Christmas Day

Happy Holidays Everyone.  Finnegan is on guard to fend off any grinches and grumps, as you can see.  Stand alert Little Big Man.

 Great photograph of my girl Nina Blanca . . . Go girl . . .

 because here comes our boy Chocolate . . .

I also photograph people, on rare occasion;

We tried for more dogs in the picture, but they said "No Way, it is a people picture."  This is Steve, hey! where's Bronwyn? Steve and Bronwyn's family.  They are favorite dog walking friends for my kids and I, the reason they made it onto the weblog. Finny loves Brisbane, their tricolour Aussie. Steve is on the left and Bronwyn is hiding in the back on the left.  I do believe it is Bronwyn's sister second from right, and I know that is Katie in the middle, purple vest.
I barely got this photo exposure wise, it took some serious photoshop manipulation to get this to be workable. But there it is. I vastly overexposed. Bad timing. Should have used flash.

Great Day For Photographs

A Grey Overcast Day, and we got to walk with Cathy, Penny and Ms.Mel. Cathy said she likes overcast days, and today we agree with her. The colors were just great, saturated. And the dogs were all happy. Great combination.  Great photo of Penny. I like Penny. Yeah, I know, I say that about most dogs.

We met this youngster, Angel, walking on the outer trail. Beautiful energetic dog. Love this picture.

Today I make an exception and include a peep. It is because I like this picture. It feels really good. The road is on a curvy diagonal, the peep, Cathy, has a great smile and is standing at one third position and Penny and Ms Mel fill the foreground perfectly. Thanks girls.

Not what it looks like. The cold and wet Blanca looks to be saying "I wanna go home". But I know from experience that she is just taking a short break, looking to see what is going to happen next. She is an EverReady dog.

After walking with Cathy, Penny and Ms Mel we walked across the bridge to see what it looked like on the Island. I had not expected to walk it, but the water was down by quite a bit so we ventured forth. I had to wade most of the usual high water spots, it was higher than last time I was there, but not as high as it was reported on Saturday. I was last there Friday, I think. This is where the path meets the canal, irregation channel.  We have lost a good foot of land here, though the great folks that keep Norm's maintained had anticipated this and the path has been moved inland several feet.

Lost a big piece here. This is right next to the trail on the south side of the Island, directly on the river. Sorry to see the trees go. Must remember, change is good.

Whoa! be careful boy. Another tree down. There were several trees lost to the erosion. The Island lost a good piece of real estate at this location.

Just had to add one more. Days when it is overcast are the only days I can get good pictures of Blanca. She is a happy girl in this picture. Dogs are such a joy to watch run. They love it so much.

Guest Photographer Michael E Garcia

Mike discovered this Big Bird today at the Island. There were two but the second one flew away before he could get a picture. I have a picture I took from a distance that I will post later.

Mike caught this photo of my kids and me. I am looking for the turkey in the trees across the channel. I like it. Mike named the photo "Can You Ask for Anything More"?  I think he pegged it.  Thanks Mike.

Successful Clean Up Day for Norm's Island!

Early Bird Gets The uh, uh, uh . . .

 

I arrived at Norm's at 9am, and Rick with his dogs Maggie and Marne were already diligently at work cleaning up the winters accumulation of doggy doo. (poop).  The day was highly successful with over 40 ID tags being pinned to volunteers.  I see Rick does not have one on. That makes at least 41.

Marcia Clausing brought two garbage cans and placed them along the trail in both directions so there no longer is the excuse that there is no place to put the poop after you pick it up.  Please dog people, let's be responsible dog owners and pick up after our friends so Norms can continue to be the wonderful place it is for all users. 

It was just so great to see so many people pitching in to clean up our favorite walking place. It warmed the heart and stimulated the mind. 

I took a lot of pictures today, so they will be slowly added today and tomorrow.

Understandable Contemplation

It seems that Shelley and Mike are contemplating the enormity of the undertaking.

I Found One. Hey, this is Fun

Marcia our Hero for organizing this great event, enjoys her dog doody with her husband Harry, who probably would rather be in his shop working on the Impala or the Coronet, but here he is helping Marcia, and he looks to be having fun. Thanks guys. You will notice my Chocolate and Blanca in almost every picture. They have learned to stay the direction I am pointing the camera.

"Hey, I found something much more interesting over here."  This beautiful boy is Marcia's Teak.

Help Out, Use the Scooper

Doing their part, and then some, we have Karlee Royal, and left is CJ's mom. Sorry I did not get her name.

 Or a shovel. Bella, Bandit, John, and Scout scour the south side for poop.  Hey! where's the rest of Bandit?

Tucker Is More Than Ready To Help

Tell me what to do people, I am all ready to help

New Friends

Blanca met a new friend today, Daisy.  They seemed to really like each other, and were a great match size wise and seemingly temperment wise.  They played great. Fun to watch.

Blanca likes Daisy, then I like Daisy. Would like a photo of her clean. Beautiful girl.

 

While Blanca and Daisy were running about I was also keeping an eye on this regal boy, Teak. He is a beautiful alert boy.  I wonder what kind of a breed he is. Great picture, if I must say so myself.

This is Tipsy, who we met just as we were about to leave for the day. Two years old with lots of energy and a great look.  She is lucky to have found her friend Diane.

A wet Tipsy. I wish I had a watermellon no no, I mean a picture with Choco or Blanca so Tipsy's size would be apparent. She is small. Bigger than a Chihuahua, smaller than a Spaniel. Nice dog. Nice to see you Diane.

Big Beautiful Spring Snow

This morning Norm's Island was the most beautiful place in the world.  It was absolutely breathtaking. My kids found it to be quite exhilarating. Is this not the best dog picture I have ever taken, I keep asking myself. So much happiness, I need to send it to the Dali Lama. 

Come On Over 

Diego

Diego with a big stick. Diego and Chocolate have a common interest, sticks, which of course is not always good.  But it works out. Diego is one beautiful boy.

Fergus

 Hi Fergus.  All this before we even get across the bridge, and there is more to come.

Some of The Human "Island Regulars"

Mike and Diego.  Sorry about that tripod leg Mike.

Kelley, who is at the Island everyday in her role as K9 Playtime. Somedays she is with just her own dogs.

Kelley and her Troup? her Pack?  The boy with the green ball is going tomorrow for knee surgery. Kelley had I think five dogs today, I caught only two.  Sorry the picture is so narrow Kelley, I think they allow only so many square units, so the height counts. Square pictures are bigger.

John with Bandit, Bella, and Scout.

That is Bandit in the foreground.  He is very friendly to me, always stands up to see what I am doing.  I have been trying to get a picture of Scout and Bella for a long time, but Scout is old and needs to keep moving, so I never get a chance. John is the one in the red cap, the red cap that made me take the picture. Thanks John.  John has three dogs. The others are Kelley's. Someday I will get a picture of the Dalmatians on a good green or amber field.  It is coming.

 But in the meantime, whoa, look what I found. Bella is focused on Blanca. 

Penny

Penny walks at Norms everyday, everyday, with her friends Cathy and Ms Mel. This is my best photo of her yet. She is very shy, and looks at me very suspiciously, which does not make for a good photo. She has good attention here. Penny is a beautiful girl, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, who was very lucky to find her friend Cathy. Penny was painfully shy when Cathy first got her. 

And Finally, The Setting

  Busy Day Today ;-)

Leading the Way for Spring Repairs

Trail Maintenance.  Thank You. The trails were getting muddy in a few spots, reinforcements greatly appreciated. Again thank to all the volunteers that keep Norm's such a wonderful place to be.

I need names here, I was occupied with keeping Blanca away from this machine.  She has no fear of such things, nor any understanding of tires. So I had my hands full.  Choco keeps his distance usually. Plus the machine was noisy, and I am hard of hearing, some.

Guest Photographer Michael E. Garcia

We have two new residents at the Island, two Great Horned Owls. This great picture was taken by Michael Garcia, who regulars at the Island are quite familar with.  I have taken several pictures of Mr. Owl myself but I carry only a 200 mm lens so I cannot get far enough away to get this angle.  My pictures are good of his tail and the bottom of his feet only. As you can see below, Mike has a much longer reach than I.*

Mike in action, with his faithful and patient companion Diego.
* Featured Comment For any techno-geeks who may read this, the lens combo that I shot this pic with was a Canon 100-400mm lens with a 1.4 III extender. Essentially a 560mm lens (35mm format) or 896mm (APS-C sensor). Also as importantly, I shoot off a bi-pod with a ball head. 

Mike and Diego

Love this shot.  I know this is a dog blog, but when one gets a shot this great, people are allowed.  There is a dog in the picture after all, Diego.  Anyone that walks the Island in the morning has seen Mike as he works the Island looking for that perfect shot, which we all seek, especially of that elusive fox. Nice lens Mike.  It was pretty cold this morning, so it takes some fortitude to keep at it.  I love Diego's focus. He has done this before. He will hold position even with the fox running across the field. Great dog.  Diego is a German Shepherd / Belgian Malinois cross.