We're under attack!!!!

Freedom is running back and forth from the patio window to the front door, her ears permanently perked up and her tail going. She just tried to nudge my hand off the keyboard and is now running back and forth from me to the door. This would normally mean I have to peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee but that is not the case. The yard, the trees, the roof are covered with swarms of cedar waxwings. Their noise is sending her off the deep end. She loves to play with the birds. If I open the door she will go bounding out in the middle of them and send them flying in all directions, she will race to the back yard and do the same thing protecting her territory. They will fly off at first but if we let her do this often enough they will just perch in the tree and mock her from out of reach. She has never attacked them and whenever the Hero says "Where's the birds?" it sends her in a frenzy of playfulness. The weather has been warmer the past few days and with that comes the birds to feed on the berries from the mountain ash, as well as, the crabapples and plums left on the neighbors trees.

We are blessed with many birds thanks to the huge trees in our yard. It's not uncommon to see blue jays, chickadees, sparrows, waxwings, robins and even the odd woodpecker. We put out seed and suet in the winter. We hung up several birdhouses this fall as well. This past spring we had a nest of blue jays in our front yard.

What are they thinking?

We have the greatest dog. She is very sweet, rarely barks, loves and protects her kids like crazy and she survives the craziness that is our family. We found her or she found us... not sure which is most appropriate but we are glad to have her in our life. I just discovered that I'm challenged in the dog care department. We have the opportunity to be away in the next while but I need to find boarding for our sweet Freedom. I know it will be a bit of a challenge as some of the dates aren't firm yet and others are next week. So as I'm seeking out appropriate kennels for our escape artist who tends to roam or flee when she is stressed or spooked by nasty thunder, obnoxious motorcycles and ATVs and fireworks. While doing this I keep seeing vaccinations up-to-date... hmmmm... so I call the vet. Whoops, bad mommy, she is supposed to be there every year. She was done in 06 but then in 07 she was hit by a car and had almost 4 months of kennel confined recovery with us lifting her down the front porch stairs to go potty... poor baby. So I have her scheduled for Thursday to get back on track and get that rabies vax we didn't do in 06.

Kodiak loves to try new angles, camera settings, etc with Freedom as his subject. Here are a few of the things she has endured as he has pursued his interest in photography. With ambitions to be a wildlife photographer/soccer star one day he has limited "wild life" at his disposal.

Freedom's Excellent Adventure

Saturday was quite the day for Freedom. The Hero's mom and sister were visiting from the west coast so we went into the city for the day to go swimming. It was a lovely day in the city but apparently there were wicked thunderstorms out here in the sticks. To say that Freedom is not fond of loud booming noises would be an understatement. Poor baby was terrified and shredded the screen door to the patio trying to get into the house. She also chewed the handle right off trying to open the screen. She then bolted over the 5 foot fence and went off in search of us. She made it half way to the city but only stayed at this place for about 30 minutes. We arrived home 6 hours after this spotting of her to find the screen shredded and Freedom gone. Panic ensued... Kodiak trying to be the big man but worrying himself silly. It took over an hour to reach the fellow who had left the earlier message about her. It was very frustrating to then discover that he didn't think to tie her up and she'd taken off. The Hero and a friend went out looking for her and they had just made it to where she was last seen when I received a call saying she was at a farm about 2.5 kms north of our house. The Hero turned around and retrieved a soaking wet and sorry dog. She was very happy to be home. Other than some runs from who knows what she ate and drank during her countryside tour she came away unscathed. We hope that this doesn't mean we have to tie her up whenever thunder may be in the forecast. We are very happy to have her home.