonk blackberries
Littleton rooftops Littleton grist mill
skippy on the trail
These are photos from our brief, late summer vacation hiking the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We stayed at the dog-friendly (and people-friendly!) Beal House Inn of Littleton. A quiet bed and breakfast with a very nice dining room and a bar with an awesome martini list. From top: Crawford Notch in the clouds, Arethusa Falls on a 90 degree day, a cute little chipmunk, blackberries, rooftops of Littleton New Hampshire from the window of the Inn, the Littleton grist mill, and last but not least, Skippy on the trail. A slide show of my photos is here.

wildflowers in the white mountains

straw flowers joe pye weed
white flower and Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum)
bumblebee on goldenrod asters
Bumble bee on goldenrod (Solidago species) and a fall white aster (Aster species)
wildflowers
Field of goldenrod, rudbeckia, coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) and white asters.
orange flower goldenrod
Spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) and goldenrod (Solidago species)
I will have to get out my wildflower ID book and figure out the ones I did not nome yet. I don't think I will be able to figure out which goldenrod or aster species I photographed.

Monday, August 20, 2007

birthday cake

cake
Here's a picture of my birthday cake. A delicious rich chocolate cake with chocolate icing and a bit of raspberry jam in the middle. Big sparkler candles. My son asked if I was 18. I guess at some point all of the candles don't fit on the cake. If you count, this one only fit 18. I am lucky to have a birthday at the perfect time of year - in the middle of August at the height of summer. My party always feels like a celebration of the season.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

pictures from my birthday

For my birthday, I brought my big camera on our walk. Skippy is used to hanging out and waiting while I take pictures. He sniffs, eats grass or just sits. Or sometimes he lies down or rolls in the dirt. Here are pictures of all the things Skippy and I saw.
skippy Copy of screech owl
geese
wild cucumber goldenrod
tansy
pinks and whites
skippy in the dirt
From top left: Skippy, screech owl, Canada geese, wild cucumber, goldenrod, tansy, field with Joe Pye weed and Skippy in the dirt.
Fresh Pond

Sunday, August 12, 2007

summer lace

summer lace

Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has washed her lace
(She chose a summer's day)
And hung it in a grassy place
To whiten, if it may.

Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has left it there,
And slept the dewy night;
Then waked, to find the sunshine fair,
And all the meadows white. (by Mary Leslie Newton)

I came across some beautiful photography of Queen Anne's Lace wildflowers (Daucus carota) by Brian Johnston

Sunday, August 05, 2007

August gold

August field
grasses field
An August morning! The world is at its most beautiful. The grasses have turned to gold, the sky is a soft blue. Skippy and I found a nice swimming spot and then he ran through the spun gold beauty. Ran and tumbled and rolled and chased other wet dogs. Happiness is a wet dog and a big August field.
skippy
Middlesex Fells Reservation

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

more home made agility equipment

skippy on the table weave
backyard
It used to be a nice quiet backyard with green grass and pretty flowers here and there. AAhhh. But NOW, its an agility course. Jumps, table, teeter and weave poles. And tracks get worn in the yard, marks from the posts (not really) and all the commotion!

I'm teasing - its a lot of fun to hear Skippy and his trainer out practicing.

table weave pole footing
working hard jumps
junp post tools

My son and his dad made all the equipment last weekend, tried it out and then made some modifications. A bit of friction tape added to the table, stronger joints for the weave poles (because the dirt is like cement they say).

yard
teeter

Practice on our very own course helped a lot with Skippy's running of the big real course at agility class. Skippy looks forward to a few minutes here and there with his buddy out in the backyard training. It just seems to be Skippy's thing.

As our teacher, Jan, recommended: we move the equipment around often and we don't practice too long on any one thing. Keep it fun for both the dog and the young trainer.