I got a new laptop back in January, and The Golfer and me bought each other a brand new fancy digital camera for Christmas. So I have been looking forward to taking pictures and playing with them in PhotoShop. Things have been crazy busy around here since then, and I haven't had time. But this weekend I thought I would take some pictures and upload them, just for practice. Like Jack Calthorpe and his walking, I do better with these kind of things if I have a goal. I explained about The Animals ( which is actually how we collectively refer to them here at The Household ) in this post. And they do occasionally bury their differences and work together as was explained here. So my motivation for actually taking some pictures and uploading them, was to put some pictures with the names. It was incredibly easy. Much easier than the previous computer/camera combination. The lack of artistic merit in the actual pictures has everything to do with the photographer, and nothing to do with the equipment involved. So here you are. The Animals.
First up -
Hershey. Hersh. Sweetie. The Grande Dame. Hershey is a chocolate lab who is the sweetest dog in the world. She plods happily through life and only 3 things upset her equilibrium - Thunder( she hates it. She goes down to the basement and hides under a desk till it's over ), another dog in her yard ( having another dog visit with it's owners, like say my brothers, makes her very nervous. She pretty much stays on her bed and pouts ), and Jigger. Her relationship with Jigger is basically that of older sister and annoying younger brother. Half of the time she hates him and will growl at him if he bothers her, the other half of the time she loves to play with him. But when he's gone ( like when he goes to the groomer ) she wanders around at lose ends until he comes back.
Next -
Niblick. Nibby. 'is Nibs. Hunter, killer, neighborhood bully, napper extraordinaire. He is 20 lbs lean. The first thing people say when they meet him is 'That is one BIG cat'. After they spend a few minutes with him they say 'This is the friendliest cat I have ever met.'. He is an extremely social cat - with people. If you are another animal he is your worst nightmare. You are either prey, or something to fight with. The neighbors love him, the neighbor's pets give him a wide berth, even the huge golden retriever. Hershey totally ignores him, and he ignores her. They don't exist in each others world. But he loves to torture Jigger. As an example, he will sit inside by the doggy door and swipe at Jiggers nose when he tries to come inside. Hershey just barrels through and he has to get out of her way. But Jigger sticks his nose through first. If he knows Nibby is on the other side Jigger will sit outside for hours in rain and snow and whine rather than risk the claws. The first couple times we moved Nibby. But after that we figured Jiggers should just buck up and barrel through like Hersh does and if he couldn't figure that out, that was his problem. He spends a lot of time outside the doggy door whinning. And if ever a cat had an evil grin it is Nibby when he has Jigger on the ropes.
And -
Mashie. Mashie is on the small side for a guinea pig, and especially for a male guinea pig. This has resulted in Mashie having a Napoleonic complex. He may live in a cage, but he rules the world. He is very social with people. He likes to be held and he will chat away forever. But if dinner is late you can hear him whistling down the block. And he takes no guff from the other Animals. When he is out running around he will scratch and bite any animal that comes near. Which usually means Jigger. Jigger just can't seem to leave him alone, and so there is usually biting and yelping involved. Hershey, as usual, totally ignores him. And even though he has brought home the occasional rat that is as big as Mashie, even Niblick knows better than to mess with him.
Last, but ( as he will be the first to tell you ) not least -
Jigger. Guy in charge. Supervisor. Busy body. Nose into everything. Not just here, but those neighbors need watching too. You just never know what they are up to. Loud mouth. Comments on everything. The Household would fall apart if he wasn't running things. And he has ADD. Goes from one thing to another. Can't be serious and concentrate on one thing for more than 30 secs. As evidenced by this picture. Hershey was happy to look up. Nibby glared at me, but he's vain, so he consented to have his picture taken. Mashie posed many different ways to make sure I got his good side. Jigger. SIGH. Jigger wouldn't hold still for the 2 secs. it took to snap a picture. He finally sat down, but like a little kid he just couldn't smile nice and take a straight picture. At the last minute he had to cock his head. But he certainly keeps us entertained. And, most importantly, he does pay attention to the golf.
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