Thunder and Lightening

On Sunday mornings we usually do our daily cycling trip right around dawn. This past Sunday we were really in a hurry because we wanted to beat an incoming thunderstorm.  Six miles into the 12 mile ride it started pouring down rain and storming with thunder and lightening all around. We were soaked like drown rats. There is a by pass tunnel that goes under the road and we holed up in it for awhile (along with a bunch of joggers) until we thought the brunt of the storm had passed. Round two chased us into a shelter house a few more miles down the bike way. As I coasted my bike to a stop inside the shelter house I was surprised to see two black lab puppies; one tied to each leg of a picnic table. They looked lost and when I bent down to pet them they both instantly became animated and gave me kisses.  It then occurred to me that there was not a soul around.  I told Andrew that I thought someone had dumped them.  He gave me the we aren't taking these two dogs home look.  I asked him to ride down to the ranger station and see if anyone there knew anything about them. He did and no one was there.  We flagged down some guy on a golf cart and asked him if he knew who they belonged to and he said no.  We waited around about an hour and I finally told Andrew that I wasn't leaving them.  He gave me the we aren't keeping these two dogs look. As per the usual I was on a mission.  I flagged down the guy on the golf cart and called my brother and told him not to ask questions but to pick us up and I gave him the location. He arrived a few minutes later and I loaded both dogs into his SUV and he took them home while we cycled the rest of the way to the house; we were about a half hour out.  All the way on the ride home I kept trying to rationalizee a reason why these puppies might have been left as I didn't want to believe that someone had dumped them.  Andrew said he was certain they were dumped and probably in the dark.  He ended the discussion with the comment that some people are just stupid. Once we got home Andrew called the authorities and the animal shelter was to come get the puppies. Long story made really short here the animal shelter was running behind schedule and I had an appointment to get to so my neighbors 16 year old son said he would watch them. What a great kid! Their beloved black lab passed  in December of old age.  Later that afternoon when I called to see if they had been picked up my neighbor said that the animal shelter arrived-that she didn't like what they had to say- and that she and the kids (her daughter is college age) were adopting both puppies whom Andrew and I had named Thunder and Lightening. She said it was meant to be that the storm had taken us inside that shelter where we have never gone prior and that she had been on the fence about getting another dog and this was how she was able to finally decide. She said they couldn't bear to split the brothers up. I now fondly refer to them as my nephew dogs. Daisy has not met them yet and won't until they see the vet and get a clean bill of health and I'm sure they will be much too exuberant for her liking but she'll deal with it. Andrew said if they bark and dig and stink we'll have no one to blame but ourselves.  Our neighbor has already signed her kids and them up for obedience school.  Isn't this a great story?

Already spoiled...

A Birds Eye View

Andrew was high atop a persimmon tree today removing a dead branch when he decided this scene needed to be photographed. A colleague on the ground put a camera in a bucket and Andrew hoisted it up and was able to capture the beauty of Inniswood Metro Gardens in this one of a kind photo.

Milford Center Prairie

The heat this summer has really kept us from getting out in the field like we usually do. When it's nearing 100 degrees the wildlife is hunkered down too.  A recent post from a fellow blogger and the need to reflect upon the life of a dear friend and coworker who died of cancer last Friday, and who was the driving force in the complete restoration and redistributing the native prairies of Madison County over the past 40 years, was the impetus for a visit to Milford Center Prairie last weekend.  Dayton Power and Light owns this small portion of native prairie situated along a former railroad line and it is managed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Natural Areas and Preserves. Our goal was to locate the rare the native Schinia (flower moths) caterpillar which feeds exclusively on the scurf pea plant, Orbexilum onobrychis. As luck would have it (along with excellent directions from our fellow blogger on where to locate the critters) we found three caterpillars which were near ready for pupation. It was a beautiful day and we were able to get some very nice photographs and enjoy being out and about.

 

Prairie Dock

 

An extremely cooperative American Painted Lady

Schinia caterpillar

 Grey Headed  Coneflower

 Scurf Pea

Royal Catchfly

Your bloggers hamming for the camera.

Growing Bunnies

These guys do love to eat.  Yesterday they were very animated despite the hot weather.  They are also very friendly, having been handled since birth. I spent some time taking photos and playing with them. They are 5 weeks old. I weaned them from their mama on Tuesday because of the heat and she just looked bedraggled with them laying all over her and such.



Air Conditioning

My rabbits now have air conditioning!  We had to pull everyone into the garage a couple nights ago.  It was 104 outside. It's been in the upper 90's for 11 days now. I had three huge fans going in the rabbitry and it was still too hot. Andrew installed a new window in the garage and put in a small air conditioner. We had to go to a couple places to find the correct size window which is what I hate about home improvement projects.  While we had the pens out I disinfected and painted the rabbitry and then I cleaned and sanitized all their cages for good measure. Heat can be a breeding ground for bacteria.  The garage setup will be nice in that  I won't have to worry anymore if the heat gets too high.  Luckily we have not had any losses due to heat. I've been wanting a new window in the garage since we moved in (15 years ago) and Andrew thinks it's not a bad idea to have a portable air conditioner on hand. It was only $150 at home depot for that sized area. Needless to say we have some happy campers now.

Helper Dog

Daisy is "helping" Andrew with a photography project. She will stay right there with him until he is finished.  LOL

Layin' Low

What else can you do? It's still blistering hot. So what's new?