Welcome to this week’s edition of Nature Friday where we join our friends from the Adventures of the LLB Gang for their weekly blog hop. There are 64 days until the official arrival of autumn, but who’s counting? Sorry we’re late posting. Mom gets easily sidetracked and said she had some things to take care this morning. Elsa here with slices of nature from around our ‘Hood. Like everywhere else on this blue marble, it’s been hot and unlike many areas, our neighborhood remains dry as a bone.
Wilson: Bone? What…where…did you get a fresh bone? How come I didn’t get a bone?
Elsa: Here we go again. Yo, “Hoover,” it’s an expression. I didn’t get a bone; there. are. no. bones, I’m just describing the moisture situation. Or lack thereof.
Wilson: Whew, I was afraid that maybe I missed something to nosh upon…ok carry on.
Elsa: {eyes rolling} Well, it’s that time of summer where bad grasses come out and stick to everything…socks, furry legs, paws, well you get the idea. Mom had to pull some of those nasty things off both of our ankles and feet and several of them managed to weave their nasty little selves into our back door mat. They’re a real pain to remove since they’re like Velcro with barbed ends. We’ve written about these rotten things before. Well dude, I’m here to tell ya they haven’t gotten any less evil. Let’s take a gander at Foxtails first. Yikes, they have a gajillion seeds that are stickier than Gorilla Glue…just waiting for some unsuspecting chunk of fur to attack like Velcro.
Guess Nature decided Foxtails weren’t bad enough, so she decided to create goatgrass. This one is particularly troublesome for us dogs and can cause all sorts of problems.
Wilson: Yeah, one those guys hitchhiked on one of my legs when I was sniffing for the perfect spot to relieve myself and I had a devil of a time trying to pull that bad boy out. And I thought the weeds and bugs were bad in Missouri.
Elsa: Oh trust me, Missouri does not have a monopoly on bad weeds. Luckily Mom is neurotic very conscientious about anything that sticks to our furs. Which is a good thing, unless of course, you’re the one at the end of a slicker brush.
Wilson: Egad…don’t remind me {shivers}. Count me in the ‘not a fan’ category.
Elsa: Down Wimpy…let’s talk about some nice things. Hibiscus flowers are in bloom right now. Talk about striking and BIG. Did you know they are part of the mallow family. The leaves alternate, ovate to lanceolate, and can be toothed on the edges. The flowers are huge, rather trumpet-shaped, with five or more petals. They can range in color from white to pink, red, blue, orange, peach, yellow or purple, and are approximately 4–18 cm (1-1/2 to 7 inches) across. Dried hibiscus is edible and is often a delicacy in Mexico. It can also be candied and used as a garnish, usually for desserts. Contrary to popular beliefs that the flowers or petals are what is being eaten, it’s actually the calyces (that part in the center of the bloom). Even your big fat head looks small by comparison.
Wilson: Hey, that’s not nice. There’s nothing abnormal about the size of my head; I just needed to see how it smelled.
Elsa: Well, you do have a large head and nose, you can’t deny that.
Wilson: Like I said, I’m perfectly sized for a sheepdog.
Elsa: Oh, you mean B-I-G? Whatever. Did you notice the new lawn art in the ‘Hood? At least I think they’re rather new-ish.
Wilson: I did. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of those things. It seemed clear they weren’t squirrels or rabbits, but I wasn’t sure just what they were. They were quiet and didn’t move one bit. Such stealthy creatures.
Elsa: Oh my dog…you are such an idiot! Those are lawn art statutes, you bozo. Jeez…were you standing behind the door when they were handing out brains? {smacking a paw against her forehead}
Wilson: Well, I’ve never seen anything like that, and you shouldn’t be so judgmental.
Elsa: You’re right, sorry. But for the love of all that’s holy…I can’t believe how literally you take things. Anyway, let’s share our last photo for this week. Mom seems obsessed with heart shaped things lately and she seems to often be in the right place at the right time and found this new heart. She’s walked past this corner garden lot for years and the owner is always switching things out or otherwise updating the plants. Looks like she decided to install a heart-shaped succulent space. I kinda thought it was kind of sweet.
Wilson: Cute little hen and chicks.
Elsa: Whoa…look who’s got the Mister Green Jeans impersonation down pat.
Wilson: Hey, I’m not just a handsome face. So what’s everyone doing this weekend? Mum said she’s attending the Open House for the new Lutheran Hospital which opens in two weeks. She attended the ribbon cutting ceremony last night and says I’m gonna love visiting the new facility. It’s amazing and will be incredibly modern and state of the art updated compared to the old hospital. Hopefully I can visit the nurses and staff on practice runs soon.
Elsa: Paws crossed. I need some quiet time where I don’t have to explain everything to you. You can be quite exhausting at times. Whatever you do, we hope you’ll take some time to look for all the cool things Nature gifts with us. Have a great weekend, peeps!
Live, love, bark! ,🐾
Java Bean: “Ayyy, wait, where are the bones again? And do they have to be dry? I like mine a little bit juicy …”
Charlee: “I don’t think there actually were any bones.”
Java Bean: “No bones?!?!”
Yeah, sorry, Bean, there were no actual bones in the making of that post. Wilson was pretty cheesed too.
The only major nasty ‘stick ons’ we have here are burrs and some other tall weeds. Petcretary pulls any she sees in our yard right out before they can go to seed and gain a foot hold.
That is a sweet succulent heart. The rock at the top the picture reminded us of a hairless mouse or some other critter. It seems to even have an eye! Maybe it’s guarding the new hens and their chicks!!
Petcretary loves hibiscus teas! It is even known to have beneficial health benefits, such as helping with blood pressure.
The area around my Dad’s house has lots of burrs and goat-heads stickers so we sympathize. If it continues to remain dry down there, all our walks will need to be on the roadway instead of next to it. With traffic becoming more heavy, it can be dangerous and we need to be very careful for those early morning walkies.
Yes, if I’m not mistaken Native Americans used hibiscus to lower blood pressure. Pretty and healing…what a power combo!
Great photos! We don’t have any mean grasses around here – although Mom says our own lawn has turned mean due to lack of rain. It’s a MEAN brown instead of a COOL green. Not much we can do about that though. We also love that succulent-planted heart garden……! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend – we’ll be inside avoiding the heat!!
Huggies, Teddy and Mom Pam
Thanks Teddy and Mom. You’re lucky you don’t have these nasty grasses. We totally understand, we’re in a bit of a drought ourselves. It’s Wilson’s birthday today so we’ll be ‘paw-tying’ this weekend (but definitely inside). Stay cool.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Wilson!!!! Keep cool – we’re trying too!
I hope you get control of those foxtails and goatgrass. The yard art and the photos are beautiful.
Thank you, for your kind comment Thomas. Those pesky weeds are a part of summer here, especially when it’s so hot and dry so we just try to make sure they get removed as soon as discovered.
Beautiful photos. Love the heart shaped garden.
Thank you, Ellen. It was a lovely find to come across this week in particular.
Those flowers sure are pretty and I love those flamingos! Watch out for those hitchhiking weeds. Have a fun weekend!!!
Thanks, Terry. Aren’t those flamingos just fabulous?? Here’s hoping it’s not too hot down your way. Happy weekend.
Hey gang… we love lawn art. Fun post as always.
Many thanks! Mom keeps her eyes peeled for cool lawn art. Then again, some of it is just flat weird. You humans…guess it’s true, art really IS in the eye of the beholder. 😆
We have a dinner plate hibiscus and it is one fussy plant for sure. Takes a lot of TLC. Lovely stroll today, Monika. Thanks.
Fussy, eh? How interesting. Around here they seem to flourish. Maybe it’s the dry heat? Goodness knows there’s lot of that! Glad you could follow us on our walk-about.
Yeah they drop buds and the blink of an eye. Remind me of gardenias in fussiness.
Wow, that’s remarkable. They ones around here are tough as nails and recommended for the crummy soil and extreme conditions.
Maybe we should torture it a little.
😆
😁
Loved the photo of Wilson sniffing the hibiscus, that’s a keeper! 💕
Mom got lucky catching him in mind sniff. She’s not always fast enough but that morning the stars (and flowers) were all aligned. 😉
Hope you two can keep those sticky, sharp, and dangerous things out of your furs. We have gotten into sand burrs and they are mighty painful in the paws! The hibiscus is super pretty and Madison loves the pink. Have a fun and safe weekend.
Thanks. Yeah, those dried grasses and foxtails are a real nuisance. Luckily our Mom is paranoid about them and scours our bodies. She even had some stick to her sneakers the other day and boy was it a pain getting them off. Grrr. Mom loves bright pink flowers and this hibiscus filled the bill! Have a great weekend.
I love the heart! (fitting, eh?) And especially the part that they are succulents and don’t have to be replanted every year. (Cause that’s not my cup o’ tea, as you know.)
I’ve read some alarming info about foxtails, and how they can get into the brain through the ear, that they migrate, almost like an insect or worm. *shiver* We have them here, too.
Last but not least, I’m happy for sweet Wilson that he will get to go to the new hospital and make everyone feel better! Way to go, big boy!
LOVED your observation, you’re too clever. It made me smile. It’ll be interesting to see how those hen and chicks fill in. We had a single spot and now they’ve managed to migrate a bunch. But we figured filling in the dirt can’t be all bad and they are easily enough to pluck out if they get too aggressive.
We’re hopeful about the hospital visits. Mostly we’re concerned whether or not we’ll get lost in the new space. While it’s actually a tad smaller than the current hospital, all the floors are the same and if we take a different elevator, we could easily end up not exactly where we intended. With some luck they’ll provide some helpful maps otherwise Mom may have to carry birdseed and leave little clues. It’d be a shame to use a pocket for the birds and not the hungry hippo therapy dog. LOL
I’m sure you’ll get around the new hospital just fine. I bet there’s lots of signs and personnel to help folks.
We’ll all be in the dark and can only hope the signage improves (it seemed a bit light during our orientation) but we’ll all be lost together. Misery loves company, right? 🤣
Love the flamingoes. Folks around her consider them trashy when made out of plastic but art when made out of metal! This is a wonderful time of year for flowers. It’s almost overwhelming!
That’s what Mom thought. the plastic ones really are pretty lame-o. 🦩
But the birds are beautiful! I love a big metal pink sculpture!
Hard to go wrong with pink, am I right?
👍
The worst things we have around here are some nasty little vine like things that grow out along the edge of the sidewalks. I had to walk our dog into the street to avoid them. I hope you both can keep your fur free of hitchhiking Velcro.
Thanks Dan. Our mom is becoming better at keeping up out of those grassy patches. I think Wilson got whiplash this morning when she dragged him out. For whatever reason, he insists on relieving himself in the deepest vegetation he can find. Always makes cleanup interesting. 🤣
The flamingo-looking yard art was gorgeous! We get little green alien things that stick to dogs here- nasty stuff.
Those alien weeds make Mom want to carry a blow torch with her this time of year. We thought that flamingo pair was pretty cool and leap years superior to plastic flamingos. 🦩
Thanks, Helen. Our mom likes hibiscus tea-it’s so tasty and refreshing. Yeah, those seed heads are incredibly vexing, especially when they come in contact with soft, fine doggie hair. Have a ‘pawsome’ weekend!
Oh, those wretched seeds that stick to the fur!
I first tried the drink made from dried hibiscus in Egypt and loved it…luckily can get the dried petals here for an iced drink when things are hot.
I did like the heart!