Tuesday, June 19, 2007

BIG stick

Today while I was mowing the yard, a pretty good sized branch fell out of the old maple tree. I'm thinking this tree will not be with us for many more years. Several years ago it was hit by lightning, and it's been in a slow decline ever since.But Kobie saw this as a great opportunity to get some fiber in his diet and sharpen the old teeth a little.
Tess turned on the puppy-dog eyes - I want a big stick too.

Mark is afraid of these teeth - he jumps back when the teeth come out. I spend a ton of time with my hands in Kobie's mouth. He's a big goof with a very soft mouth.
(All of these photos will click big)


My little Madison rose bush is blooming. I have two of them in the front of the west porch rose garden. These are from the Town and Country roses - they don't get very tall, but spread out a lot. I love the tiny little blooms - the color - and that it will keep blooming from now until it freezes. Very sweet.
I also have some light pink and some yellow lilies in bloom. One of my repeat blooming daylilies has started. And today the first hollyhock bloomed. I'll show all on a future post - very windy out today.

And, we have tomatos! Still little, but I can almost taste them. Yum!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MIKE & ELAINE - a day late, but you know we were thinking of you!

13 comments:

Melissa said...

Oh, your puppies are beautiful (dogs are always puppies even if they are old - just like my girls are always babies - or at least until they have children of their own - many, many years from now).

So which lake do you live on? If you don't mind my asking? I live in Andover.

Kitt said...

Big stick! Does Kobie speak softly?

Sophie has never bitten anyone or even nipped by accident in play; she seems instinctively to know that would be a Very Bad Thing. But let someone she doesn't know come to the door unexpectedly and she will fling herself against it, teeth bared in full "prepare to lose a limb" mode.

The best time was when I asked the unexpected visitor what he wanted. "I'm selling burglar alarms." "Hmm, do you really think I need one?" "Welll ... no, not really."

Good dog!

kris said...

Thanks me - our monsters act like puppies - from what I understand poodles don't drop the over-active puppy act until they are VERY old!

We're on Lake Minnetonka - how nice to connect with a fellow Minnesota blogger! Come back and visit again - I'm going to check your blog as soon as I answer Kitt!

Hey Kitt - Kobie doesn't speak out of turn too often - but when he does, it is definitely not softly!!! Miss Tess on the other hand feels the need to alert us to everything - she is hyper if ever a dog was.

Kobie would like very much to be the alpha dog around here - and he knows that if he bares the teeth, Mark will step back. So then I have to step in and remind him who's really top dog. If he's protecting a toy or won't drop something he's not supposed to have, I have to take control and then I spend a lot of time with my hand in his mouth so he knows those teeth are for sticks only. I don't think he would ever bite anyone (unless he thought I was being threatened?), but when he does the low growl, we step in immediately.

My guys are so thrilled to have someone come to the door, they are overly-friendly. But most people look at their size and back off - so I don't think we'll need a burglar alarm with them around either - that's a great story!

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

Great poodle pictures, my first boxer Jessi always had a stick in her mouth, the first thing she did when we went out to garden was grab a stick! I still miss that dog.

We have little tomatoes also, I can not wait to taste a nice juicy ripe one. Your lilies are beautiful.

Moe said...

We planted five tomato plants this year (and they all have the little green guys on them, like yours), but we have 8 bushes coming up! We've never planted tomatoes before, and we dug up an area of the lawn to plant these, so it's not like they could be there from before. Plus, we planted these five from bushes, not seeds. Oh well. The more tomatoes the better!

meresy_g said...

Oh doggies and their sticks. My one dog will fetch a stick then take it and break it into a million little pieces. Maybe she doesn't like that game? Your dogs are lovely even with the toothy grin.

kate said...

It's incredible that you have tomatoes already. I planted my last ones this morning - we've had so much rain that I haven't been able to get much planting done.

You have an amazing list of roses ...
and a beautiful dog. What is it about sticks that dogs love so much? My brown lab can chew one in no time ...

kris said...

Iowa Gardening Woman - thanks! We buy toys, but the sticks always are first choice to play with (just like kids and boxes, I guess!). I can't wait for the tomatoes either - I have a whole list of meals I plan to fix when they're finally ripe!

Hey Moe - bonus tomatoes - totally cool! It will be interesting to see if they're the same varieties you planted - I've never had volunteer tomato plants!

Hi Meresy_g - Tess will play fetch all day long, but Kobie is like your dog - grab the stick and start destroying it! Too funny!

Hi Kate - We are having some good tomato growing weather this year - hot and dry. The dry I can take care of with a sprinkler, so about perfect, I guess!

The roses have been beautiful - except for some old garden roses I planted last year. They're barely hanging in there - I have my fingers crossed for next year.

Thanks for stopping by - I'm going to take a peek at your blog right now!

Trailhead said...

I am a huge Kobie fan. He looks like a little T Rex in that last pic!

Trailhead said...

I just noticed the middle pic. She's so gorgeous!

kris said...

Hey Trailhead - Kobie would love you too! He is a cool dog. And Tess is gorgeous - she has the longest, silkiest ears. Thanks - they're monsters, but they're mine!

violetlady said...

Love your poodles! They look like big versions of my litte brown Beau. Looks like the same clip. Beau scared me to death the other night. Got out of his collar while out walking and he will NEVER come when called. He thought it was such a game. Five neighbors chasing him!!!

kris said...

Oh my gosh - violetlady, I have been there!!! Kobie slips his collar every once in awhile, and it scares the bejeebers out of me! I have asked neighbors to help me get the dogs back when they make a jailbreak - always makes me feel like I'm so in control - lol. But they'll come to someone else and totally ignore me, so...