Mama and Baby Pipe Birds

Rusty:  Bloggers have been asking for an update on the birds nesting in the pipe.  Marcus, you speak goose.  Do you also speak bird?

Marcus:  A goose is just a big bird with a built-in horn so he can honk the song of his people ... er, his gaggle.  So, yes, I speak bird fluently.

Micah:  Are the baby birds okay and still living in the pipe?  (Dedicated Determination and Cat in Hat with Scarf)

Marcus:  Yes, they are okay.  They tweet a "Hello, Marcus" at me every day or two.

Merci:  It sounds more like a "Mama, save us!" to me and Buddy.

Marcus:  That's because you don't speak their language.  Their mama thanked me for keeping such a watchful eye on them.

Buddy:  Is that what you call it when you practically drag us the last yards to the pipe - each direction!  

Marcus:  Last weekend we saw mama sitting on the pipe singing joyfully.  Jan was so afraid you guys would scare her away she stopped immediately and mama was just a blip in the picture.  Mama was gone before Jan could change the settings.

Rusty:  I bet you barked and scared her away, Marcus.

Merci:  Actually, Marcus has been quiet around the nursery.  

Marcus:  A few evenings ago, Mama was sitting on the pipe and flew into a tree when we approached.  She was small and hard to find to photograph.

Micah:  From what you've said, she'd have to be small for her and her babies to nest in a 2 inch wide pipe.

Rusty:  Is that picture for real?  It looks like wallpaper to me.

Merci:  Yes, it's real.  It was taken looking almost straight up at the evening sky.

Buddy:  This one is from the other day.  It's tough to get a picture looking down a dark pipe.

Marcus:  Here's another shot of mama.  Isn't she cute?  I keep waiting for those babies to accept my invitation to lunch.

Rusty:  Well, when they do, please let the rest of us know. We don't want to miss that meal.


Prayers requested for these sweet doggies, Luke/Benny and Cousin Andy.

You might remember Luke.  He lived with us for several weeks, was returned to his family, saved from there by Teresa, taken in by an Atlanta rescue and transported to New England where he went to live with Elise, Matt and his fur sister Rosie.

Last Saturday we learned Luke - now Benny! - has some health issues and was diagnosed with Lyme disease and with heartworms. 

Cousin Andy lives with Miss Teresa.  (Not Luke/Benny's Teresa)  We introduced him (Funny Farmers and Cousin Andy) in 2009.  Yesterday we learned he has been diagnosed with lymphoma.  Miss Teresa and Mr. Doug are heartsick.  They really love this little guy.  We do too.

We are joining the Pet Parade blog hop with hosts Rascal and Rocco,  Bionic Basil, Barking From the Bayou and Owned by a Husky. 

Luke Sends Ice Cubes

Marcus:  Hey, is that all for me?

Buddy:  No, it's for me and Merci too.

Marcus:  Did Jan order these on Amazon?

Buddy:  No, they came from our old friend Luke.  He was renamed Benny, but you know how forgetful Jan is, so to us he's Luke/Benny.  He lives in the Northeast and has a furry sister Rosie. 

Merci:  Why did he send us a gift box?

Buddy:  Because he and his family wanted to do something nice for us canines.  So they sent us some treats from where Luke/Benny's mom works.  It's a holistic pet store and Luke/Benny gets to go to work with her.  He picked these out himself.

Marcus:  I remember meeting him before he went into rescue and was sent to the NE where his new family adopted him.  Did Teresa get a box too?

Merci:  I don't know.  Teresa rescued him from his mean family when we couldn't help him any more because you were here, Marcus, and Teresa couldn't take in another dog either.  Teresa and Jan are just so happy he has a good home, lives indoors, has a playmate sibling and gets a lot of love.  Now he has a family and a job.

Marcus:  Well, I am sure thankful they thought of us.  Hurry up and open the treat. 

Marcus:  Oh, that looks good.  It's a what, Jan?  A 100% natural Himalayan Dog Chew made with yak and cow milk?  Sounds yummy.

Merci:  Thank you Luke/Benny, Rosie, Elise and Matt.  We will enjoy everything, if Marcus doesn't hog the entire box.

Buddy:  I was just thinking about the video we have watched several times of Luke helping himself from the refrigerator ice machine.  He sure is a smart guy.

Marcus:  That's right.  He does filch ice.  Do you suppose he included some ice in the package?

Buddy:  *winks at Merci*  Of course he did.  Who in their right mind would ship a package of dog treats without including crushed ice?

Marcus:  Thanks, Buddy.  I'll just run in and make sure Jan put the ice in the freezer before it melted.


Join Pepi Smart Dog and friends for the Thankful Thursday blog hop. 

A New Life For Luke

CYNDI:  We are really glad to write today's post.  It's one of the happiest we've ever published.  But first we'll give you just a short background refresher. 

BUDDY:  Do you remember this handsome face?  It's Luke the Pee Machine.  He arrived on July 13, 2013 and lived with us for five weeks and then was returned to his owner. We introduced him in This Intruder Chews.

MICAH:  We still have some photos we intended to publish of some of the things Luke chewed, but we never got around to it.  For example, he chewed two extension cords.  Jan bought two replacements and laid them on the desk.  Percy knocked them on the floor and then there was only one replacement cord.

Teresa and Luke

CAMERON:  Unfortunately, Luke "loving" family was not loving.  A kind neighbor let Luke stay in a dog house in his fenced yard so he didn't have to live chained or locked in a shed.  His sister-in-law, Teresa, bought Luke from the family so he would be safe, even though she couldn't keep him.

MARCUS:  I was just a little guy when Luke came over for some play dates.  He was a gigantic dog by then.  At least in comparison to me.  Teresa worked very hard to find Luke a home and eventually did. But one day this winter, the people contacted Teresa and told her to pick him up right away.  She had no place to take him.  We can't take in another dog, so Jan contacted someone she knows locally who helped Teresa get Luke into an out of town rescue.  Teresa paid to board Luke for a week and then drove him to Atlanta.

MERCI:  In a few days, Luke was on his way to Alpha Dog Rescue in Maine. Luke went into foster care and we all (including Teresa) prayed Luke would not only get a happy home but be able to be an inside dog again.  After a while, we learned he had been adopted.

PERCY:  Then on Friday the 13th, Jan opened an email titled "Pupdate on Luke" and started crying.  We thought Luke had died.  (Humans are so weird!)  We asked permission to share this with you.

Hello there!!
We are writing to give you an update on "Luke" aka "Nonodon'tdothat" aka "Pee Machine". We have re-named him Benny!
We adopted him about a month ago from Alpha Dog rescue up here in Portsmouth NH.
He is still a ball of energy, occasionally pees in the house, chews literally EVERYTHING, pulls when walking on a leash, and can be a toy stealer!!!
Regardless, he has completely stolen our hearts with his big brown Bassett mix eyes!!! He LOVES everyone and is eager to give kisses!! He is extremely smart, he learned to ring the bells on the door  to go outside after us showing him once (our other pup still doesn't get this!).
He has become quick friends with our 3 year old American Bulldog, Rosie and is a typical younger brother. She sometimes gets annoyed and will go off on her own for some peace and quiet, but usually she loves his playfulness!!
We ALWAYS have him on leash, except at the fenced in dog park. His nose gives him an uncontrollable wanderlust and we are not tempting fate!!! We're saving to fence in our yard this year!!!
We know he needs some basic training and some manners, but he is a one-of-a-kind lovebug, that's for sure!
We wanted to thank you for your kind heart and helping Luke/Benny through his tough time. If it wasn't for you we wouldn't have been able to give him his forever home!!!
A big thanks from Elise, Matt, Rosie and Benny!!!!

SAM:  And then they sent photos for us to share. Here are Luke and his new sister Rosie.  They also sent a video of the two playing with a tug toy but we aren't posting it.  It warmed our hearts to see he is so happy. Teresa will be elated!

RUSTY:  Luke/Benny will turn two years old in a month or two. He's had some very rough times, but now he has an indoor home and a forever family.  We wish all stories could have such a happy ending ... or rather, a new beginning.  There are a number of folks who have helped him in some way, including Mark in Texas, but Teresa deserves so much credit for all she has done to find him a good life.  And thank you, Elise and Matt (and Rosie) for opening your hearts and home to him.  We hope he will be ringing your bells for many years to come.

Merci Blushes

Micah:  Hooray, it's the weekend again.

Rusty:  What's the big deal about the weekend?  We're home all week anyway.

Cameron:  Yes, but we all enjoy doing the weekend art.

Sam:  That's true.  Here is our sepia photo of the week.  You remember little Luke the Pee Machine, don't you?

Cyndi:  Jan sure does.  He stayed here a few weeks when he was a little pup and then earlier this year he came back to visit and play with us a few times.

Merci:  He had grown so big and you were still a small pup and you were afraid of him, Marcus.

Marcus:  I was not afraid of him!  Well, I was afraid if he tripped and fell on me, I'd be squashed flat.  I tried hard to stay out of his way.

Sam:  And whenever you couldn't outrun him, you'd flip on your back and squeal like a  ... I have no idea like what, but you sure could squeal.

Marcus:  I was just letting Luke know where I was so he wouldn't step on me. 

 

Percy:  This is our Caturday Art photo.  We turned it into a water color and framed it.

Marcus:  We're a matched set.  Luke matches the color of the tree branch shadows and I match the dirt.  Neat, huh?

 

Buddy:  This is our black and white version for Sunday.  We like to try to post them all together so readers can see different versions of a photo.

Micah:  This time we saved the best for last.  This is the original picture.  You shouldn't have any problem figuring out why Merci asked Jan to crop it.

Merci:  *blush, blush*  I can't believe Jan is so blind she can't see past what's in front of the camera lens. 

If you don't have a favorite shelter in the Vetericyn giveaway, please consider voting for PAWS, Norwalk CT once daily through October 15.   Many of you know of PAWS through Kevin from Animal Shelter Volunteer blog.  Your vote matters. 

1. Click on this link.  bit.ly/1qVZSBi  (it will open a new tab)
2. Click on "Click here to vote for a small animal organization". PAWS, Norwalk, CT will appear.
3.Click "Vote".

Ruckus the Eskie hosts the Sepia Saturday blog hop and last week Earl joined him as co-host. Welcome, Earl.  We're sorry we missed the news last week.

And Caturday Art is hosted by the lovely Athena.

Baby and Boxer

Micah:  Whoopee, it's Sunday, time to smile again!

Rusty:  What's so special about Sunday?  I thought we could smile any day of the week.

Merci:  We can but this is the day we do our Sunday Smile post.

Cameron:  Hey, I was getting a drink of water.  What did I miss?

Sam:  Not much.  We just picked a short video to share today.

Cyndi:  You'll like our choice, Cameron, even though it's not the one you wanted.

Cameron:  So what did you choose?

Buddy:  It's a dog and baby play video.  We've never met a baby so Jan isn't sure how we'd react to all that screaming, but you can tell this boxer really loves this ten-month old baby.


If the video doesn't play, click here. 

Luke & Sam

Percy:  We are re-posting all the weekend arty photos so we don't (we hope) forget to enter the Sunday black and white blog hop again.

Sepia Saturday

Caturday Art with Sam "the grazing cow". 

Original

Marcus:  Don't forget to enter the Pet Parade 1st Anniversary giveaway. It ends this Thursday.  It is not limited to the U.S.  Details and entry here.

Black & White Sunday blog hop, co-hosted by Dachshund Nola and Golden Sugar.

We Have A Cow

Rusty:  It's finally the weekend.  We get to nap all day long if Jan doesn't interrupt us.

Marcus:  It's my favorite day of the week.  We get to post a photo in dirt.

Cyndi:  You mean we get to post a photo in sepia.  You're really fixated on dirt, aren't you!

Cameron:  We think this looks like a vintage photo.  Kind of ... oh, maybe around Jan's heyday.  I think that was about 1823.

Merci:  This is the original photo of Luke and Sam.  You remember Luke the Pee Machine, don't you? 

 

Buddy:  When Jan was playing around with this and inverted the colors, Percy rolled off the desk.  We were all rolling on the floor laughing.  Except Sam.

Sam:  I'd say you're all rude and mean, but I have to admit, I really do look like a grazing cow in this Caturday Art version. 

Micah:  We've been posting all the photos together on Saturday recently, but we've been getting confused on Sunday and forgetting to enter the black and white blog hop, so we're trying a new system this weekend.

Percy:  Dezizworld gave us a few awards Thursday and we were barely given enough time on the computer to write the next day's post, so we didn't get to read their post until Friday.

Merci:  We are so far behind we won't be able to do a post on this, but we do want to acknowledge Dezi and Lexi's kindness in including us in the list of those they passed them on to.  We love you Dezi, Lexi and mom.

Sepia Saturday blog hop is hosted by Ruckus the Eskie.

Caturday Art is hosted by Athena and Marie.

Black and White Manners

Buddy:  Yesterday we posted the original of this photo with a copy in sepia and a copy with accented edges.  (Check out Luke and His Toys, if you missed them.)  Today we post a copy in black and white.  Luke was black and white, so he looks right at home. 

Cyndi:  Marcus, you need to watch this video.  You can learn a lot from this kitty.

Marcus:  Why, is she a teacher?

Micah:  Well, not a certified one, but aren't we all teachers to some extent? 

Cameron:  Yes, we should all set a good example for others.  Manners are very important.

Marcus:  I have manners.

Rusty:  Of course you do.  But you have bad manners.

Percy:  When you want something, you're like a bull in a china shop knocking everything over and scratching Jan because you forget how strong you are when you try to get her attention.

Marcus:  That's not bad manners.  That's just being a guy.

Sam:  I'm a very large guy and you even irritate me with your overzealous bids for attention.

Merci:  I'm a senior citizen and you knock me over too.  Please watch the video and learn how to get attention by being sweet and gentle. 



 If the video doesn't play, click here.

Post your Black and White Sunday photo and join co-hosts Dachshund Nola and Golden Sugar for a blog hop.

Luke and His Toys

Cameron:  Weekends are such fun to post. We get to pick a photo and play with it. 

Marcus:  Play?  Where did you leave it?  I'm in the mood to play.

Rusty:  You're always in the mood to play.  Or create havoc. 

Sam:  We went back into our 20012 photos and pulled out one of Luke when he was a pup. 

Merci:  This is the original.  Like Marcus, Luke loved his toys.  The bigger the pile, the happier he was. 

Micah:  I don't understand how all those toys survived Luke only to be killed / destroyed/ dismembered by Marcus the Murderer.

Marcus:  Aw, guys, that's not fair.  Luke went back to his owners when he was younger.  His jaws weren't as strong as mine are.

Cyndi:  He sure grew to be a big guy with big teeth.  Had Luke stayed longer, we might not have had any toys left for when Marcus arrived.

Buddy:  Well, we enjoyed having him here and were sad when he went home to a bad situation.  At least he ended up with humans who love him.  By now he might have a forever home. 

Marcus:  I met Luke when he was full-grown.  He looks good in dirt, doesn't he?  I know you guys call this photo sepia but I like dirt better..

Buddy:  As far as you're concerned, everyone looks better in dirt. 

Percy:  For Caturday Art we took the original photo and accented the edges.  Gives it a kind of cartoon look.  I like it.  How about you?

Join us at the Sepia Saturday blog hop with host Ruckus the Eskie.

And for the Caturday Art blog hop with Athena.

Luke Visits, Cats Nap

Buddy:  Hey, it's Friday.  Does this mean we get to nap till Monday?

Sam:  No, it means we better do a Friday post.

Buddy:  Do you have any idea what we can post on today?

Merci:  I do.  Luke came by to visit us for the day on Monday.  We said we would post some photos.

Buddy:  Yes, but that was before we saw the photos she took.

Merci

Merci:  Yes, they aren't very good.  She tried to sneak up on us and take photos through the screen door of us sleeping.  See, I was keeping watch for her at the door. 

Sam, Luke & Marcus

 Sam:  As soon as she snapped Merci's photo, we were all up and heading for the door.  We wanted inside. 

Merci (tail), Sam, Marcus

Buddy:  Jan couldn't open the door because we would have all charged inside. I was inside napping so they didn't knock me over with their roughhousing.  Merci knew they weren't getting inside and went down the steps.  But look at those pathetic let-me-in faces.  Their conversation went something like the following.

Merci, Sam, Marcus

Sam:  Hey, guys, where are you going?  I thought we wanted inside.

Merci:  We do but Jan won't let us in until it's time for Luke to go home.  Something about being rude to our guest.  

Marcus:  Yeah, we might as well go back to napping.   But I don't understand why Jan won't let us back in our own home.

Merci:  It's because of Chewy.

Marcus:  Who's Chewy?

Sam:  That's what Luke is known by now because he chews up anything and everything.  Jan has work to do and she can't keep her eyes on Luke so he doesn't chew up things.  That means we have to keep him company outside.

Marcus:  But what if we have to go?  Doesn't she have to let us in then?

Merci:  Nice try, Marcus, but if we have to go, we  would have to come outside.  We're already outside.  We might as well hunker down for the afternoon.  Good thing it's nice out today.

Percy:  Today is supposed to be Funny Farmer Feline Friday at Mousebreath, but none of our interviewees are available this week, so we're taking a nap in order to be ready for the next one. 

Cyndi:  We can always use more names for our list.

Cameron:  Yes, life intervenes and interviewees sometimes have to postpone until a later time. We hope some kitty will be available for next week.

Rusty:  If you are a blogging kitty and you'd like to be interviewed, let us know.  We know we haven't reached all the blogging cats.

Micah:  There's a contact form in our sidebar.  Just don't send smoke signals.  We can't read them.

Percy:  Why would any cat send smoke signals?

Micah:  I don't know.  Maybe he doesn't have email?

Percy:  Then he can leave a comment on our blog. 

Micah:  Good idea, Percy.  You want to tell them that or should I? 

Be sure to join the Pet Parade blog hop hosted by Rascal & Rocco.

It's co-hosted by us (Jan's Funny Farm) and Bionic Basil.

There are no rules, but please visit your hosts and check out the other entries. All bloggers are welcome to join. That means you min pigs, as well as cats, dogs and assorted furries. Are you the Featured Favorite this week?

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Handsome Luke

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