Blending In

Just another "Chloe" post.  I wanted to get the photos up before I forgot about them -- so it is just a few random thoughts thrown (poorly) together.  I promise to post something artsy in the next couple weeks  :-)

Chillin' with Bud, the immobile Corgi

 Chloe decided to make friends with Bud on the 90 degree days since he always has a sweet setup of a fan, water, and toys.

Setting up The Perimeter

She is also figuring out how things work here, routine and just what it is a dog does around here.   All the dogs regularly line up with a decent amount of space between them, often alternating directions, watching all sides.  I don't know if this if a pack, instinctual thing, or if my dogs are just special.  Either way, Chloe has found her spot.

Chloe, Garden Guardian

Being that time of year, I have been planting flowers for the past couple days and the dogs have been enjoying watching from under the shade of nearby trees.  Chloe however liked to set up camp next to the flowers.  Pansies seem to be her favorite.  In this photo, she is also sporting her new harness, making her an official member of the pack.  She doesn't scratch at it at all, like she did with a normal collar, so it must be comfortable.  It is also nice to have something to grip when she goes into squirm mode.

Like Clockwork

For the most part, Remy has wanted nothing to do with Chloe.  He watches her perched from the couch most of the time, with a "wtf" look on his face when she decides to do laps around the house.  Slowly he became more and more amused by it.  After about a week and a half, he would get down on the floor around 6:00pm, when he is getting antsy for the regular big play outside session at 6:45pm with Mike, and bark at her in an attempt, I think,  to get her to do a lap.  The first few times didn't work -- those of you who know him know he is REALLY LOUD, and she was mostly scared by it.  On the third day, he started using a new bark I never really heard from him before, much gentler and shorter, almost comical -- and it was like a green light for her.  She started doing laps for him and he attempted to chase her, but it took a few more days for him to really figure out how to do that as well, due to the size difference and she would weave between his legs so he mostly just tripped at the beginning.

Today they moved onto wrestling.  He used his special bark and she just wouldn't do the laps, instead deciding to jump on him.  His response was to just bury his face under a blanket (he was completely under it most of the time, rather than what the picture shows) and bark at her while she pounced on him.

He's really starting to enjoy her.  But only at 6:00pm.

BFF

Saturday marked Week 2 since Chloe came to live with us.  We also had a LAN party, which means, lots of people over.  Which is great, except for the whole Chloe not liking anyone still.  She is slowly coming around to individual people, but it is definitely a constant work in progress.  Adrienne asked if it was alright to bring her dog like usual, and I decided to take a gamble and say yes.  Mattie doesn't seem to have a mean bone in his body, so I figured if Chloe could distract herself from being afraid of the people for long enough she could have a blast with him since he is a lot more playful (read:  younger) than my other dogs.  Or at the very least, my best guess was he wouldn't make the situation worse.

Apparently it was the right call.

She didn't hesitate approaching him -- I don't think she even immediately noticed the people that came along with him.  They spent the day wrestling and chasing each other (or at times, just running like crazy not knowing who was chasing who.)

There were times they both looked so worn out, I think they just didn't know how to take a break.  Also, notice the nice "just in from the rain" look in the last picture?  Yea, she was soaked -- with Mattie slobber.  That was from within the first hour of them meeting -- it got quite a bit worse by the end of the night.

Luckily, Mattie distracted her from all the other people.  She would still go into a barking fit from time to time, and no one could really approach her (with the exception of Adrienne -- I think she got a pass for bringing Mattie) but overall I think he helped make it a lot less stressful for Chloe.

Meet Chloe

Share?  What does that mean?

The intense look was because Star was about to walk by the mountain of toys, and Chloe had the stressful decision of whether or not to abandon the stash to follow the cat.  Temptation got the better of her.

While she will make sure to pull each of these out daily, her current favorite is the rope with a knot bigger than her head.  It is the heaviest toy in the basket and she is quite proud of herself when dragging it around.

Scibble-tastic

Scribble-tastic Jack-o-latern

And another background to download! :-)  Just a quick, unrefined one.  It is a little uneven because I came across the half finished file (started a month or so ago) while I was backing up my recent art.  The PC is acting up again.  Hopefully it was just a fluke and not another piece of hardware is failing on me.  One thing for sure, this will at least get me in the habit of backing up regularly.

Scare Tactics

"Scare Tactics" Halloween 2011 Desktop Background

Wow, 4 days in a row!  I think this blog is officially active again.  And I already have some projects lined up that I will be kicking off in November, giving me stuff to post daily*.  But there is no need to talk about those just yet.

For now, here is another Halloween/Fall background.  You can download the full sized version here.  This one was done just for fun (and to procrastinate on all the stuff I should be doing) as opposed to trying to learn some new features in the new programs.  The story in my head, originally, was that the squirrel is trying to scare off the bat that kept scaring him whenever he tried to collect acorns.  However, when looking at just this picture, I feel sort of sorry for the bat.  I almost changed it to the squirrel having a trick-or-treat bag and the bat dropping the acorn into it.  Maybe another time.  Or maybe I will draw one with the bat scaring the squirrel...sort of the prequel to this one.  Too much work and too much time involved to do that now.  Even I know when it is time to stop procrastinating.

*If not daily, then at least on a regular schedule.

Battle Scars

Monarch Butterfly

While enjoying the awesome weather and cleaning up the flower bed some, I found this little guy.  I didn't realize how marked up he was until I got around to looking at the photos.  He even has a hole through his right upper wing that is a lot more obvious in other photos.  I can't picture many situations where a butterfly would get marked up in such a way, and still be alive.  Perhaps it was an unfortunate tangle with a thorn bush.  Despite the unknown of how it happened, I find it inspiring that something considered so fragile and delicate can continue to thrive despite some serious scars.

Monarch Butterfly