I thought he might be hunting rabbits or birds....

[JPlovesflowers]

I was out planting some annuals and ripping out more yards of weed mat today and my little maltese started hunting around one of our hollies. I got really excited thinking he might possibly have smelled a bird or a rabbit, (I'm always hoping he will exhibit some normal dog tendencies) and asked my husband what he thought. He watched for a couple of minutes and said "I think he's looking for a cool spot" It was all of 78 degrees in the shade, and kind of humid since it rained last night (it's almost never humid here) and Max cannot take the heat. We took a few shots of him because he was so cute and I thought I would share. I also enclosed a shot of our waterfall, the birds just love it and we've had a snake, a rabbit and a turtle so far this year. Hopefully the summer will bring some more visitors...JP

[Garden Spider]

That is an ADORABLE doggie!

Your garden is lovely, too.

[doccat5]

What a cutie! He just looks so sweet. And I bet he's not spoiled much! LOL

[webmaster]

Beautiful garden and the doggie is waaaaay cute!

[JPlovesflowers]

Thanks for your comments. He's not spoiled much....he's just rotten. We had a cocker spaniel for 15 years before Max became part of our family...I was tired of cleaning dirty paws and chasing after him while he chased squirrels, rabbits, voles, moles....you get the picture. Bo would hunt while I would garden and we would both collapse when we got inside. When he got really old, he would lay under my hydrangeas, where it was cool, and watch me. He would have stayed outdoors forever if I had wanted to. So, I decided to get a lap dog on this go round. Max is bred for sitting in the laps of queens and kings, literally. I have a little cart that I sit on when I garden, it has saved my back for several years, and Max jumps on my back to try to get me to take him inside or to take a spot in one of the loungers so he can sit on my lap. We've reached a compromise, if my husband is home, he sits in the rocker with Max and they both watch me work.....What you won't do for the men in your life.
JP

[TheLorax]

That corner of your yard with the waterfall is a spectacular focal point! Water is a bird magnet. Love it. The dog is absolutely adorable...but then you had to know that already. The hairier the better as far as I am concerned. Our dogs aren't cute and adorable like yours. Maybe someday we'll pick up something cute and adorable that's hairy and worthy of sharing a photo.

[JPlovesflowers]

Stick with the ugly ones, they're much cheaper and much more useful. Max is purely ornamental, although he is a great companion too, I'd be lost without him. I love the waterfall corner, we literally have a postage stamp yard here, I was wanting an acre or two, the infrastructure is very limited here, lots of land, but nothing developed, so acreage is insanely expensive (about 100k per acre) and it takes about a year to build a house once they break ground, not counting the purchase and contract time, so I'm happy with what we have for now. If we get the opportunity in th future to have a place with more space I would definitely put a pond in. Free entertainment all season, we spend every evening outside watching the birds....what more could you want?
JP

[TheLorax]

What more could one want? Everything you have to include the cute little doggie (don't fool yourself, ours are purely something but definitely not functional and not necessarily ornamental because they're slobbering Great Danes) and since you asked... I'd like somebody to weed for me while I sat in a lawn chair under an umbrella facing your waterfall.

[JPlovesflowers]

I love great danes, unfortunately they don't live as long as the little ones usually, and I get so attached I try to keep them forever....If you come visit, I'll weed and you can watch...it's a deal

[TheLorax]

(sigh) It is true, they don't have a long lifespan and it's a heart breaker when they go that's for sure. What aggravates the situation is that we get all of our animals from shelters and only take adults- no puppies and no kittens. The shelters are sort of desperate to place the larger breeds that go to around 200 pounds and particularly the large breed adults so we basically let them pick for us when we go in to get a dog. Needless to say, we always walk out with the biggest, drooliest, ugliest thing they've got that's been taking up run space. In defense of our dogs, they're good with people and even better with little people and other animals so we don't have to worry about a cat being used as a snack or some kid losing a face around here. They're gentle giants.

No no no, you've got it all wrong. A duplicate of the waterfall you've got gets constructed on my property. Then I put up the lawn chair facing the waterfall and a second one for a friend. So you and me sit in the lawn chairs with the cutie pie non-drooling little white hairy thing at our feet sipping lemonade while somebody weeds.