Max and Lexie

This past weekend I was dog sitting a couple of dogs that I have known for a very long time. They belong to my best friend’s family. We have been friends since 2nd grade. :) I had a lot of fun with Max (the terrier) and Lexie (the shiba inu)! In some ways they are so incredibly different from each other, and yet they are clearly the best of friends. They were almost always together. It is obvious that Max is the instigator that gets them in trouble because Lexie is otherwise very laid back in nature. My cat, Penny, didn’t seem to be pleased with me for letting dogs in the house once again. In fact, she scratched my hand when I initially tried to introduce her to the dogs. But after a couple days, she started to venture out of the office where she was hiding. I couldn’t help myself, so I took some pictures of the dogs and I thought I should share them with you all. :) They are both getting so old, and it is starting to show, but that doesn’t make them any less cute. :)

Aren't they so cute?!? :)

My dog Sam

I had the privilege of spending my day with my dog, Sam, for the last time. I love him and miss him so much. He brought me so much joy, love, and loyalty these past ten years. It broke my heart today as I held his head while he had multiple seizures. But as much as this hurts me, I am so glad he isn't in any more pain.

Goodbye Samwise Gamgee.  :(

Caturday

She is getting so BIG so FAST!! She is quite the playful little girl now! :)

She loves posing for the camera!

She was ready to pounce!

It's playtime!! 

Then she became very interested in chewing on her tail and her paws.

Uh oh! I can’t handle how cute this little kitty is! She can't even handle her own cuteness!!

But most importantly, she wants you all to have a very wonderful, happy, and joyful Caturday – not just today but every day!!

:)

Chipmunk

Now that the weather has finally started to warm up, I have spotted a pair of chipmunks in the backyard. They especially love this tree which has some hollow parts that they constantly run through to hide from me. They seem interested in me and my camera, but ultimately still pretty scared. I occasionally leave a piece of old bread on the patio for them to nibble on if they are feeling brave enough to come so close to the house. I am hoping that they won’t continue to be as afraid of me if they realize that I am feeding them. I have noticed that this is also a good way to provide entertainment for Penny, our cat, who isn’t allowed to go outside. She likes to sit at the patio door for hours watching everything that goes on behind the house. Sometimes she gets in pouncing position and jumps at the glass which provides entertainment for me. :)

I thought it was especially cute when this little chipmunk grabbed it's tail in it's tiny little hands and proceeded to clean the whole things by licking it. It was seriously adorable!! It was all I could do not to drop my camera and squeal!! :)

Caturday

Caturday has rolled around once again, which means it’s time for a kitten update! This precious little girl can finally see the world around her!! She was very interested in all the new sights.

At first, she seemed slightly intimidated by her unusual surroundings.

But then she couldn’t resist showing off all her beautiful colors. :)

She held her head as high as she could for as long as she could take it, in order to truly take in the scenery around her.

I think she went a little cross-eyed. :)

She finally had had enough! :)

And she laid her head down for a cat nap. :)

Caturday

Man, I seriously love Caturday!! And I have the perfect way to honor Caturday with this tiny new addition to my parents' family! I was able to steal this little one away when she was just 3 days old to take some pictures of her. She is now almost two weeks old and I can't wait to see how much she has grown. (She was the only kitten born in the litter so I am sure she is fatten up quite nicely.) I especially want to see her eyes which were not opened yet when I last saw her. So anyways, here she is!!

At first she protested....

But within minutes, she quieted down and fell asleep. :)

She slept in some interesting positions....

She seemed comfortable...

She even had some exciting dreams. Or at least, I assumed she was having an adventure because of all the twitching. :)

So cute :)

Caturday

It's Caturday!! So of course I have to show off my adorable little kitty!! She is my pretty Penny! And she was hiding under the table from the dog, Sam, who we were watching for this past week. I think they learned to get along by kinda avoiding each other. And Penny made sure Sam knew that she wasn't afraid to smack him if he did get too close for her comfort. :)

Sam

This is my dog, Sam! I left him in the care of my parents when I got married a year and a half ago. They are out of town for the week to help take care of my aunt who had hip surgery yesterday. And so I am taking care of Sammy in the meantime. Isn't he so cute?!? He ALWAYS wants me to throw the ball for him, but I was taking pictures. He eventually laid down for a nap when I snapped these. :)

Caturday

This is my beautiful kitty, Penny. She doesn't seem to like having her picture taken since she rarely sits still long enough to get a picture. However, today I was able to get some pictures when she was relatively distracted since she was playing with her little mouse toy. I let her play for a bit, and then when I could tell she was starting to get tired, I grabbed the camera to catch the rest of the action. She was being so cute! I am so excited that I was able to capture just a hint of her cuteness to share with everyone else!! :)

Serval

This is a Serval eating a baby duck. This picture was taken at a zoo. I happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture this beautiful cat in a moment where it probably felt free. I don’t normally like seeing animals eating each other, but that is the way life is in the wild.

I entered this photograph into a judged gallery and into one of Photographers Forum’s yearly contest. I got accepted in both places. I even became a finalist in the contest among the thousands of entries they received. This picture is now printed in that years’ book of winners and finalists. I never expected this photograph to go so far, but now other people can see a moment of the sometimes cruel beauty of life the way I did that day.