Yay! Blog! v2.0
Category: Animals

Lily has a boyfriend at doggy daycare. His name is Ramrod. He's the dog of the day there today:

I've met him, and he's a very sweet pup.

There's a goofy article in the Vancouver Province complaining about the rejection of exotic pets in hotels and restaurants in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Just as silly, the article points out a picture on the Cypress Inn website of Kim Novak and one of her Llamas in 1992. Click "Pets" and then watch the short Flash slideshow here: Cypress Inn website. Apparently, the Cypress Inn is owned by Doris Day.

Thank you, drive through.

I've been seeing large birds lately that I've never seen before outside of a zoo. A few weeks ago, I saw an owl in my neighborhood. Then at Christmas time, I saw a heron. Today I saw a guinea fowl in someone's driveway down the street. I didn't know what it was, and thought it might be a small wild turkey. It flew up on a roof, so I headed home to get my camera. I was lucky to find it again on a different roof:



The neighbors knew what it was. Someone must raise them at that end of the street. Apparently, they come from Africa, and they're good to have around for killing deer ticks.

During my Google research on Guinea Fowl, I found this fable: Guinea Fowl and Rabbit Get Justice.

I ended up naming the new family member Orion. Ever since I discovered the constellation, I've wanted to name a pet that. Not that I *discovered* discovered the constellation. Someone else did that before me. It kinda fits the kitty cat, too, as he's black as the night sky with white hairs like stars (if you have an imagination). And Orion (the hunter in the constellation) likes dogs because he has a couple of dogs following him around the night sky.

Orion (my cat, not the constellation) hasn't been very social last night and today. He mostly stays under my bed. He was a little pissy to Lily earlier, too. I think he's recovering from our trip to the wellness clinic and all his shots plus adjusting to his new home. Hopefully, he'll adapt quickly. He used the litter box this morning, so that's good. Now if he would eat some food and drink some water, I'd be a happy momma. He did come out once last night and found the front window.

I took the stray cat that loves LilyDawg to the pet wellness clinic this morning. I thought she was a girl cat, but turns out he's a neutered boy cat. Now I'm trying to think of a name for him. He was going to be Zooey when he was a girl. His temporary (maybe permanent) name is Jordan. I talked to a neighbor a few minutes ago, and she said her husband calls him Ocho like a Spanish eight ball.

They said he's a good healthy cat at the clinic. He just has a little tartar on his teeth that needs to be taken care of.

Yay! for our new family member!

On our morning walk a few minutes ago, I saw something swoop up to the top of a very tall antenna. I saw it just out of the corner of my eye, so I knew it was larger than the pigeons that frequent our neighborhood. I looked up, but I could only see a fuzzy silhouette because only the first lights of dawn were sneaking over the horizon. I thought it looked like an owl. Something about the way it swooped upwardly to land on its perch also made me think it was an owl.

I stared at it for a few seconds, but Lily pulled on her leash to keep walking. When we were past the house with the antenna, it started hooting. Lily even stopped and turned back to look. We'd walk about 15 more steps, and it would hoot again, and Lily would stop to look back.

When we got to Lily's field, I could hardly make out the antenna anymore between the lack of natural light and a street light shining in my eyes. I hurried Lily on her mission, and we started walking back home.

I could still see the shape up there and hear the hooting. As we walked by the house with the antenna, I stared at the owl. It's a wonder I didn't trip on a crack on the sidewalk, as I wasn't watching where I was going. Just as we passed the house, the owl took flight. I watched it fly southeast until I couldn't see it anymore.

If I gave in to the spiritual thoughts I have sometimes, I would think it meant something. An owl is the bringer of the dream and death, wisdom and deceit.

From Irish Kelly...

To promote their new game, Zoo Tycoon 2, Microsoft is in search of America's Favorite Zoo. The winner of this contest will receive a $25,000 grant. Austin Zoo is one of the 15 semi-finalist and is the only private, non-profit Zoo in the running. Yay! Austin Zoo!

Please support Austin Zoo by going to the Zoo Voting Site and voting for it. Just scroll down, click the button next to Austin Zoo (first on list) and submit.

Here's the Austin Zoo.

Sunday weigh-in: PZ -14 LW -0 (lost 14 pounds total, lost 0 pounds since last week)

No weight loss this week. Or to look at it the "glass half full" way... no weight gain! That's an accomplishment with all my trips to Chik-Fil-A and Starbucks. D'oh! I'll eat better this week.

Now isn't this the cutest thing...

LilyDawg has had a couple adventures this week. On Tuesday, my landlord came by to pick up the rent check, and he found LilyDawg out in the front yard! She wanted back in the house (thank goodness!).

You see... there's a big black dog next door named Sir. He's made a few holes in the fence between his yard and ours. He's also made a hole in the fence between my neighbor's yard and ours. He goes through those holes and then gets out through a hole in my neighbor's gate. Dogs like to roam, you know.

There's also another little stray dog who uses the holes to go visit Sir. I call him/her Little Ridgeback. I don't know if he's a girl or she's a boy. I know how to tell... ahem. I just haven't looked.

Anyway... I put a brick in front of the "gettin' out" hole, but I wasn't vigilant and let LilyDawg go in the backyard when the brick had been moved by Sir. She got out! It was a good test even by accident, though. Whenever I let her out front, she takes off running, and I have to chase her down. It's good to know when she gets out on the sly, that she wants to come back home.

The other adventure was when she went through the hole in the fence between Sir's yard and ours. Sir is a BIG black dog, and I didn't know how he would react. Luckily, he could have cared less. haha I had to go retrieve LilyDawg and bring her back home.

Sir and Little Ridgeback like to come look in my dining room window sometimes, too. They did today, and I snapped some pictures (click on each picture to see it bigger):



I get worried when Sir goes roaming. And I worry about Little Ridgeback because I'm not sure he/she has a home. I sure love those pooches, though.