This post was supposed to be a post about bracken fern and sumac bushes BUT I saw a bear today! It was so cool! I was in the Choccolocco Wildlife Management Area as I am for most weekday lunches. I was on my way back to work on one of the lesser used roads. I came around a hill and curve and there it was cresting the bank on the north side of the road. I thought for about a quarter second and then hit the brakes. I was at the top of the bank in probably about ten seconds but it was gone. I was SO excited. It wasn't very big compared to my dogs. Probably smaller than Susie (about 150 pounds). As soon as I topped the bank I saw why the bear was there. I was in a huge field of overripe huckleberries. It was very neat.

Bracken Fern turning brown

As for the bracken fern, while I was walking amongst my very small patch here on my property, I noticed that some of it had started 'dying' and turning brown. I haven't had any rain here in three weeks so I thought my precious small patch of native fern was in trouble. Today when I went to the forest it was with the intent to check out the bracken in the WMA to see if mine was normal or not. Good news! The ferns in the WMA and my ferns are behaving identically so I think the ferns have a short green period. I think they stay green from February to July . This is probably to facilitate fire. They provide fuel to remove the fern's competition while the fern sleeps through the dry months 3 to 12 inches below ground. I love nature.

Sumac and Bracken Fern

Something I do have in abundance is sumac. The floor of the WMA forest is covered in sumac, huckleberries and bracken fern. I have all three on the property but I have a real 'infestation' of black berries. Tens of thousands of them. I don't really know what I am going to do. They came back stronger than ever after the first fire... We will see. I saw a bear! :)

I am ashamed of myself.

I walked out of the house for the third assault of the day on the sweet gums invading my forest. In this heat, 95+, I can only last about an hour before dehydration and exhaustion force me back into the air conditioning. The new saw is an incredible piece of machinery but at 15 pounds full of fluids, it is quite heavy. Throw in that I cut most trees into heavy eight foot lengths and it gets difficult for a fat old man.

When I stepped out into that heat, there she was. Possibly the sweetest girl no ones knows about. Smiling at me with a foot of tongue hanging from her mouth. 95 degrees and Roxi is bouncing just because I walked out the door. What a great bitch! So I'm ashamed that I never mention my other doggies. I talk about Lexus, Trojan, Brian and May but the other four, Roxi, CiCi, Lilly and Susie are very special too. Any fancier would be proud to have any of them.

CiCi, Roxi and Susie have each been bred once. Lilly, quite possibly the best of her litter, has never been bred. It is strange how life and circumstance has 'limited' the use of each of these girls. They are all certainly worthy. But while I am ashamed that I do not give them the publicity that they deserve, rest assured that each gets tons of lovin'. Susie and CiCi are inside dogs. Roxi and Lilly are rearing Brian in fantastic fashion. Of all of them though I regret the most that I never bred Lilly. She is a fantastic creature.

When I came in Sunday evening looking for somewhere to crash so that I didn't die of heat stroke, I found my preferred spot, directly under the ceiling fan, occupied! It worked out and here is a picture of one of my 'photographically neglected' girls, CiCi. She has put a little weight back on lately and is probably around 165-170. It is a good weight for her so I will have to be careful not to let her balloon back up.

This is why you have to be very careful around my house right now. You never know where May is going to run out of energy and just crash!

Immodest

Ridiculous

AWESOME!

Occassionally, when I check my phone's picture gallery, I find little Easter Egg's that I presume Sidney leaves for me. Pictures that I know I didn't take and places I know I never was. Trust my, it is odd to find a picture of a Bearded Dragon on your phone.

THese are just some pictures I downloaded this morning:

It really was a big tree!

Georgia Memorial at Gettyburg

Dr. Matt McCord's Bearded Dragon "Shrek" at the Bowdon Animal Clinic

May about 5 weeks old.

My chainsaw is pretty much in constant use. So much so that I wore this last one out in only three years. There is always a tree in need of felling on the property. The trail/firebreak alone could keep me busy for months.

When we bought our farm, we decided to have the pine cut off of it. I gave the logging company explicit instructions, "Stay away from this large oak." Of course, they took that as a challenge, cut off its largest limbs and then cut the roots away on one side for a roadbed. Bastards. They killed the tree but, it didn't die instantly. It struggled for a few more years before it died completely as if to absolve the timber company of liability. Stupid tree.

Regardless, the tree had really started shedding some big limbs. Every week I was picking up limbs bigger than 4 inches in diameter and I really wanted it on the ground. Saturday was the day we decided to do it.

On Saturday morning, (While Mirra was finishing her championship! Had to throw that in there for the required Mastiff content.) James went over to his Grandfather's to spread bark and pressure wash the house. They came home about 11:00 and we got to work. It was so bloody hot! We started with Donald's 18" Husqvarna. We knew the saw wasn't big enough but we thought we might be able to remove enough material for the tree to fall. Donald and I worked together and we cut the facing notch almost perfectly. James knocked the notch out with a sledge and we were in business.

At some point I have to point out that tree was not a perfect circle. It was a lumpy 44 inches across on its shortest side and we were lucky in that the short side faced exactly where we wanted the tree to fall. We notched the tree so that the fall was aimed between a small oak and a hickory. The problem was that where we wanted it to fall was about 25-30 degrees off from the natural fall angle. That problem would have to be resolved and did cause 'issues' later.

So I started the back cut and the tree moved forward and scared the crap out of me. It didn't move much but when you are cutting a tree and the back cut starts to open, you notice it. Something about wanting to live keeps you vigilant. From here on, we mostly only had one person at a time working on the tree. Losing one of us would be tragic. All three of us getting hurt or killed would have been, well, more tragic. Anyway, after I made the back cut I went ahead and ringed the tree. At this point I had cut all the way around the tree as deep as that saw would cut. Nothing happened.

We had an old two man cross cut saw that Donald had borrowed from his friend Mark. James and I had previously started using that old saw on this tree with dismal results. I was not looking forward to fighting 'the misery whip' until that tree was on the ground. Donald and I each grabbed an end and started. Woe is me, then thank GOD the handle broke. Darn it! :) Another solution was in order. I had two wedges. I put the first one in the back side of the tree and started to drive it over, and it went! Just not very far and not very fast.

Did I mention that it was hot? Well, I was good for about six whole swings with that twelve pound sledge before I was done and had to rest. At least I could hit the target! Poor James had plenty of stamina but his aim was horrible! After about ten minutes, we had that 2.5 inch wedge completely in and the tree was leaning badly. We started on the second wedge (which was actually an old maul head). The damn thing kept bouncing out so Donald was dispatche dback home to see if he could find his wedges. James and I decided a break was in order while Donald was driving and since Laura had arrived with lunch, a strategy session was called over fried chicken.

Donald didn't find his wedges but he got something better, a bigger saw! He borrowed a bigger saw so after a wholesome lunch we attacked the tree with vigor. The saw was working great and I was really removing a lot of wood and then I messed up and the tree sat down on the tip. DAMN IT! Now we had the big saw trapped and while we were closer to getting the tree down on the north side, the south side hadn't been touched. At this point I admit I was getting pissed. I drove the maul head in to protect the big saw and to turn the tree back toward the direction I wanted it to fall. I picked up the small saw and started notching the south side of the tree.

I really didn't want to do this because I now had notches on two sides of the tree. James knocked the second notch out with the sledge and I put the smaller saw in as deep as I could go INTO the second notch and started cutting fresh wood. I was really NOT enjoying myself now. A ton of tree had been cut and, it was leaning at about thirty degrees! I really should have taken pictures because it was ridiculous. This huge tree had leaned over so far that the six inch cut I originally made was now closed. It was so bad that I guy who cuts trees for Georgia Power drove up, said he had never seen that before, said he had no advise to offer, and just watched.

When the notched closed on the face side it opened up the back cut. I put the 18" saw in the now open saw and probed for any piece of tree I could reach. I found some. I cut another half an inch out and it finally started to fall. The tree bounced and rebounded just enough to set the trunk back up on the stomp. At that point I didn't care. It was on the ground.

If you look you can see how much wood was holding this tree up. That little spike on the stump is about two inches thick and seven inches long. How it held that tree for so long is beyond me. Now I have to figure out how to get it off the stump... The next day, Laura bought me a new saw for Father's Day. Anyone think she is trying to kill me?

Congratulations to Sandra, Jennifer and Catie. Mirra finished her championship today in Orlando to become CH Kiokee's Mirra Image of Morrigan! This is a huge deal for everyone involved. Today she went WB, BOW and BOS. That is awesome for an awesome girl! Jennifer has more 'coverage' on her blog Os and Choc.

The question has been asked about who has the MOST puppy Divaness, May or Chocolate. A battle of the blog has developed. :) What a great question to be able to ask! They are both exceptional. Chocolate was NOT the pretty girl in her litter, until she was about eight/nine weeks old. Chocolate was something of an ugly duckling... Of course, May has always been the pretty girl in her litter so advantage, May. Morrigan was always smarter than us so even though Chocolate was a swan, Morrigan always knew she was a swan and she was 'The Diva' to Morrigan from the very beginning. Of Course, May has always been Lexus' favorite too so we will call 'Momma's Choice' a draw. Then of course to be a Diva, you must be photogenic. May has made some good pictures but I am no photographer. Chocolate had a picture taken of her that could EASILY be the cover of any puppy calendar. The professional photographer was no advantage. Advantage Chocolate.

So there you have it. At the moment (seven to nine weeks old), it is a draw. We gotta give May some time to come to the final conclusion...

Now I know why I left my website down for so long. It has been a lot of work getting the darn thing back into shape! I think I finally have it beaten into the correct form now. The blog is still powered by blogspot but it is being hosted on the same site as the webpages. I am still having an issue getting Google to find the site correctly but I will get that squared away. I think it has to do with me changing the nameservers that point browser to the correct IP address. If that is the case, the problem will correct itself as the other dns servers around the globe synchronize.

We are getting May ready for a life in the spotlight.

May is spectacular. She is still just a baby but she really is nice. She is also smart. She is certain she is a princess. Notice she prefers pillows... Dare I say she is a little diva-ish? Oh, Jennifer is going to get me for that!

Her Divaness, Chocolate

94 today, 96 tomorrow. When I get home this evening, I will be spraying down the beasties to cool them off. James sprayed them down at noon and I will probably leave a little early to wet them down in the heat of the day. Big girls like Silly Lilly really have a hard time when the temp gets above 90 and stays there. I wish I had a nice big pond for them to get in but then I remember that I have had to rescue Trojan from drowning himself at least three times so I hesitate. Brian and Roxi love the hose and love to get sprayed. I will have to catch Lilly though. She hates getting wet even when it is in her best interest.

I love this picture of Amara.

Miss May Bug has reached the stage where her puppy fur is falling out. She is terrorizing all of her older family members. Have no doubt that NO ankle is safe when May is feeling feisty!

So far I have updated Morrigan, Ford, Chocolate and Macey's webpages. I am trying to catch up but we have more than a few titled dogs and they all deserve attention!

Miss May Bug had a huge weekend! We weighed her in early Saturday morning and she is right at 8 pounds. Then Jennifer came and she entertained May for hours! I pointed out May's perfect bite and Jennifer said, 'Jim, she is only five weeks old.' I pointed out her dead level top line and Jennifer said, 'Jim, she is only five weeks old.' I pointed out her length of body and Jennifer said, 'Jim, she is only five weeks old.' I pointed out her flat head and square muzzle and before Jennifer said, 'Jim, she is only five weeks old' I said it. :) We had a good visit.

Jennifer was gracious enough to bring Chocolate and Amara. Amara is fantastic and I do truly love her bubbly personality and spitrt but when Chocolate comes for a visit, man it makes my month. She is such a gorgeous bitch. If she enjoyed being a show dog the sky really would be the limit for her.

Jennifer took some pictures, hopefully the will be posted soon!

This is a video from Christmas 2004 with a very outgoing, muddy and un-Diva like Chocolate stirring things up! Silly Lilly, Laney Painy, Sweet Sue, ChocoDiva and Trojan Wallace having fun as five siblings can.

Susie is missing from this one...

Well, it is getting late and I think I am getting close. This new format gives me greater freedom to add pages for the individual dogs.

this is a test DONT WORRY JENNIFER, THE FRAME IS TEMPORARY! im just trying to wrap my head around a technology I haven't used before!

Sometimes I forget just how truly beautiful Trojan is. Thank you, Sidney.

Bear with me folks. I am finally working on a real website and things might go a little wonky for a couple days. Hopefully I can get all the links working again for all the dogs and maybe I can even add a few! The blog is going to be embedded in the permanent site. You'll see.

Only http://www.morriganmastiffs.com will be affected.

http://morriganmastiffs.blogspot.com will always work but the formatting may seem strange. It just depends on how you are getting here...

I forgot about this. This was recorded a couple weekends ago when young May was three weeks old. Sidney should be on Idol!

Our creek last fall...

So there I was, minding my own business, feeding Roxi and Lilly when I heard him coming. Thump, Thump, Thump. As I turned to my right he was on top of me. His head went completely into the dog food bag and he pulled it out of my left hand. After that, food went everywhere! I just closed my eyes, grabbed a rake, and started grooming Lilly and Roxi. Brian just amused himself shredding the bag and watching the food erupt every few seconds. I love that dog. I let him get away with to much but he is so much fun.

May got an extended trip outside this evening and she actually peed in the grass! Big step there! Then off course, everything went sideways. Susie came over to see May and promptly deposited a nice shoe string right between her eyes. Laura Ann was not amused and made me get it off but I took a couple camera phone pictures first. Miss May Bug has just turned four weeks old.

I need to take some pictures of the chickens and of young Berry (the baby goat). Poor Barry has a date with a rubber band next weekend. If you don't know what that means, look up the word wether... Poor little guy.