Wallace the Pit Bull Foundation Blog Article

We were amazed and humbled to be featured on the Wallace the Pit Bull Foundation blog this week.  We here at the homestead have been fans and followers of Wallace and his people for several years, and we shed more than a few tears when he passed away in 2013.  His spirit lives on though through his humans, their current foster pup, and the Wallace the Pit Bull Foundation.  Their mission: 

"Wallace the Pit Bull Foundation provides resources for foster homes to help them care for their foster dogs until they find their forever homes.  Wallace the Pit Bull Foundation also provides resources to help improve facilities and fund programs devoted to helping homeless dogs."

Wallace went from the doorstep of euthanasia to the National Disc Champion, and we're honored to be mentioned in the same breath.  We continue to be supporters of Wallace's mission and all that he represented.  All of the people and pooches here at Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes were truly excited to see our blog post on the Wallace website.  Thanks again for making us famous!

Shadowfax - A Delicate Lady

Shadowfax is a delicate lady.  Not all dogs would have the decency and discretion to make sure to have their lady parts covered up with a fluffy pink blanket. She's a big tough pit bull, but also needs to make sure that everyone knows she has a delicate side too. 

She probably wouldn't be too happy that the paparazzi have snapped this photo of her napping, especially in this scandalous pose.  She's also mentioned on more than one occasion that photos from this angle always make her tummy look big.  And in her defense, pictures of her sleeping on her side do make her tummy look much bigger than it actually is. 

Her heated dog bed isn't plugged in yet.  It's still pretty warm and we're a month or so from being chilly enough that the dogs demand we turn on their heated dog beds.  But that doesn't stop the dogs from using them anyways, especially for a comfy, splayed leg nap.  As we've known for years, Shadowfax is indeed a delicate lady. 

I'm Melting - Shaak Ti in the Sunbeam

Shaak Ti enjoys her sunbeam.  Generally if we can't find Shaak Ti at any point during the day, we just go check all the sunbeams and that's usually where she is. 

And no, the GoughNut Stick Green is not speared through her neck. This is how she chose to pose.   As we've said in the past, she's a odd little critter. 

Triangle of Napping Power

All of the dogs are currently simultaneously sleeping and snoring. Seriously, it's pretty dang loud in here right now. I might have to go upstairs so I can concentrate and get some work done. 

There is possibly some kind of debilitating, Bermuda Triangle of napping thing going on in this particular area of carpet that is making all the dogs sleepy.  I'd go check it out myself but am pretty scared of what might happen. 

Merlin - Small Falcon with Prey

We've been seeing this fellow/lady on our morning dog walks for most of this summer.  It was a frequent resident of the park that we walked through and was always quite noisy and boisterous.  This is a merlin, a small falcon commonly known as a pigeon hawk.  You can see in the pictures below where that name comes from. 

The other day I noticed that the merlin was standing in the street outside the house and it looked like he/she had snagged some lunch.  An unfortunate dove was grabbed. 

We don't relish seeing birds get eaten, but it is fascinating to see the web of life in and around our small little homestead.  The merlin was a very good looking bird, striking blue and gray wings with mottled white and brown undercarriage. 

A Classic Shadowfax Photo from Days of Yore

This is an older photo - back from 2010, just months after we had gotten Shadowfax. Shadowfax might be a powerful and mighty deaf pittie, but she sure knew (and still knows) how to look like a giant goofy goober.

I laugh every time that I see this photo, what a derp-tacular face.  And we're thankful that the rest of her grew into those gigantic paws and gangly legs. Sadly, it has been five years since this photo and (unsurprisingly) her braided rope toy has passed on to the other side.  We now need the Extra Large Super Jumbo 6 foot rope toy for adequate tug-of-war and chomping. 

Containers and Front Step Plantings

The front step area of our house was a bit of a mystery to me for a few years, I was never quite sure what to do with it.  I was new to the area and learning about which plants did/didn't grow in Zone 4, and our front steps faced to the North.  Adding seasonal plants to the steps was always seemingly on my to-do list, but never really a top priority.  Once I was done with other more critical matters like the garden, planting fruit trees, and planting pretty flowers, it was time to think about how to spruce up the front steps.

These are the front steps of the homestead.  They're pretty plain concrete steps with a black wrought iron hand railing on either side.  They get a bit of indirect light in early morning and late afternoon, but that's about it. 

This pot has "Sliver Falls" dichondra, "Big Red Judy" coleus, and begonias (the name escapes me).  I was dividing hostas along the front walk (more on this in another post) and ran out of not only places to put the extra hosta divisions, but space in the trash can as well.  So I decided to throw a half dozen of them in plastic pots to see if they lived.  They did.  This continues to prove my theory that you can't kill hostas.

The hostas provide some nice variegated foliage to soften the front steps and augment the plantings in the pot.  I'm not one for paying big money for pots, this is one of four that we received as a gift from our generous In-Laws.  They snatched them up pretty cheaply when a local hardware store was going out of business. 

I planted another pot that's located to the right of the porch, in the midst of "snow on the mountain" ground cover that has taken over the area.  This pot has "Red Star" dracena, coleus (not sure of the name), and impatiens.

How about you?  Does your garden plan include planting in pots?  What do you do to liven up the look of your front/back porch?

Shadowfax Having a Nap

It's a warm and muggy summer day here at the homestead in North Dakota.  The pups are napping up in expectation of a visit from Grandma and Grandpa.

You can never be too rested in preparation for a visit from the grandparents.