Giant Schnauzers

Lunar Eclipse and Giants

This evening was a nice lunar eclipse even though I didn't stay out to watch much of it.

The cardinals are back at the feeders and that is always good!  I love to watch the birds at the feeders.

The dogs had a good day as usual.  Hank is always happy to relax on the couch, a real couch potato when he is not being Mr. Super Hardhead!

Fiona is really bored with all of my picture taking.  If you look closely, you can see that one eye is open watching me.

You know Queenie is my girl, or so Tom says, since she sleeps with a pillow over her head! 

 

She didn't stay that way long as she likes attention even if she is asleep.

But my favorite picture of the day is with Schultz and his buddies on the couch.  This is true Schultz, in charge of the world!

It is thundering here in Arizona again, so shutting this down just in case we get more thunder and maybe even some rain.

A Wonderful Surprise!

For several years we have used a Canon Powershot S1 IS.  It had done a yeoman's job but suddenly last November, the pictures sometimes became pinkish and distorted.  After it drove me batty enough, I looked on the internet to see if anyone else was having the same problem.  And they were!  And there was a recall type thing from Canon.  I called and got it all set up to send it back to the factory for Canon to replace the optics that were causing the problem.  We got a letter that didn't make a lot of sense from Canon so I called them.  The very nice lady at Canon said that they didn't have the part to do the repairs so they were sending us a brand new Powershot S5 IS!  What a wonderful surprise!  We were still waiting for the email from Canon saying when it would be delivered, when FedEx delivered it!  Christmas in February! 

I have spent the day taking pictures with it.  Enjoy!

Here is some of the crew intently staring at rabbits playing in the corral.......

Queenie can't see, so she stands up on her hind legs to get a better view.

Here is the poor rabbit who left giant mouths watering.

This camera is particularly good with the pepper salt giant schnauzer coloring.  Here is Queenie staring at that rabbit.

Later after the bed was made with fresh sheets, Queenie had great fun rolling in the clean pillows.

   

She loves to have her court out in front of her just as they should be.

I have promised to quit taking pictures for the day, so I will stop here.

Shearing the Shaggy Part Two

It wouldn't be at all fair if I didn't include the other three giants and the fact that they also got sheared.  I did wait until the weather warmed back up and used a 7 blade on them instead of the 10 blade that Hank and Roger got.

Here is Fiona before..........Ms Shaggy Girl herself but she loves it!

She is sooo cute afterwards!!  And she knows it!  She went inside and growled at the rest so was rewarded wth some crate time.  But she did look very cute!

With Ms Zelda it is easy to see where the Black Russian Terriers got some of their genes from the schnauzer gene pool.  She really looks like  a BRT in her before picture.

But she is so beautiful after!  I finally figured out how to make her face look good!

Poor Schultz was last.  It just isn't fair to try to groom a black dog at dusk! 

He hates being groomed under the best of circumstances and he wasn't at all happy to have his picture taken as you can tell from the pose. 

He has to have some touch ups ASAP!  But I don't know when ASAP will be. 

Shearing the Shaggy

At the beginning of the week I decided it was warm enough here to shear the shaggy creatures who share our abode.  I checked the forecasts and it was predicted that the temps would stay the same or warm up.  I guess Mother Nature didn't agree at all!  The temps have dropped again and some rains are here but not much.  I did Roger and Hank with a ten blade so they are a tad chilly and Roger is wearing an old t-shirt now.  Hank isn't all that bothered by the changes in temps, so he seems to be fine.  I did Queenie with a 7 blade, so she really is fine.

Here are some before and after pictures of the trio.  Roger first..........

And Roger after his haircut.....

Roger was black and silver last fall when he had no undercoat.  The undercoat is back and he is almost a tan giant even after being shorn.  Last Fall he was the darkest he has ever been, and this Spring he is the tannest even after being groomed than the has ever been.

Hank loves to be groomed and will stay up on the table if no one else is there.  If I don't keep him shut up when others are being groomed, he jumps up on the table with them.  He loves to be groomed and then to strut his stuff and show off to the others.  He is always the first one to be groomed.

 

Handsome boy after........

Queenie is the last one I groomed that day since she is the smallest and it goes quickly.  I used a ten blade on her since she is new here and still adjusting to the temps even though she is from cooler climes.  I forgot to take her picture before we started, so she has a few clips done.

She looked very black and silver before she was clippered but now she looks very much like a normal pepper salt giant schnauzer.

Three more to be done.........maybe tomorrow if it warms up some.

A Hint of Spring In The Desert

It is the first week of Spring in the Sonoran Desert, and Spring is just around the corner.  The desert is so incredibly green after all of the rain we have had since the first of December.  Very unusual for us. 

The fruit trees are just about bursting with little leaves and the blossoms are hinting at opening.

The brussel sprouts are just about to spring up and produce little tiny sweet cabbage like edibles.  Onions and garlic are doing their jobs trying to keep the bugs away.

The tomatoes survived the unusual cold the last few weeks by having their night clothes on to shelter them from the cool winds at night and are setting fruit.

 

Days start with incredible sunrises.

The dogs supervise and keep those pesky rabbits away from "their" yard.

Today they had fun after the backhoe left and had dug holes to get the old fence footings out.  They thought those holes were just for them and they had great fun digging even deeper in the dirt and getting very dirty faces in the process.  They didn't understand out being upset with them when they did that or when Farmer Hank thought the newly planted fruit trees should be trimmed.  Tomorrow chicken wire will go around the rest of the trees.