Robin

The Beagle...as a family pet

Our Beagle would not win the Westminster Dog Show, like Miss P, but she sure is endearing, like most beagles.  They are small and lovable!  Beagles, like Robin "Rabbit" - chase things, especially the scent of a rabbit, and many end up on the pages of lost and found.  Robin was found 5 winters ago, she still pees in the house when you are not watching her - even after she's just been put out.  They are difficult to house train.  Still, she is lovable.  So beagles get lost and they pee in the house and eat strange things.  Other than that - they are great family pets!

...we have the room for her and the other hounds to run free...and Robin always comes back...no matter how many scents she follows.  But that's because she can be off leash.  Other dogs, not frequently off leash take advantage of their freedom and go in one direction.  I find that the more dogs are off leash the less likely they are to get lost or run away.  But in order to give them that freedom, you need the private space.  (Most public spaces have a leash law.)

One Month to Go...Winter

This lighting reflects the whole of winter - it is very cool blue - where frost hangs in the valley.

This year January was cold, frigid...temperatures everyday either 30.20,10,-5 or -10.  With one month to go, maybe it won't seem that bad.  I enjoy the excuse to stay inside read and write, but the chores still need to be done.  With the invention of fleece clothing, any layering will keep me warm - and it does, but so does the instinct to pack on the pounds.

Even the dogs are eating alot! Bud "Jake", Buckeye "DJ", Bucky, and Robin"Rabbit", the small beagle hover around the woodstove.  The other dog not pictured is in a cage off to the side, Gullah "Gunner".

Gullah "Gunner" loves to roll in the snow...

The cats can't stay away...

Bluecloud

Oconee

Robin "Rabbit"

she has been with us five or six winters, I have to look back at the first photos of her - she was in the woods for weeks, and it took the help of our neighbors dogs to keep her still so I could grab her.  She's been with us ever since!  The only thing she does wrong is pee in the house, so she is caged in the house overnight.

...even the mice are the more populated indoors due to the outdoor frigid conditions...and the cats don't seem to be doing their job.  See Gene's blog - thehaystore.blogspot.com -  on how to set a humane trap for mice - it works!