Favourites for Thematic Photographic's 400th Outing

Congratulations to Carmi for having the dedication to run Thematic Photographic for over 8 years and for this, his 400th theme.

You always have to think about how to take photos which you interpret will match his theme.

This week choice of your favourite shots enables me to show four of what are/will be among the all time best for me.

In the days before digital cameras my photographs of people were never very good and frequently out of focus as well. However one I'll always cherish is a particular close up - 

Summer portrait at the Yorkshire village of Hutton-le-Hole

Last year I took pictures of hundreds of wild flowers and one beside the River Tees turned out better than I expected.

Another with a water theme was taken on Labour Day at Lake Orion, Michigan. What we thought was a metal statue hidden away in a stream turned out to be -

A rather splendid heron

Dogs have figured in many of my 261 thematic photography posts. This, from September 2016, will always be a favourite with me.

Scout - telling me to put my camera away.

He did not like to hear a camera click and usually turned away.

Unfortunately he crossed the Rainbow Bridge last Christmas and we all miss him so much.

Check out all the favourites for Carmi's 400th anniversary at Thematic-Photographic-400.

Dog of the Week

Scout is my daughter's senior dog, if you can call him 'senior' with his eighth birthday in a few weeks time. He doesn't like having his picture taken and will move away if you point a camera at him; he almost runs when it clicks.

Scout

"Put that camera away! Grr."

Holiday Dogs - Sepia Saturday

I meet many dogs in our village. This is a Lhasa Apso named 

Billy

He gives me my first link to our prompt for this week.

Billie Holiday with a dog

One dog which always has a place in our heart belonged to my wife's sister but resided with her mother in the 1950s. He has appeared on my Sepia posts before, but deserves another outing.

Major

Now when we go on holiday we always get involved with dogs - and they regard it as a holiday too. These two we didn't know but they loved a Cornish beach.

Paddling on Crantock beach

My daughter's dogs in Michigan always look on it as a holiday when we are there. One of them was always content to practise his favourite sport alone.

Cody fishing for frogs

Buster however was always impatient when we took him out in Caranton Woods in Cornwall.

Come on you two. Keep up!

The dog park near my daughter's home was a place her dogs always loved. It meant that they could dive in and climb out up a ramp.

Cody, Scout, Lily and Gem after a swim off the jetty

Of course there was also the ever present tennis ball to play with, if Cody didn't wander off to look for a treat by sitting down at somebody's holiday picnic spread.

Scout was named after the girl in Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' even although he is a boy. 

It seems appropriate somehow to finish this post with him on the day that the death of Harper Lee is announced.

Scout - at rest

RIP Harper Lee.

To check how others have interpreted the prompt this week stroll over to the links at Sepia-Saturday-318.

Liquidity - Thematic Photography

Some photos from my archives and just one shot specially for the 'Liquidity' theme set for us by Carmi this week.

Not a ship in sight and the beach to himself - 

What could be better?

Same beach at a time to wrap up warm its seems.

Saltburn beach

But if it's a swimmer you want to see -

Scout shows off his skills

However this is the liquidity that I enjoy.

A pity my wife has confiscated it!

For other liquid assets that others have acquired check out Thematic-photographic-340.

A - Z Challenge 2015 - Butterflies 'Z'

Z - Zerene cesonia

Well we have got to 'Z' and it's time for you to work out what the butterfly will be. It's not a Zebra Swallowtail even although I did consider that.

Here are a couple of clues.

His name is Finn

But that's a red herring.

This is Scout (but you don't need to know this)

Finn and Scout live in the southern part of Michigan - this should help, if you have identified the feature common to each photo.

Here's the pattern on the butterfly's wing.

What does it look like to you?

Hint: Finn and Scout each have one. Remember where they live and you should be able to work out that Zerene cesonia is a butterfly called ,,,,,, wait for it.

If you have read all my earlier posts you will have seen the lyrics to a song unfold line by line. Listen to it now before you check the answer.

Zerene cesonia is a -

Southern Dogface

I hope that this was not too difficult for you to work out.

Thanks and congratulations to everyone who has completed this year's challenge, visited and commented on 'my' butterflies.

Photo attributions:

• Zerene cesonia, dogface pattern; by Megan McCarthy, 17 Oct 2008 - Public domain
• Southern Dogface; by Megan McCarthy, 17 Oct 2008 - Public domain

Drink - Thematic Photography

This is a theme that enables me to get on my hobby horse.

Empty drink can

Evidently the litter lout was strong enough to carry the cider can until it was empty but not strong enough to carry it home.

Often I can trace the drinks litter back to where it was bought

like this empty - 

Coffee cup

which originated when full at this machine.

Birds and animals have different habits when it comes to drinks.

Fawn at a Michigan lake.

Wood Pigeon at our garden birdbath

I took pity on it and filled the bath with more water so the bird did not have to stretch its neck so far the next time it wanted a drink.

Scout telling us his cup is empty

Which reminds me that it's almost time for my afternoon drink of - 

Yorkshire tea

This scarecrow from the 2014 Kirklevington competition invited others to take part. Some even got offered a second cup.

While I'm drinking mine I'll check out what other drinks are on offer at Carmi's thematic-photographic-327.

A-Z Challenge 2014 - 'R'

R - Rottweiler, Retriever

Crufts, The greatest dog show in the world, has been on while I have drafted some posts for this year's Challenge. The Best in Breed for the Working Group turned out to be Barney, a Rottweiler. 

I don't have any photos of him but it just so happens that a five months-old puppy has recently come to live in my village.

Max - Rottweiler puppy

Max walks quite well on a lead even at this age and he is getting used to meeting people. Now that he recognises me he wants to play and not sit still to be photographed.

Max

Rottweilers are an ancient breed once used in wild-boar hunting and as a cattle dog. More recently they have been used for police work and as guard dogs.

I introduced you to the "Gang of Four" under 'L' for Labrador.Now it's the Retriever's turn in a second "Gang of Four," also owned by my daughter and her husband.

Black Lab Mutt (Gem), Retrievers - Cody, Scout and Lily

Cody and Scout were special mates since they came from the same breeder. Cody had been cared for there for a long time after his owner died. When Scout was a puppy and and the breeders had a licensing problem their dogs were being taken into care while the problem was sorted out. When the premises were being cleared Cody had hidden Scout in a cupboard and laid down in front of the door so that he would not be found.

They were both 'loaned' out with number of other dogs to stay with Gem and blind Sam (see 'L'). Cody and Scout proved inseparable and they stayed when the other dogs went back. After Sam passed on the new "Gang of Four" was formed when they were joined by Lily, a Golden Retriever puppy.

Cody being teased by Scout

Cody died last summer. He was a dog who had some favourite positions, usually spreadeagled on the floor.

With one eye on his tennis ball

They all like swimming in the lake, probably Scout most of all.

Scout coming back to land

Lily, looking angelic

But as befits the youngest she's the one always in trouble.

Anyone would think she had had a busy day

A Visit to the Vet's - A Lily (Mis)adventure

From time to time I get emails from my daughter's dogs to whom I'm known as Gramps. Lily's earlier (mis)adventures featured in a couple of my April posts.

Lily dozing

“Gramps,

I have lots of news.

I have a funny vagina.

We’ll get to that in a minute. Apparently, I’m not as feisty as I make out. I went to the vet today. We were late because I refused to get in the car. I hate the car. Mummy got my front paws in, but then I ground them in so hard, that it took her forever to get my back paws in. Then, when she got the others inside the house, I howled so loud that I sounded like a strangled cat, let alone a scaredy one. I was sitting in the driver’s seat when Mummy got in, and I refused to move from it. I drove all the way to the vet sitting on Mummy’s lap, panting heavily and trying not to be sick. I weigh 78.5 pounds too, so Mummy was a little squished by the time we got there.

I growled at all the other dogs inside the vet. Mummy said that was bad. I didn’t try to attack them though because, well, I was firmly hidden between Mummy’s legs.

The vet was nice although he poked me with a sharp thingy a few times. Mummy said it’s necessary if I think I want to chase Rocky and other fun things all the time.

Soooo, anyway….my vagina….it’s shaped funny, so I pee on myself! Isn’t that funny? I thought it was. It’s apparently quite common though, but Mummy or Daddy has to make sure it keeps dry. Mummy found that hugely hilarious. Something to do with my frequent visits to the pond.

I cost $185 today. Mummy said that was more painful than the journey to the vet.

We eventually got home. I rode in the back seat like the feisty girl I really am.

Oh, oh. There was another “incident” this week. Daddy accidentally left two 50lb bags of dog food on the garage floor one work day. We generally don’t touch it, but “somehow” it was opened up and a bunch of food was missing when Mummy got home. Of course, I was blamed…..

…..until dinner time. Guess who wasn’t hungry? Come on..you’ll never guess. SCOUT! SCOUT! SCOUT! Scout did it. Scout, Mummy’s angel boy, did it! Wahoooooo.

Lots of love

Lily”

Scout in the frame

Lily Scarlett

A- Z Challenge – ‘L’

Lily is my daughter’s youngest dog, the one I have to teach how to behave when we visit this summer. Since the beginning of April I have had two emails from the other dogs with stories of her escapades.

The first was from Cody who loves fishing and who is thirteen years old.

“I wanted to tell you a funny story. Lily is in BIG trouble. Well, Mummy and Daddy aren't really sure who the culprit is but the odds are clearly against Lily Scarlet. Anyway, you know how we Golden Retrievers always have to carry something around in our mouths? And you know how we like to drink out of the toilet?

At the beginning of last week, Lily (or someone) clearly got a little confused when she went for a drink in Mummy and Daddy's bathroom. She dropped a big rock (or some other yet-to-be-identified item) right into the toilet instead of on the floor. Daddy spent three whole days with all manner of tools and stinky bleach liquid trying to dislodge whatever was stuck in there.

Mummy blamed Daddy and Daddy blamed Mummy. The toilet was closed for business. Then a few days ago, Daddy actually removed the whole toilet from its foundations because the toilet just wouldn't work. Mummy and Daddy then spent an entire evening in the bathroom with this "*******" toilet on its side trying to work out what was in there and how to get it out.

Mummy and Daddy now have a brand new toilet.”

The second email was from Scout, the second youngest in the pack, who is named after Scout in ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’ even though he is a boy.

“I am the perfect dog (ok, perhaps not as perfect as Cody).I come, sit, never jump up on the bed without being asked, and never (almost) beg for food at the table. Looking at Lily and Gem, I assume that this is because Cody trained me and not Mummy and Daddy. My name is Scout Samuel Scotney, but for some reason, I've been called "Chubster" recently. Mummy says I'll be better when I start swimming again. I'm not sure what that all means except I know that swimming is a good thing. Cody and I like to hang out in the pond.

Anyway, there has been another "Lily Incident" this week. I guess this means that I have to admit that I'm not exactly a perfect dog because I do lick the dishes in the dishwasher. But Mummy lets me because I am a good boy. So, I was doing this on the day in question and Lily decided to join me. Daddy was cooking and Mummy was loading the dishwasher (nothing shocking there apparently). Anyway, all of a sudden, Lily's collar got caught on something in the dishwasher. She panicked and ran away. Unfortunately, the entire bottom tray that was FULL of dishes was still attached to her collar. She dragged the whole thing out of the dishwasher and across the kitchen floor, taking Mummy out on the way. It made such a loud noise that I swear that Cody almost heard it. Amazingly, no dishes (or bones) were broken. And luckily, unlike the toilet, Daddy was able to fix the dishwasher so it will continue to serve as a buffet for years to come. Whewy.”

Now you know what I am up against.

 Cody and Scout

The Man Who Talks to Dogs

A-Z Challenge – ‘D’

Because of my interest in dogs I started to write about the dogs in the village where I live. The outcome – I suppose I now know as many dogs as people and I’ve heard people call me, “The man who talks to dogs.”

The first dog I remember was when I was very young, I’m not sure that I was old enough to go to school. The only photograph (now lost) that I saw of my father was him kneeling on the front lawn with Punch. Punch was an Airedale with a simple attitude to cats – he hated them. Mind you he took it to extremes when he killed the landlord’s cat for being on his lawn.

The first dog that I was allowed to take out for a walk was a white Labrador/Lurcher named Laddie, the gentlest dog you could imagine. He kept us in rabbit meat during WWII. Poor Laddie came to an untimely death when he was chased out off an alleyway behind a village pub straight under the wheels of a lorry.

Flick, the Whippet, came from South Wales. She covered herself in glory in a very short time by catching a hare almost as big as herself. I once wrote a short story based on this event called ‘The Chase.’

Major the Springer Spaniel had a demeanour to match his name. I’ll swear he sat to attention while his photograph was taken. Major was owned by my future wife’s family in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

 Major

My wife and I have never had a dog. One of my sons and my daughter have made up for this. Milly and Cara were the last two Irish Water Spaniels owned by my son. Milly was the most intelligent dog I’ve ever met and not a bad footballer either. She craved chicken bones and was the scourge of the neighbourhood raiding refuse bins for the remains. (You may read about Milly and Cara at http://bobscotney.blogspot.com/2010/04/irish-water-spaniels.html).

Milly and Cara

My daughter who lives in America had two golden (yellow) Labradors, a brother and sister, named Sam and Maxie. They are the stars in my blog post ‘Dogs of Troy’ at http://bobscotney.blogspot.com/2010/09/dogs-of-troy.html

Gem, Sam, Jack and Maxie

 When my daughter moved house, the pack increased to four with the addition of Gem, a black Lab mutt, and Jack, the chocolate Labrador know affectionately as the ‘Brown Bomber.’ Jack is my Lucky Dog (http://bobscotney.blogspot.com/2010/12/lucky-dog.html)

 

Jack

 Only Gem of the ‘originals’ is still alive and she has been joined by the elder statesman, a Retriever named Cody – the most obedient dog I know. He loves fishing in the lake.

 Cody

Scout and Lily are the younger Retrievers in the house. I have been told that it’s my job this summer to train Lily to behave. Wish me luck when I talk to the dogs.

[Posts and photos on North Yorkshire Village Dogs may be found in my blog archives in December 2009, January, March, June, July, September, October and December 2010]