Almost Wordless Wednesday - You're going to love this one! :)

Edward, retired blind guide dog and his (and his owner's) guide dog, Opal.

When Graham Waspe’s loyal guide dog of six years was diagnosed with a rare form of glaucoma, Waspe was devastated. The local animal hospital did everything they could to preserve Edward’s sight, but ultimately had to remove his eyes to alleviate the pain and prevent further damage.
 
Graham was at a loss. He knew he needed a new guide dog to help him navigate his surroundings, but he didn’t want to abandon his loyal friend whom he loved dearly. Enter Opal, a two-year-old female that would soon guide both Edward and Graham.

The duo became a trio, and the three of have gotten along harmoniously ever since. You can read more about this touching story at the East Anglian Daily Times and Daily Mail.

 

Isn't that the neatest thing?

From me and Katie, have a great Wordless Wednesday, everyone!  :)

 

Hummingbird in the Ocotillo

There's a large Ocotillo across from the Visitor's Center at Caballo Lake State Park.  I was waiting for the office to open again after lunch and was walking around looking at the flowers.  I looked up and saw this Black-chinned Hummingbird feeding from the bright red flowers.  I must have taken 100 photos and when the office door opened again for business, I could hardly straighten my neck. 

I was standing at the base of this large Ocotillo and wanted to get a shot looking up:

Then I took another photo and noticed this tiny bird near the top:

See him on the right side, about halfway down?   I zoomed in on him and took all the photos.  Lots of tummy shots from this angle - see how his tiny feet and legs are tucked up out of sight?  Fun, fun, fun! 

I told the Volunteer in the office about all the photos I got and he said one day that bird was caught in the office when he went to lunch.  It must have come in the open door and wasn't noticed when people left.  As soon as the Volunteer came back and opened a window, the hummingbird flew out and went right to "his" tree.  I guess he guards it and keeps the other hummers away.  I wonder if he was peeking out the window watching his rivals stealing all his nectar.

That's all for today.  I haven't seen many hummingbirds lately and wanted to post the best shots I got of this Black-chinned little guy.

After posting all the cactus flowers in the last post, I remembered a large cactus on the side of my San Diego condo - it was a while before I even realized it was there.  Then one day I noticed it was blooming - I think these were the first cactus blooms I'd ever seen.  It funny that I thought this was a very large cactus - little did I know when I took these photos that I'd see many, many HUGE cactus plants in the near future.  :)

I think it's interesting that cactus plants have two different color blooms on the same "leaf."  

From me and Katie, have a great Sunday, everyone!  :)

PS - I've been getting a lot of spam e-mails from people - at this point it's pretty easy to figure out they are spam and I just delete them.  Now I'm noticing a lot of "Delivery Notification - Failure" messages in MY spam folder telling me that some messages that "I" sent didn't' make it to the recipients.  Just a reminder that these spam e-mails are in the rise, and if you get one from me that doesn't look right, please just delete it. You can e-mail me at sm92078@aol.com if you are unsure.

Caballo Lake flowers and critters

The cactus are just starting to bloom, there were many buds ready to pop:

Ocotillo in bloom - the blooms are beautiful, and this plant was really greened up:

This has to be the prettiest dump station location I've seen:

This was a large tree with beautiful yellow blossoms:

And bunnies playing in the campsite:

The other rabbit was about 10 feet in front of this little guy - and he was kind of stutter-stepping toward him.  Every time he'd take a fake step, this rabbit would hop straight up in the air, then land for the next hop.  It was pretty funny.

Then they started chasing each other.

And finally just sat around in the shade:

And although I didn't see squirrels down in my previous spot, after Ryan left, I was the only camper in this area, so I moved down the road a little, closer to the regular campsites.  There is a squirrel that comes down here, but he seems happy to just eat the bush overlooking the river. He's so cute:

WELCOME to our newest Follower,  Chris Carter!  Chris, I don't see any information about you or a blog; let me know if you do have a blog and I'll post a link so our readers can check it out.  Welcome aboard!  :)

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everybody!  :)