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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

A Home Invasion At That Old House, Or: Who Let The Dogs IN?

Hooray! It has been raining generously off and on for the past few days,
and our grass is beginning to green up again after playing possum --
shriveling up and turning brown.


Yes, there is still plenty of brown, but it is definitely greening up.


We have to remember to water the hanging asparagus ferns on the front porch;
the rain doesn't reach them.


I've abandoned Boston ferns in favor of these fluffy lovelies, as they don't shed,
and their fronds don't get brown if you miss a watering or two. They stay green.

We like green!

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We also like red and white, or brown and white, in the form of small spaniels,
who descended on That Old House this week, en masse:


"Hey! We know there are chipmunks in this wall somewhere!"


We happily welcomed Dion's breeder, Joanne, and her darling Kilbrook family of Cavaliers, all relatives of Dion himself -- sisters, nieces, great nieces, and a great nephew who seems to share a number of his Uncle Dion's characteristics. We won't go there . . . .

We managed -- by keeping Dion on a short lead! -- to get a picture of him,
and two of his three littermate sisters:


Notice how nicely Daisy and Nina are sitting, paying attention to Joanne
Notice how Dion is being held in place, because what he really wants to do is jump down
and continue wrestling with his great-nephew, Woody,
who is all decked out in a kelly green belly band.

Guys just want to have fun, you know.

Anyone who has owned an intact male dog knows why Woody is sporting the Green Badge of Shame.

He is, as we say, lucky he is cute.
And he sure is cute.


Our doggy visitors thought it rude that we didn't let them join us for lunch in the dining room. Do you think we got their attention?
That's all 5 of Joanne's dogs, hoping and hoping and hoping . . . .


They didn't think much of the fence we put up for crowd control.

Anne took a number of videos; this, the shortest, is right outside the door to the dining room.




One thing about this gathering -- it was very quiet. No barking, no fights.

Sheesh! You call that a family reunion? Where's the shouting and the broken dishes?

They milled around, gave one another The Big Sniff . . .

Total dogs at our house that day: 7. Yes, SEVEN.
Dion, his sisters Nina and Daisy, his nieces Ginger, Ivy and Pepper, and his spunky nephew Woody.
. . . and then settled down to doing what Cavalier King Charles Spaniels do best: look cute.


And that's it for this Wednesday. I have not been a very good blogger lately.
What can I say? It's summer, and I'm lazy!




Join Susan at
A Southern Daydreamer
for Outdoor Wednesday!




By the way, what do you think this young lady was trying to tell us? :-) Cass

21 comments:

  1. That last photo really gave me a laugh, Cass. I love your mosaic with all those sweet little faces with their big brown eyes. You had a house full. What fun!

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  2. Oh my goodness, all that furriness, they are so sweet !
    Cavalier King Charles Spaniels were a big favorite in our family, my grandma had several herself.
    Just wonderfully regal little dogs.
    I have hung the Asparagus ferns on my porch before, you are correct, no shedding of the fronds, but the amount of sun exposure they receive on my porch, isn't ideally suited to them.
    Yours on the other hand look fabulous Dahling :)

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  3. They are the cutest! (Just don't let Rosie know I said that!)

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  4. "Dion and the Belmonts" TOO FUNNY! Made me laugh out loud! I think you have to be over a certain age to "get it".....and luckily I am....waaaay over it!

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  5. Wow, now that was cute!

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  6. It is a doggy lallapalouza!! I noticed your grass greening right away and I love asparagus ferns too! So fluffy and fun.

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  7. Just dogone (pardon the pun) fun! :o

    Melinda

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  8. Let the last one out for a potty break!! :-D They are all adorable, but Dion is still the cutest! You did have a full house with all 5 of them there at the same time. :D

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  9. How fun, Cass!! I have to say that Dion is the most handsome...and I am not just saying that, I love the color on the top of his head. Little Daisy looks just like a girl, without you telling us, with those curly ringlet ears!! I love this breed!

    xoxo
    Jane

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  10. HI Cass! Oh, that funny little girl! I do hope you didn't have any little wetness on your floor! What a darling bunch of little Dion lookalikes! These are just about the prettiest little fuzzy faces I've ever seen - but I must not let Chloe Dawn know this! ;)
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  11. Okay fill me in. What is the green band for? I know he is intact but???? I am not usually so naive.

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  12. Cass, this post is adorable. I love this breed. They are all so cute. I just smiled myself silly.

    Thank you for the pooch fun.
    Hugs, jeanne

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  13. Hi Cass,
    Look at all the little doggies, too cute!
    Valerie

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  14. They are adorable -- ALL of them! Ollie is jealous that Dion has so many relatives! Each one is sooo cute! and the whole passel or bevy of them has to be a riot!

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  15. Ps. returning your comment about bats. I don't know if I ever told you, but we at one time, had over 500 bats living in our chimney. Well, needless to say it stunk!This particular chimney was closed off, but there was a gap between the chimney and the house. Anyways my son had been telling us for a long time he heard these bird like noises in his room (the chimney ran along side of his room). We didn't pay any attention to him, because he was always a weird scaredy cat as a kid. Finally one day he told me I had to come outside and stand next to the chimney and listen. Sure enough I heard a bunch of little sounds--almost like baby birds. So that night my hubby and I took folding chairs and sat out and watched the chimney area. We nearly fell over dead!! We lost count at 500---we sat there and counted them as they were leaving out for the night. Well we draped a net over it that night. Poor things. ANd we sealed everything up. Once a few years later some managed to get in under some loose shingles, but we took care of that. UNfortunately the result is we have tons of mosquitoes now. They really got worse when an old church which literally had many thousands living up in part of the building was torn down. The college near us studied them for a while before it was torn down. Now where did all of these bats go, I want to know? We had considered a bat house , but my hubby doesn't want to do it and he is afraid it would tempt them to come back into our house!! ha!

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  16. You know I love this post with Cavaliers in the family. What a wonderful gathering and I must share it with Mom. They really are a sweet breed. Such kind loving companions that smile all day.

    -Rene

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  17. What an adorable family Dion has :) I love those sweet faces! If only they were non-shed...both my husband and daughter have allergies.

    I love asparagus fern too for it's drought tolerance!

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  18. Great pictures. I think someones needs to take a walk. If my two dogs get in the house is it awful. You guys are good.

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  19. I'm very pleased you had fine weather for the canine chaos day - they are all little cuties!

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