What is more prolific than rain in Oregon?

Why, the slugs, of course:

They are, sadly, everywhere in my garden right now, big and small, dark and light, long and short...:

Crawling all over - and devouring - my tiny, tender seedlings.

Nasty buggers:

I'd like to dedicate this next picture to CeeCee over at My Little Bit of Heaven:

She's always really impressed with my "huge, poop-sized slugs", as she calls them.
:-)

Wordless Wednesday: Been taking a bit of a blogging break

5 pounds lighter

Perhaps you hadn't noticed, but Pete and Reggie have been looking a bit scruffy lately:

With the warmer temperatures, their thick, downy, winter undercoats have started to work their way to the surface of their fur, giving them an unkempt and matted look, especially around their necks. This simply won't do:

It's time for their spring brushing!

Pete went first. Mostly because he was the first to walk by me and I grabbed him:

Ooooh, it felt sooo satisfying to be able to get all this on my brush:

Reggie appeared out of nowhere to provide a comforting t-bone hit to Pete's side:

Then it was Reggie's turn:

Pete reciprocated Reggie's earlier kindness with a neck sniff and repeated nibbling on the brush in my hand:

Reggie was able to relax and tell me all of his problems while I worked the knots out of his neck:

His favorite part, though, was when I just held the brush up against his forehead and he was able to scratch his own itch by moving his head up and down:

Now the boys are sleek and slender looking:


I sure wish a good spring brushing would do this for me.

Sparring.... with love

Pete and Reggie couldn't quite make up their minds whether they wanted to head-butt or cuddle:

I think the sun, mild temperature, and spring-like atmosphere had something to do with it.

The drenching Oregon rains have since returned, thereby quickly clearing up any confusion they might have been feeling.
:-)

Accomplishments this week

I got the lawn mowed:

the compost spread:

and the potatoes planted:

I got a good start on getting the blueberry patch de-mossed:

and my deck railing planters now have spinach in them:

I finished getting the garlic mulched:

and the huge grape bed is finally weeded:



Who says good help is hard to find?

Capturing those blue eyes

Clyde. Sweet, skittish, don't-touch-me, Clyde. (And, after his de-worming, add "fast, with a bit of spunk" to his descriptors.)

He's the life-long buddy to George (pictured below), our enthusiastic, black-and-white, busy-body who always has his nose in everyone's business:

It's very clear that, four months after adopting us, George is convinced he owns us and our property. We're ok with this.

Clyde, though, I think, is really only here only because George is. He tolerates us, but he follows George around like a puppy. When George and I are having a cuddle, just because I don't see Clyde doesn't mean he's not there. Clyde makes sure he can see and hear us, but he doesn't need to be seen. He's kind of a behind-the-scenes guy.

I think Clyde has led a pretty rough life. He's certainly got the scrapes, scars and behavior to prove it. He keeps a big distance. And it's because of this that my pictures of him tend be of fairly poor quality. Like this, for instance:

Or this:

Or...this:

Until today.

Clyde completely surprised me by coming within spitting distance of the house and finding a patch of sun right off our deck to sit in a spell:

Please note, that while Clyde was close to the house, I still needed my telephoto lens and tripod to be able to get these photos. He hasn't grown to like me that much. (Yet.)

"NOW I'll finally be able to get a shot of his beautiful blue eyes that I keep telling people about," I thought to myself. I was so excited, I mistakenly focused on the wrong object in my first shot. Nice flowers, right?:

He promptly dozed off for my next picture:

And yes, that mat of fur behind his left ear is driving me NUTS:

He relaxed to the point where he even tilted his head up toward the sun a bit to better feel the warmth. Awwwwww....:

Just when it seemed like I wasn't going to have any luck getting a good shot of his eyes, he moved. And he came closer:

And then he looked at me:

Suddenly, there it was. The shot Carson at 7MSN calls the money shot:

Hello, Blue Eyes...

Now, take a load off, little one - you've done enough for today:

Trusting the humans is exhausting work: