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! 🐾