Oops time slipped away today. With grocery shopping, class starting back, I ran out of time to do a post. I’ll be back tomorrow with a cemetery tour. Appropriate to set the Halloween mood and learn a bit of history about the Kenosha area. Until next time!
There was a very sad crisis at my house this morning. The new bag of doggie biscuits could not be found. I KNOW tragedy of epic proportions! Call in the Avengers! Where is the Closer when you need her? It was sad and perplexing.
I did not feel well last night. I went to bed early. The doggie treat jar was empty and is our ritual before I go to bed I let her out and gave her a treat. Not feeling well I didn’t take time to wash the jar and put the new treats in it. I just left the bag of treats on the counter. Aaron and Sara came home to make their dinner as I was heading off to bed. I didn’t care all I wanted was bed.
Cut to 5am this morning, doggie wanted out. I got up and let her out. I reached into the treat jar. Not normal time for a treat but I was still groggy and not up to my usual form. It was empty. My sleep rattled brain remembered I’d left the bag out. I reached for it in the dark, not there. I flipped on the light and looked around the kitchen. Dirty dishes piled in the sink, ran water in them. Yep Aaron’s cooked and moved the treats but where? Dunno. Oh well she’s not supposed to get a treat now any way. I turned off the light and shuffled to bed leaving a very dejected greyhound in my wake.
“But, but you rattled the treat jar…. I was a good girl. You were going to give me a tasty treat. What, what happened? ” Rappy sighed heavily and was left staring at the empty jar. “Momma don’t love me no more.”
Then this morning I got up and went through the morning routine. Rappy out and in again. This time it’s morning treat time. We start and end our days together with tasty basted biscuit treat of love. It’s been our routine for years. I reach for the jar and remember, “Oh yeah Aaron.” I look about the kitchen no treat bag. I shout up to ask Aaron what he did with it. He doesn’t remember. I don’t find it in the storage cubby, in the pantry, in the dog food drawer or cabinet. It’s gone. I show Rappy my empty hands and tell her Aaron ate all the treats. She’s dejected and shuffles off to her day bed in my office.
I take to emptying the dishwasher and loading the dishes in the sink into it. I’m puzzling over where that bag could have gone. Then I see it! It’s on top of the fridge! I’m short I don’t always look up for something. Much less look for doggie treats in non doggie places. Still I found it! The tasty basted biscuit treat of love are back!
I immediately called Rappy, the depressed old greyhound that had moped about the corners of my morning. “Here girl!” I handed her two, yes TWO, treats one stacked on top of the other. I found them! Her eyes lit up, her ears went up, her back feet did the happy tap dance with the big tail wags. “MOMMA STILL LOVES ME!” She roo’d. She grabbed the treats and ran to her bed to enjoy them.
I enjoyed watching her savor them. Then I went and filled up the empty treat jar. All is right with the furry household now. Momma loves Rappy. The treat jar is full. Life is as it should be for doggie and me. If only I could get my printer working. Maybe I should show it the full treat jar…
It all started when I wanted a big crisp dinner salad. No dinner salad is complete without a boiled egg.
So as afternoon was rolling in it found me standing over the garbage in the kitchen looking out the window peeling boiled eggs. (I always make few extra). Rappy was out in the backyard and I was enjoying the feeling better stage after a week of being ill.
I noticed how much more had bloomed and greened since the last time I felt well enough to assess the yard. The red tulips had come out and were flanking the yellow custard ones with the same number.
The perennials in the same bed are greening up nicely. Their winter trash getting cleared away. I wondered if Mike had done it this weekend, I bet he did. The purple tulips are just making a showing as the frilly jonquils are doing their finale. The lilac bush Mike had trimmed so harshly not only has leaves but is getting ready to bloom. The cat nip by the fence has grown in leaps and bounds.
As I stood there watching the wildlife began its activities with no human clamoring around in the small space. Squirrels perched on the back fence running back and forth to keep an eye on Rappy as she romped in the grass. Soon they took a perch up on the peak of the back neighbor’s garage to survey when it was safe to make a run to the currently full bird feeder.
While they wearily watched Rappy a nuthatch landed in the lilac bush. They always make me laugh because they seem to look at the world upside down for most of the time. He’d dart out and land on the feeder to eat a few bite before the chittering of the squirrels made him dart back to the cover of the heart-shaped lilac leaves. It was so loud I could hear them through the glass of the windows. Greedy buggers didn’t want to share with the tiny nuthatch. But remember there’s always someone bigger than you keeping watch, in this case it was Rappy. The chittering would perk Rappy’s ears. She’d prance around looking for squirrels and they’d go silent hunkering down on the shingles of the neighbor’s roof. Then the nuthatch would dart out again to eat. Once Rappy settled down to watch out the gate the squirrels would scold the nuthatch, it would dart for cover and Rappy would prance about on patrol. Then rinse and repeat again.
As this went on a large robin bopped into the scene. He wasn’t concerned with Rappy, squirrels in the balcony, or nuthatches nibbling birdseed. He was collecting the dried vines from last year’s morning glories. Then he was back to pull out the dried leaves from the perennials. He made several trips to our yard then up to our garage’s peak the off in a Northernly direction to return shortly and clean up my yard some more. So maybe Mike had some help with that.
This was just a moment peeling eggs and looking out the window. Yet it was just what I needed after a week of being in bed ill. The freshness of it all, the simple fun and quiet activity that goes on all the time unnoticed. I’m not up to a full day’s activity yet but it was good to see it go on.
Now excuse me I’ve a dinner salad to make now that the eggs have chilled. As always it’s good to hear from you. Until next time.
Mike says he can always tell when I’m coming into a room because I’m preceded by my furry entourage. Currently there are four members, and yes at home you generally find them with me. Part of that is I work from home and they are social creatures, so we hang together. Part of it I like to think is because I’m the Queen, the leader of the pack, the big honcho of the house, you get the idea. To show no particular favoritism we’ll go in order of age with oldest first.
Meet Miss Mo. Her name is Mohican because she’s the sole survivor of her litter. I’ll tell her full biography in her own post. However when Aaron was little he dubbed her Kitty Mo. Over the years it has become Miss Mo about the time the furry boys got their Mr. designation. Her position in my entourage is princess. She’s the most verbal of the entourage so she does announcements such as “The stinky dog is getting up and stirring up her doggie smell.” Now that she’s older there’s many “pick me up and put me_____ .” She’s arthritic now being old and can’t jump up on seats or beds as easily as before. So once we settle into a room like my office she might shout to be put on the chair next to me. Generally she brings up the end being knocked kneed and all.
The next two are brothers, litter mates even. So again in no particular order we’ll start with Mr. Boots Red aka Mr. I-eat-it.
He and his brother were fostered by us and came named Puss & Boots. However when I got collars by chance he got the red one since the brothers look very much alike (more so when they were young) Mike took to calling them by their collar color. Along the years they got full names with Mr. on them.
His job is being the troublemaker. If there’s a crash in the room he’ll be the one casually strolling out tail up trying to look nonchalant. “What crash? You heard a crash?” He’ll dart around the entourage very unregal like – much to the disgust of his very proper brother and Miss Mo. Also if there’s anything new he’ll eat it. You have to put ear buds in drawers because he’ll eat the cords and gnaw the buds. He’s the only cat I’ve ever known that will eat fruit. Thus his nickname is I-eat-it because that’s what he says when he encounters something “I eat it!” then he inspects it. He’s the least verbal of the felines but will speak if he feels he needs my immediate attention.
Meet Mr. Red’s brother Mr. Blue our gentleman feline. He’s the alpha among the animals of the house but defers to me or Mike in a very courtly manner when we’re present. He’s very nice and polite. He’s always tried to divide his time evenly among those humans in a room. He’d visit each person to sit with them. When I’m writing like now chances are he’ll be lounging on the back of my chair with his front paw on my shoulder. When he enters a room he always greets me with a short chirped “Meow-meow.” I do the same in return and it’s become a way I can call just him.
Finally one you saw yesterday Arapaho’s Ace aka Rappy. She’s a retired racing greyhound. She’s a very timid girl but over the years of retired life she’s come out of her shell. Still she’s the gawky large member of the entourage that always waits for the others to get settled in the room then she settles. She’s bossed about by the felines, yes a dog who made her living chasing small furry things on sticks cowers now follows the small furry ones in our house. Honestly she’s not the smartest animal I’ve ever known. Actually she’s one the slowest and simplest animals I ever met second only to Chatterbox (a cat I’ll tell her tale another day).
So that’s my in house entourage. From the gentleman feline to the demur simple greyhound. I love them all each has a special place in my heart.
As always thanks for reading. I’d love to hear from you feel free to comment or contact me. Also likes and star ratings make me smile. Until next time!
Just a quick nod to let you know I’ve not forgotten ya’ll. It’s just the holiday clutter has gotten to critical mass. So today I’m picking up and doing a bit of swish & swipe cleaning. I don’t know if you are like me but when things get too cluttered I don’t have room to think. Well it’s that bad now.
So yeah I know next post what we learned craft fairing. I promise I know and I’ve got some lessons to share.
In the mean time I’m making room to think in here. See ya soon. As always love to hear from you at all the my usual places.
Mary Louise Eklund 