Friday, June 23, 2017

Zoe's Sad News




Zoe here coming to you from Chapel Hill:

With a very heavy heart, I want to let you know that Phaedra left my world on April 27, 2017 after a very brief illness.  For reasons unknown, Phaedra went into kidney failure our last week on Sanibel.  We rushed her home and she spent one night in the Triangle Veterinary Speciality Hospital.  When we learned that nothing could be done to help her, she came home to spend her last day with the family who loved her with all their might and at the place she had known for 14 years.  She spent the day being pampered and loved and then went peacefully across the Rainbow Bridge.

May Phaedra's memory always be for a blessing!



Phaedra will still be traveling by my side on every trip that I take with the folks.  I am sure that she will find a way to "help" me get into trouble and to annoy me like she sometimes did.  I am going to continue to write our blog, and she will just be my "ghost dog writer" who maybe encourages me to do things that scare me a bit - (she always did give me courage, you know)!

I loved Phaedra from the first time I saw her.  She even let me chew on her with my sharp baby teeth! I want to give you a sample of the things we did together over my 9 years by her side, so keep looking if you want to see some of the places she took me to.

My new sister, Phaedra.  She wasn't sure about me at first, but then she loved me to pieces forever after!  Sometimes she'd look at Papa and Mama as if to say, "Can't we leave her by the side of the road?"

Phae is thinking, who is this strange baby who sleeps and eats, and chases me.  Lucky me to have a sister like her!


Phae taught me some "Bad Habits" in Rocky Mountain National Park

Dinner time snacks!  We are so glad Papa is the cook in the family!

Yummy 9th Birthday to Zoe
Hiking around Bear Lake at RMNP but no bears!
Garden of the Gods? No, Garden of the Dogs in Colorado Springs, CO

Will it move?  What is it?
Where are we again?  Are we lost?
Not so sure I like swimming!

Love those cool mountain days!
Myrtle Beach sunset

Who me? I didn't do anything!

Happy Holidays!

That was mine!!! What are you doing?

This is perfect December weather, right?

You're leaving us alone???

Papa always shares AND drops treats!

Are we lost?  Moses Cone Manor, Blue Ridge Parkway

Guard dogs!  GRRR!

Phaedra: always up for a game!

Spring time in Blowing Rock gave us flowers to smell along the way.

Where did that Zoe go now?

Yum!  Birthday Yogurt at Zebra on Sanibel!  14 years young!

Phae was too smart!  She wouldn't go swimming in this COLD river with me at  Rocky Mountain National Park!

The shore of the Yellowstone River in Billings, MT and the only toy we have to chase is a rock!


Roll on, River!  Roll on...
You want WHAT?
Home at last!     Phaedra's special spot where I said goodbye to the best sister anyone ever had!  

You will always be by my side, Phaedra!  We all loved you to the moon and back!

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Sanibel is for the birds, and lizards, and snakes, and much more.


Wags and licks from your furry friends!  Phaedra and Zoe here:  But, we bet you'll never guess where, either!!  Or maybe you will...

Arriving on the causeway to Sanibel is always a time for celebration for us and 3 of us saw a leaping dolphin as we ascended the third bridge of the causeway.  The other one was watching the road and thinking "Bah Humbug"!


Boating Ballet
Sanibel Island Ligthouse from Cuaseway


Crossing onto Sanibel
Gulf beaches - WOW 

A great thing about living on Sanibel in a camper is that we have captive parents who feel guilty if they leave us alone too long.  That's how we get to run on the beach when no one else is around - guilt works every time!




The more we mope around, the greater the chances are that we get to go with our people.
Yeah, sometimes even Sanibel is COLD!



Then, there are always traditions.  For the past 3 years, we have gotten to celebrate our birthdays at the local ice cream/yogurt shop!  They have special cones just for dogs!  I turned 14 this year on December 27.  You know, a little treat once in a while is good for the soul - canine or human.
Joey's Custard shop is great for us.  It used to be Zebra's and was filled with zebra balloons, zebra paintings, zebra tables - it was cuter than Joey's but Joey's has tons more flavors.  We get to sit out side at little tables and really enjoy all the people who stop to admire how beautiful and cute we are!  Mama and Papa even sang Happy Birthday to us and people from Philadelphia and from Chicago stood around and clapped for us!  We are SO cute, how could they resist?
Zoe turns 8!


Sweetest 14 year old, ever!













Well, we thought you might like to hear what this year is turning out to feature.  The folks have named this season, “The Year of the Snake”!  Everywhere they go or whenever we walk on the Fire Trail behind our compound, we see snakes and lizards!  Mama goes absolutely crazy when she sees any anole or snake!  I thought people are supposed to be afraid of reptiles, right?  Well, not Mama.  She even gives a program about reptiles and amphibians AND has her own snake skins!!!  What’s wrong with that picture?  When we hear a slithering in the leaves, we move away quickly, unlike Mama and Papa who grab their cameras and stalk these long, slithering snakes.  I agree that anoles are pretty cute; I’m just not sure about snakes.

Cuban Brown Anole


Yellow Rat Snake peeking through palm fronds.
Another Yellow Rat Snake climbing palm.
















Juvenile Cottonmouth aka Water Moccasin (a highly venomous and aggressive snake).



Just to put all of you at ease, this Water Moccasin does not live on Sanibel.  There are actually no verified venomous snakes on Sanibel at this time.  The last Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake was verified in 1996 and the last Coral Snake was seen around 2002.  So, no worries, right?  Except for the fact that this is the perfect environment for those two snakes.  But who's worried??? NOT ME!


Beautiful Black Racer

Juvenile Black Racer









And the birds!!!  Sometimes, we think that the birds are considered more beautiful than we are.  But, soon enough, we realize that's just not possible!

Juvenile Great Blue Herons

Black Crowned Night Heron with breeding plume (close-up)

Black Crowned Night Heron


"Brief" of American White Pelicans and one Brown Pelican - check out the two sizes!


Bad hair day for this little Great Blue Heron!


Great Egret in breeding plumage (look closely at the skin around the eyes.  This is the lore and during breeding turns green.)


Another Little Blue Heron (juvenile)
Little Blue Heron



Blue Wing Teal


Pileated Woodpecker


Reddish Egret

          

Surprise!!!  Another Reddish Egret!
White Morph of Reddish Egret
Close-up of Reddish Egret White Morph



Woodstork, Tri-color, and Little Blue Heron

Yellow Crowned Night Heron eating Blowfish


Wags and licks from your furry friends on Sanibel!  You'll be seeing us again soon!

Phaedra and Zoe