How to Read Posts Behind a Cut (& Puppies, Kitties, Chicks, and Flying Squirrels)

Our posts have gotten increasingly photo intensive lately so I wanted to draw attention to the fact that we’ve started using expandable summaries on our blog. Hiding most the photos behind a cut makes it much easier to load the home page.

Expandable summaries are pretty common on blogs, but not everyone is familiar with them. All it means is that if you’re on our home page, the first portion of a post will be instantly available, but to see the rest of it you have to click on the “Continue reading…” link.

To test it out, we’ve decided to tempt you with cute animal photos. There are more adorable animals photos behind the cut!

Photo Caption: This is our dog Ceres shortly after we got her last year. We named her after the Roman goddess of agriculture and grain (not to mention a dwarf planet and a Shakespeare character).

For those of you getting here from the home page, this is where the post is cut. To see more adorable animal photos you’ll have to click on the link below this paragraph. However, if you already see more photos instead of a “Continue reading” link, you don’t have to worry about it.

Bingo! Southern flying squirrel time!

Photo Caption: This southern flying squirrel was hanging out in our bird box.

This highly informative “how-to” post (how to look at animals on the internet?) should definitely include some baby chicks (which we raised in our kitchen… yikes!)

Photo Caption: We learned the hard way to already have the coop built before buying the chicks.

Back to Ceres, who is half Australian cattle dog (blue heeler) and half German shepherd. As she’s aged, we’ve found she just looks like a slightly taller and more lithe cattle dog. She had her first birthday on May 11th, 2013. We chose a herding breed because we thought she’d be easier to train around chickens than a bird dog like a retriever.

Photo Caption: Ceres seems photogenic in this picture but she’s so active it usually takes a dozen shots to get one that looks good.

As my first dog (ever) I am constantly surprised by her. However, Nathaniel tells me that most dogs don’t dig up fire ants nests and excitedly bark at them for stinging.

Photo Caption: Ceres is obsessed with fire ants and barks at them when she digs them up.

I also find it bizarre that she wrestles with her feet and bites her own tail.

Photo Caption: If given the chance to be on the couch, Ceres prefers to be upside down.

Our three indoor cats were completely bemused that we wanted a dog. Two of them (Akimbo and Julian) would be happy if she left forever. Possum has learned to like Ceres most of the time and plays with her… until she sits on him.

Photo Caption: Possum enjoys playing with Ceres until she cheats by sitting on him.

Why did we call our black and white cat “Possum?” Here’s why:

Photo Caption: This is Possum when he was little. I’d never seen a kitten change colors as an adult until we got Possum and Akimbo (Akimbo looked similar to this but turned into a brown tabby).

Now he is our most annoying and beloved cat with a purr loud enough to rattle books off the shelves. Currently he and Ceres are asleep next to me — Possum is snoring and Ceres is barking in her sleep.

Photo Caption: Possum is an extremely eccentric but loving cat.

Ceres definitely has “sibling rivalry” when it comes to Possum and always alerts us when he is being bad. Ceres is particularly offended when Possum tries to steal food off our plates (she whines desperately to let us know he is getting close). Since Possum seems to have zero ability to learn anything, this is a frequently repeated process.

Minutes later they will sleep in a huddle or give each other baths.

Photo Caption: Ceres was not at all happy about posing on this bench — she thinks it’s a bridge.

Also, no one explained to Ceres that herding cats is impossible. She gives it a hearty try on a regular basis. I think we’ll teach her to keep the cats off the counters.

Photo Caption: A typical Ceres facial expression.

I should ask around if people have any permaculture reasons for owning pets. Anyone have suggestions? I know I could probably learn to weave fibers from the copious amounts of hair they shed this past spring…

Be sure to click on the “Continue reading” links in our future posts so you don’t miss anything!

Eliza Lord

I'm a Greenville, SC native (the Appalachian foothills) who wears the hats of Greenville Master Gardener & Upstate Master Naturalist. I love to write about food and sustainability.

3 thoughts on “How to Read Posts Behind a Cut (& Puppies, Kitties, Chicks, and Flying Squirrels)”

  1. Diana Studer - June 22, 2013 6:40 am

    just saying – perhaps leave the single latest post as full text. And do the jump breaks for all the others?
    Diana StuderĀ“s last blog post ..From the snow-capped Groot Winterhoek to Serendip

  2. Janet, The Queen of Seaford - June 23, 2013 9:43 am

    Eliza, Ceres is a beauty! We are fond of herders as we too think they are easier to train. One of ours is a German Shepherd/ Australian Shepherd mix and the other is an Australian Shepherd. Gardening with dogs…..gotta love them as they go racing through your garden and learn to play delicate plants ‘off the beaten path’. Our two are going to be 12 and 10 years old this year…. no spring chickens.
    Janet, The Queen of SeafordĀ“s last blog post ..Greenwood’s Festival of Flowers Time

  3. Denise Budz - August 21, 2013 2:46 am

    Just happened upon this looking for info on drunk bumble bees siping on fermenting pears.
    I love this blog and how you inserted your pets in between. I will return to see your beautiful ddog and cat . Very enjoying.

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