I love all your squirrels, Liz I know they are can be vermin but they do have character!

Lovely pics everyone, the dogs are great and the flowers are superb.

sunset
Neck Point
Nanaimo, British Columbia

Those black squirrels are so great looking. I don't believe they inhabit this area as I've never seen one. Just reds and grays.

Thanks Shellie, but he's a she lol..

Twas asking for her doggie choc drops...

Love all the great photos, especially the dog shots and the B/W's.

Flowers through the fence. Charleston, So. Carolina

More gigantic things in the Bellagio Conservatory.

Final image from my trip to Poland last week, the Railcar Memorial in Warsaw commemorates the deaths of Poles exiled to imprisonment and certain death in Siberia during the Communist era.

I'm sure I have posted a photo of this house before, but I like it, and took this shot of it just a few days ago. You can see the bay in the right background, with a bit of ice still on it.



Learned from a recent article in the local paper that this is known as the Riverboat House, for its fancy verandahs (top and bottom), and was built in 1833 by a local militia officer for his bride. The fancy work was actually added at a later date.

I know I've done an old sign before but there's a story behind this one. On Friday Google Streetview arrived. Till then I'd searched online photos for existing sign photos to go and take myself, or driven each main road on the map until I covered them all. I'd got close to running out when it started, and saved two longish trips straight away which I found had nothing on them, and searched four nights before I actually found one I didn't know, at the end of one I did know where this was the continuation sign to turn right for Deptford, after being told to head straight for a mile. The petrol and time saved by Streetview alone is worth having, let alone the fascination seeing places I may or may not know around London just for the fun of it.



All our signs were redesigned in 1963 but quite a few remain with capital letters and coloured borders like these, far nicer and possible to keep for over 100 years as they can be painted unlike the new ones.

We're doing crutching at the moment where they take off the wool from around the face so it doesn't grow over the eyes and around the bum so flies aren't so attracted to them. THis sheep here is wool blind.

That's one of the main reasons I love this section; I learn so much! Thanks Sat, argus, picqero, Liz, & Copago.

A relaxing, quiet scene in South Carolina.

Ren33 asked me to drop in on the chocolate and dogs issue.

Chocolate is indeed toxic to dogs, but the toxicity depends on dosage.

The chemical in chocolate that is problematic is called theobromine. It's related to caffeine. While some dogs are more sensitive than others, a dose of 100-200 mg/kg of theobromine is generally life-threatening. Some dogs show toxicity at doses as low as 20 mg/kg.

Theobnromine is not a cumulative poison; thus, if your dog eats small amounts it will not accumulate a toxic dosage. However, large amounts of chocolate eaten at once are deadly.

The darker the chocolate, the more theobromine it has. Here is a chart of theobromine amounts in chocolate from the Merck Veterinary Manual:

* Dry cocoa powder = 800 mg/oz
* Unsweetened (Baker's) chocolate = 450 mg/oz
* Cocoa bean mulch = 255 mg/oz
* Semisweet chocolate and sweet dark chocolate = 150-160 mg/oz
* Milk chocolate = 44-64 mg per oz chocolate

Thus, as you can see, a small amount of milk chocolate probably will not hurt a large dog, but a standard 4 oz. bar of baker's chocolate can kill a small dog. There is also no specific antidote for theobromine poisoning.

"Choc drops" manufactured for dogs contain no real chocolate and thus are safe.

My flat-coated retriever ate a bar of baker's chocolate once. He showed classic signs of mild toxicity- imagine drinking about 40 cups of coffee and what it would do to you and you get the picture- diarrhea, vomiting, urinating and really, really, really bouncing off the wall for a day He was fine afterwards, but it wasn't a fun experience.

Very interesting advice from crisw on the 'dogs and chocolate' issue. Worth passing on to friends who are dog owners.
This is a London side street near Leicester Square. I don't know what the arched gated building is, but the building on the right is a Japanese restaurant with the unusual name of Wagamama

I took several photos of this fellow and his chums by the river today, liked this one of him doing a bit of preening.

Ah Spring, it was sooooo close here. Grass was starting to show and puddles were everywhere. Then Mother Nature decided she wasn't done with us. Spring snow storm dumped 20 cm or about 8 inches of snow. Its been going for two days now, plus a nice 50 kph wind to whip it around.




Now the flood forecasters are saying the old Red River is going to flood. Our neighbors to the south in North Dakota are even worse off as they got the brunt of the storm and the President has declared a disaster area. Nature at it's worse.

Richard III's memorial at Bosworth Field. The flowers are white roses.

I'm sure the chocolate/dog issue will continue to debate. Someone needs to explain to all the dogs I've ever owned they should be getting sick...
(-8 Now onions and grapes on the other hand have proven to be far more damaging but most people are unaware of the issues those cause.

Speaking of pups. We FINALLY decided to have winter here now that the calendar officially says spring. The moisture is most welcome. And here's my little snow dog.

I've been lucky this winter that we haven't had to drive in much snow. That may change if these storms keep up because we're heading north. I just might get to post my own snow photo soon.

I posted a different photo last autumn of this tree, located at John's Island, So. Carolina. This one was taken last week when the weather was nice, sunny and warm.

Terrific pic of the tree on St. John's. Much better than any I've taken of it.

Thanks, bhs.

With the arrival of Spring, some of our trees are starting to bud. These weeping willows are showing a mix of leaf buds and catkins.

Hello again, everyone. I've missed you AND your photos, but have looked at a few pages to sort of catch up and, like Tony the Tiger said: "They're Grrrreeeaat!"

This one is either just a weedy lane, or maybe it's symbolic, showing that despite twists and turns, the road leads back to FunTrivia.

That could easily be an English Road Kap, especially with all the bends in it!

Here is Palmers Green where the sign was taken yesterday, complete with storm clouds.

I haven't posted for a while, but I do look at all the pictures, and as always, they're awesome, really! Lovely pictures, everyone.

ClaraSue, that tree is amazing and the picture is beautiful!

Kapuskasing, what a beautiful road, it looks so peaceful.