Summer is definitely here!

The weather has been so great and I have been spending so much time in the garden. I don't call it a yard because it has no grass. But it's not like a vegtable garden...just all plants, flowers and the little pond. I love the little pond because it attracts so much life. We actually don't even have mosquito's because the water moves too much and we have a number of bats which eat a lot of them every evening. We like to sit out at twilight and watch the bats do their figure 8's in the air. Next thing is to put up bat houses to attract more of them. We had thousands of tad poles in the pond in April. Where did they all go?

We do have a lot of frogs. Luckily Seamus never bothers them. When we go out after dark to potty and Seamus walks along the pond path you can hear all the frogs jumping in the water. Here my guys are checking out all the critters.

And this time of year is great for seeing baby birds. This little guy just wasn't too sure about flying away yet and sat pretty close for a long while. All the birds are great for eating snails. Every evening you can hear them banging the snail shells on the rocks to get the little snail out.

All the flowers of course are lovely too. The rose has bloomed and the campanula also.

Now I am waiting on the water lily and passion flower to bloom. We picked out a tree to be planted in the garden...our tree...a very special one. More about that in a next blog.

I know how to play...just don't want to

Ok, here is some proof that Seamus CAN play with something. He got a BIG stick and was just wild about it for about 5 minutes. This hardly ever happens. We have gotten him about every toy there is, he likes them all about 5 minutes. He has a big basket of toys which he has no interest in. He is so spoiled!

The stick was pretty long and he has some trouble with it. He also whacked me with it when he came running to show me his wonderful stick.

And here's a bonus photo I couldn't resist. Seamus hardly ever asks to go outside. But he had cleverly hid the last part of his rawhide bone in his mouth and wanted to go out and bury it. I love the expression, ears down, eyebrows up..."me, have something in my mouth??? Why would you think that?"

Stay out of MY yard!

A while back I went out with Seamus into the yard. He was put his nose up in the air and was gone after some great smell. I didn't think much of it until I heard a great scuffle. There are some places I can't see him, so I went to take a look. What do you see in this photo?

Notice the grey and white kitty in the tree above Seamus' head? She is our neighbors, and she stayed up there for about an hour until the coast was clear. I was a little bit mean and stayed outside on purpose for a while. Perhaps she will stay on her own side of the fence from now on?

Flowers

I love gardening. For me it's a way to let my thoughts run free and physically tire my self. I just love having my little old man running around with me outside. He always is busy checking out new smells or laying in the sun. Sometimes I look up to see where he is and he is just right behind me being my shadow ever so silently. 

After a much needed rain a lot of things just perked right up in the garden. Here are a few of my favorites.

Seamus out and about

Seamus out and about a video by Tina in Holland on Flickr.

...and another!

Seamus lazy days

Seamus lazy days a video by Tina in Holland on Flickr.

Seamus has a video!

Belated mother's day

A great holiday for many, sad for a lot of people. I usually work at the elderly home every mother's day, if the day is not my day I switch with another volunteer who would like to spend time with her kids and grandkids. But this year we went to a play about the complicated relationship a mother can have with her child and the unconditional love she has for them. It was very enlightening.

But as fate would have it...I was looking through a box of old cassettes my dad had seeing as I have a cassette player now in my old new car. I found one with the family on it from Christmas 1976. It reminded me of the tapes I had from my mom and went looking for them. My mom and her mom used to send each other tapes instead of letters when my mom lived in Holland. I heard my mom's voice again for the first time in over 8 years.
This is my favorite pic of my mom, taken a long time ago. Seems like yesterday and yet a lifetime away. 

I still miss you mom! 

Meet Seamus

Hi all, my name is Seamus. I am a 10 yar old weimaraner, that's senior in human terms. I lived my whole life with my "first dad" until the fall of 2010. One day he was gone, the humans said he died, but I don't know what that means. I was very confused that I couldn't find him anymore. There was no one to take me in, so I was going to be put down. Luckily a nice man with senior dog rescue in Belgium heard about me and put me on the internet.

Then one cold and rainy November day my new mom & dad came to see me. They had to drive a long way! But they said they were in love with me before they ever met me. They decided right on the spot they were going to be my new forever home. We never looked back.

I am a big guy, but really just afraid of everything. Even though my first dad loved me very much I was never socialized with other dogs and didn't go anywhere. So mom says I have some problems, I don't see it that way. When ever I see something that frightens me I just lunge and bark my head off, I'm just telling them to go away. They don't usually.

But I am the sweetest boy, my mom says. I am very attatched to her and like to follow her around in the house. I am ok if she goes out, but I like to watch for her at the window. But if it takes too long I go and lay on my bed to take a nap. I sleep about 18 hours a day. I don't touch anything in the house that I'm not supposed to. I do like to collect shoes and take them to bed with me, but I don't chew on them, so mom says it's not that big of a deal.

Hope you enjoy reading about my life. To me it's very exciting! I go places and see all kinds of things. But the best part of my day is snuggling on the couch with mom & dad after dinner. I am a real snuggly guy and like to lay under my blanket. Mom says I am like a big furry baby and that I make her smile every day.