Hermit Crabs!

Hermit Crabs make interesting pets and they can live many years in captivity.
I purchased these guys for a shoot and then they will go live with my daughter in law.


She will care for them this summer then they begin a new adventure .




They will be the classroom mascots for her third grade class.

Rainy Day fun!

Rain rain everywhere. On rainy days, I get out the tasty treats and give Molly some much needed mental and physical exercise by doing some trick training.

She immediately is interested when she hears the treat bag open . She always offers tricks before

I even ask. Most of the time she offers the last trick I trained, in this case , she offered what I call the hunting pose trick. I wanted to capture her pointing in a picture but in the field she is always in the wrong position to capture the picture. Now all I have to do is to have her stand, say paw and suddenly she is on point@

The cup game is a favorite

Backup is a great skill for dogs to learn .

Take the tissue is handy in the winter.

And when shuts the door , she really slams it!

Strawberries, Strawberries!

This year has been a bad year for strawberries.First it was a late freeze, then cloudy cold weather, and lately rain.

While I might not have been the best year, they still were yummy! Lots of rinsing is required due to the repeated heavy rains.
Once they were rinsed, they were ready to turn into strawberry preserves. I picked 5 pounds and once I rinsed them I realized I was going to have to use them immediately.

From the time of picing to time of perserves was about 6 hours!

Help for Thunderphobic Dogs!!!

Its coming, yes a thunderstorm. I always know without looking out the window if there is a storm approaching.

Molly knows it is coming. I can see it in her eyes.

For years she has hated thunderstorms. I am lucky she has never progressed to the worst stages where they dig at doors, break windows to get out ect.

The other day I read about Canine Lullabies and thought it would be worth a try. It is music with heartbeats and many thunderphobic dogs find it calming.

The first storm was in the afternoon and was not a big one, but one that would have caused some shaking and quaking. I put on the CD and in a few minutes I found that Molly had gone over and was asleep.

Great , I was so excited.

Late afternoon brough storms that lasted about 1 1/2 hours. Lots of thunder and lighting . Once again I put on the CD. With this storm , when it got closer , she tucked her tail, but no shaking. She played with her treat ball the entire time.

I am hopeful this will continue to help with storms. I used to love big thunderstorms now I dread them because of Molly.

If you have a thunderphobic dog, it might just help! Check out their website for more information

Yorkie Puppies!

My friend Val's puppies are always the best! This shoot confirmed that puppies are best photographed at about 7 weeks.

These guys were 8 weeks and a little harder to keep contained. They were more willing to jump than we wanted.

Molly's Birthday- another work day!

For 12 years Molly has exhibited great work ethics.
She is always willing to work , even if I have to ask her to try it again.
This pic, she got the treat and dropped down too quick.

Another treat was placed and I asked her to look there. Perfect!
She then had to do some more shopping.

Then she had to work for a nice stranger.

What a worker!

The pictures were taken at an incredible store with the best selection I have ever seen for dogs that want to go natural.

It is the Midas Touch

Health Store in Berryville,Va.

Check them out online!

Community Gardens

Years ago, when I graduated from college and got married, we moved to the Chicago area. Being an airforce brat I had never gardened before meeting Terry, but once I started I couldnt stop.

Living in an apartment left me gardenless but I lucked out and heard about a community garden.

That small plot I had produced enough produce for the neighborhood, tho apartment dwellers in Chicago were not very friendly. In fact, they always looked at me strangely when I offered them tomatoes and squash!

Now I would know to offer the surplus to the community food bank!