Sigh

Gracie and I have developed a new relationship in the past month. It has been almost a full month since Sarge died. She is more possessive of me, far more protective. Once again she allows me to cuddle with her, gently stroking the fur on her legs. She loves that, closes her eyes and starts to sway with contentment.

My girl has never had a real "doggy" smell. Her odor is unique to her, clean and fresh, and I like to nuzzle her in one of our cuddle moments. I try to make each moment count, letting her know that I am always here, that mom is not abandoning her ever.

So it is with some trepidation that I leave the care of my dog to another person for a week. Gracie will be boarded, not in a kennel, but in a home with an experienced pet sitter. This individual has a fenced in backyard, the entire scenario is very safe. But I worry. It is in my nature to worry. This will be the longest time I am away from my dog, and it has now hit home. Yes, it is good to go on vacation, especially after the month of March and the grief, anxiety, and worry of Sarge. And I need to have some time doing something that I love: viewing new landscapes, adventures, taking photographs, eating food I have never tasted, spending time with my friend, Pat.

But I worry.

I will miss our daily walks. Amazing, but we've been able to walk everyday this week, in between the rain storms. Our old pattern of walking has also returned, and we can set a pretty brisk pace. But we also stop so she can smell the smells, eat some grass, and gaze at the birds.

Gracie will be fine. She will wonder where MOM is. But I hope she will also know that mom will return to get her. Always.
Linda

This is getting boring, ya know?

"Pinks", or Dianthus

Hosta along the walk

Hosta and something I don't remember the name of

Card I made last week

Gee, it's raining. Again. Yet. Never ending. No tornadoes, thank you very much, just lots of water and it is everywhere.

I sat out on the bench outside my front door the other day, taking the pictures above. I am so ready to take flower photos, and some of the tulips in bloom in the area are stunning, but it just keeps raining. The colors, including the greens of the grass and trees, are vivid in this overcast light and it is driving me nuts. Short drive.

A great deal of my day is spent wiping off Gracie's paws. She is either wet or wet and muddy (my favorite!). Yesterday we went for a walk at the park, and then I got the bright idea that she needed a playdate with Amos, Cathy's little fluffy dog, who is white with black markings. SURE, Cathy told me on the phone, it will do them both some good, come on over. She neglected to tell me that her backyard was a mud pit, but being semi-intelligent, I should have known that.

There is dark colored mulch in Cathy's yard. Oh, yes. Gracie's paws were black, Amos was mostly black when we left, but the dogs had some additional exercise chasing birds, each other, and generally just patrolling the perimeter of the yard.

The things a dog mom will do......
Linda

Happy Easter

Excellent close up of the damage on the chair

This is my little darling, napping, on the leather chair the other morning. The scratch marks are from two years ago, when she was a puppy. I remind of her of that periodically, knowing it isn't doing any good whatsoever. Sigh.

Gracie and I wish you a Happy Easter. May your day be safe in travel. Don't overdo it on the Peeps!
Linda

Blossoms

Blossoms on my flowering crab apple tree

Just love the colors

But the poor tree leans and has to be braced

View from my living room window

My neighbor, whom I never see, has this low spot on his property. It borders our joining property lines. I have heard that he filled this in prior to me buying this house, but the rain water still wants to create a little pond. Actually, in this photograph the water level is down drastically. But the ducks like to come and eat whatever it is that ducks eat off the bare spots under the water.

This is the view out of my living room windows. Gracie has become so complacent with the ducks, she doesn't even growl or bark at them anymore. Simply sits on her leather chair or hassock and gazes out at this scene. They also ignore her. However, the lady standing at the window pointing the big camera lens at them, that was another story.

My flowering crab apple tree finally came out in full bloom yesterday, with the sun. I love the mix of colors on the blossoms. The only way the tree is still standing is that I braced it last year, tying ropes to a steel stake pounded into the ground. It needs to be pulled more upright again.

We are once again bracing for more rain, damaging winds, hail, Dorothy and Toto flying past......I know we'll reach a point where we are all praying for rain, but good grief Charlie Brown, this has been one wet spring. I've heard the storm sirens sounded more in the past 3 weeks than in the entire time I've lived here.

Whatever you do this weekend, enjoy yourselves.
Linda

Ahhh, Spring

Hosta blooms

Marigolds

Holly Hocks

It was cold and damp yesterday, but no more rain. Thank you very much. Our area received well over 5 inches of rain in the previous 48 hours. We are now dealing with the aftermath of flooding rivers and streams.

I've been wanting to go into the archives of old floral photos on my laptop and post a few. Unfortunately, for whatever reason I don't seem to understand, I could not get to the net from the laptop. Then later yesterday, I was unable to get any email to either computer because the password I had was no longer valid.

Don't you just love it when technology turns around and bites you in the ass? Yeah. One of MY favorite things. So this morning I spent 35 minutes on the phone with a very nice gentleman in some third world country, trying to get the problem fixed. He was good. I am now up and running again. No explanation, no reason for the password suddenly being dead in the water. Sigh. And here is the rub: I am not completely illiterate when it comes to computers. I've had one since the days of the old Commodore 64. I understand how the wireless router works, and how to change information necessary for the net to recognize my little corner of the universe. But shit just happens.

So hopefully, this will take care of whatever gremlins invaded Avon, Indiana, and banish them.....until the next time.

Back to the flowers. The above photos are from my garden at the old house in Marshall, Illinois. I chatted online with my former neighbor, Lisa, a few weeks back. She says she misses working our joined yards together, and the flower beds we shared are now overgrown with weeds. It's sad. Lisa and I spent many, many hours improving the yards. The original owner of the house had used railroad ties as garden edging. One memorable weekend, the two of us yanked them out of the ground. Lisa couldn't walk right for days.....

She does miss me.
Linda

Rain, Rain, and more rain

It rained last night. It's raining off and on this morning, and it will continue until sometime tomorrow. Streets are flooded, streams are overflowing, and we have the chance of a tornado or two later today. Are we having fun yet?

Gracie needs a playmate. The past two weeks have been a vivid reminder to me of why I adopted Sarge to begin with. For Gracie. Yesterday, in my continuing quest to tire out an Australian Shepherd (can't be done), I took her for a walk for 90 minutes. She then rode in the car with me to weigh in at Weight Watchers, stopped in to say "HI" to Cheryl at Paws-ability, and then we returned home. I had her out in the yard while I mowed the grass in the back and ran the weed eater. We played ball. Then we packed up and went to the dog park for 2 hours. Not sure, but perhaps I did tire her out just a bit. She only woke me up to go out twice last night, instead of 3 or 4 times....

Within the next few weeks, we will start to look for a shelter dog. Shelties are beautiful, and I miss Sarge more than words can express, but they are also prone to high anxiety levels. I can't deal with that again at this point in my life. I feel like that 15 day ordeal took 10 years off my life due to stress. The next dog will have to be a male, and not overly large, and above all else, tolerate my little Diva Princess.

I also realized yesterday that I can't wait too long. Gracie has become extremely protective and possessive of me. If I sit down on one of the benches at the dog park, and another dog comes up to be petted, the reactions vary. Should that dog be a male that Gracie will submit to, she just walks over and noses him a bit, as if to say, "Don't get too comfortable, this is my mom." If the other dog is a female that Gracie feels she can dominate, the loud barking and body shoving ensue.

Sigh. What is a dog mom to do?
Linda

Just a few things...

Little turd picked up the bone and moved, turning her back to me!

I tried to get some decent shots of the flowering trees this morning, but the light is too low. Storms are moving back into the area. Yes, April showers do indeed bring May flowers, but they also bring tornados, downdrafts, hail, rain, swollen rivers and streams, and mud.

Please excuse me today, but I have to get this off my chest. Does corporate America think we all have turnips for brains? Is the American public that damn stupid? A few examples:

Duke Energy is this huge electric company that services a lot of Indiana. I just received a mailing offering me a third alternative billing. I can be billed for the energy consumed (what I have now), or go on the budget plan (penalties and fees involved that I didn't like), or get a "fixed amount" bill. Duke took my yearly energy bill, divided it by 12, then gave me a number of what my fixed bill would be monthly. Sounds neat, doesn't it? Until you read the entire brochure. Mind you, the fixed bill amount is in BOLD black letters, inside a decorative box. The fine print is not. They have added a 9% fee, monthly, for "administrative costs." And the text explained that this program was not designed to save me money. It was designed to help me budget my funds, so I can pay Duke Energy on time every month.

Hmmmmm. Have I ever paid Duke late? No, I have not. Have I ever missed a payment? Again, no. But this company who already makes tons of money has devised another way to suck my limited income out of my bank account. I think not. Thank you, though, for being so considerate of one of your customers. I should add that I am not a native Hoosier. Born and raised in Chicago. Not to imply that there is anything wrong with being a Hoosier. I do live in Indiana. Rather to imply that I did not just fall off the turnip truck looking for my brains...

A friend recently went to Verizon to get a new phone. He was told that he had 5 days to return the phone if he found it not to his liking. That is exactly what happened, so he trotted back to the handy dandy Verizon store. Oh. That will be $35 for restocking the phone. Did you bring the manual with you? No? That will be another $15 for the cost of the manual. And, sir, did you happen to mail in the rebate? You did? Well, you will now give us $50 for the rebate you will receive in 6 to 8 weeks. So Verizon was going to get $100 cash, and the phone which had been used for 3 days. Once again, turnips??? My friend did not return the phone.

One more and I am done. Promise. Just received my property tax bill, which is due May 10th. Nothing wrong with that. There was an increase of $102 over last year. When the bills are compared, the money is going to the school district. Big surprise there, right? What is surprising is that they do this just before the May 3rd election where our town is voting on (surprise!) a special referendum on school funding. Hello??? Anyone there??? Now, forgive me. I know that the immediate reaction from parents will be "you old fart, you don't have kids in school". True. But here is my contention: does a school  superintendent who makes over $250,000 a year make your child a better educated, more rounded individual? How about giving him a car with a gas allowance? How does that help your child on a daily basis? When the money is actually spent on the children sitting at a desk, I will vote for more school funding.

Thank you for staying with me during this rant. If I offended anyone, I am truly sorry. But ya know what? I am entitled to my opinion. And this was it!
Linda

Misc Friday

The cards were made this past week, in spurts. I never found the time to sit down and work for a few hours. The weather was too nice, the air too fresh, to stay indoors for long. I like the way these turned out. I have been trying to attain a pattern, both in size uniformity and color schemes, to be more frugal in my card making.

The dress form I ordered as part of a kit from Gloria Stengel. You can view her blog here. She is an extremely creative woman, very prolific, who just made the design team for Graphic 45. Very talented.

The head designer for Graphic 45 is coming to Nashville, IN. in May. Cathy and I are going to attend two classes in altered art. So, so looking forward to this. We will have fun as well as learn some new techniques. I have never met Candy, but she strikes me as the type of woman you are immediately comfortable with. It will be a good time. You can view her blog here.

Have yourselves a good weekend.
Linda

Flowers are blooming

Looking out from the front door of my house

Some made it through the winter, some did not

I love hostas

How full and lush they are already

The river birch tree we planted last October

It was such a long, hard winter that I didn't realize how much I craved the green of spring. We hit 82 degrees in Indy on this past Sunday. The grass did not need to be mowed then, but it does now.

I did a walk around the flower beds on Sunday. My big, blue hosta on the north side of the house made it through the winter, but a few lesser than harder varieties did not. I had purchased 2 good size river birch trees, planting the one above to shade the walk leading to the front door, and the other outside the kitchen window. They are alive. Evidently, river birch leaf out later than the flowering trees in the neighborhood.

Going to grow some tomatoes in containers this year. Gracie, little digging Aussie that she is, won't leave plants alone yet. She is only 2, and is holding onto her puppyhood longer than most. My girl loves to dig. So I will place the containers on the south side of the house. They will get some shade in the early morning. Just have to keep an eye on them when the intense heat of July and August arrives.

Last night we had company, a King Charles Spaniel named Barkley. Barkley is looking for a new home. His owners have a shi tuz that is very bossy (imagine that!), and a cat that is even more aggressive. Barkley is a very passive dog, quite handsome, but he refused to play or even engage with Gracie. I will help Barkley find a good home, but he won't be joining us. That's cool. Gracie and I just need some time to find the right playmate for her.

Enjoy your day.
Linda

Bella at 7 months

Look at those cheeks! She has Marlon Brando cheeks from the Godfather, I swear.

This is one happy baby. She is content to play by herself, babble to herself, and not fuss too much. Unless it's the middle of the night. Bella is getting ready to pop a few teeth out.

She has started to crawl, but not yet up on her hands and knees. It's the "kamikaze crawl", the commando move that babies do. And she rolls. You can't leave this baby on the floor alone for longer than a blink of an eye. She will roll across the room that fast, if there is something that catches her interest.

I am going to take care of this little bundle in August, when her sister is born. OH, BOY! Great grandma is going to have her hands full. Have a great day.
Linda

A Day Trip

Gracie thought about taking the toy.

Pulling one thread out of the pull toy

Gracie and I drove to the south suburbs of Chicago on Friday to visit a few folks. I had lunch with my friends Pat and Jean, and Gracie had a lot of play time with Max.

Max is back, and we are glad. This is the dog that my granddaughter had, then didn't, and once again does. He adores Gracie, and Gracie loves to play with this little guy. They wrestled, played tug, didn't do as much chasing as they used to due to space constraints, but still had a great time. My girl was tired when we got home yesterday.

It says a great deal about dog's memories, because Max knew me immediately. I had not seen him in well over a year, but he was on my lap to cuddle within minutes. Grandma is here! She will scratch my belly! We had a good time.

Enjoy your Sunday.
Linda

Sheep

I took Gracie to the farm for a sheep herding lesson yesterday morning. We really didn't know what to expect. Gracie had not been in the pen for over 3 weeks, and has a tendency to be a tad wild when she has missed lessons. But I let her run in the field before we started, and she watched us feed 3 lambs by bottle. That was a strange experience. Let Gracie encounter a full grown sheep and she chases it. Let it be a lamb, and she was all maternal, licking the lamb's face, trying to get some of the formula.

I have been working with her a lot on the command, "lie down". Evidently it is sticking in that Aussie brain. She did lie down whenever Leah or I told her, and even did it when she heard the word "down" in Leah's conversation. Pretty impressive. But my girl has been through a lot of changes in the past month, and I'm sure that has an effect on her behavior. She seems calmer.

We went to the dog park last night for 2 hours. It was a beautiful 71 degrees, and lots of dogs were there, running, playing ball, having a good time. Gracie did her herding of dogs, barking, etc. A great deal of running.

She is asleep at my feet now. Life is good.
Linda

Keep Away

Gracie has the bone, and Lily wants it

The Diva can fit behind the plants, Lily can't

Oh come on! You quit already??

Lily and Gracie were introduced to each other at the dog park, when they were around 6 months old. Because Lily is larger, Gracie accepts her as an equal. Most of the time, my little Diva Princess doesn't get along with other female dogs. There are a few exceptions, particularly when the other female has put the Diva Princess in her place.

One of the first games they played together was "Keep Away". As in, I have whatever it is you think you want, and you'll just have to take it from me." We also call it, Nah na, Nah na, Boo Boo. I guess old habits die hard, and the game came out of the recesses of the dog's brains on Friday night. Gracie had to be on her toes, because Lily is so damn quick, she could snatch the bone away in a blink of the eye.

The girls don't get to play together as much as they did. Vicky doesn't bring Lily to the dog park very often due to an aggression problem. I prefer to take Gracie to the park and work on her problems. Smile. I'm sure the other dog owners probably have a few choice words. There are days my Diva Princess can be quite vocal. She has a tendency to become obsessed with one of the other dogs, and herd them constantly. But we're working on it, and I truly feel she is improving. Just not at the rate others may think she should.

To me, socialization is just as important as feeding your dog. The dog needs to be able to get along with other animals and people. People are not our problem. Gracie is a friendly dog with just about everyone. It's the other dogs that can bring out her jealous, protective, and possessive streak. And maybe that is not such a bad thing right now. She needs to know that mom is here for her. When the time arrives for another dog to be introduced into our family, Gracie will let me know.

Have a great day.
Linda

Rainy Monday

Altered Canvas (for me!)

New Card

It doesn't take much to get spoiled. Yesterday afternoon it hit 77 degrees in central Indiana. Gracie and I were at the dog park, and my little girl was actually trying to find some shade. During the night the wind woke me several times, but the rain didn't come in until this morning. Unfortunately, it has not let up all day. Dang.

I did the altered art canvas one day last week with a new line just released. This is Pink Paislee's Daily Junque, and I love it. Once it was completed, I decided it stays with me as a reminder of what needs to be done with life in general. Some of the print is hard to read, so here is the list that is on the paper in the lower right hand corner:
be positive
be true
be grateful
be organized
be on time
be proactive
be resolved
be yourself
be amazing
be kind
be helpful

The thank you card was made with bits and pieces hanging around, all older papers. I'm trying to use up my scraps, but then something new comes out, and it's a compulsion to buy, buy, buy...I think I need to add to the list of "be's", be frugal. Or not.

Enjoy your day, regardless of the weather.
Linda

Comforting Words

I can shed tears that he is gone, but
I smile because he lived.

I can close my eyes & pray he will come back;
I choose to open my eyes and see all he left.

My heart can be empty because I can’t see him,
However, I am full of the love I shared with him.

I can turn my back on the future & live in the past,
But I am happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

I can remember him & only that he is gone; but
I’m joyful to cherish his memory & let it live on.

I had hired a woman, Diane, sometime last year to dog sit while I made a trip to the suburbs of Chicago. She is a dog lover, and Gracie and Sarge warmed up to her right away. She sent me the above poem in email yesterday, and I really like it. Diane said that she has kept this to read when she has lost pets as well as people in her life.

It has surprised and amazed me how many people have reached out to comfort me in the past week. Complete strangers whom I have never met are still calling due to the flyers we posted all over the area, asking if I found my dog. When I relate what happened, they express their condolences, and it truly upsets them that Sarge and I were not reunited.

Having Lily spend some time with us on Friday night helped Gracie. Lily is far more rambunctious than Sarge ever was, and gives Gracie the challenge she needs when playing. The long Nyla bone that Gracie is holding in the first photograph was swiped from her several times, while I stood on the deck laughing. It's hard to get good, clear shots of Lily when she is in motion because she is so damn fast. Silly Lily, you are a character.

After dark, we went into the bedroom to watch tv. Lily stretched out in the middle of my bed, with her head next to me leg. Gracie was on my left side, and I had a hand on each dog, lightly scratching. They both fell asleep.

Life is good.
Linda

Friday night with the girls

My friend, Vicky, took the past week for spring break and went to Las Vegas with her family. Her flight lands tonight, but Lily the Silly Foxhound was at Paws-ability all week in boarding. If she didn't get out by 6, it would be one more night in a kennel. So Auntie Linda brought her home.

Gracie had been moping all day, not quite feeling herself. Well.. Just bring another dog in the house, and the Diva Princess just perked right up. The "look" I got was, "Oh, no, mom, she is not staying. No way. No how. Not Lily". They play. Gracie barks to let Lily know that it is HER house and HER mom. Lily keeps running to the window, wondering where her mom is.

Paw prints are everywhere.

But this is what dog people do, when a friend needs a helping hand. We help. We just do. And I never realized how much until the past two weeks. Everyone was there for me, so I am there for them. No questions, no qualms. You just are. It isn't expected, it isn't demanded. It is just the way everyone treats a fellow animal lover.

My kind of people. Have a great weekend.
Linda