Frederick, the Helpful Gardener

Haven't been blogging lately. Work and life have taken over a little.

This weekend I went and took some photos especially. Because as I was changing computer desktops, I suddenly realised I have no more doggie photos left! It was like, 'oh, same ol, same ol. Seen these ones before.'

So I've included lots of crazy and scary pictures to share of my two doggies.

The latest news is that Freddie ate our back step. We have a wooden step at our back door, because there's a bit of a gap between the house and the verandah. Freddy has a tendancy to chew anything within sight when he's bored. I think he's teething. He lost a tooth a month ago, and it has yet to grow back.

Anyway, we came home one day to discover the step had gone. It was on his bed, with the two pedestal legs ripped apart. *shakes head* He's a MONSTER.

We took the step away from him, but left one of the legs behind, which he has been happily chewing for the last 3 weeks. I'm amazed he hasn't had splinters in his jaw. The leg is really a brick, when it comes down to it. A big oblong piece of wood. And he's obviously enjoying himself, because he's managed to break all 3 of their dog beds in the process.

We had an old raised bed from our last dog, and we ended up getting some new raised beds (they were on special) a while ago. At one time, there was one in the laundry, and one outside. These days, since Freddy started digging through the walls (I told you, he'll attack/eat anything when he's bored), we've moved the beds permanently outside.

In the last week we have come home to each of these beds having a hole in them. I originally thought that they'd been roughhousing and fallen through it. But when the new bed had a hole in the middle, I was a bit puzzled. Last night when I came home, I noticed Fred's wooden brick was in the middle of a hole in the third bed. So I'm guessing he's been sitting on his bed, gnawing away, and pushing at it, and accidently pushed the brick through the mesh. He doesn't know his own strength, that boy.

It's amusing how much they love the beds though. The old one from our previous dog has the biggest tear in it. Probably because the mesh isn't as strong after all this time. Yet the dogs LOVE it. I was watching them last night, and they still sit on that bed, despite it no longer being a raised bed. So their feet actually touch the ground through the hole. LOL. Crazy dogs.

What else have my dogs been up to?

Destruction3

They've been systematically destroying our garden. Where once beautiful creepers and flowers were, now is just an empty soil bed. The bf's mum came over last weekend, and commented, "oh, what are you going to put in here?" - thinking that we'd cleared out the flower beds. To which we replied with embarrassment, "oh no, that's just our dogs settling in"

See those three grey bricks in the bottom left hand corner? Bf had to put those in, because the dogs were digging their way to china. They'd reach the gutter pipes. Although who knows, maybe they just wanted to move the house a little further up or something.

That plant in the middle - that used to be a thriving fern. In fact, I'm sure there are some pics on this blog that show Freddy hiding behind it at one time. These days, there's not much left. And all the plastic - that used to cover all that area. With creepers growing around it and such. Not anymore. This is their favourite spot to sit during the day. Although, I've noticed that Rosie has begun to favour another part of the garden - that Freddy is helpfully clearing of flora for her. *shakes head* Who needs deconstruction workers, garden labour or any other such thing, when I have two big helpful dogs??

On the right here, you can see Freddy's work. That used to be a thriving daisy bush. The one below it is another daisy bush, near my veggie patch. As you can see, Freddy's favourite thing atm is to gnaw on the branches until they drop off. I didn't realise at first. Because he's so intent on searching for skinks. Sometimes you'll hear this massive thump, and it's Freddy trying to land on a skink. I've seen so many skinks with no tails in the garden lately. LOL.

The last pic is of one of the holes that (and I'm guessing Rosie here) has been made. There is a lot of plastic around the garden from the previous owner. I'm guessing for mulch and weed prevention purposes. But my dogs are making quick work of this. They don't seem to be digging for hiding bones though. They seem to be digging just because.

Freddy has also been very helpful in assisting me with gardening.

I took the cutest picture the other day of Freddy inspecting a snail. As we all know, snails are horrible things for veggie gardens. They eat through all your leaves.

Freddy Discovering Snails

What's That?! I've never seen that before

It's moving so slowly...

Let's see if it's edible...

You'll need to click on them to see how cute he looks. I tried doing bigger pics, but the formatting went all outta whack =/

He's gotten bigger in the last month or so. I still love the brindle markings on his forehead though. It makes him look like such a worrier. LOL

Here are some even cuter pics of Fred:

What's going on? How come you're taking out the Camera again?

Can we go back inside yet?

I know that the first pic here is a bit blurry. But the look on his face is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute. That I had to put it up anyway.

I love how his ears flop down like that. And when he hears something you can see the ears move ever so slightly up. LOL

These pics were taken in the late afternoon/evening, so lighting is a bit crappy. (Can you see the blue tinge on his fur?)



Fred and Rosie Playing Tackle

Fred: OooOh, what's that over there?

Fred: coochie, coochie coo..

Rosie: Stop it! You're Tickling me!

I love the middle pic - where Rosie is all curled up. She reminds me of
a baby possum. LOL. AND check out her vicious fangs in the third pic!
Yikes! And just think - Freddie's teeth are in fact a LOT more deadly.
Not to say Rosie couldn't hurt you.

Rosie: I can't believe he got me...

I also love this pic - where you can see Rosie's eyes. She looks so bummed that he's managed to catch her. This is their favourite game atm. Freddie's always going for bites on the neck. =)

And check out their tails! Rosie always look so sleek, while Freddie's just a big dufus in comparison. LOL.


Followed by Arguments between Friends

Fred: I think you've put on a bit of weight lately.
Rosie: WHAT did you say???

Fred: Look, I'm just trying to be honest. Rosie!!

Fred: Fine, I'm sorry. I take it back. I just think you shouldn't steal from my food bowl all the ti

But it's not always like this. Here are fred and rosie on better terms:

Having Fun