Welcome to a soggy edition of Nature Friday. Norman here with my Ninja sister, Elsa ready to share a spot of Nature from this week. As always, we’re joining Rosy and Sunny from the LLB life. Be sure to click on the link to see what others have shared.
Norman: As the opening line suggests, it’s been as soggy as a London spring. Uncharacteristically soggy. Mum looked up and found the rain totals for the past couple of days range from 2.72″ to just under 4″ of the wet stuff. I have to hurry outside to do my business. As you can imagine, I preferred the day before the rains began where the sun felt good enough for me to trample lay in the middle of the garden ground cover and rejuvenate after our successful fundraiser on Sunday. I’ve never done that before and Mum was kind enough not to disturb me. The day was lovely and I refused to come in. Luckily she had some work she could do outside and let me enjoy that Mile High sunshine.
Elsa: You were lucky. Mom knows I tend to guard wander the grounds looking for squirrels, bunnies or worse…some dog walking by so she wouldn’t let me snoopervise your nap. What’s a girl to do all cooped up in the house on a sunny day when you’re outside?
Norman: Umm…let me think…bark your head off?
Elsa: Doggone straight. That always gets Mom’s attention.
Norman: {clearing his throat} Indeed little one. It kept Mum from working without having to worry about one of us Ranch Hands who shall remain nameless.
Elsa: Well, {stamping her paws} I just wanted to be with my family too, you know. It’s not fair you get to stay outside without me.
Norman: Well I don’t go after dogs or critters or wander off, Mum knows I can be trusted to be on my best behavior and greet everyone politely.
Elsa: Politely….schmitely. Who’s going to protect us if it isn’t me? While wiggling your butt may be considered adorably cute, you just never know if someone plans to steal something or otherwise cause harm. I’m just a very good watchdog. I mean…somebody’s got to be on alert for the serial killer postal delivery person. {sniffling} I just don’t know how I could live with myself if I left that guy alone unsupervised around my family around.
Norman: {eyes rolling} Oh for dog’s sake…he’s a nice chap and rubs my ears quite nicely when I see him.
Elsa: Nice chap? Ha…I doubt that…he seems pretty sketchy to me.
Norman: Oh please.
Elsa: Well let’s get going and show folks something other than your lazy carcass squashing the ground cover, ‘kay? Remember when Mom decided to walk around that other lake near our house? She found some cool looking birds while she walked around on the Berkeley Lake pathway.
Norman: Oh yes, that’s a Red-winged Blackbird. They’re one of the most abundant birds in all of North America. The males are marked with red and yellow “shoulders” that stand out amongst their black bodies. The females aren’t quite as colorful, being mostly brown with light streaks.
Elsa: One of these days, Mom is going drag out her good camera to catch the beauty of these guys. I mean, look at those mountains. She could have captured them so much better with that camera than with her cell phone. Does she even know where that camera is these days?
Norman: Of course she does but it’s hard to carry a big DSLR, our leashes, poop bags, house keys, etc., especially when you get scrappy with passing by dogs. She has her hands full enough just keeping you in line.
Elsa: Oh yeah. But still…cell phone pics never look great by comparison.
Norman: Sometimes compromises are more important to make. Necessity is the mother of invention
Elsa: Stop going all Confucius on me, Dog Breath. Besides, I’m just not very good with compromise, especially when I know I need to defend my family.
Norman: Mum knows how to ‘protect’ us just fine and still manages to find some interesting things for us to share.
Elsa: You know you’re right about that. I wouldn’t cross her. She can be tough as nails when it comes to taking care of us. In fact, I’d say too tough most days. Especially when she’s making me tow the line.
Norman: She’s just looking out at our best interests, that’s all. So have you noticed the Bearded Irises are in bloom now? These deep purple ones sure are lovely and no doubt have been enjoying all the rain this week.
Elsa: They sure are striking, brother. And one of Mom’s favorite late Spring flowers. Just look at that beautiful purple color!
Norman: Our Mum has good taste in flowers. That’s a real beauty. Another one that’s a favorite of hers is the Lilac. They’re just starting their annual show and boy do they smell great. Too bad, WordPress don’t have a plug-in for scratch and sniff. These things smell so heavenly and reminds me of my Nan. {inhaling deeply} Aaaah.
Elsa: They sure are and definitely a sign that we’re entering in prime garden season. Before you know it, we’ll be barking about the heat.
Norman: {shudder} I hope not too soon. In the meantime until all the showers move out, I’ll just chill here on the sofa-the perfect place to wait out the rain. Just a few more days according to the weatherman. I just came in from outside and it’s already tapering down with just barely a sprinkle. Bravo!
Elsa: Yeah, it’ll be nice to walk around outside without having to be toweled off every time we go outside. So Big Guy…what’s on your dance card this weekend?
Norman: I’ll be the sheepdog ambassador at another fundraiser at the Cherry Creek Kendra Scott Give Back Event this weekend. Those ladies are so nice and I’ll be there to greet Mother’s Day shoppers. I haven’t seen them since Valentine’s Day and they give the best ear rubs. Mum says you don’t even have to show up in person at the store for the Give Back to benefit Old English Sheepdogs. You can shop online here. Is this a great country or what?
Elsa: Right you are, fur ball. We hope everyone has a great weekend pampering and loving on their moms. We’ll do our best…in between enjoying some elements of Nature. That’ll make Mom very happy and she’ll in return make us happy with treats and ear rubs. Win-win-how cool is that?
Norman: Have a pawsome Mum’s Day!
Live, love, bark! 🐾
Beautiful lilacs 🙂
Thank you. They fill the air with a divine fragrance.
What a great fundraiser you had!
And we sure enjoyed all the pretty nature scenes.
We do that guard duty, too, bidden or not…mostly not, BOL!
Hope you gave your Mom a wonderful licky kiss for Mother’s Day!
Thank you. We were very fortunate so many came out to support the rescue. Guard duty is my best skill, I’m just trying to convince Mom that now. We gave our Mom a really nice Mother’s Day. It’s nicer having a holiday where we don’t have to wear any hats! BOL
Elsa sounds like quite the guard dog. Happy Mother’s Day to your wonderful mum!
Thank you, Ellen. Yes, Elsa is quite the guard dog. Nothing gets past her…much to Mum’s chagrin at times. We all hope you and the kitties have a lovely Mother’s Day.
Good Saturday Morning Kiddos!! The Z Kids are happily playing here in the living room and send you both tons of puppy kisses. ❤️❤️🐾🐾
Your Mom’s flowers are gorgeous!! I want so much to have a garden, but these two would just dig everything up. Luckily I have an azalea on the side of the house that I can see from the back porch. Azaleas were one of my mom’s favorites so I think of her every time I see it. Which is every time I take her grand-puppies out to the backyard. I love ANY flower that’s purple! We’ll probably get rain today, though I do wish it would wait until after we 3 have gone to bed. I love watching these two play and playing with them; but the yard turns into a giant mud puddle when it rains here.
Have a great weekend!! And Happy Mother’s Day to your Mom!! 💐💐💐
Many thanks Z-Kids Mom. Our mom likes purple flowers a lot and those irises always inspire her to take pics of them. Every year! Everyone at the Ranch sends our very best Mother’s Day wishes to you and hope you have a super weekend.
Normie! You look equally comfy enjoying an outside nap in the sun OR enjoying a cozy nap on the couch. Life is good isn’t it….even if it gets WET from time to time!
Hugs, Teddy
Norman is nothing if not a lounge lizard. At his stage in life, he deserves it. Although our Mom received a picture of him as a small puppy and guess what…he was sleeping in a large recliner! LOL Have a wonderful weekend, Teddy and give your Mom our best Mother’s Day wishes.
Mee-yow wow Sweet Norman an Elsa those Irisess are sprck-taculur!!! BellaSita’ss faverite flowerss!
Ourss have not bloomed yet……wee allwayss beehind with our wonkey weather.
Ypuss’ sure gotted alot of rain! Wee were like that last week; this week has been dry furinallee….
Wishin youss’ an Miss Monika a lovelee weekend….
~~~head rubss~~~an **nose kissess** BellaDharma~~~ an (((huggiess))) BellaSita Mum
Thanks. Aren’t they a lovely shade of purple? We’re so grateful for the rain even though we don’t like to go outside in it. But as of this afternoon after it completely stopped raining, everything looks so beautifully lush and gorgeous. I’m sure the trees are especially thrilled to have received the nice deep moisture. Hope you have a swell weekend!
Beeuteefull Irisess!
HURRAH fore no mor rain….no more muddy pawss rite Sweet Norman an Elsa?!?
It was a furry nice Birfday weekend with BellaSita Mum…
Glad it was a great birthday weekend. It’s still soggy here but everything is turning lush and green (especially the weeds-ha!).
Rain is good! Before you know it, it will be hot and dry again. Beautiful flowers!
Our Mom isn’t complaining about the rain per se, though I’m sure that’ll start once all the weeds start popping up. LOL
Can’t have one without the other!
Hi Furball, umm, sorry, we mean, Hi Norman! And Elsa!
Xena: Angel Lexi used to love to lie in the ivy bed outside of Mommy’s office at the Episcopal Church where they worked.
Lucy: It’s nice to look at the mountains, isn’t it? We live in the Tennessee Valley, with mountains all around us. Makes for some variable weather.
Chia: Those purple flowers do have beards, like Xena. We have a couple in the backyard cactus garden, but their weight makes them bow their heads to us. Finally! Someone (thing) that will bow to me!
Oh Xena…bowing isn’t the ‘be all, end all’ thing you might think it should be. Seeing mountains can be lovely when the busy Interstate isn’t in the foreground. Mom didn’t take that into account when she snapped that pic. 🤣
It’s still nice to see the mountains, even with the road there. But everyone bows to Kings and Queens and Princes and Princesses and I’m the Schnauzer Princess Warrior! OK, so maybe I’d rather get cuddled and loved…. Xexe
Cuddles, treats and loving is ALWAYS better.
It’s nice to have rain . . . in the middle of the night when I’m sleeping because it keeps me snoring. But yeah, it gets old quickly when you have to continuously towel yourself off after a walk. Confucius say “Rain is needed, but sometimes it sucks”.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Confucius is very smart man. 😆 Enjoy the weekend!
You too Monika
Yay on the rain! I know you guys need every drop you get. Those irises are beauties! And yay to lilacs. They have started here, too. Still a little shy but they are popping.
Hope you have a fabulous FRIDAY (yes, today is the right day!) and weekend!
It seemed so bizarre to have rained continuously for over 24 hours here. But we’ll take every life sustaining drop! Happy Fri-Yay!
I bet! But hey… Take it while you can.
Fri-Yay!!
The watershed is too tenuous to not be grateful for every drop Nature deigns to grant us.
I understand. It would be nice for it to be spread out all season…
the iris… that’s a blue!!!! ours are more light and grayish… but this is THE blue.. happy furryday and a good weekend
We tend to love those deeply hued irises too. The color is so very vibrant. Hope you have a pawsome weekend!
Even with the wet conditions… we have to love the flowers!
Living in a mountain desert area, we shouldn’t really complain about rain. We get so little of it and the past couple of months have been pretty dry. It made for great sleeping (till the thunder woke everyone up). 😉
Beautiful purple irises!
Yes, I agree about cameras taking better pics, but cell phone cameras are so convenient!
Good for you Elsa in protecting everyone. You deserve a badge or medal or something!
Norm, you make it look real inviting lying in the sun! Best of luck with the fundraiser. I am sure you will charm everyone. 🙂
Yes, shower your wonderful mom with lots of affection this weekend, she deserves it. <3 Happy weekend to you all!
Thanks for the good wishes and kind comments on the flowers. We hope you have a ‘wagnificent’ Mother’s Day.
Norman should be grateful he has his sister to watch over him…..she reckons!
Good luck with the next fund raiser and let’s hope for some sunshine so that Norman can recuperate on the lawn.
Norman: We can do without Elsa’s security patrols-she scares everyone, not just me.
Elsa: Why I oughta…
Mom: Now,now Elsa. Behave yourself. And Norman-you can just as easily lay on the sidewalk without squashing the ground cover, thank you very much.
Have a lovely weekend, Helen.