Pets At Home

Life on the farm has been busy ever since winter finally ended. The household pets, however, are still spending most of their days lounging comfortably - like Fergus, Snoozey and Bramble in this photo:

The cats stay indoors but the dogs love to go outside into their fenced yard:

And they all enjoy the kitchen floor pillows:

Except that Bramble began peeing on the floor pillows. I kept cleaning them and spraying them with enzyme deodorizer but it didn't stop him. I then put a litter box in the corner. Then I realized that I'd need a partition to keep the dogs out of it. Alas, none of that stopped Bramble and I began to remove the floor pillows, one at a time, as they got peed on. They were reduced to only since this photo was taken:

PeeWee has made a rather spectacular recovery from his stroke and is once again playful and doing his happy dance:

This is Bramble, the culprit depriving the other animals of their floor pillows. Does he look guilty? He should:

For a little old dog who is nearly deaf and blind, and has survived a vicious attack by a big dog, a corneal ulcer and a major stroke, PeeWee is doing remarkably well:

Snoozey is a major lover of floor pillows. Notice that by the time this photo was taken, there was only one left - and Snoozey claimed it:

Upstairs in the bedroom, Seamus watches over little PeeWee:

And the other three dogs sleep atop the bed where it's extra soft:

All in all, it's been a good summer so far for the household pets:

Do you suppose that Bramble is asking Clover to move so he can pee on that pillow?

St. Lawrence County Dairy Princess Parade - Part 2

Roughly half the parade had passed by me when this 1948 Ford went by:

And I got a big kick out of this float from a retirement home. I thought it wonderful that they participated and had a sense of humor:

Reality Check, a youth group fighting the smoking habit:

This marvelous action float had a moving cow (two, actually) jumping over the moon. There was also a giant spoon, so they apparently were referencing the nursery rhyme:

The State University at Canton's basketball mascot was a kangaroo:

And his pouch was full of candy, so he was a very popular marsupial:

The St. Lawrence County Maple Queen who, you may remember, I met at one of my springtime visits to a sugar house:

Cabot Cheese participated (this was, after all, a celebration of the dairy industry). The man next to me quipped, "Why aren't you handing out cheese?" and the lady in the truck said the people following them were doing just that. Indeed, a number of marchers were handing out small packages of Cabot cheese. Alas, I didn't get one:

This handsome team waited beneath a maple for their chance to get into the parade with a lady and tiny baby in the wagon. Everyone, including the horses, looked bored:

And lastly, there were antique tractors - a John Deere:

An Allis Chalmers:

And another John Deere. I was in a residential neighborhood where the parade began and so hopped in my car and found a way back to the highway which avoided the crowded downtown streets. It had been a fun and impressive parade. I hope to return next year: