View allAll Photos Tagged Aussie
Most Saturdays we try to walk someplace other than our own neighborhood. Sometimes we just choose a random neighborhood. This past weekend we came across a mesquite tree with a rather horizontal trunk that just begged to be posed upon.
Ideally Jasper likes both his humans involved in play. Jasper and I had been playing alone, but then he heard an advertisement starting on the TV and looked to see if his human mom would join us. She did
A field full of dry grasses and these tufty thistly weeds. Those are containers in the background because this is Port Adelaide, where containers live.
Who would have thought that we had a resident pod of Orca here in Australia. Located in the Southern Ocean, about 80 km south of Bremer Bay in Western Australia is the Bremer Canyon. This is home to a large pod of Orca. During the summer months the tour operators guarantee sightings. A great day out, as long as you don't get sea sick!
Having successfully kept Rebel Rooster under his protective care, Jasper stood tall and proud. It was a rousing chase around the family room.
I use the term "under protective care" loosely. On Rebel Rooster's first day with Jasper, he lost an eyeball to Jasper's teeth. But luckily, in between being a fighter jet pilot and being a nuclear physicist, I spent some time as an eye surgeon so I was able to reattach Rebel's eyeball and he's fully stereoscopic again.
I was just messing around with the new sky replacement feature in Photoshop CS 2021. Apparently you can also replace a wall with a pretty sky. So here you have a very real Jasper on a fake sandy (or carpeted?) beach at sunset.
I plopped down on the couch after having had extended playtime with Jasper. So he took up a position where he could give me the look that says we could still be having a whole lot more fun if you'd just get off your butt, human!
Jasper's got a new friend, Consuela Cactus. She squeaks and has a pretty flower. She smiles and she winks, enjoying her time with Master Jasper. You might think that Jasper is bored with Consuela in this shot. Not so! Jasper is bored with his humans who have pointedly ignored him, resting on their human butts on the human couch! Humans!
Jasper taking in the scenes at the crest of our hike at Lost Dutchman State Park, about 30 minutes from our house.
This is from a month ago when we spent a few days in Prescott, Arizona. Jasper seemed to really enjoy the town square - some nice grassy grounds and good people watching. Of course he gets a lot of attention from passersby.
The 'Aussie Magic' charter yacht.
On Sydney harbour last Saturday afternoon.
Saturday 1st July, 2023.
Photographed from the Blues Point Reserve.
Blues Point. Near McMahons Point.
At the end of Blues Point Road.
My Canon EOS 5D Mk IV with the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6L lens
Processed in Adobe Lightroom and PhotoPad Pro by NCH software.
A Legacy 'Candy' filter from the Flickr Photo Editor.
Jasper stands sentry in the neighborhood. Rest assured no rogue critters will penetrate his defenses
Watching TV in the evening, if one of us gets up, Jasper is at full attention, certain (or perhaps ever hopeful) that something wonderful and fun is about to happen. Sometimes its even true 😁
Jasper checking out the neighborhood just after Sunday sunrise.
For some reason Sunday mornings are special for Jasper. It's the one day of the week that I take him on his morning "walk" alone. I put that in quotes because on Sundays, and only on Sundays, Jasper wants to run. We sprint the first block and then jog the rest of the way. 3 miles (4.8 km). I know I could insist on walking instead, but he gets so excited and seems to love it so much. So on Sundays we both get a little extra exercise.
Yes, his face telegraphs his feelings about just sitting around instead of playing. Oh, Jasper, we can't play 24/7!
Sometimes Jasper takes it upon himself to take up the neighborhood watch, looking for ne'er-do-wells. This time hiding in the lantana flowers.
The light was far from perfect, in fact too far for my liking, but when I spotted this Reed Warbler flying between the reeds and the nearby eucalyptus tree, I saw the one and only opportunity to capture him in a true blue Aussie environment. After I got ten or so reasonable shots he began to sing and I could go home just in time for breakfast.
Australian Reed Warbler
(Acrocephalus australis)
"Yes, Mother? Of course. Anything you say" Oh Jasper can pour on the charm and sincerity if he thinks there's a play or treat reward at stake. Who would not believe this face sincere?
(once again, the lens shown is wrong. I shot this with a Sigma 50mm f 1.4)
Having stopped along the trail for a bit of water, Jasper asks for (demands?) a treat. OK, here's a li'l' something.
Ok Jasper, slow down! JASPER! JASPER! ... A near miss as Jasper catches the frisbee and barrels toward me. I had the camera on the ground, trying to get a low-angle shot. And Jasper thought perhaps we could get a nice shot to really show off the Hyper Pet flying disc.
Fun times in the back yard. Jasper loves his Oddball and we are out playing with it on a daily basis. Not sure what the Oddball rules are, but I am sure that Jasper always wins.
While on shrubbery patrol, Jasper needs to remain alert, ready to slay any would-be dragons lurking in our neighborhood.
"Hey Dad! I'm doing a mind meld with Cedric the Cephalopod!"
One wonders what goes on inside of the mind of a cephalopod. I guess I'll have to ask Jasper
One of the rare evening shots that I posed just because Cedric the Cephalopod was the "Chosen One" today and it just felt right. Though there may be those that disagree 😜
Jasper has been assigned the dawn shift. There have been reports of bunnies scurrying around the neighborhood overnight. We have to nip this problem in the bud!
Last evening we had a bit of a monsoon roll through. Jasper heard it and went over to the patio door to check it out. I said to him, "You don't want to go out there buddy. It's coming down pretty hard." But he insisted he go out. Jasper does not like to get wet at all so I thought he'd just go out onto the patio which is covered. But no, he ran out into the yard and did a quick dash before coming back to the patio and shaking it out. From then on, I kept singing … If you like piña coladas, and gettin' caught in the rain (Rupert Holmes Escape song reference)
Prowling the jungles of Phoenix, Jasper spies unsuspecting prey within striking distance. Or so the fantasy goes.
This is Cal (Short for Calvados) who lives with my sister-in-law (Jean's sister) in Wisconsin. We've been getting text messages with pictures of Jasper from our pet sitter every day, but it was nice to visit Cal and get a bit of an Aussie fix. He's actually Jasper's blood-nephew, a big fluffy, goofy boy. Click on Cal's eyes to zoom in and see his poly-chromatic (multi-colored) eyes. Merry Christmas!
Jasper is always such a considerate dog, making sure I have toys to play with should the urge arise 😁
Jasper took a moment to contemplate life in the demonstration gardens at Boyce Thompson Arboretum. It's a really beautiful part of the park and a wonderful place to take a rest. Despite living his entire life in the desert with lots of prickly stuff Jasper has had very few issues with cacti.
(Just between us, I don't think he was doing to much contemplation. He was just actively avoiding looking at the camera. Even a modeling pro like Jasper reaches his limit, especially near the end of our visit)
Early dogs lived in caves with their humans and fashioned toys from stones and sticks found in their environment.
OK, Jasper isn't really a Cro-Magnon dog. But we found this rock cave-like thing and decided it would be a fitting story. Having not been born yesterday, we did not venture passed the entrance. We live in a place where there are rattlesnakes and other creepy crawly stuff. Who knows what dangers lurk in there. This cave is at the end of the Hieroglyphic Canyon.
Jasper employs this look of melancholy yearning to get his human's off their butts to play. Which of course we do. You can see his toy, Penny Puppy, has a bit of a slit throat. But she's still a player
My happy chappy, checking out the urban wonders of downtown Gilbert, Arizona, the town in which we live. Trivia: Gilbert is the largest town in the United States. Most municipalities get to a certain size and then organize as a city, but Gilbert remains a town. Frankly the difference between a city and a town is lost on me - something to do with voting districts or something. The population of Gilbert is about 250,000, but the downtown has a decidedly small town / home town vibe. The downtown area is only a few blocks long and is lined with eateries, bars and small shops. A lot has been done in the last 10 years to vitalize the downtown to make it a family destination spot. Jasper sure likes it.
When Jasper is bored, he'll often lay like this, staring at us, front paws off to one side. Words? We don't need no stinking words! The message is clear.
Working in my home office over the weekend I look down to see Jasper practicing the art of boredom in hopes that I'll feel sorry for him and we'll get a bite to eat or pick up a ball. Sure, it worked.
Jasper out on patrol again, making sure the neighborhood stays safe. He deftly slipped behind this bird of paradise bush to spy on potential wrongdoers . (Yes, I know the bird of paradise plant in Arizona is weird, not looking at all like the "normal" bird of paradise)
After quite a bit of play last night I just had to ignore Jasper's taunts for even more play. So he went back by his toy stash to sulk. The poor lad never gets any attention 😜
If Jean and I start talking human stuff during playtime, Jasper will just go lay down and wait until we're ready to get our heads back in the game.
Foregoing the ottoman this time, Jasper brought Betty Bunny right to me on the couch. The technique is a little more "in your face" and has greater potential to incite a chase. I'm happy to report that Betty Bunny (that's her between Jasper's paws) is in pretty good shape. She came to us in July on Jasper's birthday and she has no open wounds and hasn't required stitches despite daily play.
(in case you're wondering, no I don't pose Jasper or the toy that way. It's all Jasper's doing)