PSA

Decoy show reminder

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I’m posting this as much as a reminder for myself as for anyone else who might be in the area and interested in attending. I remember last year that Patrick had expressed an interest, so Patrick, mark your calendar now!

I had myself convinced that the show was next weekend… sigh. I’m just foolish enough to show up on the wrong weekend!

We’ll be bringing the pup along and I may just decide to enter him in the puppy retriever contest for fun. I’ve been saving up my pennies for a while now to be able to buy a new decoy or two.

Hope to see you there! I may even have a prize to offer the first person who can correctly ID the ducks and the NJ landmark featured on this year’s official show poster.

Click on the pic for a schedule of the weekend’s events.

Some pics from last year’s show are here, here, and here.

Dog days, Pastimes

Puppy kindergarten

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This little sweetie is Ciao Bella. Luka seems to think she is his personal squeaky toy. We’ve been going to puppy class on Tuesday nights for the last month or so and haven’t been made to sit in the corner with the dunce cap, yet!

This is Sam, our trainer. All the puppies seem to love him – I think that’s because he always has a treat in his pocket for the well-behaved pup. He’s tough to please, but his experience as a canine police officer comes in handy with the unruly pups. That’s Ciao Bella at his feet.

This is Whiskey – he’s the same age as Luka and is so well-behaved. He’s Luka’s favorite playmate.

Luka and Whiskey became fast friends – they wrestle and chase one another. I think Ciao Bella is that little brownish blob under Luka’s feet – oops! Whiskey is the only pup in the class that’s similar in size to Luka and big enough to push him around. I love to watch them play together.

I don’t know what type of dog Skippy is, but that’s her hiding under the chair while Luka torments her. She’s funny – shy with the other dogs during playtime, but she loves to distract them (especially Luka) during the *lesson* with barks and a flirty ear shake. She and Luka regularly compete for who can bark the loudest while poor Sam tries to teach. She comes to class with her mom and at least 5 little kids – none of whom even try to keep her out of trouble. Tonight she went for a swim in the huge water bowl!

The little black pug whose name I can’t remember – she’s a sweetie too. Luka likes to chew on the side of her face.

So far we’ve learned Sit, Take It, Leave It, Down, and just tonight – Come! Whiskey seems to be the star student in the group. Luka is just a goofball, true to his nature, but we’re having fun.

Birds, Seasons, Snapshots

Season’s end

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Empty osprey platform at Horseshoe Cove, Sandy Hook

I’ve been so out of it this summer that I missed spending any time with the local ospreys and before too long they’ll be gone south for the season until late March.

There’s a pair that nests on a cell phone tower here in town and mostly I watch them while stopped at the railroad tracks that pass beneath their nest. I don’t see much besides an osprey-shaped shadow perched high up, but I’m glad to have them so easily within view. I tried a few times to photograph them from the parking lot nearby, but they always seemed to be off fishing when I was there with the camera. I see the pair though, and their young from my yard once in a while. Their calls stream down from above and I think myself blessed to have osprey as a yard bird.

My favorite nests to watch are the platforms on the marshes at Sandy Hook – especially at sunset. It wouldn’t take much to convince me to set up a home with such a pretty view! I don’t know that this or the other platform at Horseshoe Cove were used this year – the birds seem to have some mysterious preference for Spermacetti Cove or the chimneys on Officer’s Row instead.

I always miss the osprey when they go. What birds do you miss the most when the season changes?

Dog days, In the neighborhood

Salty dog

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What is it about being in a very public place that makes a puppy sooo prone to misbehave?

đŸ˜‰

Maybe it was all that seaweed he ate, but Luka was an absolute devil at the beach this afternoon! He had a grand time digging in the sand and darting off with clamshells in his mouth. He was so wild at one point I almost walked off and left him. You know how puppies get in that frantic mode where their ears stop working and they’re nothing but barks and snapping jaws – any bit of discipline just makes them worse.

I think maybe he was just cranky – his dinner was overdue and he’d missed his afternoon nap. He was snoring in the car on the drive home. He had a bath in the tub and then his dinner and now he’s sound asleep like a little angel curled up on his bed.

I’m not far behind.

Dog days, Wanderings

Sea legs

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The DH and I had a wonderful surprise today. A friend of his just bought a boat and took us along on a ride. Is there anything better than a friend with a boat?

We had the pup along for what we thought was just a walk at the riverside park; before we knew it, we were cruising up the river to where it meets Sandy Hook Bay. We had a nice lunch dockside at a restaurant on the bay – and Luka even behaved himself pretty well! I only wish I’d had my camera along to be able to share a pic of him with his big ears flapping in the wind on the boat.

It was a great start to the long Labor Day weekend. The views were lovely and we had fun! I grabbed this pic off the internet, but it shows one of the views we had along the way – Twin Lights – which I wrote a bit about in this post.

I’m going to try very hard to get back to something like a regular blogging schedule soon. I’m finished with that god-awful training at work finally, and hope to be able to pay more attention to things now. I did very well on the tests and have a new position where I’ll need to forget everything I’ve just been trained in and learn something new. But there won’t be a gazillion tests this time! Two in our group of seven did not pass and are out of a job now. That really sucks. I felt so badly on Friday when we got the news.

So how is everyone else spending this last weekend of summer? Share, please!

Dog days

Twelve week pupdate

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Luka seems to be growing as we watch; he’s thin, but has long legs that will reach the top of the kitchen counter before very long. His appetite is ravenous and he’s learned the bad habit of barking non-stop while we prepare his meal. We’ll be curing him of that real soon! Tummy troubles and a trip to the vet have him spoiled with homecooked meals for the last week or so. Boiled chicken and white rice, accented with green vegetables, every six hours. Warmed in the microwave, if you please.

What brand do you all feed your dogs and do I need to obsess about it as much as I have been?

We’ve been crating him for half the day and he’s doing well with that. I was worried for the state of my kitchen baseboards and could only imagine the trouble he might cause when he’s really teething in a month or two. My husband is the soft touch who doesn’t like to use the crate, so I take the role as the bad guy who crates him before leaving for work; then my husband can be the good guy who lets him out at lunchtime. I bought a few of those Kong toys over the weekend for Luka to keep himself amused with while in the crate. I think he makes quick work of them, but at least he goes happily into the crate when I leave and doesn’t see the crate as any sort of punishment.

We’ve been going to puppy classes one night a week, but skipped last week while I got us into a different class with more puppies. The class we were in consisted of a 5 month old Lab who only came once in a while and a cranky little 2 year-old Bijon that was scared of my pup. Not much happening in the way of socialization there, so we got out. I’m curious to see what the new group will be like – hopefully it will be a better fit for us.

I’m taking him with me everywhere – much to his delight! Just tonight we strolled through downtown Red Bank and were stopped every 20 feet by some new admirer. He loves the attention. We’ve been to the beach and the woods, and he even got his first taste of swimming. We met a huge Newfoundland that day at the beach – that dog could really swim! Luka had the chance to say hello, but somehow got himself tangled up in his lead under that monstrous dog and had himself a good scare. His puppy bravado changed tune pretty quickly and I had to rescue him from the furry bear that towered over him. Silly pup!

Whatever

Well, that can’t be good!

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My desktop PC died on me tonight. At least, I think it’s dead.

I’ve been getting the *blue screen of death* every so often for the last few months, but tonight it made some odd beeping sounds and the CPU fan came on as loud as a jet engine. And then it stopped and the monitor is just black.

Hmmmm…. maybe I just need a new fan? I have my fingers crossed that that’s all it is. Every single one of my photos is stored on that PC and only on that PC.

;-(

I don’t even have a clue as to where to begin, aside from trying again in the morning and hoping that it’ll start up like normal.

Not likely, right?

Whatever

Dreaming

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Let’s see… I’m dreaming of crisp fall days and an excuse to wear my nice Irish fisherman’s sweater. We’ve had rainy days and nightime temps in the 50’s this past week, but today the heat and humidity returned in full force.

I’m dreaming of a peaceful night’s sleep, free of crying puppies and the anxiety of taking multiple tests to prove my mettle at this new job. The tests are done now; I had three in as many days, but we won’t be told how we did until late next week. I was giddy to be done with it yesterday and hate this in-between time, not knowing.

I’m dreaming of a weekend full of sunshine and fun. I’ve no specific plans, but there’s a horse show and a pup who might like a visit to Sandy Hook Bay. Or a walk in the woods close to home; maybe a dip in the creek. The vegetable garden needs attention, as does the pond. Funny how these chores so easily get away from us late in the summer.

The summer itself seems to have gotten away from me this year. Next weekend is Labor Day and then the start of school and before we know it, it’ll be Christmas again. Where does the time go?

Has anyone else dreamed up something good for this weekend?

Just me rambling about birds, books, bunnies, or whatever!