Howl-o-ween at the Bark Park

Dude as the Sheriff of the Dog Park.

This afternoon was Howl-o-ween at the Bark Park. A few dozen dogs turned out, most of them in costume, along with their favorite people.

Of course, my dog, Dude, had to attend. After all, he's a regular at the park. Dude was a hit as the Sheriff of the Dog Park.

Believe it or not, Dude didn't mind parading around in his ghost bandanna, vest, sheriff's badge and cowboy hat. At first he wasn't too sure about the hat, but then he decided even that was okay.

Reggie dressed as a cow, complete with a cowbell.

I managed to get photos of a few of the dogs at the Howl-o-ween party.

Reggie, the black and white Cocker Spaniel, dressed as a cow. Reggie is one of Dude's favorite dog buddies. They enjoy running around the dog park together with Reggie in the lead. When Reggie gets tired he rolls over and plays dead.

Sophie in her poodle costume.

Sophie, the reddish-blond Cocker Spaniel, dressed as a poodle. Sophie is pretty much the queen of the dog park. She welcomes new dogs to the park and makes sure they understand the rules -- her rules. Reggie and Sophie live together and are regulars at the park. Sophie was a winner in her poodle costume.

Oliver as a Patriots Quarterback.

Oliver, the five month old Border Collie, dressed as a New England Patriots Quarterback. Oliver is one of the newer members of the dog park and certainly the most energetic of the bunch. He systematically wears out every dog that enters the park. Maybe Oliver should have dressed as the Energizer Bunny?

Dude enjoys playing with Oliver, but he can't compete with the puppy's energy level. Dude, at three years old, can play one on one with Oliver for about fifteen minutes and then he has to hand the puppy off to another dog.



Maggie the puppy in her devil costume.

Some of the dogs who attended the Howl-o-ween party were ones Dude and I had never met before. One was a puppy named Maggie who dressed as the devil and won a prize for the scariest costume.

One little dog won for the best "Diva" costume. Another little dog won for the most original costume dressed as a bumblebee. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of the little bumblebee. Another little dog was in jailhouse stripes. I didn't get the names of those dogs.




The "Diva" and the jailhouse dog.

I missed getting a photo of Dude's buddy, Lulu. She's an Old English Bulldog and was dressed as a bunch of purple grapes. I also missed getting a photo of Dude's puppy buddy, Thor, who was sporting a big bow.
Another dog park regular, Dexter the Boxer, was there to see the festivities, but didn't come in costume. Dexter was not at all pleased to see his buddy, Dude, dressed as a sheriff.





My Shani in her ghost bandanna.

I think the Howl-o-ween party was fun for all the dogs and their people too.

My older dog, Shani, wasn't interested in going to the dog park. But she didn't mind wearing her ghost bandanna and posing for a photo.

A Happy Howl-o-ween to all.



Just Another Day At The Zoo

Just another day at the zoo for this chimpanzee.

Another day at the Gulf Breeze Zoo. This time it was for "Boo at the Zoo" and all the little kids, including my grandkids, were in Halloween costumes and trick-or-treating at the zoo.

What a gorgeous face.

If you happen to be in northwest Florida, be sure to check out our great little zoo.

Gulf Breeze Zoo

Boo at the Zoo

What a beautiful color.

The zoo critters had different reactions to the costumed kids. Some were fascinated and others, like one of the chimpanzees, wasn't the least bit impressed with the day's visitors.

The male tiger watching the costumed kids.

The male tiger seemed particularly interested in the kids. His expression was "I bet they taste like chicken."

One of the many roosters wandering around the zoo.

After three and a half hours at the zoo I'm exhausted. So this is just a very short post with an assortment of photos I couldn't resist posting.



The giraffes are always eager for a handout.

I have a year long pass for the zoo and am a frequent visitor, which means I take lots of zoo photos. So please stop back from time to time to see my latest photos.

The elephant wishing well at the zoo.

Wishing y'all a wonderful week.

The Beach Houses on Pensacola Beach

Pastel colored beach houses on Pensacola Beach.

I happen to love the beach houses on Pensacola Beach. I love the pastel colors, all those balconies, lots of windows, and the awesome views of the sugar-sand beach with it's turquoise-emerald waters.

I love this one, it's one of my favorites.

I always enjoy driving by the beach houses, which, it seems, are much too big to be called beach cottages. I'm always thinking, if I could just win the lottery I'd buy one. But then I rarely play the lottery, so how could I possibly win?

Then I start calculating how many of my books I'd need to sell in order to buy one of those beach houses. And then I realize that it would take me about two hundred years or more to make enough money to buy one. But then I dream about owning my very own beach house anyway, because, you know, a girl has to dream.

I love this one too.

I live only a couple miles inland from Pensacola Beach, just the other side of the beach bridge. So I'm not all that far away. My house is minuscule in comparison and doesn't have a beach or water view. Ah, well. At least I live close enough to visit the beach whenever I want. So I can drive by those beach houses and pick out my favorite, which changes from time to time.

And I love this one.

At least for now, the brighter pink one is my favorite. I thought it was so cool when I took these latest photos and realized that the pink house had this unique cloud just overhead. The cloud looked like an arrow and pointed directly at MY pink house.

And I love this one.

No, I don't know who owns any of these houses. Some belong to year-around residents, others are vacation homes and some are beach rentals. All the ones in these photos are located right across the street from the beach.

Gee, and I love this one too.

Now if someone wanted to give me one of  those houses, well, I'd take any one of them. But for now, the brighter pink one, as opposed to the pale pink one, is my very favorite. Then again, tomorrow I may have a different favorite one.

My favorite pretty pink beach house.

I've always wanted to live in a pretty pink house. Don't ask my why. I mean, I've dreamed about a pink house since I was a little kid. So, who knows, maybe someday I'll have one of my very own?

So, which of these beach houses is your favorite?

On Pensacola Beach - Waiting for Hurricane(?) Karen with Jim Cantore

Me and TWC's Jim Cantore at Pensacola Beach.

Now I have been a fan of The Weather Channel's meteorologist, Jim Cantore, for many years. Jim is pretty much a fixture when it comes to tropical storms and hurricanes. He has an uncanny sense of where those dreaded hurricanes are going to make landfall. Some even dare to say that Jim Cantore is a magnet for hurricanes.

This morning at Pensacola Beach. Waiting for Karen.

Well, when I turned on The Weather Channel this morning, there was Jim Cantore reporting from Pensacola Beach. So how could I resist? I live just over the bridge from the beach, so I had to drive over there to meet Jim and to take some beach photos.

This morning at the east side of the Pensacola Beach pier.

I have to say that Jim was very gracious and even had one of his camera crew take a couple photos of us with my camera. (If you're reading this post Jim, thank you so very much.)




Storm clouds above the Pensacola Beach pier.

I handed Jim my card and told him that I'm a local author, I have a blog and I follow him on Twitter. Well, my card has the cover of my book, Outback Love. So Jim said, "Outback Love?" And I mentioned that I'm a romance writer. Jim responded with, "I could use some romance in my life." Couldn't we all?

Surfers this morning on Pensacola Beach.

I told Jim that it was great getting to meet him, but that if he was at Pensacola Beach it meant that Karen is probably heading our way. So meeting Jim Cantore is sort of a good and bad thing. Nice to meet him, but we really don't want a hurricane coming our way.

Awesome storm clouds over Pensacola Beach this morning.

Well, I walked the beach and snapped a bunch of pre-Karen photos. The surf was up and the sun was peeking through the clouds and sparkling on the water. The clouds were gorgeous, as always when a tropical storm or hurricane is in the Gulf.

A view of Pensacola Beach from beneath the pier.

Several surfers were out, but the waves were breaking in such a way that the rides were short. I talked to one of the surfers who said he hoped the waves would be better this afternoon.

The far west end of Pensacola Beach.

Overall, the storm clouds were awesome this morning. At the time of these photos, Tropical Storm Karen was approximately 270 miles SSW of  Pensacola Beach. The actual point of landfall is still unknown.

Seagulls waiting for Tropical Storm/Hurricane Karen.

In spite of the fact that it was really cool getting to meet Jim Cantore this morning, we Floridians would rather have Tropical Storm Karen fizzle out in the Gulf and never reach hurricane strength.

Jim, you're welcome to visit our beach any ol' time, just please don't bring a hurricane with you.