EASY SUNDAY: DANTE AIRS HIS DIRTY LAUNDRY!

It's Sunday, and Dante should be resting, but his fur coat is dirty and he has to wash it.  He likes to do his laundry outside in the fresh air.  Not only does it make efurrything smell better, but it dries faster, too!  He thinks efurryone should have an outdoor washer and dryer.

At first glance, Dante's fur looks lovely, fluffy and clean. 

It's his underwear that's the problem.

How many of you would lick your own underwear?

On Dante's washer, there is a 'tailspin' cycle.

Sometimes the feet aren't level and it makes the washer rock back and forth.

Time for a little readjustment.

                   Ah!  That's much better.

Socks need extra attention.  It's the ground-in dirt that gets between the toes.

Dante's not too sure he likes the taste.

In fact, it takes a while for him to digest.

Underwear and socks are all clean!  Just let drip dry.

Have a great Sunday efurryone!  Hope you can keep your dirty laundry private instead of airing your privates publicly like Dante.



THURSDAY IN THE GARDEN WITH DANTE: THE SUNSET MAPLE

Today Dante is in the back yard again.  He is relieved that there is nothing untoward, and he can now enjoy the beauty of the colourful leaves.

In our back garden we have two deciduous trees whose leaves turn colour. There is the crabapple tree which has yellow leaves in the Fall, and a 'Sunset Maple' tree which has bright orange to red leaves in autumn.  The crabapple has already lost most of its leaves, but the 'Sunset Maple' is just coming into its glory.

"Dese is our twees", says Dante.

"Lookit da bootiful wed leafs!"

"Sum of dem is orinj, too!  I luvs orinj!  Its mai fafurite culler."

Here's what they say about the 'Sunset Maple' on the internet:

"The leaves of a red sunset maple tree are shiny green on top and pale green beneath in the spring and summer seasons. They typically have three to five lobes, and are up to six inches in diameter. The flowers are small and red, appearing in dense clusters during mid spring. Red fruit replaces the flowers in mid summer. Red sunset maple trees also have reddish stems and twigs, which provide a good deal of winter interest once all the foliage has fallen.

Red sunset maple trees are relatively fast growers, and can grow up to two feet per year until maximum height has been reached. The sap of a red sunset maple tree can be used to make sugar, but this is of a lesser quality than that made by sugar maple trees. In the fall, the foliage of red sunset maple trees turns a beautiful crimson orange, and is one of the most beautiful trees during this time.


Red sunset maple trees are highly ornamental, especially during the flowering period and in the fall months, but have lovely color year round."

"I haff lots in commun wif da Sunset Mapull", declares Dante.  "We is bof weddish orinj and highly ornamentull."

"Also, didya noes dat da mapull leaf is a pwoud Canadian symbull?", asks Dante. "We even has it on our flag -- rite smack dab in da midull!"

"Heer's sum moar pichurs, mama took of da mapull twee fru da leafs of da cwabappull."

"Such pritty cullers, doan yoo fink?"

"Uh-oh!  Dere's sumwun else who is enjoyin' the leafs in our back yawd!  He's got a two-pack snack in his pointy liddle paws.  Efurrywun wonts a fwee lunch!"

"I chased him, but he got awai AGAIN!!!"

"How hoomiliatin'!"

"O well!  If yoo cant beets 'em, join 'em, dey sai.  I'm gonna enjois the leafs wiles I can."

As the sun sets on Dante and the 'Sunset Maple', all is as it should be.  Seriously.



ALMOST WORDLESS WEDNESDAY WITH DANTE: GRAMPA AND THE BIG BOYS

Grampa and Dante on Thanksgiving Day

Grampa and The Big Boys (Dante and his brotherbean, Ryan)



Ryan (6'4") and Grampa (about 5'4")



FLOOFY FRIDAY WITH DANTE

Silence is golden, or in this case russet.  The pictures speak for themselves.

THURSDAY IN THE GARDEN WITH DANTE: MYSTERY SOLVED!

If you have been following Dante's gardening posts recently, you will know that he has been quite PURRplexed about the condition of the trees in our yard.  The leaves keep turning to yellow and red and falling to the ground.  It seemed to Dante that it must be the work of an evil force like those rampant rodents known as squirrels, or perhaps even that poisonous pooping pug from next door.

Dante is endeavouring to stop this tree deterioration before it spreads around the world.  He took samples of the bark from the trees in the front and back yards, and the results are due today.  Here's Dante to fill you in. 

"Heer I is in da back yawd ware moar an' moar leafs has fallen on da grownd.  It's gettin' verreh messy I mus' say!"

"An' dis is wot I see frum mai back yawd!  The poison is spreadin' alREDdy!"

From our back yard we have a clear view of the wooded ravine which runs the whole length of the street (and beyond).  As you can see, the deciduous trees are turning colour.  Dante better get to the bottom of this right quick!

"Now I is in da front yawd, an' checkin' fings owt arownd heer."

"Dis is reely kwite alarming!"

"Da whole yawd is jus' littahed wif leafs!  Normally I likes any kind of littah, but dis makes me feer fur da future of da werld."

"All dese leafs is deaded.  Dey are even turnin' brown."

"Oh, heer cums da UPS man!  It mus' be da wesults of da tests I bin watin' for."

"Mama is openin' da envelope fur me and heer is wot it says."

"Leaves are Mother Nature's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose. Oxygen is a gas in the air that we need to breathe. Glucose is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar is called photosynthesis. That means "putting together with light." A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color.

As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter.

During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. We just can't see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll."

"Boy, is mai face wed!  Dere isn't any poison.  Dis is Mudder Nachur tellin' us dat wintah is comin'.

An' yoo noes wot dey say abowt Mudder Nachur."

"Doan mess wif her or yoo hasta answah to me!"

So Dante has learned a major lesson today, and it will only serve to make him a better gardener in the future.  Mother Nature needs all the support she can get.

 

LIVESTRONG DAY WITH DANTE

Livestrong Day is a day to raise awareness of the 28 million people living with cancer around the world.  It is an opportunity to put a human face on this disease by personalizing it through the lives of our friends, family, colleagues and neighbours. It’s a day to express good will and support for survivors and those still living with cancer day-to-day. They need all of the hope and strength that we can give them.

It has always been said that there is strength in numbers, and this is no truer than our combined efforts today.  Those who have battled and still are battling cancer will feel the power of our united will to live on and live strong.

As a member of the Cat Blogosphere, Dante is going yellow in support of Livestrong, along with many of his fellow cat bloggers, including our coordinators from  "The Cat's Meow", "Zoolatry" and "Life from a Cat's Perspective".  

To see the community Livestrong page for the Cat Blogosphere with contributions from many of our members, just click HERE. 




Dante has donned his yellow Kung Fu shirt and his Livestrong headband to demonstrate his solidarity with this worldwide effort. Dante has, appropriately enough, adopted the "Tiger" type of Kung Fu fighting.

Kung Fu is actually a good analogy to Livestrong's efforts against cancer because it is used to improve health and change the physical body from weak to strong. Discipline, respect, confidence, determination, and a healthy lifestyle are just some of the aspects developed through Kung Fu training.

This reinforces the importance of a strong and determined mind in achieving a healthy body.

Just imagine what the force of our collective consciousness can achieve when we all act together!