Category Archives: Dogs & Other Animals

Evening Walk

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, ,

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I have always liked to walk dogs in the nearby cemetery when I want a quick walk. I enjoy the old stones and the beauty and history they share.

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I took only Baxter so we could work on training. We haven’t worked one on one in a long time so we started with sit and down, then give paw and other paw. Also sit-stay so I could get these pics.

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Baxter is a good boy. He is different than all of our other dogs. He prefers to work for praise and back scratches rather than food. He will take a treat to be polite but then lays it down and walks away. He will take a bedtime treat. He apparently has his own rules.

A Perfect Afternoon

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, ,

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What’s not to love? It was Saturday. It was warm. It was sunny. I got to hang out with my dogs. It was the perfect afternoon. Above are Shelby and Baxter wanting to know what we’re going to do next. What we did next was play with  the tennis ball.

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Phoebe and Shelby look on while Baxter brings the ball back. Shelby ‘ s favorite pass time is barking at Baxter and bossing him as he brings the ball back.

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And here is Nikki doing what she does best. Posing and being cute. Actually what she does best is try to eat poop while I’m not looking but I’m not going to count that as a skill.

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And here are Baxter, Shelby, and Nikki keeping an eye on me as I walk into the woods. You’ll notice Phoebe is not watching. She says if you’re dumb enough to get lost in the woods, I can’t help you. I’m having a nap.

And thus ends a perfect afternoon. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

What?

Dogs & Other Animals,

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Did you say something?
Do I care?
I think not.

Weekend Bliss

Dogs & Other Animals, Thoughts On Life, , ,

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What a great weekend! Practicing being a kid again. It’s easier when you watch life through a child’s eyes. We got to watch my niece this past weekend and what a fun time it was. We got to create with Play Dough. I forgot how much fun Play Dough is. I think I need to buy some for myself. I’ve been missing out on lots of fun!

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We also took my niece to a park where she got to bird watch and meet Ranger Dan. Everything is more fun when you see the novelty of someone experiencing things for the first time.

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It was also such a beautiful weekend that we got to take our dogs hiking two times. And seeing as we only have four dogs right now, they all got to go. (Nikki not pictured because I had her on leash and she was back with me.)

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There was also time for napping. For the humans as well. It was what I call a successful weekend. ☺

A Winter’s Day

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, Gardens, Rescue Happenings, ,

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I have always liked winter. If the roads were just heated so travel was safe, it would definitely be my favorite season. We had our largest snowfall to date for the winter just last weekend. I took a brief jaunt around our property so I could share my appreciation of the snow and the winter season with you. Above is the front of our home blanketed in fresh snow. That majestic old pine is twice as tall as the house. In summer it provides cooling shade, and throughout the year it makes a nice windbreak.

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This treeline is our view across the street from our house. Right now it looks like all the trees are covered in cotton bolls. And then there’s the dogwood tree in our front yard. I couldn’t resist including it because it has such beautiful form.

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Walking down the driveway, our garden gate is to the left. It still begs me to come in, even through the deep snow. I guess deep is relative. We got about 8 inches over night. I know some people got more. I known I was glad to have the day off work so I didn’t have to drive in it.

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This is the view down the garden walkway. It was especially silent inside the protective walls. A winter wonderland.

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The view of the workshop and garage relaxes me. It all looks so “soft” with the snow snuggling around it. I do see that I never got around to taking down my hanging baskets. That’s OK, they remind me that spring will come again, and I will appreciate that too.

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This is the fenced pasture where the dogs can play for a time when we are home. You can see all the wood we have stockpiled for summer bonfires. It is in the dog pasture because there is no where that we would rather be for a bonfire than with our dogs!

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Our trumpet vine has beautiful “bones” when the leaves are gone. It is growing up a light post which makes it look like a tree.

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I go back inside and this is the view out my kitchen window. This fenced area is attached to the house for ease in putting the dogs in and out. It is also commonly referred to at our house as the poop yard. I believe this is self explanatory. It is especially appreciated when we have foster dogs and don’t know if they are trustworthy outside. On foster dogs’  first day or two with us, I still stand outside with them or may even walk them on leash inside the fence as it is only 3 1/2 feet high. Our first foster dog at this house was a collie named Saffron. She jumped the fence which resulted in me also vaulting over the fence, in my bathrobe and fuzzy leopard print slippers. I didn’t want to lose sight of her so took off in hot pursuit. Saffron was just looking for a good time and didn’t really want to run away so all ended well.

I notice this writing ends with a dog story, as all things in my life do. So let me say once again, life is good!

Valentine Blessings

Cooking, Dogs & Other Animals, Thoughts On Life, ,

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Valentine’s Day is a family event for us. And what a blessing our family is. My husband cooks a dinner for all the women in his family. The men of the family are allowed to tag along too.

This year was a five course dinner. Two soups, a salad, entrée, and chocolate layer cake. All from scratch. I was allowed to make the bread sticks this year. That was nice because I got to hang out in the kitchen and we talked while while I kneaded the dough and rolled out the bread sticks.

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This year we had my husband and myself, his mother, our daughter and her boyfriend, and my brother, his wife, and their little girl. We had such fun! My niece saw the cake being frosted in the kitchen and her eyes got big. She kept wanting to know when it was time for the cake and announced “I like cake”. A girl after my own heart.

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And nothing at our house is complete without the animals. Here Morty inspects the flowers which were courtesy of my mother-in-law. In addition to our four dogs we also had Coco the Corgi.

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I hope that each of you had a Valentine’s Day that contained as many blessings as ours did! Happy Valentine’s Day, my friends.

Life Puzzles

Dogs & Other Animals, Thoughts On Life, ,

Morty

It seems that the little animals take the big bed and the biggest animal has to lay on the small bed. Morty is a little kitty on a big bed.

Nikki

Nikki is our smallest dog at about 20 lbs. She often sleeps on our biggest bed.

Phoebe

This is Phoebe, our biggest dog, laying on the small bed. Sometimes she tries to get the others to move so she can get on the big bed. Most times she gives up and lays somewhere else.

Phoebe and Nikki

If Phoebe is lucky the other animal will leave enough room so that they can share.

For some reason this makes me think of Dr. Seuss and his One fish, two fish…

Big dog, little bed,

Little dog, big bed.

Long hair, tiny dog,

Smooth hair, large dog.

Just a random glimpse into the inner workings of my mind.

More Pictures My peaceable kingdom

Dogs & Other Animals, ,

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Morty, the black and white cat, ran from Stitch, the orange tabby, for the longest time and hissed at him too. I think they’re over it. We often find them curled up in a chair together while Morty grooms his new friend. Now if they would just become mouse hunting buddies, we would be all set.

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Nikki and Phoebe hanging out together on the good couch at grandma’s house. Phoebe puts her head on Nikki and uses her as a pillow. Neither of them minded. This is obviously not at our house because no way would we have white furniture!

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And here is Baxter sleeping with his head on a pillow. Because what’s more peaceful than that?

Cats vs. Mice

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, ,

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These are our four cats, Harley, Lacey, Stitch aka Chester, and Morty.

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This is one of our six new mouse traps. Hmmm! Why should we need mouse traps? We are over run with mice. I have seen evidence of them in multiple areas of the house. Infact I have actually seen mice in our house. I was having conversations with one while in the basement doing laundry. He sat on the stones of the wall and appeared to listen while I spoke. Once they began getting in my baking supplies, this was no longer acceptable.

I’ve never had need of mouse traps before. Harley used to be a world class mouser. He’s around 15 now and appears to have retired since we got the younger cats. He taught Morty how to hunt and that was the end of his career. Lacey is nearing 16 and not in the best of health, so although she used to catch mice, those days are over. Stitch is a young cat and new here. He acts like he has never seen a mouse before. He doesn’t appear to recognize them. Morty does catch some mice but he is a small cat and not able to keep up with the current mouse population. We hope he will be able to show Stitch the ropes. We begged Harley to come out of retirement but so far, no luck.

So although I am generally against killing things on principal, I must concede that in this case it may be necessary. Mice can carry disease. They can chew insulation from electrical wires. Both bad things. So far we have caught three large mice in 24 hours. Maybe the cats are on strike.

Stitch (errr…Chester) is Free

Dogs & Other Animals, ,

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Stitch came to us in early December. His owners lost their home so we agreed to take him in. We would keep him for a couple months. At that time, if his owners could not take him back, we would be free to keep him or find him a new home. So far it’s been about six weeks. It doesn’t appear as if he will have a home to go back to within the next two weeks. Our gain. Stitch is a great cat.

When he got here he was not neutered, was peeing blood, and had worms which meant diarrhea too. He had been peeing and pooping all over his last home. Not surprising. This did mean however, that he stayed in a crate when he got here. Staying in the crate also helped him and our other cats and dogs acclimate to each other. You can see that was successful. This is not all of our animals but you get the idea.

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Within his first week he got neutered at a low cost clinic. I’m sure this was not on his bucket list. Next he got antibiotics. Between the two, his urinary issues cleared up. Then he got medicine for two different types of worms. The loose stool went away almost immediately.

Stitch did get time out of the crate every day to stretch his legs and have snuggle time but only when he was monitored. We frown on uncontrolled bodily functions taking place at random in our home. Not that it never happens with this many animals but we do what we can to prevent it. Especially since when one does it, the rest seem to want to join in like high girls following the cool kids lead.

Well, now that Stitch has his medical issues under control and is familiar with the other animals, he is free. The crate came down last weekend and Stitch is a free kitty again. He is doing great. No accidents and what a nice cat he is. We knew that he loved people and was a snuggler and a purr box. Well, he is also one of the most laid back cats I have ever seen. He wants to be friends with our other cats, although they aren’t so sure yet. And his reaction, or should I say nonreaction, to the dogs is amazing. The dogs played their indoor, bad weather games, which involve lots of running and leaping at toys plus lots of barking, and Stitch doesn’t bother to get up. He may lift his head if they are within a foot of him. But then again, he may not. Little Nikki even ran over top of him one evening and he didn’t get up.

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I guess you could say we have a new cat. I think a new name might be in order for his new life. I am leaning toward Chester, as in Chester Cheetah, since he is orange. We will see. So once again, life is good.