Strawberries, Snakes And Puppies

In the words of the great George Takei; Oh my...

Our strawberries are going crazy this year. I have eaten a bunch out of hand and Dara has collected a couple bowls like this so far. There are still hundreds of strawberries that will be ripe in the next couple days. Plus, I just bought 75 more strawberry plants.

This is the Common Northern Water Snake or Nerodia sipedon. This guy was crossing my neighbors driveway, probably going to his backyard pond. It is non-venomous and will leave you alone if you leave it alone. Not all water snakes are poisonous. One easy way to tell them apart is; the heads of venomous water snakes are broad and distinctively larger than their neck. Also, venomous water snakes have vertical pupils, non-venomous water snakes have round pupils.

This is the Common Southwest Ohio Lake Pup. You can distinguish it from other species by its bright orange doggy life-vest, complete with carry handle.

Higgs only tried to jump into the lake a few times. We can't wait to take him backpacking!

Cutest Post Ever!

After a long search and a ton of back and forth with shelters and rescues, we finally found the puppy we were looking for. We ended up getting him from a friend of a friend of a friend. He is a Border Collie / Australian Shepherd mix. 

Say hello to the newest addition to the homestead, Higgs B Hallene. Named after the theoretical physicist Peter Higgs.Why you ask? Because this little guy gives mass to all the cuteness in the universe...

I am glad we finally found the right dog for our homestead. I will let Dara blog about the ridiculous ignorance we ran into at almost ever turn with the rescues and shelters we talked to. Let me just say, a dog should have a purpose, like taking care of and protecting livestock. One of the main reasons dogs are on anti-depressants, yes I know it sounds ridiculous but some are, is the fact that they have been divorced from their evolutionary instincts. No dog is an "inside" dog exclusively. I will leave it there and let Dara go off on the real tangent.

Here are two of my favorite things in the world. Swings and properly framed photographs. ;)