Photo Contest is On

It does seem an unduly harsh requirement to only allow two entries per category! But DN, I suspect you will do very well, even with those harsh requirements. Your dahlias are so beautiful.
I know that irises are in the same category and I will definitely enter 2, but I don't really have such spectacular photos of them. I was more in the mode of recording what was going on in my iris beds than shooting for spectacular pictures, though I will focus more on good photography in the future. I can't believe I am even considering entering a photo contest!

I got a couple of good ones of various flowers covered in snow and ice yesterday morning, I need to go and look again at least years to see if mine will make the grade. I guess close up is best!

kathy

You have some luvly iris pics paj to enter. I hear ya though. I've been mostly trying to take pics for PF entrys so they are pretty basic solo shots. I have made my final, final decision on dahlias. Now I have to look at lilys to see if I have any that will fit in the garden landscape catagory cuz, bummer, they are in the same catagory as dahlias. KathyCo winter interest shots will be a great entrys. I don't think you should worry about last years entrys cuz every pic is special.

Paja, I am a huge fan of elephants, too! You have a farm. I was trying to figure out how to have one in town! Kevin knew that was a lost cause so he wasn't nearly as bad as when he vetoed the chickens. He knew I didn't really want to clean up after an elephant. Still. A burro might be a nice pet. And how cute! Or llamas. You could have llamas! No frost yet and today has been sunny and warm.

I love burros, too, but not as much as elephants. I like llamas, too. They are so soft and cuddly. I once rode an elephant in Thailand and they said one of us could ride on his neck instead of in the howdah. I naturally had to be the one. Grady didn't mind a bit. He was totally happy in a howdah. His big old ears flapped back over my legs and were soooo.... soft. It was like a baby blanket. I never dreamed an elephant's ears would be so soft. At the end of the ride we bought a hand of bananas from a vender for 5 baht ( about 15 cents at the time.) The elephant devoured them happily. We rode through a bunch of banana orchards when we road and since the Thais absolutely adore elephants they put the banana leaves in the trail for the elephants going by to eat.... which they did. As our tour guide said, when an elephant wants to eat-- he eats!

I thought llamas were like camels; stinky and they spit on you just because? Do burros have soft noses? One of my fav things about horses is their soft noses. Is elephant poop good for the garden? That would be a HUGE bonus.

Wow! Elephant poop for a garden! I am awestruck!

Me too mulch. How cool would that be!!!! But tough unless you lived on the farm all the time paj and we would hate that. How does one adopt/aquire an elephant in NA I wonder? From a zoo if they have too many? OMG I can now see me inquiring at the Calgary zoo to see if they need a zebra rescue. My true luv would definitely keel over. I just know it.

Our true loves, no matter how wonderful, do have a certain, shall we say, lack of imagination. I am not sure it would be all that hard to adopt 2 elephants because there are a lot of people rescuing elephants from circuses and zoos in northern climates which give them arthritis. Of course, you would have to provide adequate everything and that might be a bit of a challenge. But I think Southern Mississippi would be perfect. It is even hotter than Tennessee where they already have a thriving elephant rescue place. Because elephants are so social, I doubt that having just one would work.
Zebras -- I don't know much about adopting them in the US. I saw a show on Animal Planet about a lady who adopted them and they are rather complicated in their social needs. Not that I think it would be impossible.
Llamas are wonderful and sensitive, but I think they do spit. I could be wrong. They are used quite a bit around here as pack animals and for their wool, but I understand they are sort of temporarily traumatized by being shorn of their wool! Maybe that is a myth but someone told me that.
Here in New Mexico, I would choose a llama or a burro. In Mississippi, I would go for an elephant or a zebra.
And as for the poo! Wow! What a treasure trove! One could really collect a lot from an elephant. I have actually collected llama poo from our local horse stables. It is rather like deer poo and is totally non-burning. I would guess that zebra poo would be like horse poo.
There used to be a company that collected poo from zoos and sold it molded into the shapes of various animals. It would eventually fall apart and fertilize the soil. The name of the product was Zoo Doo. But frankly, it was a bit overpriced and I haven't heard of it in a while.

Well who knew! Zoo Doo! Garden ornaments that go both ways; prettiful and useful. I think I would have to have a herd of zebras for healthy dynamics. I wonder about horses now. They are herd animals in the wild. Do horses get lonely if you only have one KathyCo?

I want Zoo Doo! Good idea.

I wonder if the Zoo would agree to filling up a pickup truck? They have to do something with all the doo.

From what I've heard, Llamas are somewhat like camels but not as bad. Zebras are pretty ornery and will nip and don't take to being ridden like horses do.

I think women have an instinct to want to take care of things and men have/develop an instinct for how much work is involved. Elephants are certainly owned in Asia, so an investigation into their process may help. As an alternative, perhaps you could dress your dog up as an elphant for Halloween! ^_^

The riding part won't be an issue dparsons. I can barely hang onto a horse without falling off so I can't picture myself saddling up a zebra.

dparsons, you are right about owning elephants. In Thailand they say it is both good luck and bad luck to have an elephant. Having it is good, but you will be poor because it eats so much. They do eat a lot. And the cleanup would be terrible.
I understand zebras are shy and they look to small to ride to me.
My poor dog would never forgive me if I dressed her up like an elephant. Once she was supposed to wear a tiny cowboy hat for a parade and it was gone in minutes.
I am not sure what the zoos do with their pooh but I have heard of people who worked there taking it home. Probably worth asking your local zoo.

Sometimes they do- but surprisingly they are ok if alone if they have contact from you. My Annie is fine if ALL alone, but if she can see other horses but not get to them she runs the fence and screams her fool head off. She will do it for days too. Silly creatures, horses. Wonder why I like them so much-LOL!

I could try to dress my parakeets up like elephants! But, I'm afraid it would be a lost cause. They hate wearing shoes.

He he! Parakeets as elephants. I have heard it all now. Maybe they could wear slipper socks instead of shoes! How undignified!

I keep shoes in a trunk. Maybe the parakeets could do the same...

I wanna see, I wanna see the elephant parakeets ^_^ I can just picture the big floppy ears. Funny about Annie and the other horses. She must like to socialize.

We all do.