Welcome to another Nature Friday post where I, Elsa, the world class and award winning Ninja correspondent will share the latest from our urban nature-scape. As always, we’re joining our pals, Rosy, Sunny and Jakey from LLB in Our Backyard for their weekly Nature Friday blog hop. Make sure to click on their link to see other posts from Blogville.
Mom insisted ‘suggested’ I share reporting duties with the big guy this week. Personally, I think he whined to Mom about not getting enough attention after the publication of the latest edition of Colorado Canine magazine where he was sorta a star. The Dude thinks he’s some sort of super model and wants even more attention, so I guess I’ll throw him a bone just to get him to shut up. Anyway, I can always use a slave intern to expand my media empire.
Norman: Bone? Intern? Did I miss something? You know perfectly well that Mum doesn’t like us collecting bones on our constitutionals. And furthermore, I. Am. Not. An. Intern. I am the refined, archetypical Old English Sheepdog. Read…dignified and, after my two-page spread in the heretofore mentioned magazine, am rather famous these days. And I’m patiently awaiting the official unveiling in an upcoming post. Hint, hint, Mum.
Elsa: Forget the magazine spread, fur-ball. We’ve got this Nature Friday gig-besides, no one cares about your magazine spread. Hmm…[thinking out loud]…this gives me a great idea about how to distract get rid of His Fur-ness through food.
Norman: I beg your pardon…contrary to popular belief I probably notice more around the neighborhood than you do, truth be told. As I recall, you were the one who totally missed seeing a bunny on two of our most recent walks, little sister.
Elsa: Wait…there was a bunny I missed? Egad!
Norman: Umm, can we just get started with this week’s offerings? If memory serves me correctly, I think you wanted to share all things pink this week.
Elsa: Yeah, yeah, hold on to your fur, Bucko. Sheesh, can’t believe I missed an opportunity to drag Mom see a bunny. Ok, let’s get this show on the road. I don’t need to spend more time with you than is absolutely necessary. I’m still cheesed I have to share my award winning column with you.
Norman: Wait…there’s cheese involved? No one told me about all these snacks for co-hosting with you.
Elsa: Oh for love of all that’s holy. Let’s move on, okay?
Norman: Right-o. I’m rather fond of this pretty pink lily. Just look at this beauty against that beautiful sky.
Elsa: Yeah, yeah, pretty in pink lily. But check out this tricolor European Birch from the neighbor’s house. I mean pink freakin’ leaves…on a tree!
Norman: Well done, Ninja. It is one of the more unusual trees in the neighborhood.
Elsa: Of course it is, fool. Do I know how to pick out unusual offerings or what? They don’t call me award winning for nothing.
Norman: As I recall, no one has said you were award winning. It’s just something you came up with so you could develop a ‘brand’ as I recall.
Elsa: You say po-ta-to, I say po-tah-to.
Norman: Moving along…nothing says summer quite like these old-fashioned roses. And with their delicate scent, they are the perfect rose to share for our hostess, Miss Rosy.
Elsa: I’m sure she thinks you’re just trying to put the ‘Rico Suave’ moves on her and is not the slightest bit impressed.
Norman: Be that as it may, I’m quite chuffed by seeing them on our walks.
Elsa: You would. You’re so easily entertained. Look at these two kinds of Echinacea I found. One is the traditional variety being sullied by those nasty Japanese Beetles that are beginning to overrun gardens throughout the Mile High City. The other one is a double. Isn’t it something?
Norman: Well…Bob’s your uncle on both those choices, sister!
Elsa: Wha…oh good grief. Stop speaking the Queen’s English you fool and just stick to being my intern…which means shouldn’t you be rustling up some tasty treats about now?
Norman: I thought I made it perfectly clear, I am not your fetch boy. Staying on point however, I did find a couple of pink blooms that our readers might enjoy. First is a pale pink Hollyhock, and the second is the gloriously shocking Poppy Mallow. I know for a fact that mum loves those cerise blooms.
Elsa: Ok, I’ll give you that those are distinctive but then so was the ‘doorman’ that scared the bejesus out of Mom when we came home from our morning walk. I’m not sure who jumped the highest, you, me or Mom. I do know she screamed like a little pig though.
Norman: Blimey…that was the most unwelcome and disgusting early morning pest. I didn’t even try to eat it.
Elsa: Yeah, not my kind of protein either. I was kind of surprised that Mom didn’t drop the leashes and go running away like a crazy person. But it managed to freak us all out, didn’t it?
Norman: {shudder} I can’t…just can’t, say any more about that hideous creature.
Elsa: Well, come to think of it, I think we’ve actually heard enough from you anyway. Well, that’s it for another week. The heat dome is settling on top of us for the next few days. I have noticed that you tend to hang out near the AC vent or spread out in front of a fan in Mom’s studio. Actually dude…I don’t blame you one bit but just hope you’ll move over a tad so I can catch some of the breeze as well. Those triple digits are gonna suck.
Elsa: This is Elsa the Ninja reporting from the Ranch. Please join us again next time for another look around the urban landscape and see what Nature dishes up. Maybe next time I won’t have my style cramped by a certain brother.
Norman: I heard that. Please have a safe weekend and drink lots of water. And, if you are able to get out there to see if Nature has any less extreme offerings, have a lovely weekend. For the record, I’ll just be ‘faffing around’ myself.
Live, love, bark! 🐾
Lovely photos, beautiful flowers! 💕
Thank you! And thank you for swinging by the Ranch and for the follow. We 💙 visitors
Such lovely flowers you both found! We hope you are surviving the heat OK. Around here we can barely take the high double digits, I think everything might shut down if we ever hit triple! Our summer has been rather cool overall, though we are having some pleasant 80’s the last couple of days.
We’re very green with envy at your moderate temps. After a pleasant day yesterday, it’s back in the upper 90’s for the next 10 days. Awk! 🥵
Geez, Norman, what are all those fancy words you’ve been using. Sounds like you’re getting “too good” for us. Hmmm. Hey Elsa, we know what it’s like to have a pesky little sister, so we feel for you, even though Norman’s a boy. Hey, a grasshopper! We think those are good to eat. Did anyone get tobacco juice spit on them? Pretty flowers and all, but we have to admit, we’re with Norman on where’s the cheese. XOXOX Xena, Lucy, Chia and RIley
Ewwwee…tobacco juice would send our mom into orbit!
Lookin grate ‘faffin ’round’ Sweet Norman!!!
Elsa an Norman are a heelareeuss duo….you cuud due a Comedy act fore sure!
Wee loved seein all THE Pink flowerss……so purrty…
An wee MOL/LOL over yore ‘Doorman’….hee iss just a cute Grassyhoppurr…..
Wee goin ‘under THE Dome’ tomorrow fore a few dayss two….so let’ss all stay hydrated an eat snax…here’ss sum Gouda Cheeze fore you Sweet Norman!
~~~head rubss~~~BellaDharma~~~ an {{huggiess}} BellaSita Mum
We have to disagree on whether or not grasshoppers are cute. They are decidedly far from it. So creepy! We’re hoping the heat dome dissipates soon; we’re all beginning to evaporate, despite drinking buckets of water. P.S. Norman says thank you for the Gouda. 😘
Wee understand Sweet Norman an Elsa an Miss Monika….are you inn THE area where there are kabillionss of Grassyhoppurrss??? Wee sorry they are so creepy. Wee et 4 or 5 heer inn summer so wee not have trubbell with them.
EEEKKKKK!!! Pleese no evaporate; only stay!!!
An Sweet Norman mee will share mee Gouda Cheeze with you ANY TIME! 😉
They’d been increasing in numbers the past few years. Not a plague yet but definitely more than enough for me. 😲
OH Monika these flowers are just sooo beautiful, espescially the last one, gorgeous!
And Elsa and Norm crack me up every time, great reporters! Thanks for the smiles, and hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Stay cool!
Why thank you very much. We appreciate the kind words. These two really are a comedy team; I think they do it just to keep me on my toes. Stay cool; the heat should be moving your way.
WOWZERS – what a beautiful Nature Friday. So many plants that we never see around here! We were blessed with a whole lot of rain last night as we were PARCHED from lack of WET so hoping to see happy grass, trees and other greenery this morning when it gets light out. Thanks for the wonderfully detailed nature report!
Hugs, Teddy
Nothing refreshes the landscape like a nice rain shower…I hope we’ll get some at some point in the future. Dry, hot days ahead for now. But only 75 days until autumn! Have a super weekend.
Our nature is soggy today…this week we have had over 5 inches of ran in our gauges…and the mugginess to accompany it…the weekend is supposed to be dry and not humid, thankfully…and its my weekend off!
It seems that in our garden yellow is the dominant color…with some pink sweet peas and some coneflowers, still in bud…
That sure was a huge locust!! Not harmful to peeps, but i bet it sure startled you when it whirred away! Those things eat up lots of my plants…as do those pesky Japanese Beetles…what do those evil things have to be so beautiful??
Over the past few years, the grasshoppers have gotten worse. They’ll chew things done to the ground if left unchecked. But those Japanese beetles just leave plants looking like skeletons. Both are sooo destructive but grasshoppers always startle me. I hate it when they jump on me!
Enjoy that nice weather; we’ve been getting notifications that things here will be worse than thought. The city is opening all libraries and rec centers as cooling centers. The ozone levels are very high and dangerous for at risk people. We’re counting down the days till autumn-76 for the record 😉
Hey kids,
I so love the plush of summer, even if I would rather have more agreeable temps at the same time. But I guess you can’t have it all. Norman is NO intern for sure, not with an expansive vocabulary like that. And Elsa’s comedy stylings are second to none!
Here’s to the weekend everyone. Have a great one.
As always, thanks for your comment, Marc. The ‘kids’ voices definitely are mirroring their personalities. 🙂 Enjoy your weekend.
They’re exceptional correspondents.
Good weekend to you
Beautiful sightings this week. Stay cool, y’all, looks like the temps will be brutal!
Many thanks, Eliza. We’re gonna do our best to stay cool. Have a fabulous weekend.
we will drink a lot of water… promised… so we can go out at night 87 times LOL… we love your pink pawrade it is beautiful!!!
Thanks Weims! Pink always makes gardens look fabulous. Have a great weekend!
Norman and Elsa, good job with the Nature Friday–Pink Edition!
Pink in the garden just makes us all happy. Here’s hoping your weekend is in the pink!
Thank you, same to you!
Loved the walk today. Norman is unruffled it seems. That is a good thing. Japanese beetles ugh.
He truly is the most chill dog I’ve ever seen. Even tightly wound Elsa doesn’t bother his even keel.
You’re so right on Japanese beetles. I’d prefer just about anything over them! Have a great weekend.
We don’t have any here (yet)
PO-TAH-TO! Elsa …! Good job today and paws up for putting Norman in his place (woof, meow) … we were all ready to ask about his Grand Appearance Magazine Feature, but quickly read on, so will be anxiously waiting, but this day our applaws goes to you (and we’re wondering if you have one of those awesome macro lenses to capture such magnificent photos!) WOW from both June, and Mom
You’re too kind, June and Mom-thank you. Actually all those (except the birch tree) were taking on the cell phone. It’s easier to cart around on our wanderings than a heavy camera. Trust me, Miss Elsa is too scrappy for her own good-it amazes me that Norman doesn’t put her in her place but he’s such a sweetheart, nothing seems to bother this big guy. He just moves away avoiding conflict. Have a ‘wagnificent’ weekend.
your photos are astounding! We have no flowers around us, and I loved the commentary. If only there were humans who commented this well I’d watch their show for sure. The lily is so pretty. Japanese beetles need containment, they were constant companions in Maryland. We had several collection bags that had to be replaced often but it allowed us to have flowers that they would have chewed down to skeletons
Thank you! The damage on this part of town from Japanese beetles is pretty bad-especially grape vines. Seeing the skeletons makes me so sad-even with collection bags becoming more widespread. Talk about a scourge on the landscape! Have a nice weekend-hopefully you and Milo will stay cool.
What a beautiful post and I love your conversation.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. Scritches to the pups, a smooch to Norman and a hug to mom. ♥
Thank you, Sandee. It’s more fun with the two of them together. 😆 Here’s hoping your weekend is beyond wonderful.
What a perfectly pink post! Minus that doorman… Egads!
And those effing Japanese beetles make my blood boil….
They really skeeze out our Mom. She puts both of those crawly things in the same category…as in hideous! We hope your weekend is truly ‘wagnificent.’
I agree with your Mum 100%
Those dang beetles took such a chunk out of my roses last year… This year I see some evidence of chomping but haven’t found the culprits, yet. Which surprises me because they are so stupid they just sit there waiting to be capured in a Mason jar where I let them die a slow death…
People are putting up beetle bags like these everywhere. (https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lawn-and-garden/insect-and-animal-control/insect-bait/7135718?store=14239&gclid=CjwKCAjwq5-WBhB7EiwAl-HEkoorxUoxH2M6rPmKnn_UM_v5FBa8FbNerQoUGRRNZCl391x84B4YyBoCGNcQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) And yet, you can still find them all over the place. Argh!
Yeah, a friend told me about them last year. Did I get any yet? Of course not. 🙄
But, like I said, I bizarrely cannot find them where they usually hang out…
That’s what makes those bags so handy (thought not perfect). At least you wouldn’t be wasting time looking for those nasty creatures!
Normally they shine in the sun… But yes, I should get off my heinie and get a bag or two.
With those iridescent bodies, you’d think they’d have a lot more birds noshing on them. They must taste pretty bad!
They must be vile.
They’d have to be just based on the numbers that manage to plague our gardens!
Sorry to hear about the pizza oven weather. We are in a somewhat nice but humid spell (it is summer after all). Walks are early.
We hit the trail at 5:30 every morning now. Makes for a long day but then that’s why naps were invented, right? Have a lovely weekend enjoying some pleasant summer weather.
Norman & Elsa…agreed, that is NOT my kind of protein either. High-tail-ing it outside to start enjoying the weather. Hydrate and stay safe this weekend on the Ranch.
Our Mom reacted as if she’d just walking into a spider web. Arms windmilling, screaming, the whole 9 yards. She HATES grasshoppers! Have a ‘pawsome’ weekend!
They certainly found some lovely flowers between them…must be the competitive urge! Just to complete the phrase…Bob’s your uncle and Fanny’s your aunt.
Right-o, kind Helen and thank you. A special bum wiggle for you.
~Norman 🐾
Thank you Norman!
🐶