Foster kittens

I had the pleasure of fostering three little black and white kittens for a short while. They're back with Rescue Ridge now. Curious George, one of the tuxedos, has found a home. But Squirt and Pepe are still waiting. The photos and video are of the kittens when they were only about 5 weeks old. They're 11 weeks old now and doing well. These kittens are personality plus and real cuddlers! Please contact Rescue Ridge to meet these little darlings. I know they have much love ready to give you.

Here's Squirt:



And Pepe - he has a white stripe right down his back!



Enjoy their videos!

Jeremy on the rocks!

It's so wonderful to be able to get out and about now that the weather in NJ has improved. It was only 43 today but sunny and beautiful so Jeremy and I went to the beach. Even with the cold temperature, Jeremy couldn't resist going into the water a little bit!

Spring is on its way!

Well, spring hasn't sprung yet here in NJ but it's on its way! My first daffodil of the season has bloomed.



And crocus are always early bloomers.



Welcome back, Oriental Poppy!



And all these lilies, too. Hope you've had a good winter's rest.



I'm looking forward to seeing more of my spring flower friends return.

Reward offered for safe return of Charlie Brown

As some of you know, my dog Jeremy was adopted from Rescue Ridge, a wonderful organization in Monmouth County, NJ. One of their courtesy post dogs, Charlie Brown, finally found a home in Morganville, NJ on New Year's Eve but escaped from the yard the next morning. He is still missing.

Reward offered for safe return of Charlie Brown

Dog goes missing shortly after arriving at Marlboro home
Amy Rosen - News Transcript

MARLBORO — A cash reward is being offered for the safe return of a lost dog named Charlie Brown.

Charlie Brown is shy, traumatized and scared, according to Michelle Forsythe, a rescue transport coordinator from Pennsylvania who helped arrange the adoption of the 18-month-old reddish-brown lab mix to a family in the Morganville section of Marlboro.

Unfortunately, within the first few hours at what was supposed to be his forever home, Charlie Brown ran away from the yard of the family’s Alexander Court, Marlboro, home on Jan. 1 at about 4 a.m. and has not been seen since.

Charlie Brown has had all his shots and all his health certificates are in order, but he was recently neutered and his sutures were supposed to be removed Jan. 3. The dog has a microchip, which is currently registered to Forsythe, but Marlboro police and animal control officers had not been able to locate Charlie Brown as of Jan. 10.

The family has put out food, but Charlie Brown, who loves food, according to Forsythe, has not been located.

Over the weekend of Jan. 8-9, volunteers from Rescue Ridge, a local animal rescue organization, took to the streets and woods in the area to help locate Charlie Brown. The volunteers also handed out fliers in the area. With snow forecast for Jan. 11, concern was growing for the dog’s safety.

“Charlie Brown and his brother, Bobby, were young dogs that we think were abused by their original owners,” Forsythe said. “They had been in foster care on a farm pending a nurturing home.

“Charlie Brown is very, very sweet and doesn’t have an aggressive bone in his body. Charlie is scared of new people and situations. If scared, he will crouch, bolt, run and hide. He enjoys other dogs and fast-food snacks. He won’t come if called,” she said.

Anyone who has seen Charlie Brown is asked to call Marlboro police at 732-536-0100 or Michelle Forsythe at 304-374-0804.

Indian Summer in New Jersey

We've been enjoying a few days of Indian Summer here in New Jersey with beautiful sunny days in the mid-70's. It looks like the clouds will roll in tomorrow and showers starting on Tuesday but temperatures will still be balmy until Friday.

Yesterday, my daughter, Becky, and my son-in-law, Ray, went down to the dog beach with my cocker spaniel, Jeremy, and their Shiba Inus, Aspen and Bella. What a glorious day it was - sunny but not real hot. The water was very low and the dogs had to run almost up to the boats to get to the waves. So they didn't do a lot of swimming. But so many dogs came out to the beach to enjoy the beautiful day and they had such a blast.

It's hard taking photos down there because the dogs seldom stand still. But Becky was able to get a few and I wanted to share them with you.

The dog beach is the one place where I feel comfortable letting Jeremy run free. And boy, does he love it! He raced from one end of that beach to the other. It absolutely thrills me to see him running so fast and free. What a shame it is when I have to leash him again after that. The way we live with cars zooming all around us is just not natural to dogs. But it is what it is.



But yesterday he was free and he had a ball. There was a seagull that was teasing him. As soon as Jeremy would take off after him, the gull would lift off and fly the other way along the shoreline and would then land. Jeremy would take off again, only to have the gull fly off in the opposite direction. Back and forth they went!

Ray had brought along homemade dog treats that Becky had made the night before. Jeremy loved them. Here he is with Bella begging for more. Aspen had enough of the treats the night before so he buried his in the sand. Every once in while, he'd go over to the spot and dig it back up with his nose and then cover it again. Once he didn't cover it enough and Jeremy found it. Aspen's face looked so baffled when he went back and the treat wasn't there!



Aspen, Bella and Jeremy all enjoyed digging a huge hole and here's Jeremy with his head in it. What's in there, Jeremy?!



What a sandy mess Jeremy was by the end of the day. And his long hair was full of burrs from running in the sand dunes. But it was all worth it.

I doubt if we'll have many more of these beach days now that November is almost here. But I know that Jeremy has made enough good beach memories to keep his dreams happy throughout the winter. A great day spent with my family and dogs. But my little grandson Joshua slept through it all! :)

Fabulous hummingbird guests

For me, one of the most enjoyable summertime happenings is the return of hummingbirds to New Jersey. Nothing pleases me more than to see one of those tiny little visitors stop by my garden. And it makes my whole summer a delight if one or two decide to stay for any length of time.

For some reason, sightings have been few this summer. But last summer I had two little ones stay the whole summer. All the day drew to a close, they’d come and sit on the fence near the feeder and would stay there almost until dark, occasionally going to the feeder for a sip of sugar water. One stayed into October and would sit on the fence with the cold wind ruffling his feathers. Finally he too said goodbye.

I was hoping they’d return this summer but my neighborhood has gotten noisier and, while I saw one or two at the feeder one weekend in June, I think a very wild pool party in the yard in back of mine scared them away. But I keep replacing the sugar water hoping for their return.

Here are some photos I took last summer of my special visitors.