Hi! My name is Puff!

Hi, folks;

My name is Puff!  So much has happened since Diana's last post in July, 2013!  One of the happiest for me is that Diana and Carol brought me home in August as a rescue and adopted me in September!  I just now turned 9 years old in May and am a Maltipoo.  I've been learning a lot of things to reinforce obedience because apparently I"m not supposed to be the leader of the pack.  This just goes to show you that you can teach old dogs new tricks.  My Diana and my Carol have spoiled me so much that I thought I ruled the house! I'm learning that my Diana and my Carol are the grand poobas in our little pack family, and I enjoy obeying them in the house, uh, most of the time anyway!  However, I'm still having a bit of trouble with neighbor dogs and some people outside our house but my Diana is working very hard to totally change this behavior!  Many of you have already seen a plethora of pictures of me, but just in case here are some of my favorites.  My Diana is always snapping off pictures of me!  It gets to be real old, but what can I say, really?! She does feed me most of my meals so there's just some stuff I have to put up with!  Until later, God bless!

What I looked like when Diana first spotted me!

Diana holding me when I first got home. Me and Carol taking a snooze. And me after my first groom.

I'm intently waiting for a treat!

I can sleep almost anywhere!

I can be so patient as I wait for my Diana as she works on her coin collection!  As long as I can be right by and near her!

Myrtle Beach, April 2014

Carol and Diana went to Myrtle Beach, Sunday , April 20 - Friday, April 25.  They had a very good time even though my Diana went through a bit of a ridiculous meltdown with intermittent crying because I wasn't with them.  This may seem pitiful but my Diana is used to having me around 24-7, and we all know she can be a bit off sometimes anyway!! :-)  Diana has promised not to do this the next time I have to be left behind.  I gave her a good talking to and explained how embarrassing her behavior was to me.  I would have liked to have gone and enjoyed the surf and sand with them, too!  But can you imagine the hotel does not allow pets?  Don't they know how special I am?  Sure, I have fur all over my body, have to taken out for walks to poop and pee several times a day, and I do stand up to my name Princess Puff from the kingdom of Barkalot.  Yes, I act like I have a Napoleon complex who can take on any dog.  The bigger the better. But gee whiz!!  I can't really say I missed them too much because D & C's friend, Vicki took very good care of me.  She gave me lots of love and played with me even inviting a neighbor's dog to join in our fun!  Of course, I was very glad to see my peeps when they picked me up! 

Below are some of the pictures Diana took of Myrtle Beach with her iPhone and some comments with the pictures.  After all, I can't do all the talking!  But also below are pictures Vicki took of me and sent to Diana after Diana pissed and moaned so much that sweet Vicki sent some pictures just to shut her up!  Now Vicki didn't say this, but....I'm just saying...

Beautiful day at the beach

Nighttime at the beach

I love to sit with Bill

Please Vicki! I want your attention!

I love my morning stretch

I'm confused! I'm not allowed on the table at home!

Civil War Day at Historic Oak View Park in Raleigh, NC

 

In the event you didn't know I am a Civil War amateur historian! Amateur because I don't know as much as I'd like to know and historian only because I have quite a library of books that deal with the Civil War and Civil War era!  Still doesn't mean I know a lot! :-)  In May, Carol and I went to Civil War Day at Historic Oak View Park here in Raleigh.  The main house on the property has been  recorded to have been built around 1829.  Picture below:

I don't have a more recent picture of the house which has been renovated and used as executive offices and most often you don't get to go very far into the house.  However, Carol and I are very familiar with the inside of the house because Carol's sister, Donna and here family lived there from

 1983-1988.  Donna's husband, Paul was paid by the county to be caretaker of the property.  There was a summer kitchen behind the house which serves to display exhibits today.  There was a big barn which has since been torn down and the grounds overgrown with plant life has been cleaned up and additional buildings have been built for exhibits and tours.   Both nieces, Debbie and Julie have visited the main house in the past couple years and were able to share with the people at the house their experiences of their life when they lived in the house. Now onto Civil War Day...

 

The picture below is a picture of Brenda McKean who had this trivia exhibit on poster board!



Ms. McKean wrote 2 books:

 

Blood and War at my Doorstep Vol. 1

Much has been written about the military aspects of the American Civil War, but the civilian perspective is much less represented.  Ms. McKean has published years worth of research to bring us the civilian perspective from letters and diaries throughout the country in Volume 1. 

 

Blood and War at my Doorstep Vol. 2: North Carolina Civilians in the War Between the States,

Ms. McKean deals primarily with the impact of the Civil War on North Carolina civilians mostly

through the eyes of women.

 

I am so excited to have been able to buy these books from Ms. McKean and have her autograph them for me!  These are thick books with small font and supply loads of interesting information!

 

Below are some pictures I took of the "soldiers" on the grounds. You may notice that there are both Confederate and Union soldiers.  I guess they didn't have enough to play war!  Wouldn't it be nice if the world could play this way and work together instead of going to war?

 

 

And here's a little video:

 







 

 

 



Squirrels! Not my furry friends!

As has been stated in past posts, I have always enjoyed the antics of the squirrels in my backyard!  That is until now!  They are now considered tree rats from Hell, and here's why!


The storage bench below has been in my backyard for a year.  I stored bird seed and critter food in there.  I must admit I had not been in the bench for about a month and when I finally did open it the inside was FULL of sunflower seed husks!  The squirrels, as you can see, chewed a hole in the side of the bench and went through about 16 pounds of sunflower seeds which were in a hard plastic pail with a sturdy lid!

They also opened up 2 rubbermaid containers with safflower seed and thistle seed.  Most of the safflower and thistle seed was still in the containers but the lids were popped off all these containers.  The only thing they couldn't get into was a metal pail with locking lid!  Do you want to guess what was in that?  The squirrel's critter food!  I feed these varmints and this is the thanks I get?

SO.....I decided I would do what I had to do to chase them off occasionally and vent out some of my irritation with them!  I'd run out the back door shooting my soaker gun at the little bastards!  I had Carol take this picture, and Carol thought it was a hoot to make sure the picture of Jesus laughing was in the frame!  And people think I'm the nutty one! While the younger squirrels run for the hills, the older squirrels have figured out just how far they have to go up in the tree so they don't continue to get hit with water!  I've thought about using my BB pistol gun, but as a card carrying member of the Humane Society, I haven't gone that far!  YET!

BUT.....

Thanks to my mom, I got a new Squirrel Proof bird feeder that's driving the squirrels as crazy as they have driven me!  The feeder is designed so that when anything heavier than a small bird is on it the feeder closes all the feeding ports!  It's the long bird feeder hanging from the middle hook!  More detail below!

I have so enjoyed the many birds coming to the feeder, and have equally enjoyed watching the long- tailed rodents try and try and try but can't get to the seed!  The first video shows how much the birds love this new bird feeder, and the second video shows how confused a squirrel is.  I apologize that the videos are kind of hard to see!  I had taken video with my camera but couldn't find the cord to transfer the pictures to the computer.  So I took video through the window with my iPhone.  When I find the cord, I will republish these videos!

 

 

So, I hope you have enjoyed this post even if it's at my expense! :-D   Soon I will be posting pictures and talking about our Myrtle Beach trip plus our experience of Civil War Day here in Raleigh both in May!  Blessings until then, Diana

 
 
 
 
 
 



 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squirrels Behaving Badly All Day Long

Hi, folks!  As you all know by now, I love to watch my squirrels!  I used to have three squirrels come into my yard, but recently that has increased to five!  One of the squirrels is smaller than the rest, but a tough little booger!  It's hilarious to watch my squirrels frolic and chase each other around the garden!  Sometimes a few of them will feed at the same time, but mostly they chase each other off from the food!  They are fun, yes,  until they're behaving badly, that is!  I have proof that as cute as these squirrels may be, they can be feisty, ornery little things too!  I hope you enjoy these!  I had to extend a little effort to get some of these pictures, but it was well worth my effort!!  I'll have new pictures of my garden soon as I complete putting new things I have out there!

I caught this crazy squirrel digging a hole in the middle of my garden!  He rubbed his body around in the hole, then scratch himself, then rubbed his body again.  Finally he just laid in the hole!  I can't figure out if he was trying to relieve himself from bug bites or if, because it was a real hot day, he was trying to cool himself off by digging down into cooler ground!  Maybe it was both!

Squirrels Behaving Badly at the feeders

I need a Squirrel Whisperer!  This feeder has safflower seed in it!  Nobody told this squirrel that they don't like safflower seed!

The attack to the suet!  This suet has hot flavoring to it!  Squirrels are not supposed to like it!  Again, no one told my squirrels!  My squirrels are either real stupid or very adaptable!

Squirrels Behaving Badly

SQUIRRELS BEHAVING BADLY  at the back door!
Here's a picture of my back door which has two bird feeders and a hummingbird feeder attached. The pictures that follow will show the tenacity of one of the squirrels as it tried to get to any or all feeders!  And, yes, squirrels do like to drink sugar water!  I caught one tilting and drinking from one I have out in the garden although I didn't catch it on film.

Notice the dirty streaks on the door where a squirrel tried to climb onto the door!



Peeping Tom!                       

"If I hold real still, maybe she won't notice me"!

                                               "But, I must try!  Look what's waiting for me!"

"Uh, oh!  She's looking!  I must hold still!" 

"Who, me?  It wasn't me"!