Happy Easter!

Howdy blogaroos! Squirmy here sending you hoppy Easter greetings!!! Yes – we did the dreaded rabbit ear photo shoot-JUST FOR YOU. Plus Lent is now over – so the Warden can have wine again – which she needed after these shots.

But first – we need to set the scene…Because BEFORE the infamous photos, we had even more “fun.”

Yesterday the birds were singing, the snow was 99% gone except for the piles left by Larry, the skies were blue, and the Warden had no plans so she decided that that she should clean up the backyard. In other words – rake up the leaves.

In the Fall, when the leaves began to hit the ground, she got out the trusty leaf blower (which has a strong similarity to our jet engine dog hair dryer) and she blew the leaves into the woods. Lovely. Except the trees had only lost about 1/4 of their leaves when she did this. So they continued to fall – and she never did anything with the rest after the initial blow fest. Fast forward to now. Snow is gone and what remains is a back yard with a carpet of smashed down leaves. Which we bring into the house every time we go out. So yesterday, she saw the opportunity- and went out with the leaf blower, a rake and a giant tarp.

The Warden envisioned a lot of leaf blowing- and minimal raking. But guess what? She couldn’t get the leaf blower to start. And every time she pulled the cord, the Coyote barked. I think he was cheering her on. No leaf blower meant a LOT of raking. After pulling the cord 159 times (but who was counting?) she sadly dragged her tarp to a leafy area and spread it out and she began to rake. The idea was to rake piles of leaves, put them on the tarp and then drag the tarp off the lawn and into the woods. That was the idea…

The Coyote and I immediately saw the tarp as a dance floor. She shouted that we should get off. Good luck with that…

Then we found it a comfortable place to rest….

In addition to being tarp squatters, every time she raked a pile of leaves we also did a little blessing. I mean what does one do with a new unusual structure in the yard? Why pee on it! She shouted “nooooo.” 37 times.

When she had the first tarp load full, she bent over to start to drag it. It was at this point that yours truly thought this whole yard clearing thing was nonsense- and we should PLAY. And well, my idea of “play” can be a bit… bad. I started biting. Her hands (because they had garden gloves), her pants, her old gardening jacket – which I actually ripped- and her ankles. The more she shouted “stop – knock it off” the more I did my Schutzhund routine. I was just playing around – but she was NOT impressed. The Coyote watched with wide eyes while the Boss, who was up on the deck just yawned. The Warden needed to get very firm with me that the bitey play was NOT cool. I would stop, lick her hands and then bite her again. Yup- we PONs can be hard headed. Just a bit.

If the Coyote and I were not peeing on the leaf piles, we were rolling in them. At one point I dodged under the tarp and then flew out and attempted to drag it across the lawn. I then pounced on the unsuspecting Coyote. Plus it was amazing the number of toys we found out in the yard which had been buried in the leaves. Wonder who took them out there….

Anyway, the whole lawn raking thing took several hours. And that was just the backyard. The Boss stayed out of the action until near the end. By this point the lawn was 80% clear and not only could you see the emerging grass – you could also now see the variety of holes the Coyote and I had dug in the fall. Here’s part of one…

The Boss had no interest in the holes – but he did want to eat the grass. So he smushed his face down and began chomping. Meanwhile, the Coyote and I started to dig. In a word – it was chaos. I think it was at that point that the Warden let out a banshee cry staring at the sky. She’s SO dramatic. We all stopped what we were doing for 3 seconds – and then went back to our business.

After enough drama, Warden decided that was “good enough”, and she came in the house for a big glass of water. She just wanted to collapse on the sofa – but she KNEW if she didn’t take the rabbit ear photos, they would never happen. She dug out the ears, loaded her pockets with treats and told us to follow her. No problem. She had treats.

We marched down the trail to the lake…

So the Warden figures outdoor shots are somehow better. I’m not sure why – people with 5 km can hear her shouting “STAY. Elroy look. Elroy look here. EVERYONE STAY. Wojtek leave his ears alone. Frodo smile. Elroy I’m leaving. I’ll be right back. Look at these awesome treats. Here – try one. Wojtek stop licking him. I’m going…” she tries the “I’m going or leaving” line because one time it worked and we all stared at her. Guess what? We caught on.

As usual – although we all do not LOVE head gear, the Coyote is the least happy. He attempted to hide. And your truly was bored.

THEN – guess WHO lost his ears? The good dog…

The Warden did get that good shot you see at the beginning of the blog, but she decided to take one at the lake. Epic fail- including this wardrobe malfunction…

Then we have the BEST shot in that location – and she said we look like total ragamuffins – dirty and totally unhappy. But think about it – we were both. We had just before this been digging and rolling in leaves – what did she expect!

So even though she did get that first shot you see above, was that enough? No.

We came home and did get this cute PON shot…

But that’s after the cropping…

She said we all look drunk here…except for the Boss..

This was the last one taken – and personally, I think we ended on a good note…

So that’s it for the rabbit ears this year. We hope you have a wonderful Easter – with some extra special treats.

Oh – and if anyone knows how to start a sluggish leaf blower – we’ll be cleaning the front yard next week! Join the party!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.