“Beautiful Peacock” – Paul Militaru Photography
“White Peacock” – Paul Militaru Photography
Monthly Archives: May 2017
Nuts and Bolts Art – Take 5
Weightlifter – Pinterest
Yardbirds – Baby Nuts the Dog Sniffing
Popular Mechanics
Filed under Creativity, metal art
“We are Fam-i-ly”
Abby
Smoke
Molly is TRYING to accept the new situation. Amber won’t leave her alone, always jumping up, trying to lick her in the face, trying to get her to play. We’re enforcing ‘together time’ on the porch at least once a day, with one of us out there to monitor. We’re making slow progress. We’re giving Molly lots of extra love and attention to help her with the transition. She sits with one of us in the evenings while we’re watching TV, watching a movie, or reading.
And this is Amber at 10 weeks. We adopted her last Saturday. She is definitely making progress, having had to leave the only animal and people family she had ever known and come to live with two new people, two hostile cats, and one hostile dog. She is adapting better and better each day. She makes the Energizer Bunny look like an old, feeble senior rabbit.
It was raining hard this morning when I went to get Amber out of her crate and take her for her first morning walk. She is starting to associate “HURRY UP” with taking care of business. Clutching the umbrella and holding it as close to me as possible because of gusty winds, we went to what we HOPE will become ‘her spot,’ and she did all that was required, receiving treats and “Good Girl!”s.
We got back onto the porch, where I dried her off with a towel and fed her, then squeegeed as much water off the floor as possible.
I decided that a laundry basket would be good as a toy box. I ended up putting it on its side, though, as she couldn’t get into it unless she pulled the laundry basket over. We’ll adapt as she grows.
We got a bin with a lid to sit on the table, holding all the ‘stuff’ we need out there, but keeping interesting stuff out of sight. She puts her paws on the table, trying to reach enticing things. We now have everything in the closed bin on top of the table, accessible to US, but not to Amber.
Our days are long, comprised of long walks with Amber, playing with her, and trying to train her, giving our other animals the love and attention they need, and trying to get the have-to’s done otherwise before falling into bed.
We had our friend, Carla, over yesterday afternoon to meet Amber. She said that labrador retrievers were ‘puppies’ until they are two years old! I may not live long enough to get us through puppyhood if it’s going to be like this for that long. Carla also made a very good suggestion that we use the command, “OFF!” to mean for her to get paws off of us, the table, etc., rather than using “DOWN,” which would mean lying down on the floor. Carla and my brother-in-law, Bill, suggested that we make a point of touching her feet, her mouth, her ears, etc., a lot so that trimming toe nails, putting in ear medicine, and trips to the vet will go much more easily.
I’m hoping that all of our efforts each day will result in our animals at least learning to tolerate each other, if not being actual friends eventually.
Meanwhile, I’m looking for a sugar-free, low carb energy drink…
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Nuts and Bolts Art – Take 4
Metal Garden Art – Pinterest
Pinterest – Restroom
Pinterest – Fireman
Filed under Creativity, metal art
Quick Trip Around the Yard
Since we adopted Amber and my husband had his 2nd surgery, I have spent very little time in the flower beds, and no time in our square foot garden. I noticed, though, that we had some pretty things doing well in spite of my neglect and I thought I would share them with you.
We have a trio of 8 foot long brick planters between our driveway and the front yard. I’m trying to get these to the point that most of the things are perennial, and then I can simply add some color with annuals. Here we have iris, petunias, gerbera daisies, and some phlox, plus a shovel bird.
In the same trio of planters, we have some lilies, a yellow forsythia plant, the new ‘evergreen’ foliage with small blue flowers that I’m hoping will spread throughout the three planters and a ‘mama snail.’
These lilies are in a planter in front of the house. They fill up the bottom of the planter around a tulip tree.
This is a planter on one side of our porch. We have some orange impatiens, some fuchsia impatiens, some phlox, iris, and more.
And finally, we have some portalaca that really loves the hot weather we have in the summer. This is one of four planters we have on either side of the garage door, by the shop, and on one side of the driveway.
Filed under Gardening
Amber – Take 7
Amber is 10 weeks old now. Tomorrow it will be one week since she joined our family. And what a week it has been!
I feel like a member of “The Walking Dead,” between the needs of the new puppy and drops 4 times a day for my husband’s eyes, plus all the appointments, chores, errands, etc. This is definitely a character-building exercise!
Sweet Amber wants to be with her people. The attention we give her much of the day, with walks, playing with toys, introducing her to the other members of her animal family, swimming, etc., are never enough. She IS learning a ton, though. She is better in all areas.
We have a long way to go before she has manners and learns to behave, but she is smart and learns pretty fast. We are working with a stubborn streak…
She has been for three walks this morning and a swim so far. We’re about to add Molly to the porch for HER character-building exercise for the day.
I broke out in welts this morning, and I suspect I’m allergic to something. I just took a dose of Benedryl and we’ll see if that performs miracles. My hand is better, but I’m sporting a really impressive bruise on the back of my hand. I added to the mix this morning, running into a small, sharp puppy tooth while she was giving me back the ball. Now I have a big bandaid on TOP of part of the bruise…
Amber is learning her name now, plus “NO!”, plus “COME” and “SIT!’ I should be teaching her ‘wait’ and ‘down,’ but it seems that “NO!” suffices for right now. I’m trying to get her to sit while I put her food bowl down. Today we had an explosion of food everywhere when I couldn’t hold her down with one hand while I put the bowl down with the other. Happily enough, she acted like a vacuum, getting every bit of food off the porch floor before looking for more. Since the edge was off, she cooperated more with the plan, sitting for at least one second before I let her dive into the bowl. :0)
We ordered a different style of harness, since she is still kicking at the one you see above. It won’t last long at this rate. The one we ordered has a chest piece of sturdy fabric, with adjustment straps at the neck and under the arms. Hopefully, she’ll be less aggravated with the new design.
So – you’ve seen my days now – comprised of rushing around like the proverbial chicken. Things will tame down in the taking-care-of-hubby department by the end of next week. The dog will take a bit longer…
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Vicarious Beach Vacation – Turtle Rescue
My sister-in-law has been spending the past week at a beach. She’s been kindly sending pics of sunrises and sunsets so I can enjoy her vacation vicariously.
This is a side trip to a turtle preserve run by the work of volunteers!
This guy below is about ready to be reintroduced to nature.
Filed under Amazing Animals, vicarious enjoyment
Good Morning from the Beach (Vicariously)
“This Morning’s Sunrise” – Mary Lou Lewis
Filed under Favorite Pictures, Mother Nature, vicarious enjoyment
Beautiful Video about Appreciation
This Nurse Is About To Be Reunited With The Premature Babies She Saved, And Her Reaction Is So Touching.
By Emily Davis, trendingly.com
Renee is a beloved NICU nurse at WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, Georgia, who has cared for thousands of premature babies over the years. In this video, a grateful group of parents and their children have got together to show Renee how much her loving care was appreciated in their time of need.
Filed under Favorite Videos
“Hummingbird Misty Morning Call”
“Hummingbird Misty Morning Call” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Thankful
Life Lessons by AwePost
One of the GOOD things about getting older is that you learn to live life at a bit slower pace and NOTICE all the good things around you. My husband and I remark from time to time how GOOD our life is. We have our problems, of course, but so much of our life is really great.
- The fact that we have each other – that we truly love each other, rather than just staying put because separating would be difficult. The things we get angry about are very small, annoying things, things that matter little in the long run.
- We’re happy with the life we’ve built together sharing love for over 56 years, and marriage that will be 48 years next month.
- We created a son who is a delightful individual. Smarter, kinder, and more generous than his parents. A GOOD human being with a good head on his shoulders.
- We love our home on top of our ridge line. We see people as often as we like, unless they’re too far away. We have privacy, a nice home, a great view, and a happy lifestyle.
- We can afford to get a new puppy when our hearts have been broken by the loss of a true friend. We’re retired, so we can devote the time needed to try to raise a well-mannered, happy dog from this ‘energizer bunny heavy ball of fluff with teeth and claws we adopted.
- We can grow flowers to lift our spirits whenever we go outside, and a garden to try to grow healthy veggies, PLUS a planned greenhouse to start them in.
- Our health problems remain ‘fixable’ or ‘controllable’ at this point – a blessing, indeed.
- We have friends and relatives who remind us of all the good in the world.
Happy are We!
Filed under life lessons
Smoke’s Retreat
Smoke came in meowing yesterday while I was working at the computer. After I petted her a bit, she walked off my lap onto the open drawer beside me. It has an old lap tray on it to provide more workspace for me. She laid down and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
It’ a good thing bank statements don’t need to be flat to be used….
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Amber – Take 6
You would think Amber were flea-infested, as she stops to scratch on our walks around the yard. Apparently, she is slow to adapt to new things, such as the harness. She’s scratching it so much that it’s starting to fray! We’ll probably need to get her another one in the same size at the rate she’s going. We already have two others in medium and one in large…
The first words she has learned to date are, “Good Girl!” This is because I say that whenever I can catch her doing something right, and combine that with a treat from PetCo. NOW I’ll have to get her to accept that she won’t get a treat EVERY time I say the magic words.
She had another good night. I got up early to take her out and then feed her. We’re trying to establish a routine she can appreciate. She had a short time on the dog run. The stops are working. We had to shorten the string we attach to her harness because she is strong enough to pull the wire to get to the steps of the deck. Now I only have to worry about her getting out of the harness.
When she had been on it for 10 minutes and was QUIET, I went out and traded the run for the leash and we took a walk. We went around to the swimming pool. She went all the way around it, then jumped in. She actually laid down in it today, looking very happy, and then walked around again before jumping out. We had a nice walk, coming in through the garage where I could grab a towel and dry her off a bit. She’s on the porch now, and quieted down after about 5 minutes. HOORAY!
We got the plywood at Yeagers, cut it in half lengthwise, and screwed it to the uprights yesterday. This will protect the screens and she can still see out just fine. There is glass in the screen door and it latches well (when we remember to MAKE SURE it does), so things are pretty secure.
I removed all the extraneous ‘stuff’ from the porch and then mopped again.
Here is her crate, her DIY ‘toy box’ and her non-spill water bowl (hahahahahaha – unless she puts her paw in it and slides it as if it were a frisbee). You can also see the gate that separates the porch from the living room. We were inside fixing breakfast and all of a sudden she was in the kitchen with us! We moved the gate up again – I really get some GREAT exercise trying to get over it and not fall on my head.
We moved the chairs back up against the table which holds our doggie supplies. This morning my husband and I shared coffee on the porch, invited our dog, Molly, in to socialize with Amber. Molly is still very upset at this undignified, playful, nipping hyperactive ball of energy. Amber really wants a rough-and-tumble play. She tries to get one of us to protect her, trying not to growl. We’re hoping that if we have a session like this every day, Molly will learn that the baby isn’t trying to hurt her.
New puppies – particularly large ones – aren’t for sissies or the faint of heart. I’m insisting that my husband takes HIS turns with her several times each day so that I can catch my breath! I really like her wish to ‘be with the people,’ but right now the intensity is a little much.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Good Morning from the Vicarious Beach!
Photo by Mary Lou Lewis
My sister-in-law is still most deservedly enjoying a week at the beach. Some of her friends are leaving today, some tomorrow, but Mary Lou will come back on Saturday, I think. She shared her sunrise with me, and I wanted to share it with you! :0)
Filed under Favorite Pictures
“Hallelujah” in Russian!
I just heard the most beautiful version of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen.
The website is Newsner.
“Not anyone can properly interpret Leonard Cohen’s immortal masterpiece “Hallelujah”. That’s what makes this next piece so fascinating. Four children somehow manage to not just do the song justice, but elevate it to a level I’d never heard before. The four children, named Artem, Julia, Marsel and Xenia, appeared on the Russian version of popular TV show The Voice and wowed the audience with a spectacular performance. As soon as the little girl standing on the far right opens her mouth, the crowd goes silent. Her angelic voice gives instant goose bumps. Then, just when you think it can’t get better, one after the other, the children prove that they are even stronger as four than they are independently. United in perfect harmony, the children truly enchant. Despite their young ages, they show talent and skills that seem way beyond their years. But that’s enough from me now.”
I saved the bookmark of the page, too. I don’t want to lose it.
If the link doesn’t work for you above, here is the URL –
Filed under music
Nuts and Bolts Art – Take 3
Folf – Decor Decoration Putter
Funzug.com
Gunslinger – Enjoying Antiques on Etsy
Filed under Creativity, metal art
Amber – Take 5
Our lives are pretty much revolving around Amber and the rest of our animals, plus my husband’s cataract surgery. Everything else we were doing has been pretty much put on hold for the near future.
We’re waiting for a Fedex delivery today, and then we hope to get to Yeager’s to buy some el-cheapo plywood. We plan to cut it in half lengthwise and screw it to the uprights on the inside of the porch about 6″ above the floor to protect the screens and still allow her to see out. We can then move the chairs back where they belong to keep her from pulling the table over…
We are serious about keeping chew-toys readily available for her. I’m thinking that the combination of her boisterousness, trying to ‘taste’ everything with sharp teeth, and trying to jump up (making contact with her sharp claws, is what causing the swelling and bruising on my hand yesterday. I’m treating several ‘holes’ and scratches on my hands, not counting the bruising, right now. She is really sweet and wants to play and love you. I’m working on modifying the WAY she tries to get close to us.
I found a good article on the net yesterday that stresses 10 basic commands to teach her:
- SIT
- STAY
- COME
- DOWN
- GO TO YOUR PLACE
- WAIT
- STOP NIPPING
- STOP BARKING
- STOP JUMPING
- STOP PULLING
I’m basically working on all these simultaneously, with a couple of sessions a day devoted to a more serious effort. She’s making really good progress every day. Today is Day Three of no mess in the crate. She’s walking better on the leash, although she still finds her harness annoying. She comes readily down the stairs with me on the leash. I still have to encourage her to go UP the stairs, but once she gets started, she finishes them well. She isn’t crying when I put her on the run for a few minutes each day.
I put a water dish at the close end of the run, thinking she might like that. She did – but used it to play with the water, splashing half of it out before drinking a bit of it…
We got her in the kiddie pool for the first time yesterday. She walked all around, splashing a bit, and then jumped out. She did that two or three times before she decided she had had enough. I dried her off as well as possible and she seemed happy. She did it a bit later in the day while we were taking a walk around the yard. I think this may be one of her favorite things this coming summer. I couldn’t get pics and hold onto the leash at the same time, so I’ll have to wait until my husband can hold the leash to get some.
We’re starting to establish a routine of sorts. I open the door to the porch, take her out for a walk, bring her back in and play with her until she starts getting distracted. Then I TRY to go back in the house leaving the gate up, but the door open. If she stays quiet, that’s good. If not, and she’s starts barking, I shut the door. She then decides to get into her crate and take a nap. We have about 6 or 8 sessions like this until bedtime.
My husband just came in, saying he checked on her. She was in the crate, on her back with her legs up in the air, snoring. I wish I could have gotten a pic to share, but another time will come.
I told you that we had them put a microchip in her. Yesterday we typed in the number on the medal the vet gave us into Google. The information I had given immediately popped up, with our names, address, phone numbers, so that we could hopefully get her back if she got lost. This is the first time we’ve done this, and it gives me some peace of mind.
I’m spending the day with my husband and new puppy both on a leash, restricting their activities.
Wish me luck?
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Godzilla on Maibox
This is the back of the piece. You can see where I had to paint the bottom of the piece on the mounting bar.
Here’s the front. He doesn’t show up far down the road as some of our pieces do, but my husband is pleased with him. I’m relieved that he’s happy. We love Godzilla movies. They’re so awful! :0)
Filed under Lewis Art, Lewis Mailbox Decorations
Featured Pieces – May 17, 2017
“Wedding Note Cards” – Pkg/8 – “Bridal-Party-Blue” by Lenore Garnhum
Go West Series – “Mountains” Note Cards- Package/20 by DiVoran Lites
CREATIVE ARTWORKS – Handcrafted – Hand-Painted – Unique -AHHHH!
Filed under Uncategorized
Clutz
I don’t know if you can tell – looking at my old, gnarly hand – that there is a discolored lump between my first and middle finger. Somehow, about an hour ago, while I was doing stuff with Amber, I hit the back of my hand on something. It didn’t hurt, and it’s not unusual for me to hit my hand, or other body part, on something.
This swelled up suddenly. I noticed it more because I had the sensation my skin was crawling than hurting. I’ve had a bag of ice on it, off and on, for about half an hour or so now. I may end up with an impressive bruise, and I won’t be able to tell people an interesting story about how I did it! Sigh.
The timing of this isn’t great, since I need to be everywhere at once taking care of my husband and the new puppy.
It got quiet around here about an hour ago – and, as mothers know, that is usually a sign something you don’t like is happening. My husband was walking out to the shop, intending to fix the other stop on the dog run. I couldn’t convince him that this was a stupid move on the morning after cataract surgery, so I went out to the shop and watched him while he put the stop together, then walked back with him and got the ladder, took it out to the run, then held it while my husband climbed up and attached the new stop to the dog run. Then I folded up the ladder and took it back into the garage, again reminding him that he wasn’t supposed to be doing that…
This day seems as if it has gone on forever. Starting the day at 5 is not one of our favorite things. With the surgery, the stress, the care-giving and the new puppy, I’m hopeful we’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight, even though we have to get up early again tomorrow to check in at the doctor’s office again, post-surgery.
Filed under Challenges, Changes
Sunrise at the Beach – Vicariously
My sister-in-law is enjoying a much-deserved week at the beach with friends. She has been trying to help me enjoy it by sending me pics of the glorious sunrise there.
The friends go once a year, sharing the cost, content to be together or be separate, as they choose, drinking in the wonderful scenery. beach, water, sunrises, fresh air, and r-e-l-a-x-a-t-i-o-n…..
AHHHHHHHHH!
Featured Pieces – May 16, 2017
“Lake Sunset” Multi-Media Painting by Sherry Dell’aria-McGrath
Planter – Faux-Terra-Cotta – “Old-Southwestern” by Linda Lewis
CREATIVE ARTWORKS! – Handcrafted – Hand-Painted – Unique -AHHHH!
Filed under Uncategorized
Amber – Take 4
I can’t tell you how happy I am with how well Amber is doing with her crate. She has spent two nights in it so far, and no accidents. She voluntarily goes in to take naps – proof above. She doesn’t go in voluntarily at night, and reminds me of a cranky child who has stayed up past her bedtime but still fights going to sleep. She doesn’t like us to put her in and close the door, but we’re getting a routine going now.
We’ve discovered that if we shut the door to the porch when she is barking badly, she quits. Hooray!
She woke us up a little bit after 2am last night, barking. We weren’t sure what the problem was, but we decided to ignore her. We only got the barest amount of sleep last night anyway, and the barking stopped pretty quickly.
I got her outside a little bit after 5 am this morning, since we had to leave for my husband’s surgery. She’s getting much better about going up and down steps, though she has to be encouraged each time. She is still unhappy with the harness, scratching at it as though she has fleas, but I’m ignoring that.
She has a really good appetite, eating a cup of puppy food morning and evening. She is still playing frisbee with her non-spill water bowl, but she also drinks from it. My arm is still her favorite chew-toy, although I’m squirting her with water when she does it. Both hands and arms (mine) have little dings and red spots from our interaction.
We had more training on the dog run. The stops are working now, rather than her being able to get over them somehow. I think she is safe now, and that’s a really good thing, as active as she is.
I spent some time when we got home from the hospital walking her, playing ball and tugging on chew toys, etc. My steps during the day have increased to over 6,000 for the past three days, so hopefully this will be helpful in my efforts to get the lard off.
I have to REALLLLLLLLLY concentrate when I’m walking her. She wants to run back and forth and tries to get me tangled up in the leash or when she’s on the run if she can reach me. A good session for both of us.
I’m hoping that it’ll be warm enough that I can see if she wants to swim this afternoon. If she does, I’ll try to snap a pic or two.
Each evening we try to bring her in the house to sit in someone’s lap, nuzzle, and talk. Last night it was Harvey’s turn. Amber sat with him almost the whole time we watched a rented movie! I think she’ll be a Daddy’s Girl….
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Godzilla
We put Godzilla up on the mailbox yesterday, but I forgot to take my camera to take pics. We went to town three times yesterday, trying to get everything done we needed to before my husband had his second cataract surgery this morning. Simply too busy.
This morning we were up at 5am in order to be at the hospital on time for the surgery. Needless to say, I was barely functional at that hour, and so didn’t remember to take the camera.
Maybe I’ll remember tomorrow. This was a difficult one to paint. My husband says its one of his favorites, so I’m happy he’s pleased with our efforts. :0)
Filed under Lewis Art, Lewis Mailbox Decorations
Featured Pieces – May 15, 2017
“Indian-Blankets-2”-Original-Pastel-Painting by Nora Ruth
Stationery-“Deckled Edge”-Pkg-of-10 by Linda Lewis
Filed under Uncategorized
Amber – Take 3
Even – maybe ESPECIALLY – because we’re old, we had a good Day Three with Amber today. (A HUGE example, even though she’s barking a bit off and on right now, is that we ALL took a short nap this afternoon.
I was up really early for me today. By the time I had hauled on some clothes and come downstairs, I heard Amber barking. This was the first night she had been in her crate. I had mentally prepared myself for a real mess, so I would have to learn how to get the tray out of the crate, hose it, and the mat, off, and then throw the mat into the washer after walking Amber.
What I discovered, was that the crate was clean! I put on her leash and got her right outside, having to fight with the steps she hates for a bit. Then she walked right down, as if she’d been doing this for a long time, and then did everything a dog should do on our walk around the house. I have to really pay attention because she wants to change sides and tries to wrap herself around my legs as we walk. I realize this is a process, but it would be good if I don’t fall on my head while I’m trying to give her a nice walk.
I brought her back in and fed her. She dived into her food bowl, ate every bit, and then looked at me with her big brown eyes. I gave her a bit more, which she took care of, but more slowly.
I called the vet to ask when a good time would be for us to bring Amber for a puppy check and a microchip. We were there at 10:00. She amazed us by not barking and not being upset at being at the vet. He checked her all over, pronouncing her very healthy. We made an appointment for her next shots in two weeks, and found out that we should have her spayed at 5 months. She weighs 18 lbs at 9 weeks. She was really good, allowing him to check her all over, open her mouth, put in the microchip, etc. without a peep. She seems to enjoy riding in the car and wasn’t sick either going, or coming home.
We left her on the porch and set out again to do LOTS of errands, since my husband has his 2nd cataract surgery at 0-dark-thirty tomorrow morning.
We modified the dog run when we got home, putting in better stops for each end. Since spraying her with a water bottle usually results in her trying to catch the spray in her mouth – plus she still tends to step into the non-spill water bowl and then send it skidding across the floor a bit, we got her a kiddie pool today. I filled it less than half full and if the weather is pleasant tomorrow and the water has heated up enough, we’ll see if she likes to swim.
Meanwhile, we brought out the soft green weird toy you can see in the pics above. She LOVES it! She chews on it, shakes it, trying to break its neck, and had a delighted look on her face when one of her chews resulted in a squeak from it.
She still really doesn’t like the harness we got for her, but it’s a great way to control her on the leash at least a LITTLE bit, and the vet agreed she would get used to it soon.
She seems to be making a bit more sense of her new life today and is liking it, for the most part. I found her in her crate lying there happily. She is learning that even though she’s on the porch, she meets with Molly every day, for as long as Molly can stand, she sees neat stuff outside the porch, and that we come by on a regular basis to take her out for a walk, bring her food and toys, and sit and play with her.
We’re very happy with her progress. We are exhausted each night after tending to the puppy (and our other animals and chores) all day. She let me sleep until almost 7 this morning. And I REALLY feel better right now after we all had our naps….
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Amber – Take 2
We made two trips to PetCo in Fort Smith today. The first time we THOUGHT we had a crate, but it turned out to be a “Dog Barn” with an open front, which would negate the idea of crate training, which starts tonight…. You can see Sweet Amber lying down BESIDE the crate. This is the only time she was quiet and still today.
This is a regular rubber welcome mat. Amber likes it.
I barracaded the porch screens, trying to protect them from Amber. So far, it has worked! I tried to sweep the porch. Amber thought it was a LOVELY game, and proceeded to jump on the end of the broom and then chew it. I finally put her on the deck on the leash out there while I finished sweeping, and then mopping the floor.
This is part of the barracade to protect the screens.
The barracade continues.
I taped down a wee pad over a spot where she had peed earlier. She decided to try to chew on the pad. I squirted her with a water bottle and she finally quit. I don’t know if this will last or not, but it’s worth a try. The trash can is a combination toy and hidey-hole for Amber. Sometimes she rolls it around and other times she climbs into it. THEN she peed between the trash can and the wall….
I mopped things up again and then tried to get some pics with Amber playing with some of her toys. She LOVES to chew. Our other dogs weren’t really ‘playing dogs,’ so we have a bunch of different toys to hopefully entice her to chew on THEM rather than the tabs on the back of my shoes, the edges of my jeans, or whatever else she can find.
Yesterday we started getting serious about dog-proofing the porch and the tiled area in the house, where we put up a gate. It’s amazing how much ‘stuff’ we have down where she can get into it, dump it over on the floor or on herself, or get hurt with it. We also have stuff hanging from hooks that she would LOVE to pull down….
Today’s project (other than buying a bunch of stuff at PetCo) was to make a dog run. We now have a 100+ foot dog run where we can clip her onto it and she can run from one end of it to the other and back again, not getting hurt or getting into anything. I’ll try to get pics of her on the run tomorrow.
This is Amber after she took the non-spill water bowl, stuck a foot in it, and tried to slide it across the floor, over and over. Obviously not non-spill, she spread water all over the floor I just mopped, ran out of water, and pooped herself out. POOR Baby! You can see the harness we got. She doesn’t like it much, and keeps stopping and kicking at herself like she had fleas, trying to get it off. I think in another day or so she won’t notice she has it on.
This is Amber on the long leash we have hanging from the dining area window onto the deck. We have it pretty short right now so she won’t get tangled up in the chairs on the deck. Now she can be on the deck with us, or on the run when outside, if she’s not on the leash taking a walk around the house, out to the shop and the garden, etc. with me. So far, she really doesn’t want to go up or down steps, but with a lot of ‘encouragement,’ she does it.
Smoke whapped her in the face twice in succession. Abby hissed and wanted to go back outside. Molly spent some time with her on the porch. When she came in, she went straight to her bed for a nap.
I understand exactly how she feels.
We got a barking deterrent for Amber, since she goes pretty much nonstop. Her barking is loud, too, grating on our nerves. We didn’t want to spend a fortune, and we didn’t like the idea of shocking her, so we got what my husband has labeled, “The popeil bark discourager.” Do you remember all the products by the Popeil Company? I don’t thing ANYTHING they made actually did what they said it would do….
Anyway, you put the battery in it and locate it anywhere within 25 feet of the dog. When the dog barks, a red light goes on. At that time, it’s supposed to make a high-pitched sound only heard by animals. It’s supposed to be a sound animals don’t like, so they stop barking. Maybe Amber is intelligence-challenged, or isn’t making the connection between her barking and the sound supposedly coming from the discourager, but it isn’t working yet…
We’re all making lots of adjustments in learning to live together. She’s definitely making the days fly by for us, and helping us to heal the hole in our hearts left by Bambi.
Tomorrow – 1st trip to the vet!
Filed under Amazing Animals, Challenges, Changes, Family
Happy Mother’s Day 2017
Testimonies of Hope
- Mother is a verb, not a noun. ~Proverb
- Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had, and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed. ~Linda Wooten
- Grown don’t mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What’s that suppose to mean? In my heart it don’t mean a thing. ~Toni Morrison
- A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan
- When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~Sophia Loren
- It is not until you become a mother that your judgment slowly turns to compassion and understanding. – Erma Bombeck
- I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them. ~Phyllis Diller
- My mother loved children and she would have given anything if I had been one. ~Groucho Marx
I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day today.
Filed under Favorite Quotes, holidays
Meet Amber
Amber is a 9 week old female yellow labrador retriever. We just got home a few minutes ago from our road trip. She weighs about 15 lbs or so at this point. She can get to be 60 lbs or so when fully grown. Her legs and feet seem really big for the rest of her, indicating she’ll be a large dog.
She was wonderful the whole almost two hour trip home. She didn’t get sick or make a mess of any kind. She dozed off, then woke up and snuggled me, over and over throughout the trip. She seems to like the puppy food we got her, though she wasn’t really hungry. She’s never been on a leash, and so straightens her legs and tries to back up. We got two harnesses, but both were too large. We’ll get the small size on Monday when we’re in Fort Smith again.
Monday we’ll also have a wellness check at our vets and he can tell us when the next series of shots are due, when we should have her spayed, etc.
Amber has already met Molly, though Molly was less than welcoming. She now seems to be avoiding everyone, although she’s at my feet in her bed as I type. Amber is behind the gate on the back porch. She wanted company, so my husband is reading a magazine out there now. I took a toy, hoping that that will give her something to concentrate on for awhile.
Amber also met Abby, our tortoiseshell cat. Both froze in place. Then Abby walked past her in a very dignified fashion. Smoke, our charcoal gray cat looked at her, hit her in the nose with a paw, and then gave her a wide berth. Amber didn’t even react to the paw in the face.
She has a loud bark, but so far, gives it up after a bit. She’s also a bit bite-y, now that she’s more awake, but we’ll encourage her to stop that. She’s a good snuggler and wakes her tail readily. She seems like a happy dog. We hope that this is the beginning of a wonderful sharing of another dog life. We’ll have to do a lot of work to teach her how to behave, etc., but I think she’ll definitely be worth it. Most of all, as we reach out, trying to meet her needs, she’ll help us heal.
Filed under Amazing Animals
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