Dog Photography – Page 5 – Gardens For Goldens

Where the Sugar Flows

In the big dog Park, the rough and tumble play.

But on the other side of the fence is where the sugar lives.

Sugar Shack Acres is home to Homeward Bound’s most senior dogs: the sugar faces –

our sanctuary dogs – like once-and-forever feral Red –

and dogs who just love being with other dogs – like Lucy, who is only five, but desperately needed to lose weight. After a couple of weeks with her Sugar Shack friends, she dropped nearly ten pounds (and was on her way home!)

These pups may be a little slow,

But they still get around.

And everyone gets along.

As they say: it takes a long time for a soul to get this sweet.

Some of our volunteers spend all their time in this sanctuary – where the dogs have their own house and a large open yard so they can come and go freely.

Some just pay a visit after walking, feeding, and cleaning up after our “dorm” dogs – only to be mobbed by smiling faces, tail wags and kisses.

And when the young dog pack leaves the Park…guess where the sugar flows?

Chessy’s Inner Lion

Hear her roar!

Reassurance

Wordless Wednesday: Lenny

Down the Rabbit Hole

I find myself in Wonderland. Down the rabbit hole we go,

where crazy people undertake a kennel remodel with dogs still in residence.

Shuffling dogs from one place to another to accomplish in one week what would take mere mortals at least four.

“I’m not crazy. My reality is just different from yours.” ~ Cheshire Cat

Simultaneously making good on a “Picnic in the Garden” auction item –

“It’s always tea time.” ~ The Mad Hatter

for five human guests and their five canine companions…and expecting everyone to get along?

Alice: “This is impossible.”
The Mad Hatter: “Only if you believe it is.”

Then, just for good measure – add in a Volunteer Appreciation Picnic for 100 and their dogs.

The Mad Hatter: “Have I gone mad?”
Alice: “I believe so. You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. The best people are.”

We all go a little mad sometimes.
The good news: one week of chaos, and it will all be done!

“Begin at the beginning… and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” ~Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Wish us luck!

Face of Pure White…

heart of pure gold. Where did all the time go?

My Bella. Love this girl.

Wordless Wednesday: Dog Kisses

Happy 4th of July!

I Spy

I spy something in the meadow. Sometimes you have to look very closely …

And sometimes, they just come rushing to greet you – like my buddy Noah, who I see fairly often.

I love my workday walks on the trail behind our offices.

I never know who, or what, I’ll meet.

Today I spied Presley and Sienna.

I almost mistook Presley for a Jack Rabbit.

Presley, it turns out, is on his third home.

He started as an apartment dog, but needed space to run and dig.

Then, he became a family dog, until he got lost in the shuffle of kids and kid activity schedules.

Hopefully, he has found his third and final home with Wendy. She volunteers at a local shelter and seems to truly understand the needs of a high energy Weimaraner.

Sienna certainly seems to enjoy his company.

If a tired dog is a happy dog, then Presley and Sienna must be very happy dogs indeed.

Great to meet you. See you in the meadow. 🙂

Wherever Faith Finds Us

I find my faith in nature…

the skies, woods, meadows and garden are my cathedral.

I place my faith in something that has no name. All I know is that it greater than all of us.

I try to live my life by one rule: treat others as you hope to be treated.

“Make yourself necessary to somebody. Do not make life hard to any.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Spring is a time of rebirth, celebration and remembrance for people of many faiths.

Regardless of which faith guides you, my hope for all during this special time is to find beauty,

joy,

understanding,

acceptance,

and awe…

that the world might be a better place for all.

Wordless Wednesday: Of Tails

Swallowtail:

Puppy tails:

Accidental Gardener

I am an accidental gardener. Come to think of it, I’m an accidental everything: gardener, photographer, blogger, and rescue supporter. These were not planned; I was just drawn to them and happened upon people who graciously showed me the way.

A fellow blogger, Helen Johnstone of the Patient Gardener’s Weblog, shared a new book: the “First Ladies of Gardening.” Normally, a title like that would put me straight off. But I admire Helen’s blog, so I ordered it. And I’m so glad I did!

I did not grow up with gardens or gardeners. I vaguely recall that my grandmother grew flowers to inspire her paintings, but I spent very little time with either. What I have learned has been the result of trial and error, as well as lessons from my gardener partners at the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden.

In “First Ladies of Gardening,” I learned names like Gertrude Jekyll, Vita Sackville-West – whose directive “cram, cram, cram” I already follow – and Beth Chatto, who believed that making a garden was like making a family.

But there is one gardener whose spirit I admire just as much as her garden: Margery Fish and her cottage garden at East Lambrook Manor.

Margery Fish did not begin gardening until she was in her forties. Quietly rebellious – the author shares – she allowed small plants to grow in the crevices of her husband’s perfectly groomed paths, and inadvertently stopped watering his “proper” plant choices in favor of her leafy, wild and rare perennials. New plants that mysteriously appeared were explained as “gifts” that simply could not be refused. The garden – once a jungle – was planted in abundance and self-sowing seeds were left to distribute unexpected surprises that kept the garden looking natural and unfussy.