Camera Critters Sunday Meme... Who Ate The Watermelon?

Yes, it's once again time for the Sunday Camera Critters Meme.


Misty Dawn over at Camera Critters presents this fun meme every Sunday, just in case you'd like to join in. Thanks MD!

Our funny Cairn Terrier was named Lulu and we lost her two years ago after 16 wonderful years of her companionship. This is one of many funny Tales of Lulu.


One summer while at the lake, we had guests visiting which usually meant that poor Lulu Dog had to stay at the house while we all went out on the boat. It always made her sad but when we would come back off the lake she was always there to greet us.


This one particular time, we had stopped at a ranch that grew watermelons in their pecan orchard, that is on the way to the lake. As always, I bought a seedless watermelon and took it with us to the lake house, to share with our guests & their children. Lulu was still pretty much a puppy so we made her stay at the house rather than letting her get lost in the wild shuffle of bodies on the boat. As we had always done in the past, we left the watermelon on the floor for fear it would roll off any of the counter tops. We wouldn't have wanted that to happen.



Anyway, once we came in off the boat, I saw the watermelon and thought that it looked funny... you know,odd. That's when I realized that it had an enormous hole in it. Just as I said "Who ate the watermelon?", here comes Lulu with her head down (never a good sign). I then began to notice a pink tinge to her mouth area and put two and two together. Lulu had discovered the joys of eating watermelon and apparently had known that what she did was not a good thing. I was just beginning to learn about the Cairn Terrier's rooting capabilities. They are truly amazing.


Cairns were bred in Scotland for the purpose of killing rodents and other pests around the castle. And boy, can they ever get after just about anything that moves! She was even known to kill a scorpian or two at the lake. She'd chomp down on it like it was an appetizer as we watched in horror. Then she'd give us this look that said "What?".


The picture isn't very good, but here she is in all her watermelon chomping glory. The culprit herself... with hang dog look and all. I miss that crazy, funny dog and probably always will, rest her little soul.

To read about the history of Cairn Terriers Click Here.

Camera Critters Sunday..... A New Life

For Camera Critters Sunday I thought I'd bring you a picture of a White Tail Deer Fawn who was born in the flower bed just outside our sliding glass doors at our former lake house one Summer, as well as one of her mother, who was our White Tail friend.

Someday I will tell you my many stories from the 20+ years we owned the lake house, but for now I'd like to share this particular tale of the little fawn.

One Summer the kids & I were at the lake house for the duration of the hot months since the children were still small and didn't have dozens of activities to keep them at home yet. So, we'd usually pack up like The Beverly Hillbillys into the Suburban and head to the lake we called ours, in the Texas Hill Country. Since the children were still toddlers, we didn't yet let them bring friends. It was a huge place with 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, and an enormous great room with the kitchen in the center of it all. One entire side of the great room was plate glass windows, as well as half of another, like an L shape. There was one set of sliding glass doors at one end and another set of glass doors at the other end. Both entries had steps (or a stoop) leading down to the patio with flower beds lining the entire patio. We only ever used one of the entrances and the other was almost as if no one even knew that it was there. It was in the bed by this stoop that the doe decided to have her fawn.

We always had dozens of deer at the lake that came right up into the yard and we always kept lots of corn on hand for the kids and guests to feed them. They were also a great garbage disposal resource for things like watermelon rind, apple cores and the like. They were also handy to have around in case of snakes, because a White Tail deer will either kill the snake or tree them. We always had a plentiful supply of rattlesnakes, so I was comforted by the presence of the deer, spending a small fortune on deer corn in order to keep them there.

For around 4 or 5 years we had a semi-pet deer who knew us and came to see us every time we were there and the kids named her Mama Deer (yes, I know... not very original). We always knew which one she was because she had a clipped ear, as if it had been bitten off in a fight. But, she would come up to any of us and eat from our hands, which was a great source of glee for the kids. She was just precious and always so gentle around the babies. My children both still remember her vividly. This was back before Lyme's Disease and huge tick infestations and we had several great horned owls that lived on the property. They worked very hard at keeping pests and varmints trimmed back.

Anyway, fire ants had at last made their way into the Hill Country several years earlier so we were constantly battling them. Many times we would find newborn fawns already dead on the property, killed by fire ants. So, when this precious baby was born in the bed on the porch, we just knew it had to be Mama Deer's. She would have been the only one who trusted us enough to fawn by the porch. Sure enough, a couple of days later, we saw her with her fawn. I always thought she must have known that close to the house was a safe place away from the ants. The fawn never took to us the way Mama Deer did and soon just became another of the small herd on the property.

Then, one year we went to the lake and Mama Deer never came and we were all so sad (alright, I bawled like a baby because it just broke my heart), yet we were thankful that we'd had her stick around for so many years. We couldn't even tell which fawn was hers by that time, so it seemed almost as if we were closing the chapter to a book. I guess we were, really. The kids were growing up and life was moving on, but Mama Deer will live forever in our hearts.

I'm Very Pleased To Introduce You To Felicia The Fox...

Sunday Camera Critters!

Normally, I wouldn't make two posts in one day, but this negates all else. I was on the patio repotting plants after golf, when I looked up to see Felicia sauntering across the backyard, yawning no less. She glanced at me a few times and I swear she was considering coming over to let me pet her. I got so excited that it was all I could do to very calmly walk up the stoop to the back door.

Of course, as usual, I was not camera ready. So, I lightly tapped on the back door for Mr. Snooty to bring it to me. Unfortunately, I forgot that he's going deaf from all the loud rock & roll he listened to in his younger years. So, I tapped harder. Still no response. Great. Then, I practically broke the window pane with my last tap, which he finally heard. He was sitting less than 10 feet away. Good God! That man seriously needs a hearing aid before I strangle him with my two bare hands.

Anyway, he casually walks to the den & back to retrieve my camera. By now I'm thinking that Felicia will be gone. I'm also wondering what his head will look like after I bang it with one of our cast iron skillets. How can anyone be SO SLOOOOOOW???

Here she is heading back to her opening in the fence.

For a large view, be sure to click on the pictures.

Felicia stayed so long in the yard, I thought for a brief moment that she was going to throw a towel down and sunbathe for a spell. Now I'm thinking she is entirely too familiar with us, haha. Then, she turned around & shit in my yard. Thanks for that little token of appreciation there, Felicia. I can't begin to express how honored I am. Not. She honestly had a look on her face as if to say "Hey, lady, you want the picture, then you get to clean up the shit. That's just how I roll."

I got my pictures and am now revealing our lovely non-paying tennant, Felicia The Fox. When I'm done here, I'm going out to clean up the crap. With the good, always comes a bit of ugly. I guess I can live with that.

Camera Critters Sunday Meme... LuLu, the Cairn Terrier

I came across this meme yesterday @ Camera Critters and since I've been thinking about what I should write about today anyway, this comes at a very opportune moment.

We used to have a really funny Cairn Terrier named LuLu, that of course, went with us to the lake every summer. LuLu was with us for 14 wonderful years. We used to always refer to her as *The Hood Ornament* because her favorite spot in the world was at the front of the boat, with the wind blowing through her hair as we went. Occasionally our daughter would join her. They were famous friends. I did, however, always wonder what the two of them talked about.

Funny thing was that she always knew which side of the boat to stay on. You know, whether we were going into the waves or with the waves. Must have been instinct, I guess. She was a really cool dog.

LuLu also loved to swim and *eat the water* like a snapping crocodile. We always thought for sure that she'd drink so much she'd drown, but apparently she had some camel in her. When she would at last get back on the boat (with help, of course) she would have maybe 2 to 3 huge, deep, long belches. It was hysterical to hear these unbelievable belches coming from this sweet little dog. It always just cracked me up. LuLu was definitely a hoot. Except for the time she ate my brand new, never worn Sesto Meucci sandals (but she was just a puppy then and she learned her lesson, albeit the hard way).