Thursday, April 29, 2010

THURSDAY IN THE GARDEN WITH DANTE

Thursday's come around again, and today we find Dante in the front garden.  It may be small, but it still requires some care and protection.



Welcome to our front garden.  It is mostly composed of flowering bushes, but the leaves are just starting to come out on them now.


We have to wait until the end of May or June before the flowers come out.  In the meantime, I will sit here and make it look pretty.  I am a good garden ornament after all.


Here I am lying down where mama will put all of her other cat ornaments.  She has lots and lots of them.  She calls this her "Cat Garden" once all of the dead cats are out.  At least I think they're dead 'cause they don't move or anything.


Of course, to me, it is always a cat garden whenever I'm in it.


Speaking of being "in" it, here I am sniffing around under the spirea bushes (they gets pretty pink flowers later on).


I have detected the distinct scent of introoders!  Dis stink is definitely theirs -- I'd know it anywhere.


I'd better stay right here to protect the garden from another invasion.


Hmmm.  It's real comfy here in the garden bed.  I'm getting kinda sleepy.


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


Suddenly ... what was that?


Aha!  My arch nemeSIS (or maybe it's my arch nemeBRO -- I really can't tell).  It's loud crunching woke me up, and good thing, too!


It dares to step foots in my garden again!


I lies here in wait for it -- it's coming closer.  I can't move a muscle yet or it will know that I'm here.


Oh dang!  It's escaping.  Well, at least I got rid of it anyway.  If I hadn't been here it would have danced all over the garden bed spreading it's noxious smell from one end to the other.


Now, let's see.  Where was I before I was so rudely interrupted?


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


Tuesday, April 27, 2010

TAILS TUESDAY: DANTE'S ENCOUNTER

It was a windy day when our neighbour stopped by with her woofie, Rascal, to say hello.  This isn't Dante's first encounter with Rascal, so he recognizes him as a friend and trots right over to see him.  Dante's tail is like a flag being whipped by the wind.


Unfortunately, this time Rascal wasn't as amenable and let out a loud bark.  Dante just stopped and reversed his course, and slowly and calmly retreated.  He was a little sad that Rascal was feeling so irritable today, but took it in stride, as he always does.  No hackles were raised, but Dante's tail shows he is as confident as ever.


Rascal's mama thought he was being aggressive, but after recounting the story to some woofie-loving friends of mine, they said that Rascal's stance showed that he just wanted to play.  Rascal's head and front legs are bowed down.

Do any of you out there know what Rascal is really telling us?

Thursday, April 22, 2010

DANTE ON EARTH

Well, it just happens to be "Earth Day" today, as well as a gardening day, so I thought we'd kill two birds with one stone by showing Dante on earth in the garden.

Dante, as you may know, has already done a good fertilizing job back there, but until the grass seed is sown, nothing is going to grow (and the weather's still not warm enough for that).

However, what Dante is able to do beautifully, is perform his secondary task as garden ornament. So, here he is, in the garden, helping the earth as only he can.


Dante says "You has to stand up for what you beleaf in!"


"And I beleafs in Mudder Nature".



"You see when it rains an' da erf gets wet, that's Mudder Nature making mud".


"An' den the sun comes out an' dries up all da rain".



"An' de itzy bitzy spider goes up da spout again!"


"Speaking of spiders -- I likes dem, too. In fact, I likes all kinds of bugs, but my fafurite is da grasshoppah".



"And dat's why I want to help da erf, so da grass will grow and da grasshoppahs will come for me to play wif".



"My udder fafurite fing is trees. You has to be good to da erf so da trees will grow big and strong."



"So I says a liddle prayer and sends dem all my good vibes".


"And finally, I gives da tree a pat on its branch (cuz it doesn't has a back), and tells it what a good job itz doing. You see, itz good fur da erf, an' da erf is good for it. Itz what dey calls a symbiotic relationship."

And with that, Dante has hit the nail on the head (or his nails on the tree).  We all need to have a symbiotic relationship with our Earth.  It's the only one we've got.  So let's preserve it and it will do the same for us.

Happy Earth Day, efurryone!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Sunday, April 18, 2010

SNORGALICIOUS SUNDAY WITH DANTE

It occurred to me that I don't usually post a lot of pictures of Dante lounging.  Even more rare are his belly shots.  Dante's underbelly is replete with thick, luscious, snorgalicious fur, and it's soft, soft like a bunny.

For your viewing pleasure, and snorgling desire, may I present to you, Dante and his tummy, taking it easy on a Sunday morn.





As the next few pictures will show, Dante has this huge, thick mass of fur just past his armpits.  It looks like he has a second mane under there.  It's the longest armpit hair I've ever seen, that's fur sure!





Finally, here's a close up of a hefty portion of the belly floof for your snorgling delight!

And with that, Dante and I wish you all a very happy, easy and snorgalicious Sunday!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

DANTE: GORGEOUS IN THE GARDEN

Not only does Dante do a terrific job at fertilizing the garden, but he also serves as garden inspector and garden ornament, as well.  Last week we showed you, yet again, his fertilizing techniques.



This week, you will see that he visits every corner of the garden to see what needs tending -- and he certainly finds what he's looking for.

He also stops to adorn the garden in different spots, and allows me to take pictures to immortalize his efforts.  Dante specializes in wandering garden ornamentation.  He's thinking of going into business and renting out his services, too.  Do any of you need to spice up your garden with a bit of ginger splendour?

Behold the gallery of photos of Dante, Gorgeous in the Garden.

Dante reports that Daddy really needs to plant some grass seed, here.  He's already fertilized the area, so it should be good to go.


This is an ornamental shot.  Dante makes anything look better, even a yard full of dirt.


Dante shows exactly where the seeding needs to take place by outlining the boundary between the existing grass and the bare sod.  Doing double duty, he is also very handsome while performing this task.  Mom is even using this shot currently, as her desktop background.


This shot could be an ad for Dante's future business as garden decor for rent!


Here, Dante is checking out the other side of the yard.  He notes that the day lillies are doing quite well, but there's lots of general clean-up to do in the garden bed. 


Dante has transported himself to the back of the garden this time.  Daddy really needs to get out his rake and clean up the lawn.  And in the garden, he needs to pull out the old dead plants from last year to tidy it up.  

 
Dante strikes yet another ornamental pose to great effect.


Can you see the look of dismay on Dante's face?  Daddy really needs to get busy cleaning up this garden.  Dante can only do so much to make it look good, and at this point it's not enough!


How's this?  If you focus on Dante, you don't notice the mess too much.  He tends to draw your attention.  Great move, Dante!


And finally, Dante takes a rest after his inspection.  He's added everything that needs to be done to his report, so his Daddy can't say he didn't know about it.  The only thing in the way now is Daddy's tendency to procrastinate.


All Dante wants to know now is, how many of you out there might be interested in renting his services as a garden ornament for a day?
(Note:  Of course, he'll do it for free for his lady love Miss Camille Suzanne anytime she wants.)

Biggify any and all photos for maximum viewing pleasure.