Defender of the Home

We acquired a plastic sword last year, it had been left in our yard during Halloween and since no one came looking for it so it has become part of our arsenal. Which means it spends a fair amount of time on the floor.

Today we looked down and saw John stretched out next to it, peacefully snoozing away. I took a few pictures and decided to go one better, I slid the sword over a bit and draped John's paw over the grip. He briefly looked up to see what was going on and went right back to sleep. He looks like such a valiant defender of the home. A job he takes very seriously in regards to deer, squirrels, birds. and the occasional rabbit. It just has to fit in his nap schedule.

Dachshund in the Snow

Dachshunds in the Snow, a photo by Teckelcar on Flickr.

Amazingly we still have snow on the ground, a rare occurrence in these parts. At most the snow lingers for a day and a half. However the wintery weather with the temperature staying below freezing has allowed the snow to stay.

It isn't the nice fluffy two inches pictured here, but there is more snow visible than not. The brisk weather and snow has made at least two of my children say it is almost like Vermont. This cold weather will last for a few more days and by the end of next week it will be much , much warmer.

So us crazy northern types will enjoy winter while it lasts.

On the DL

John, a photo by Teckelcar on Flickr.

Poor John has been on the disabled list for the past couple of weeks. He somehow subluxated his right shoulder and has been a very unhappy pup.

Fortunately he has been taking it easy and allowing me to carry him off the couch and down the steps. Which is a very big deal since this is the dog that does not like being picked up and toted around. When he is well he squirms about and has the most disgusted expression. Now he just looks up at me and waits to be picked up.

Tghe reduced activity is paying off, I've tapered him down to half does of the pain killer and he is starting to be his old self. He has even started wriggling just a bit when I carry him outside. Del misses their wrestling sessions, hopefully John will soon be off the disabled list and back in the game.

It's A Dog's Life

Dell, a photo by Teckelcar on Flickr.

Dell has such a hard life. Not counting the large dog bed in the den, he is limited to one piece of furniture. It's a wicker loveseat that we acquired from my father-in-law's house. The house had been sold and he had a fair amount of extraneous furniture that we were welcome to take.

The love seat is relatively low to the ground, just right for short legged dogs. The original cushions had been ruined by sun and cats, so we make due with cushions we can find in big box stores. The top cushion in the picture is supposed to be for the back, but the red boys prefer them stacked. Either way it's pretty comfortable.

Just ask Dell.

Artist of the Week: Charming

John, a photo by Teckelcar on Flickr.

This week's artist is John and surprisingly it is not for digging holes or eating dirt, his two most favorite activities.

This past weekend we had Rebecca's birthday festivities. She had a rather grown-up affair (at least for 10 and 11 year old girls) of a movie followed by a treat. Four of her good friends came out and I did the driving since Larry was off chaperoning and working at a marching band event.

I arranged for the girls to come to our house first since I wasn't sure which showing of "Wreck it Ralph" or for that matter which theater we would be attending. As the girls arrived in fairly rapid succession, they were delighted by our dogs. Normally I view Dell as the ambassador for the breed since he loves everyone, but he only lasted about 5 minutes. Apparently 5th grade girls overwhelm the poor dog, he ended up retreating to a few rooms away. John, meanwhile lapped it all up. He was happy to be the center of attention and didn't even mind being picked up.Heck he even tried to worm his way onto the van when we left for the movies.

When we got back he was very happy to be fussed over by the girls. At least two of them announced that they loved our dogs and wanted to get ones just like them. I think John as a very nice dog, but I never thought he could be a poster pup for dachshunds. In fact he is a real pain in the keister when around unfamiliar dogs, barking and leaping about. I guess he's just a people oriented kind of dog that loves the attentions of girls.

Project MCP: Low Light

low light, a photo by Teckelcar on Flickr.

With the shorter days and the sun hanging lower on the horizon, this week's Project MCP challenge was low light.

I took this picture of John this morning. I saw him napping in a patch of sun and realized this was my picture. I was able to fetch my camera without to much disturbance and fire off a few shots from a discrete distance.

When I took this particular photo I knew this was the one. The focus is a bit off, but the composition more than makes up for the slight blur around John's head. Other than a bit of sharping, this is what I saw in the viewfinder. No cropping or fooling around with the contrast. I'm rather pleased how the picture came out.

Pup and Pumpkins

pup and pumpkins, a photo by Teckelcar on Flickr.

We weathered Sandy just fine. Central Virginia had, at worst, a glancing blow. We had rain, rain, and yet more rain. The promised high winds never really materialized and as a result there was no massive power outages or road blockages.

John, however, did have to deal with window blockages. The final step of my hurricane preparations was to bring in the pumpkins. I didn't want them smashed before they were even carved, so in they came. I set them just inside the door, no way was I going to lug them through the house to the garage.

And thus I got this lovely shot of one of the red boys by the pumpkins.

The Clog Pontiff

clogged, a photo by Teckelcar on Flickr.

While up North my mom had me go to her storage locker and figure what I could take back home to Virginia. I had, mistakenly, thought that I had long since emptied her home of all my keepsakes. However during the big clean out of her old place a collection of boxes labeled with my name were found up in the loft in the garage. I had been oblivious to their existance and I was curious as to what they held.

The first box I pulled was heavy and a cursory inspection reveled two pairs of wooden clogs, a toy horse pulling cart, and miscellaneous rocks and/or fossils. This was clearly my junk so I pulled it out the box to load into the van.

The next box in the stack, clearly labeled "Sarah's odds and ends" contained... sheets. It looked like a box has been reused from a previous moved and the label had never been updated. At that point I declared one box was enough to stuff in the van and called it a day.

Clog Pontiff, a photo by Teckelcar on Flickr.

So now we have two pairs of clogs in the house, much to the children's delight. Max and Rebecca periodically clomp about the house and a rediscover how loud wooden shoes on hardwood floors. Fortunately the clogs are not particularly comfortable and fairly quickly the noise stops with an end result of the clogs being scattered about the house.

Which brings me to the rather odd pictures in this post.

While sitting on the couch the other day with John at my feet I picked up one the errant clogs and thought it would make a pretty good hat for a dachshund. John patiently endured having a wooden shoe balanced on this head with a red silk cord tying it on. I thought it was hilarious and got somebody to fetch me my camera.

The top picture clear shows what was going on, but the bottom one is the best. The angle of the picture is such that the shoe looks like one of the pope's hats. Combined with John's expression and you get the Clog Pontiff.

MCP Project 52: Window Light

at the door
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

This week's theme was window light and yet again I went to my go to subjects, the dogs.

I feel a bit repetitive using them so often, but they are around me all the time. There is also the added bonus of the dogs being willing to do almost anything and not whining about the whole process. So as a rsult I use them as models for a goodly portion of the MCP Project 52 assignments.

So I'm not really going to the dogs, it just looks that way. And hey, at least I have John and Dell keeping an eye out for me.

Hot Weather Fun

Hot outside?

Time to break out the hose.

Dang Pumpkin Eaters

On alert
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

I mentioned a few days ago that dachshunds + pumpkins = sadness.

Well the boys were at it again.

I looked out the front door and saw that a pumpkin had been dragged over with a significant chunk taken out. Halloween is over and I really don't care, except it is the same beleaguered pumpkin, Miss Rebecca will not be pleased. Although, I will note, the dogs at least had the courtesy to not chew off the face.

Again.

caught in the act
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

Dell was all excited when I came out to photograph the destruction. He spent most of the time swirling about my feet in a pumpkin induced madness. Eating pumpkin seems to jack him up to new levels of crazy dog energy. Candy, on the other hand, has no effect on him. But then, something grabbed his attention and he snapped into the perfect pose.

John, meanwhile, saw that the buffet was still open and took out a few more bites.

Silly dogs, at least they are eating something good for them.

Two Kids and a Dog in a Box

two kids and a dog in a box
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

We have this storage box out on the deck. Inside the deck box we keep all sorts of odds and ends. Cushions for the chairs, an extension cord on a reel, miscellaneous base ball equipment and so on can all be found within he deck box.

The kids love to climb inside and hide. The cushions are on the top layer and make for a cozy little spot. The only rule I have about the box is that you can not trap anybody or anything inside.

Today Rebecca and Nate decided that Dell had to join them in the box. At first Dell was on his back and all you could see were four paws and a snoot. He was very happy to be inside the box and the center of attention. It was so utterly charming I had to get my camera.

Of course my getting up and going inside perturbed Dell and he was no longer paws up when I returned. But, it still made for a very cute picture.

Sunrise Walk

Sunrise walk
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

I consider myself a decent photographer. I took a class many, many moons ago in high school and learned the basics, from f-stops to black and white film developing.

I loved it.

The whole process of composing a shot, developing the film, making a contact sheet and deciding how to crop and pint the photo was like a wonderful form of alchemy to me. The acrid smell of the chemicals, the mysteries of the film bag it was all great fun for me.

But after the class that was it. I had no dark room so I had to be content with what I could do through the view finder.

After I got married my husband got a digital camera fairly early on, it was a fairly nice Kodak, but I resisted it. The shutter speed was annoyingly slow. When I hit the button I want the picture taken now, not a fraction or so of a second later. Then I started using it more as I started to appreciate the amount of control I had with the pictures afterward.

With my current camera I have found happiness. It has an acceptable shutter speed and I have a fair amount of control in how it takes pictures. Most of the time I happy with the full automatic mode, but there are times I use the natural light setting. I love how I can instantly check and see if I got shot I was hoping for. Then I get to upload my pictures onto my computer and futz with them to my heart's content.

Usually all I'm doing is cropping and adjusting the brightness. Occasionally I venture into tint and and a few other tricks like sharpness. I still like to compose my pictures in the veiwfinder.

And then every now and then I get one that is perfect straight out of the camera. This is one of them, all I had to do was rotate it 90 degrees and hit save.

The reflections on the water and the sun flare came out just right. I was able to shoot it just so I got the right amount of flare to make everything sparkle. The image is crisp and balanced. This is one of those times I think of myself as a very good photographer.

Artist of the Week: Portrait

Nate
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

This week's artist is the always irrepressible Nate. He is a little bundle of energy that always is up for doing something active either mental or physical. I'll often send him outside to run laps around the house to burn off a bit of energy.

One of his favorite things to do is to tumble about with the dogs and I swear they just view him as one of them. In his quieter moments I'll find him on the floor stretched out next to one of the red boys, holding him close and murmuring into an ear.

Once he is out on his own I don't think he will ever be without a dog by his own choice. As soon as it is feasible he'll have some sort of dog by his side. And knowing his sweet nature it will most likely be a rescue or shelter dog. He'll have a hard time in college when he'll be dogless during the semester, during visits home he'll get his dog fix.

John
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

So the subject matter no surprise to me when he presented to me this portrait of John.

My first guess was Dell, because Dell is the dog he spends the bulk of his time. But I was wrong. It's John, which makes sense because John is the dog most likely to stay still. Dell is always trying to crawl into your lap or squirm around on his back by your side.

I think it is a wonderful picture of John. Nate spent a fair amount of time on it and is in fact still redoing parts here and there. I'll have to teach him that at some point you have to let go and stop second guessing yourself.

Kisses

kisses
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

Last night I discovered that it is possible to have two oafish standard dachshunds in your lap at the same time even if you are sitting in a regular old chair and not a sofa. I decided to see if I could do it again and take a picture of it.

Of course having John and Dell in your lap means at some point you will get your face cleaned.

Artist of the Week: Dachshund Joy

Rebecca
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

This week's artist is Rebecca.

She is playing soccer this season and she has doing quite well. So far she has gotten quite a few turns as goal keeper and has proven herself up to the job. I would like her to stick with soccer, but this could be her last year. Every time we pass by the girls practicing cheer she announces that she really wants to be a cheerleader. A little part of me dies inside when she says that because I really could not stand the cheerleaders at my school. They were a rather nasty and idiotic lot and my girl is better than that.

But enough about my hangups, this is about my daughter and her latest creation.

dachshund joy
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

She made this drawing a few weeks ago when we were stuck at one of Max's doctor appointments. It is a wonderful drawing of a dachshund chasing a ball across a field. It is a very simple composition, but it really captures the joy in the moment.

I was so taken with the picture that I brought it to one of my dachshund club's meetings to show it off. Everybody was very impressed. They all could tell it was a dachshund and thought she had gotten the essence of the breed.

My little Miss Rebecca can be quite an artist.

Lovies for Dell

Dell
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

Dell is a very silly and very affectionate dog, but he can also be very destructive. The kids have (mostly) learned not leave stuffed animals on the floor. John seems to ignore the toys, but Dell still picks them up, carries them about and then chews off the ears, nose and/ or tail of whatever stuffed animal he happens upon.

That being said, sometimes Dell just wants a lovie in his crate at night. He'll snag a toy and bring it into his crate and sleep with it. The toy will be unharmed when we finally notice it inside Dell's crate. I'm tempted to get him his own stuffed animal, but I'm fairly certain it will get destroyed in short order.

The funniest part about the lovies is John. It seems that John does not approve of Dell's antics and will remove the toy from Dell's crate the first chance he gets. And that is how we often find out about Dell's toy of the moment. After the dogs crates are opened Dell bursts out in a rush of happy energy. John, however, waits for Dell to go around the corner before he ducks into Dell's crate and removes the toy. John only does this if it is not a dog toy. Bones and balls are left to languish in the crates, but not the stufed animals that belong to the kids.

Papa Dell

Dell
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

Our silly little Delly Belly became a father for the second time.

This litter has four pups, two black and tan girls and two red boys. We will not be getting any of them, but it is nice to hear about them.

Dell is such a silly and sweet boy, it is nice to see his line being carried on. There are high hopes for this litter. One pup from his previous litter, Indigo, has been really tearing up the show circuit.

I really should get serious about showing this boy.

One Happy Dog

My friend Dianne found this video over at StumbleUpon Video and sent me the following note:

As I watched this video, I couldn't help think of Crunch and the boys. Thought you would enjoy this.

Dianne

Jerry, with his white face, looks so much like Crunch. Crunch was also tennis ball crazy, but he never got his own ball throwing machine. I think the whole thing is fantastic.

Artist of the Week: Stump

John with stump
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

John is this week's artist.

He has been very industriously digging around the roots of stump in our yard. The stump is a left over from Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

We lost quite a few trees and we have a couple of stumps on our property. We were lucky that the trees fell into the woods and not onto our lawn or our house. Since the stumps were not actually in the way we decided to let them be. The kids and dogs all think this is a great idea and I'll often see them playing on or around the stumps.

Yesterday John got a real bee in his bonnet over one of the stumps and decided to really clear out the soil around the roots.

stump
Originally uploaded by Teckelcar

I went out to take a look and I was impressed with his work. It is amazing how much dirt a dachshund can move when they want to. I don't know what motivated him, maybe there were some mice living in and around the roots. John certainly not going to tell me.