We went to the reptile show this weekend.  We picked up a male and female Panther Chameleon.  The female, I believe is already ready to lay eggs. So I’m scrambling (no pun intended) to learn how to deal with that.       So the male (left) is like a peacock. It’s all colorful and impressive to attract females.  The female (right) I think is pregnant.  The question is how to tell if she’s ready to lay eggs or not.

Today our family dog, Bailey, turned two years old.  Thanks to the power of the Internet and Facebook we have been able to keep in touch with Bailey’s siblings. Here’s Bailey with my daughter:   and in the snow:   and last summer with her ball:   Bailey’s Brother with his ball:   Bailey’s sister with her toys:   Bailey’s sister with her ball and at Halloween: (Scout) ...

My dog Bailey turns 2 years old this week!   Bailey when we brought her home   Bailey recently   Do you have a pet? What do they look like?

This morning I brought my dog Bailey to work.  As I was talking on the phone while she scampered around, she went out on the “frozen” pond. Moments later, I heard a crash and looked up and saw that she had fallen in.  For a moment, she struggled to get out of the water back onto the ice but then slipped and fell further and got stuck under the ice. Without thinking (and now I understand better how people end up getting themselves killed when this happens on lakes), I jump...

As a side-hobby, I run the Facebook Entlebucher page . Entlebuchers are an amazing breed of dog.  They’re closely related to the Bernese Mountain Dog and the Swiss Mountain dog.  What sets them apart is size, life span, and hair length.  Entlebuchers are about 50 pounds, they have short hair and live around 14 years.  Personality wise, Entlebuchers (pronounced Ent-Lee-Booker or Ent-Lees) are velcro dogs. That is, they want to always be with you.  There is a s...

We’re getting some beautiful weather here in Michigan this Summer. This morning I took the dog and went around taking some pictures from around “the yard”.   My dog sitting in the Ranger EV.  I intend to write up some impressions of this vehicle. We absolutely love it. It’s silent which lets us putter around the woods looking at wildlife but still a great utility vehicle for moving things around.  This picture was taken in the orchard.   ...

Today was a reasonably warm day and very sunny.  I used the opportunity to split one of my beehives into two. Here’s how that works. I have a beehive that’s doing pretty well. To split a hive, you take a bunch of frames from inside the hive that have eggs and open celled larva and move it (and the bees on the frame) to the new hive.  In a few days, week, the bees will realize there’s no queen and feed one of the larva royal jelly which will turn that bee into a queen. I ...

The puppy likes our sons but absolutely adores the 5 year old. It’s a weird thing.

It’s hard to believe that our dog Bailey was just born one year ago tomorrow. Here’s how she looked 1 year ago: At 4 weeks: Here’s how she looked at 8 weeks.   Now, fast forward about a year…

My puppy can be pretty disgusting. The things it tries to eat. The things it rolls in. It’s all bad news. And if it’s an indoor dog, it becomes your problem. And I have to say, I’m glad I waited until after having 3 children because when it’s your own child, you grin and bear it as you learn to deal with icky gross stuff. By the time you get the dog, you’re numb.

This past week my son and I visited Turtlebee Farms . It's an amazing place located just outside of Byron Michigan.  Turtlebee Farms has seasonal classes on caring for honey bees. Alex and I have decided to become hobbiest beekeepers.  We've gotten a lot of equipment and a place for the bees prior to going but we haven't yet actually acquired bees.  We wanted to make sure we were fully prepared for the responsibility and effort involved in taking care of honey bees.  Plus...

Tonight my son and I attended the SEMBA bee keeping user group.  We had a good time and met a lot of interesting and very friendly people. I was really impressed and energized by just how helpful and kind the folks at the meeting were to us.  In a single meeting, we got more help and more tips on how to get things going than I'd managed to pick up on the web in the past couple of weeks. The next step is to take some bee keeping classes while the equipment comes in and to start ...

As a kid, I was afraid of bees. I mean, hysterically afraid.  To be fair, I probably had good reason, I'd been stung hundreds of times by the time I was 12.  I grew up next to a swamp and was constantly getting stung by bees, hornets, wasps, etc.  Admittedly, most of the stings were due to my own idiocy. Okay, nearly all were due to idiocy.  One time, after getting stung when I was 8, I "declared war" on the big wasp nest and attacked it with a stick.  The wasps won....

It's really odd having a turtle that is older than you.  Cuddles, the family turtle, is around 50 years old now. I got him when I was a teenager and here, now at 33, we still have him. I've read that box turtles can live a century, so who knows, my kids may one day be fighting over Cuddles.