Wordless Wednesday

Does Your Doodle Shed?

Depends on what you’re talking about. And what the heck is a doodle, anyway. A doodle is a mixed breed dog that is at least half poodle, usually mixed with a Labrador retriever, “Labradoodle” or a golden retriever, “Goldendoodle”. They are a very popular hybrid dog, because they are super cute, and have a marvelous personality. They are often said to be non-shedding and hypoallergenic. But don’t count on it. They are, after all, a mixed breed, and will exhibit characteristics of both parents. They may be more poodle-y or more retriever-y.

Our doodle, Bayley, is a Goldendoodle. She is a backcross (F1b), meaning that her mother was a goldendoodle that was bred back to a standard poodle, making Bayley essentially 75% poodle.

Now Bayley doesn’t shed her fur, but she sheds everything else in nature. Depending on the season, she sheds mulch, catkins, grass clippings, leaves, dirt, and even snow. Her cottony soft fur acts like a magnet and attracts absolutely everything in the yard and woods to her. Then, as soon as she passes through the door, the magnetic polarity reverses, and she promptly sheds everything all over the house.

Something to consider if you are a neatnik and are looking for a no maintenance dog. But if you are looking for the most devoted, fun loving, affectionate, and adorable companion, then keep the broom handy, and go for it.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Peeping Tom Suspected

Twin Creeks is on the lookout for a suspected peeping tom. Footprints and fingerprints as well as hair samples were found at the scene of the crime. The incident which occurred on or around April 15, 2013 has prompted detectives to seek the public’s help in identifying the suspect.

A witness account indicated the suspect was pressing his face to the front window of the Peacocks house, locally known as the Pea Pod.

He left a clear handprint on the window screen.

The suspect is described as a stocky male, standing approximately 4 feet tall with abundant dark, coarse hair. His hand print indicates he has fat little fingers with untrimmed fingernails. A sketch artist has produced a drawing based on the evidence and witness reports. If you have information that would help investigators, please leave a comment below.

Onion Breath to Make your Eyes Water!

Did you ever think you would be contemplating llama breath? Well, I’m going to give you some information that you might not have considered before. For the most part, llamas have very nice breath, mostly neutral, but often tinged with a slightly sweet smell of the fresh hay or grass they have been munching.

Or better yet, sometimes their breath makes you think of Christmas, and you know that they have been browsing on their absolutely favorite food, white pine needles.

Their second most favorite food is just coming into season: the wild spring onion. And you have no doubt in your mind at all when they have been indulging in this llama delicacy.

I’m sure most all of you are familiar with this scourge. It thrives almost everywhere that the urban homeowner aspires to have a lush, green, weed free lawn. They are strangely pungent and whenever I smell them, I’m thrown back to a time in my childhood when my Dad would mow the yard and the air would reek of a Greek salad.

We did a llama trek this past weekend in the Shenandoah River State Park. Llama trekking is our weekend business. We guide our customers on an invigorating hike through the park and I prepare a 4 course picnic lunch which we enjoy along the way. The llamas carry all the food, linens, utensils, and even folding tables for our meal.

This day, we stopped for lunch in a meadow overlooking the Shenandoah River. It was a glorious day, sunny and warm, and the river was dotted with red and green canoes. And the meadow was dotted with lush green spikes of wild onions. The llamas had an enjoyable break from the hike, grazing in the grass.

When we went over to load the llamas up for the return hike, we were blown away by the rank stink of their breath. As we walked along the trail, we followed in the miasma of their onion breath. And we also discovered to our dismay that an overindulgence in wild onions tends to make llamas quite gassy.

Fortunately, as a counterpoint to the malodorous onions, was the beauty of the Virginia bluebells, which fortuitously were at their peak bloom that day.

A little touch of the agony and the ecstasy.

Daffys on the Gooney or Will Spring Ever Get Here Dammit

I took a jaunt around the farm yesterday morning with the pups. It was the first morning this spring that the temperature had been above freezing. It was beautiful, with just the earliest spring buds in evidence.

There are quite a few clumps of wild daffodils that pop up each year along the creek, vestiges of a long ago flood that left someone’s upstream garden bereft of flowers. This creek is named Gooney Run. The legend of the name comes from a time long ago when all of our section of Virginia was owned by Lord Fairfax, as a land grant from the king of England. This section of the Shenandoah Valley was his favored hunting grounds, and he had a lodge here. Supposedly, his beloved dog, Gooney, drowned in the creek and hence the creek was named in his memory.

One of our favorite spring arrivals are the Marsh Marigolds. They get thicker and thicker each year and are a yellow carpet along the creek. I keep forgetting the real name of the flower and have nicknamed them the Gold Marshmallows.

This forsythia is another victim of a flood. We originally planted it with 2 others about 15 years ago a quarter mile upstream from where it now sits. One year a big flood washed out about five feet of bank and took out the 3 forsythias. This one landed here and took root.

And finally, after a vigorous romp, a nice cool down in the pond. Our cherry trees are a couple weeks behind those of the renowned Washington, DC Tidal Basin, but, sure enough, they are just starting to bloom. Maybe spring will arrive after all.