It all started with Turner and Hooch

Turner and Hooch, That is the movie that started me on the path of having one of the most amazing breeds of dog I believe there is, I know everyone loves their dogs and thinks they have the best breed. Maybe they do...for them. For me, the Dogue de Bordeaux (French Mastiff) Reigns Supreme. The above picture is of my first dogue, his name was Justice. He was a fantastic puppy, he hardly chewed on things other than his toys. Sometimes he would find something that he just had to have as a chew toy, like the remote for the tv, but he was overall a great pup. He was potty trained at 4 months 100% I showed him. He was my constant companion. He went everywhere with me. 

He had a Dove, with wings and even an eye on his chest.

He loved to roll in the grass, lovingly chewing his toys to shreds.

He loved to be with my horses. Chasing them outside the roundpen.

He was full of character. He would pick up the leadrope and lead Shantillie around.

He was not dog aggressive, he had friends, like this Jack Russell (Dixie) 

Justice and his pup friend Mini Bull Terrier (Thor) Thor just loved him and Justice loved him too. They would play for hours. 

He was my baby.

He loved toys and bones. See him working on his lobster, he felt the need to unstuff the toy.

I worked long hours at one point in time and when I got him he wanted to play and I needed to rest so I thought it was time for him to have a companion to play with. So I contacted my breed rescue and they found me a female that was available for adoption. So, Cheyenne came to live with us. Justice HATED Cheyenne for the first 3 weeks I had her. Whenever she so much as passed him, he would growl at her, and finally he decided he wanted to keep her and they were together every minute of the day and night. 

Justice on right, Cheyenne on left. 

Justice on left upside down, and Cheyenne on right.

He loved to ride in the Jeep, he was raised hanging out the side of the Jeep, what a spectacle he made of himself. LOL

Then, you know I had to teach Cheyenne to ride in the Jeep along with Justice. I always had them both with me. Cheyenne is on the left and Justice is on the right. 

This pic is of Justice and his breeder at one of our dog shows. They were having a fun moment. Everyone loved Justice and he loved everyone too. Justice passed away 9 days shy of his 6th birthday of cancer.

Cheyenne missed Justice very much as was never quite the same. She didn't like playing with other dogs after he died. She did however love Christopher, my son. She would follow him everywhere.

She was about 3 when I rescued her. She lived to be somewhere in her 9's 

She too loved her bones. 

She loved to hunt, she was looking for a lizzard here. One time Christopher(son) had a lizzard in his hand and she snatched it from him. Boy was he upset. 

Still searching for that elusive lizzard

yep, still looking.

Oh maybe there is one over there.

Just maybe.

I think so.....

This was my last night with my girl, Cheyenne had a series of strokes over the last year of her life and had trouble walking on her own. She was not in any pain, just couldn't walk anymore. It was time to say goodbye to her. She was an amazing dog and we loved her very much. 

This is Andre, the next rescue. He was very skinny and underweight when I got him. Cheyenne and him got along right away. 

Just got his first bath. He smelled horrible when he arrived.

See how skinny he was, I would say about 30 pounds underweight.

So skinny. Time to fatten you up.

He followed Cheyenne all around the yard.

He was a sweet dog, but he had a side.. He was very protective of me very fast. My roommate(guy) walked out back and he let him know real fast to keep clear. LOL! If my roommate was not already grey he would have turned grey real fast! LOL

Here he was after about a year of having him. Nice weight wouldn't you say???

Here is my latest girl, this is Ronan. She was a brood bitch and was not treated very well. The previous owner dumped her at the animal shelter after he used her up. I am not sure how many puppies she had but I would guess at least 4 litters. She too, was very underweight.  

She was unsettled for about a week then she was fine.

Such a pathetic face. She looked so sad. She had no idea what was going on.

However she did take to the couch pretty fast. 

She liked my husband Shane right away. We got her in October of 2010 

Here she is today, happy and healthy.

See her smile.

Such a great girl.

She is very playful with me and the rest of the family.

You would probably think Bordeaux's are slow because they are so large but they can run very fast.

She goes out with me to feed the horses every feeding.

Waiting patiently.  

There will never be an end to this story. I will always have Dogue de Bordeaux in my world.

Flowers, I love Flowers

The above picture and the one below are of the same flower, it is Tacca chantrieri (Dioscoreaceae-the Yam family). After Seeing the diverse array of  black orchids out there, it is tempting to classify this sinister thing as an orchid. The bat flower, as it is affectionately known, actually belongs to the plant family that includes yams and other herbaceous vines. What appears to be large, darkly colored petals are in fact involucral bracts, and not floral structures at all, just like the festive red 'petals" of the poinsettia. The real flowers are the cup-shaped structures within, surrounded by distinctive whiskers. If you can grow Phalaenopsis orchids really well, this Malaysian terrestrial should be will-suited to your conditions: it likes shade, high humidity and good air circulation.

I took most of the text from above from another website so you all would know more about this beauty. I took the two above photos at The Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco, Ca. back in 2004

 

I loved this Hibiscus, It was huge. My friends hand shows its size, also from the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco.

This one was amazing, just look at that color, at Conservatory of Flowers.

This is one of my favorite flower pics, I actually took that, yep I sure did.

It is a Water Lily flower, from the Conservatory of Flowers.

Beautiful Orchids from The Conservatory of Flowers, Not sure what species this one is, but it is gorgeous. This one is Arboreal (grows in trees, no soil) 

This is a Pitcher Plant from the Conservatory of Flowers, these are bug eating plants, some of these Pitcher Plants actually eat rats and mice.

This is a Cactus flower from my Cactus.

This is a flower from my Double Purple Datura

Last but not least. A picture of a Zinnia garden at the Conservatory of Flowers, these two pics are for my dear friend who knows who she is.... She loves Zinnia's.

Beautiful Moth

This beauty was flying around my garden tonight, I am sure she was trying to lay her dastardly spawn on my plants. My son caught her so I just had to take pictures of her so you all can see how beautiful she is before she was fed to our gecko's, (kidding) son would not allow that. He let her go on her merry way after her photo session. She is called a Salt Marsh Moth. The last two pics are not of her. I got those photos from another website. My pictures of her are not that good and I wanted you to see her underbelly and under her wings.

 

Girls Day Out

My awesome friend and her amazing daughter needed a girls day out. Her daughter's beloved cat passed away so they needed a small escape. So they thought of us first(I think) :) My daughter is on the left and her friend on the right, they are amazing girls.

I don't know if you can tell but mine is a ham for the camera.

The couple in front of our girls were the girls ride buddies for a while. The man said, right before I took this picture,"Smile for the camera!'' Jokester huh? They rode just about everything that Scandia had to offer. Roller coaster, Viking Ship above pic were..

Go Carts

After Scandia, we headed to Rainforest Cafe. My daughter, a HUGE lover of giraffes admired this statue A LOT ! LOL.My friend had never been. The kids had never been before either. The atmosphere there is fantastic. So tropical, and full of animals. I love it there. 

I think this sign is gorgeous.

Look at the little beauties.

This was my dish, China Island Chicken Salad. It was pretty good.

My friend had the Calypso Salad. She was not impressed.

Her daughter had the Fried Shrimp, they were not cooked well and she didn't care for them much.

My Daughter had the Brave New World Pizza. She didn't even eat a whole slice, she did not like it at all. The food was certainly a bust. We were not real happy with the quality of the food, and it was very expensive. The atmosphere with great friends was the best part and really it was the only good part of the experience.  

Sorry pic is blurry but this was the door to the mens restroom. 

This was over the toilet in the lady's restroom. Starring right at you while, well you know!!

Dessert was pretty good, not the best but OK. But all in all we had a great day!

SQUIRRELS, SQUIRRELS, AND MORE SQUIRRELS

We have had problems with Squirrels, lots of Squirrels. Last year between Chickens and Squirrels, my newly planted garden was destroyed. The only plant that survived the brutal attack was a lone Zucchini. Poor lonely soul.

So this year was going to be different. I told my husband I must have a garden and can't have vermin eating my garden. I was ready to bring out the 9mm, but I am not an animal killer so I would have been doomed.

This guy was MEAN, He was hissing and striking the Havahart trap. Trying to tear my face off. 

 Not sure if you can see teeth but his were very large and in charge. He was going to rip me limb from limb.

See his tail how it is raised up and fluffy. He was making noises I presume it was a warning to me to stay away, or he was camera shy. 

Not his best side. 

Rather cute but destructive. He is now down in the riverbed with his buddy's living the high life far away from my garden beds.

Here is a video of him. There is more to this story. Last year my husband tore the face off our chicken coop, using the coop as a storage area. It is a very large coop maybe 10x16 maybe. We had no chickens. Only one Rooster. Our Coco Bird. Coco has a deformed foot. It grew to the side while he was in the egg. I told my husband that he needed to catch the squirrel and the chickens so I can have my garden. He agreed. He borrowed a Havahart trap from our Aunt. He set it up and said watch this. I am a hunter from way back. OK I said. Just do it. Within 2 hours, what do you know! yes a squirrel. So my husband and son took him to the riverbed and turned him loose. Came back, reset the trap and within a few hours what was in there you ask? Two not one but Two Chickens (WHAT) yes two chickens and that was a small trap. so we had Coco in a huge wire dog crate outside because he was attacked by another rooster. So we but the two hens in with him to his delight. Reset the trap. Again another squirrel was caught. Off to the riverbed, Set free, back home to set trap. Another chicken, another squirrel. You get the point. So Final count was 7 Squirrels, and 6 chickens and 2 roosters in a small havahart trap and other posts show how well my garden is without my pesky friends. My husband put the face back on the chicken coop and we now have. One rooster, 6 hens, and 7 baby chicks. Oh and ZERO squirrels.