Giant Schnauzers

The Birds Are Back......

But the birds are back only because I decided to start feeding them again.  To feed and watch the birds means playing cat and mouse games with the antelope squirrels who come over the wall to get the droppings left by the birds.  I love this one of the gila woodpecker with the seed in his mouth.  I didn't realize the gila woodpecker had yellow on their undersides.  Don't often see them in this position. 

He is quite the clown and this little house finch is brave to share the feeder with him.  I haven't managed to get a picture yet of the woodpecker hanging off the bottom of the hummingbird feeder but he can and does.

This little hummer takes off for a safer place when the woodpecker stops by for a sip of sweet nectar.

One of my favorite visitors to the feeders is the cardinal.

   

The days have been beautiful and have begun with these incredible sunrises.

 

These are followed by incredible sunsets as seen through the front door.

Sunset was followed the other night by an enormous moon.

Fall in the Desert

Fall in the desert is a little different than other parts of the country.  Our deciduous trees don't lose their leaves for another few weeks yet, usually sometime in December.  If we plant things in August, they are now starting to mature.  Here at the Schnauzer Ranch, we have to outsmart the schnauzer wanna be farmers.  Several of them like nothing better than to pick watermelons as soon as they are big enough to have a sweet scent.  They don't eat them, just pick them.  Who knows why?  Not me........

But we do have other things growing.  You might notice either bird netting to keep out the antelope squirrels that dare to breach the block wall or that other plants have bits of chicken wire on them.  That is for the giants that try to pick the groceries before the humans have gotten to them.  We don't dare wait until the edible is at the perfect stage, it might have been devoured by then.  The plum tomatoes are liking this cooler weather.

The herbs are doing well and add incredible taste to things that were normally kind of bland.

We love peppers and the hot peppers love us.  They come up as volunteers in many different places.

My favorites are the red, green and yellow sweet peppers.

The zucchini are in bloom and the bugs are happy about that.

The cacti starts are thriving and can go in the ground soon.

Finally the birdhouse gourds are growing.  Now if the antelope squirrels don't try and pick them and drag them over the walls for their winter feast, we might have some to dry and use.

The reason I like to garden and grow things?  It is the influence of my grandmother, Bam, and this is her favorite saying.  I hope I can make as big an impact on my grandkids and she did on me.

Valley of the Sun Giant Schnauzer Rescue Fun Day

Today was the day!  It was the Valley of the Sun Giant Schnauzer Rescue's Fun Day.  It was our first Fun Day at Deer Creek Animal Hospital in their great facility.  They have an acre of grass out in back with place for the dogs to run and with the shade we put up, a place for the humans to sit and visit.  The dogs were treated to an agility demo with Tango the giant.  If was fun to watch and they both did a great job!

Here is a little video of Tango showing how to use some of the equipment.

Download tango_agility_video.wmv

The dogs loved the hot dogs in water.  Bella, one of our newest rescues couldn't wait to start and scooped those hot dogs out of the water like a vacuum sweeper.  She would have put many a pool cleaner to shame.

There was a kids' pool where the four legged kids could cool off in the heat.  It was 85 degrees here in the Phoenix area today.

People sat in the shade and in the sun to catch up on all things dog.

Our newest rescue looking for homes.  Big Red is an honorary giant or a giant wanna be. She is certainly giant in size.

The Mighty Quinn

When I went to pick up the Mighty Quinn at his preschool today, the teacher warned me as she has never done before that he was in quite a mood.  Oh dear!  But we walked the long walk out to the car and he seemed to be OK.  We got to the car, and CRS dawned on me.  I had forgotten to stick the carseats back in the car after carting dogs around this weekend!  Yikes and it is a half hour drive from the house to Q's school.  But I called dear Hubby and as always, he loaded up the carseats and brought them to us.  Remembering the warning from Q's teacher, I looked around for things to do but he was perfectly happy manipulating every button and knob on the dash that he could find.  We passed a pleasant half hour waiting for his car seat.  Thank goodness it wasn't too hot today!  But for some reason Q was fine during the wait. I left him with his mom just as true grumpiness was beginning to show its ugly head. Told them I loved them and would see them tomorrow!

He entertained me with the sunglasses he found in the glove compartment.

Back at home it was time to continue grooming the seven giant schnauzers that are in residence at the moment.  I had gotten three done yesterday, got another 1.75 done today and will finish the others on Saturday.

The above is Ms Greta saying she is Queen in case you forgot it.

Thank You Veterans!

As this Veteran's Day draws to a close, I just want to thank all of the veterans who make this country so incredibly great!  This evening we were going to go to the Golden Corral Restaurant for a free dinner for hubby as they were offering free meals for vets this evening.  When I called, they said the line was more than a block long so we opted instead for our own meal with contributions from friends who have spent time with us recently.  It was a wonderful meal!

This last week my daughter and granddaughter collected things that a local group is putting together and shipping to the soldiers in Iraq to make their lives a little bit easier.  We contributed a large grocery bag of items as our way of saying thank you.  If you are interested, here is a website where you can find your state and places where you can help support the troops.  http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americasupportsyou/states.aspx

No matter how you feel about the politics in Washington, these men and women are over there putting their lives on the line 24/7 so that we have our freedoms here.  It is what soldiers have done since this country was founded.

Ms. Greta Girl Whines For Her Dinner

Greta is our pepper salt giant schnauzer who is the oldest member of our schnauzer clan.  She will be nine years old on November 25 of this month.  She is a food hound if ever there was one.  Her focus on food is extreme and continuous.  She whines when it is close to putting the food down for the dogs.  Should one dare to walk away and leave the food on the counters, Greta will start singing for her supper.  This video really doesn't do her justice. She is most restrained in her demands for her dinner.  She is a hoot to watch and listen to.  She can always make me laugh.  Enjoy her antics..........

Download greta_talking_to_eat.wmv

A Visitor From Germany

This evening we had the delightful experience of meeting a gal from Germany who comes and travels all over the United States in her RV.  This time she is going to leave her RV here with us while she goes back to Germany.  When she returns to the US next time, she will fly into Phoenix and pick up her RV and head on her way.  This evening she got to meet lots of German dogs, the giant schnauzer.  She said she hadn't met many in Germany and had to travel across the ocean to meet so many in one place!

Our gift to her was that she got to meet our giant schnauzers, but her gift to us were these incredible cream puffs that did not have any sugar or fat in them.  They were amazing and so delectable!  And she made them in her RV in her little stove. 

Under the table Hank and Celtic, the best buds, slept peacefully side by side.