Monday, August 30, 2010

William, Luka, Chloe, Olive and Simon Sunshine



This little person with the huge ears is a Chihuahua named William. Though William is his formal name, I often call him Peanut instead. William's favorite activities include barking at garbage trucks at five in the morning, sleeping, racing around the yard like a maniac, sleeping, sitting in my lap, sleeping, eating his tiny portion of food, sleeping, watching the other dogs from the deck and lastly, sleeping because he's all tired out from sleeping.


Here is William racing around the yard like a maniac.


There he goes!


William has a big brother named Luka. Luka is part German Shepherd, part Rottweiler, and part very, very, tall. He's gotten old, and the carefree days of his youth are over. Luka no longer throws caution to the wind. Unfortunately, he has developed a tendency to poop in his sleep. The pooping problem was not helped by the continuous four day onslaught of rain while I sat at his home. Luka, like his canine siblings, hates the rain. The thought of pooping in the rain sends domesticated shivers down their spines. 

  

The third sleeping beauty is a Shepherd mix named Chloe. The sofa is not what it once was. You may notice the cover partly clinging to one end of the furniture. I was in a contant state of rearranging the cover in a losing battle to protect the fabric. As you can see, I was definitely losing the battle. Chloe thinks domestication is bliss. It's tough being Chloe!


Dinner time! They each have special medications with their meals. 

 

Here's "The Peanut" eating his tiny portion of food. Since he's a young fellow, he doesn't need any medication.


This is Olive looking coy. In reality, there's nothing very coy about Olive. She's a little conure with a big attitude. Olive loves being removed from her cage to sit on the armchair with me while I read or stare at the wall. She puffs up and does a strange bobbing dance like a Dancing with the Stars contestant sporting feathers. When tired of dancing on the chair's arm, she hops to my shirt and dances there. A secondary dance involves deep knee bends. Once the dancing is over, she dives down the front of my shirt and makes herself at home. I tell her not to poop. Pet sitting includes a lot of poop discussions. 

 

Olive has a lot to say. When pleased with me, she makes a nice clucking sound. When angry with me, she squawks to bring down the roof. She usually becomes angry when I take the dogs out before attending to her needs and wants. In Olive's world, Olive is number one.


Simon Sunshine is a little hard to see in this picture. He's a canary who used to sing for me, but no longer does. I must be in hot water for some reason. I'm always in hot water with somebody!


This is not a real bird. It's a fake raven I call Edgar. I think he's cute.


This is St. Francis. When I met my client Susan, she said she was a good Jewish girl with a St. Francis statue in her yard. I said, "St. Francis is nice." This is true.    


I've included a picture of the giant crystal ball because I like it. It reminds me of my client Charmaine's crystal ball except it's red instead of pink. Rather than a rosy future the pink ball was predicting, this one sees bad global warming ahead.

I hope you liked the pictures and story.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Happy Birthday to Me!



Rah!

Don't tell anyone, but I'm fifty-three years old. Yikes!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

National Dog Day



Today is National Dog Day! Give a big hug, and an extra cookie, to that classy little soul in your life.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Suzie, Monkey and Yard Decor



This is Suzie. Suzie is an old, old, Labrador Retriever who's almost completely blind. Poor Suzie. She still gets around though, and always enjoys a nice roll in the grass.


That feels good!


Suzie has a sweet younger sister named Monkey, who's timid around people, but still very friendly. Monkey is that breed of dog called "A Little Bit of  Everything," or the "Heinz 57." 

  

I stayed at Suzie and Monkey's home while their family were vacationing in Maine. Their mom owns the consignment store I attempt to sell elegant items a.k.a. junk in. Charmaine, the owner of the shop, has a lot of interesting stuff displayed outside her house. She'd probably have brought more things home if her ancient truck hadn't blown its transmission. Ouch! The truck got towed home early. 

 

It's a Hippocamp! I wrote about Hippocamps in my mythology blog found HERE. I would love to hang this somewhere in my home. I'm not sure where exactly, but I'd figure something out.


A Buddha statue made of limestone. The limestone is all pitted and sad from weather erosion. This is a thinner Buddha than some I've seen. Maybe it's not Buddha, but somebody else. It's DIET Buddha!

 

A very thoughtful statue of Mary.


A cute angel who lost his legs somewhere between heaven and Earth. He looks upset. I'd be upset too if I were him.

   

It can't be easy holding up a giant pink ball. Not everyone can have a huge "crystal" ball by their front door. The future is looking opaque, but rosy.

 

I don't know about the rosy future. A pig needs to fly first!


Bye!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Gracie


Gracie

I want to mention a new blog about an adorable Shih Tzu puppy named Gracie. The blog, called Tails and Misadventures of a First-time Dog Owner, is an excellent read and contains many sweet pictures I think you'll enjoy. 

    

Gracie has grown a bit bigger since these pictures were taken, but she's still a cutie. 

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Be Afraid



My cat Madison is angry with me. As a pet sitter, I sometimes stay at clients' homes to care for their pets. This is especially true if the pet is elderly, or requires medication. Usually, Madison is o.k. with that, but for some reason he's not o.k. this time. I've been hearing a lot of rumbling and complaints from His Lordship. He bats at my shoes when I squeeze past him in the hall. Since I'm staying at clients' homes almost continuously for the next couple of weeks, he's going to be mad for a while. Poor Madison. He generally only gets mad when I take him to the veterinarian. He HATES the vet with a burning passion. Once, in an effort to keep His Grace happy, I took him along while I stayed with an old, old, old, Fox Terrier. The dog was SO old he didn't realize Madison was there. We stayed for three weeks while the clients traveled in Europe. During that time, Madison refused to come downstairs and broke a lamp. So much for Happy Land. 

  

I'll have to be on my lookout!

I started this post yesterday. Fortunately, Madison is less angry today, so maybe I'm not in big trouble after all. I bought him some treats and special food to sweeten him up. He loves his treats.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Rocky and Chloe



This is a little pee factory named Chloe. She's a sweet thing who's single-handedly keeping the puppy pad people in business. There's nothing physically wrong, she just pees a lot. When not peeing, she's pooping. 

 

She loves to get on the back of the recliner.


Chloe doesn't think much of my picture taking efforts!


Chloe's brother, Rocky, is a calm and dignified Labrador who can always be counted on for sensible behavior. I mean he's calm and dignified if there's no food involved. Rocky just loves to eat. Unlike Chloe, who takes forever to eat, Rocky gobbles down kibble at record speeds. When spying his full food bowl, he leaps around with amazing dexterity for a ten year old dog.


Where's my second breakfast?

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Star Wars



Here is Star Wars rendered as a silent film. I think it's hilarious. This is remarkably similar to a typical day in a pet sitters life! Ha! Numerous little furry creatures going nuts is all in a day's work. 

This film is dedicated to those of us living on another "Plane." To understand this dedication, read the comments in the previous post. I hope you have an excellent day! 

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Prince, a Rooster Chicken and Cookies



It's time for some more ancestral family photographs of a former pet. The big furry guy in this picture was our regally named collie Prince. He's accompanied by the five year old me tolerating another picture taken by my father. The building in the back is not the palatial mansion we called home, but the palatial woodshed. Our home was at least twice as big as that! Ha! I look like Henretta Hillbilly in this picture. 

 

This is not me. We did have a chicken that lived in the woodshed though. It wasn't a hen chicken, it was a rooster chicken. Unfortunately, since there's no picture of the chicken, I have to substitute this nostalgic postcard of a chicken instead. The rooster was hatched in a little dome topped plastic incubator we kept in the living room. After that, the rooster chicken seemed to think he belonged in the house. It was a very bad tempered rooster who chased me around the backyard and pecked at my legs. When I received enough holes in my legs, my parents decided it was time to find the rooster another home. My father took him to a friend of his who had other chickens, so it wouldn't be lonely, and maybe become sweeter disposed. The man said, "Don't worry Warren, if he gives me any trouble, I'll put him in the pot!" People often wondered why I twitched.


This is me and Prince again. Prince and I! He's trying to take my cookie. Actually, I used to give him my cookies which explains why he's practically climbing into my highchair.  He was a kindly soul who liked cookies as well as I did. I still do like cookies.


This is not me either. I don't know who this child is, but she has a remarkable large mouth.


This IS me laughing at the dog. I think someone spiked my formula that day. I always thought I had a disturbingly big head for a small child. My mother said it was better than being a pinhead. 

  

Here's one last picture of Prince being not very prince-like. These photos were taken in the dark ages before the invention of microwaves, television remotes, cell phones and digital cameras. Otherwise, instead of being preserved for eternity, this picture would have been deleted. I like the imperfections of the past. The man in the back is my grandfather. He was a funny and good natured sort of guy. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.


Cookies!

Monday, August 9, 2010

National Rice Pudding Day



Due to the general crappiness of certain people I've encountered along my daily rounds, I've been feeling a little unhappy lately. One of the nicest ways of beating the sads, is to eat something tasty and sweet. Since today is National Rice Pudding Day, a hot bowl of comfort food goodness might just do the trick. Here's a recipe for rice pudding from my tattered old paperback of Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.

Rice Pudding

3 slightly beating eggs
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cinnamon

In bowl, combine eggs, milk, rice, sugar, raisins, vanilla, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; mix well. Bake in 10x6x2 inch baking dish at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. Stir. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Continue baking till knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes longer. Serve warm or chilled with light cream, if desired. Serves 6.  

  

Here's a picture of Indian Rice Pudding containing cardamon, pistachios and coconut milk. Though I've never made this pudding, it certainly looks and sounds good, so I may get out the baking dish and make my usual big mess. The recipe can be found HERE.

If you're interested in more information about National Rice Pudding Day, this SITE contains everything you could possibly want to know about rice pudding and it's special day. 


If you don't like rice pudding, tomorrow is National S'mores Day. Say good-bye to my diet!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Rude People



I'm tired of all the rude people in this country. There's always someone around who delights in making others miserable. Some mornings I actually dread leaving my home to work. The other day, I was driving down a two lane road in Cumberland, Rhode Island that narrows into one lane. As the traffic merged, a woman with two unbelievably nasty children decided she'd squeeze past me even though there wasn't enough room and I was ahead of her. The road got narrower and narrower, but she kept right on coming. Since I thought she was going to hit me, I beeped my horn. The child beside her screwed up her face and screamed, "WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?" What's the matter with me?! Realising I wasn't going to win, I let the wretched woman and her evil spawn go.  

  

Now she's in front of me. The two brats, who I took to be her children, turned around and began making faces and laughing at me. As far as I could tell, the mother did nothing to stop their behavior. Maybe I need to grow a tougher skin, but this sort of thing always bothers me. If I behaved like that when I was young, my parents would have killed me. I felt like garbage for a huge chunk of the day. 

  

There's a culture of meanness in modern America I find disturbing. People think it's clever and funny to rip strangers apart. I've been told people are friendlier in other parts of the country. Do you think this is true? What horror stories do you have? 

  

Lately, I like animals better than people.


The occasional angry opossum notwithstanding.