A Saturday Morning Find

Hey, look what I found today at a local garage sale…..

                                                                        

                                             

I love it! It is real wicker, not vinyl, and though it has a few nicks and chippie  paint, it fits in with my shabby chic décor. I wouldn’t think of painting it.

The seller told me it was an old piece but I’m not sure exactly just how old. Doesn’t matter. She was asking $10 (!!) and I got it for $8. Can you believe that? Washed it up (a nasty old spider had spun his web on the underside) and it is drying in my laundry room.

Amazing what you can find on a Saturday morning on your way to the post office !

A Rainy Morning Under the Patio Cover

After a week of sun scorching, hot/humid weather we are having a rainy day and are grateful for it.

I sat in my backyard this morning with my coffee, newspaper and Ipad, under our patio cover and enjoyed a steady, soaking rain.

                                                                                                                              

So refreshing – I loved it!

I hesitatingly admit that I was the same one complaining about all the rain this past spring. Funny how a change of season (to say nothing about the hot dry summer) changes your perspective – and brings you something else to complain about!

Have a nice weekend.

A Frantic Search

Well, we certainly had our share of excitement here last week. My husband was setting up the sprinkler out front and had Jenny with him. He says he turned his back for one minute to wave to a neighbor and the next minute she was gone!

He yelled in the door that she was gone and I hurried out to help find her. Usually if one of our dogs wanders off, they are just a house or two down, sniffing and doing their best to ignore our callings but this was different. She was nowhere to be found.

God bless my neighbors, even some from the area that I didn’t know. Everyone was in search mode, calling her name while walking block after block, slowly driving thru the neighborhood and calling her etc. Some unable to leave the house said they would pray for us.  Word got around and for almost a 6 block radius people and kids were searching. All of this continued from 6 pm until 9pm, to no avail. My husband and I searched with flashlights until well after midnite.

She has been implanted with the HomeAgain microchip and I called to report her missing. Neither of us slept that night.

The next morning, 8am, a nearby shelter   called to say that our Jenny had been found and was waiting for us to pick her up – no worse for the wear.

When we arrived we got the story of what happened and where she was found……seems she got on a nearby freeway off-ramp, walked 8 blocks against traffic on the side of the road and was approached by 2 cars trying to catch her. The Sheriff’s dept. happened along, reprimanded the cars for stopping, sent them on their way and then closed the freeway and were able to catch her themselves!They then took her to the shelter where we got her back from.

Office of the Sheriff

My goodness, when I think of all that could have befallen her I shudder.

So, thank you to my neighbors, the people who tried to get her on the freeway, the Sheriffs who succeeded and the shelter that cared for her overnight.

And I also don’t doubt that we got a little help from all those prayers too!

One Thing After Another

Haven’t been posting or reading blogs for awhile as there has been a multitude of things going on around here. There was the neighborhood rummage sale last week that I organized , Father’s Day and the accompanying party held in our backyard last Saturday, helping my 90 yr. old father which is almost becoming a constant lately and now a few dog problems. Regarding my dogs, Chaps, my 15 yr old chihuahua has been having some incontinence problems that the vet is successfully treating – and I’ll be doggone (ha-ha) if little Jenny, my 3.5 lb’er isn’t now having piddling problems! This piddling started right after we got her this past February but lately has gotten worse. This seems to be an involuntary problem and mostly when we go to pick her up. Now you may think “well just don’t pick her up” but in dealing with this little thing, there are many times that we do need to pick her up……when she is on a walk and a big dog is coming towards her, when she wants to get off a high bed in the morning, when she refuses to go outside because it’s raining or because the temperature isn’t to her liking and many other times too numerous to mention. The vet has done blood and urine tests and we are waiting for the results. As you can imagine, these “specific” problems lead to much cleaning and washing of floors. I have to admit to getting a bit overwhelmed but love my dogs enough to work through to a solution. I am working on not getting overly excited when one of these accidents occurs, as I have noticed Jenny running away frightened of getting hollered at and then finding her like this…….

Empty Nester Again

Well it happened, I’m an empty-nester again! The 3 robin babies and 2 robin parents that we have been sharing our patio with have deserted us.

It’s not that I didn’t expect it. My last blog was barely posted when the next day I went outside to see the first baby flutter down to the ground and immediately hide in my deutzia plant.  Turned around to see this….the second baby who was sitting on one of our new outdoor chairs (we hadn’t even removed the plastic yet) and within seconds he/she also took off to a different part of the yard.

At this point I whip my head around to see the last of the nestlings, standing tall and contemplating exactly it was where he would head for….which turned out to be a crash-landing onto the grass. Both his father and I were distressed to witness this but he was fine. Papa Robin immediately ushered him under some of our hosta plants.

I could hear the 3 babies calling out to their parents periodically through out that day, all in their various hiding places and their parents dutifully would bring them food.

Today, 3 days after they left “home”, I still see and hear them from time to time, always with a watchful parent not far.

Honestly it was so endearing to watch nature at it’s finest. I just loved it!

Wondering why I feel so sad then……..

The Robins Nest In My Backyard

My last post was about a robin’s nest that is located very close to our back door and is occupied by mom, dad and 3 of the cutest baby birds you have ever seen.

To think that when they first built there, the beginning of May, I was worried about the mother abandoning the nest after she got a load of my 3 “charging-out-the-door” dogs, but she has gotten quite used to all of us.

Then I was worried about all the windy days (sometimes gusts of 35 mph) and cold nights (plenty of 40 degrees). Every night I would lay in bed and brace myself for the possibility that either the nest would’ve blown down or the featherless babies wouldn’t survive the night. So each morning I would hesitantly open the door to find her, still sitting on her precious eggs and then babies  so patient but I’m sure wishing it would warm up.

 

Well in the past week, we have finally warmed up. Thank the Lord, the looong winter is finally behind us!

 

The robin parents are feeding frequently, whether we are out there or not.

 

My dogs can even be sunbathing on our brick patio, not far from their nest and they aren’t bothered by them.

I suppose one of these mornings I’ll go out there and they will be gone. I watch them stand up in the nest and stretch their little wings that are not completely feathered yet,  readying themselves for their coming adventure.

I’m enjoying watching this little bit of nature – and I’ll miss them when they leave us.

Congratulations to Us !

We’re expecting! Yes, that’s right, we are excitedly anticipating at least 2,  probably 3, but possibly as many as 4 new lives around here!

Oh wait, maybe you misunderstood, (or maybe I wanted you too –ha ha )- but what we are expecting is a nestful of baby robins!!

Mama and Daddy Robin started building the nest on Monday May 2, atop a floral decoration I have hanging on the back of our house. The nest is sturdily built under a large patio roof.

 

   By the 4th there was no sign of them so I thought maybe they had second thoughts about building so close to our back door, that we come and go thru a million times a day.

 

Well by the 7th they were back and this time the female was sitting tight on the nest so I think that means there are eggs in there.

 

It’s going to be fun to watch this beautiful gift of nature but I have to admit to obsessing at my husband…”don’t slam that door, you’ll scare her!”,  or “does the grass really  need to be cut again? You’ll scare her!”, and the one that really gets him..”you can’t sit on the glider! you’ll scare her!!”-----the glider is directly under her---and he loves to sit on it.

His idea – and I guess I have to admit he’s probably right – is to just carry on as normal. After all, she was building the nest as we came and went so she must have realized what she was in for. But still……

 

……uh oh, have to go……hear the lawn mower starting up out there….doesn’t he realize he’ll scare her!!!

Jealous Jenny

You can be quite absorbed in either TV, reading or anything else when you are suddenly aware of a low, quiet growling and Mike standing by you, holding onto one of his little stuffed animals in his mouth. This is the signal that he wants you to toss it across the room. Since he is so hard to resist, we find ourselves accommodating him, putting down whatever we’re doing and getting down on the floor with him to play.  Sometimes we get in a good 20 tosses or so and sometimes he quits after 2 or 3 throws…?

And then again, sometimes, he just wants to lay on his back and have you scratch his chest and talk to him.

This used to be Mike’s special time until Jenny decided she should join in…..and Mike being the passive personality, he would just leave and get back in his bed. I Didn’t think this was fair, and that Mike sometimes needs to have undivided attention.

The other day my husband had just gotten down on the floor to play with Mike when sure enough here comes jealous Jenny, trying to come between the 2 of them. I gently scolded her, telling her to give Mike “his space”. She listened and  found a place to oversee and still be close at hand……just in case she was called "into play”.

                                           

Rummage Sale

 My neighbors and I are planning a neighborhood rummage sale the beginning of June, and I am in the midst of gathering and washing items that I want to sell. Have been going thru the basement and now need to get into closets, cubbyholes and the garage attic. Trying to get my husband to go thru his things but he is just sure that everything little thing he has, he either needs or will certainly use in the future.  (uh huh…..)

I don’t have that problem. If I haven’t used it in a while or have no further interest in it, I don’t have a problem either selling or donating it.

I’m not as into houseplants as I used to be – so out goes my collections of pots, stands, hangers, tools, lights and other items. I will be happy for the space.

 

I find some kitchen items that I don’t want, an older hotplate that I never use,  drinking glasses that no longer fit in my new quest to have only clear (looks better thru my glass cabinet doors),

 

and oh those zillions of coffee cups that somehow accumulate – out lots of them  go, so I only have 6, the amount of cup holders I have.

 

I’m not one for selling clothes, maybe only if they still had the tag on, and I don’t have any of those. I usually “use-up” my clothes pretty badly. So no, no clothes.

My son will bring over some of his outgrown little girls’ clothing and that always goes over well. Also toys.

My sister will bring lots from her mother in law’s broken-up housekeeping and hopefully she will do well with that.

Haven’t really been involved in one of these for many years – and haven’t really stopped at one either, so hopefully I won’t overprice or underprice anything. I guess it’ll be trial and error.

Talking to neighbors, they have tvs, furniture, lamps, clothing, outdoor game equipment etc. to sell – so we should be pretty varied.

Chance to make some extra money and clear out unneeded items. Whatever is left we will donate. Should be fun!

 

Just look how excited these 2 are!!

 

It Is Almost Easter, Isn’t It?

Haven’t had much to blog about lately. Wracked my brain to come up with something….so I guess I will just go with what’s new around here – and that is absolutely nothing!!

Don’t know if this ongoing winter is getting to me or what…… oh wait, that’s right, I forgot…..it’s spring. ha ha

Woke up to snow covering the grass – that’s right it’s April 18 and we’re still dealing with snow and sleet!  Not only that but it is supposed to be cold all week, 30’s every night. aarrgghh!!!!!

When I feel like this, I try to remember that lots of people have it worse than me…..how about those awful tornadoes yesterday in North Carolina?

And I’m sure that the Japanese still recovering from earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear fallout would laugh at my problems.

I know, shame on me……

Now that I’m properly humbled and embarrassed by my selfish attitude, please excuse me while I go shop for my Easter outfit……woolen hat, scarf and mittens

Happy  Easter 

“Not Another One!”

Preparing my living room for today’s Stanley Steemer Carpet Cleaners visit, I was moving lamps and tabletop items along with floor plants, statues etc to another room. In due course, I pulled a lifesize ceramic chihuahua statue out of it’s usual corner spot to carry on the next trip because my arms were already loaded. I came back into the living to see little Jenny “creeping” up to the statue, not quite sure if that was yet another dog around here that somehow she hadn’t seen before.

 

“How could I have missed this guy?”

“You sure that this is safe?”

 

“Okay, here I go”

 

“Oh yeah….nothing to be afraid of…….but kind of weird looking and sure doesn’t smell like any dog I’ve ever met!”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’ll just keep my distance anyway.”

 

 

That’s fine with me Jenny.

Still Miss You Mom

Today is the 17th anniversary of losing my Mom and apropos to the way I feel, it is a gloomy, dreary day.

My Mom always hated the month of March because she lost her mother in March and whatsmore, she said it is just a depressing, dark month. How ironic that she left us in the month she so disliked.

I have always taken my boy Chaps with me to any cemetery visits. He sits in the car watching me as I pay my respects and love to my departed relatives.

He got a little nervous when we first got in the car, thinking we were off to the vet again, but once he figured it out he was my serene comfort on the way home.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

 

I’m not Irish but I can celebrate with the best of ‘em!  No, that doesn’t necessarily mean green beer but instead the McDonald’s Shamrock Shake.

Let me explain….since our kids were little, every St. Pat’s day my husband stopped after work for a surprise shamrock shake for all of us (I preferred the chocolate shake which was always greeted with boos from all of them!)  We were quite strict with the sweets, so this before- dinner treat was always welcome.

It’s a nice memory now.

Even though we are retired and the kids are gone he  still picks those shakes up every St. Pat’s day and thinks he is still surprising me with it. Kind of cute but I wish he would remember that I prefer the chocolate!!!!!!

Done With the Vet For A While…

Took Chaps and Jenny to the vet’s last week, Jenny to be spayed and Chaps for a dental . After the office called to say that their procedures were done and they were both fine, we were anxious to get there to pick them up. We were concerned mostly about Chaps because of his age and the dangers of going under anesthesia but after a complete blood workup, the vet assured us that the risk was outweighed by the fact that dental infections can affect kidneys, the heart etc. especially in older dogs .

So thank goodness they were both fine and happy to see us, though Jenny was groggy and we took them home to be babied by me .

Now a week later, they are both done with their antibiotics and back to normal.. In fact yesterday was such a nice sunny day that we took all 3 dogs for a walk.- today it’s snowing yet again and so it’s good we did !

When will this winter end? Is it just me or is this the longest one yet ?

Come on spring !  I’ve got 3 dogs anxious to get going to parks, the lakefront, outdoor coffee shops with us , fishing with Dad etc.

And lord knows, so am I !!!!

Jenny’s First Vet. Visit

Took Jenny for her first vet visit last Wednesday. She was fine with everything until it came to taking her temp. WOW! Didn’t think such a small dog, 3.3 lbs., could make so much noise! After that they tried cutting her nails…well the temp.-thing primed her for hating everything after that.

We have a wonderful vet, who really loves his work and patients and so after the required oohing and aahing over how cute she is, he proceeded to check her over. He pronounced her very healthy but disputed the rescue claim that she was 6 yr. old and said she is somewhere between 2-3 yrs. old. She has not been spayed and has an appointment for Wednesday for that.

She has switched over to my homemade food from what she was on before and her potty-training is going well. Vet said these little dogs can handle the cold better than we think, if a coat is put on them and they stay out of the snow and so we bundle her up and out we go with her – she’s getting the idea but does have the occasional accident.

Chaps and Mike are really good with her – thank goodness.

Everybody is still adjusting but I think all will work out fine….will keep you informed!

I Found Her !

Well, after all of this time I found my “little girl”. Through many months of searching humane societies and animal rescues both in person and online, it was at the Pet Expo that I visited a few weeks ago that I talked to someone, who knew of someone who was fostering my “wish dog”. If I hadn’t talked to the right person at the right time we wouldn’t have found her as she was not listed on any websites or sitting in any humane society.

She is a 6 yr. old, 3.5 lb. package of cuteness!

She was a stray (how she could have existed outside during this awful winter we are having, is anybody’s guess). She had to be treated for kennel cough so we had to wait for her to be cured of that during which our boys had to get a bordatella immunization as a preventive.

We went to pick her up this last Saturday and took Chaps and Mike along to meet her and that went great! All 3 milled around each other, sniffing each other etc. (Though Chaps was more interested in the bags of dogfood that were stacked in the room we were in! lol)

We have an appointment this Wednesday for our vet to examine her but she seems healthy to us. With the brutal winds and new snowfall, housetraining is slow-going so we will concentrate on that more this spring. The foster home had her using the floor pads because of her size. So I guess we will go with that for a while.

We are all undergoing an adjustment around here….she thinks Mike’s bed is hers and Mike being the passive personality, he lets her have it and just sits there looking at her in his bed. I will have to work on that. 

No arguments (fingers crossed) yet…thank goodness but we know enough to expect that she might just need to be shown her place by Chaps. Anyway, we are all happy for her to have joined our family.

Oh, I almost forgot…..making her blog debut, here is “Jenny”………..

Pet Expo.

Went to a Pet Expo last weekend. I’m still searching for my little female chihuahua and so I thought I would check it out. Boy, you don’t realize how many pet rescue groups there are until you go to something like this. I refuse to buy from a breeder or pet store, instead wanting to help some poor runaway or giveaway. However I do know what I want, and that is a small (I already have 2!) female (I already have 2 males!). I’ve been watching our local humane society online but females are harder to come by and the small ones go quickly. Anyway, back to the expo…..we saw so many wonderful dogs, cats and birds. Get a load of some of these…..

and these…..

and these…..

all in need of a home.

I liked the booths with a cause, such as…

and…

They offered dogfoods and treats of all kinds…

some looking like straight out of a“people” bakery! yum!

I sure hope lots of these pets found homes – they all deserve someone to love and not abandon them.

I didn’t find my little girl there but continue to search for her. She’s out there somewhere, just waiting for me!