Merlin and Sam

They match!  Sam has returned from his stay at the shelter for observation.  He hopped right up with Merlin and snuggled.  How cute!  Tom thinks that Sam thinks that he “matches” Merlin.  Can cats see in color?  Hmm….

Sophie and Ursula

Sophie and Ursula

This is Sophie.  She has two brothers with us, Sam and Sebastien.  We are fostering them for 2 weeks for the SPCA.  I will post pictures of them soon.  It is quite healing to have little sweet creatures running around again.  A distraction really, as I am not the biggest cat person.  How is it that I live in a house full of them (sigh).  Cat-lovers that is, not cats.  Dogs are so much cooler.

Lily is Back, Sonny is Gone, Rufus is Leaving and the Puppies Peed (Again)

Lily came home in a bag today.  A whole white pig stuffed into a little, itty, bitty drawstring bag imprinted with the words “Until we meet again at the Rainbow Bridge”.  I went to get her after church.  Tom has been bugging me to “find” her since the day they said her remains would be back.

Truth is, I couldn’t bring myself to call them and ask.  Couldn’t choke out the words.  But now as the days are ticking down for Rufus, I realized that I needed closure on one dead dog before I could deal with another one.  I told Tom if he got me the receipt for the cremation with the phone number on it, I would call.  They are only open nights and weekends, so I don’t think of it during the right times.

Finally, in the parking lot at church, he gave me the number, I called and asked.  “George” had the somber voice of an undertaker.  He said “we left a message on your machine on the 29th”.  Um, Nope, you didn’t.  He became a little indignant as he read me the number, “we left the message at 545-5749″.  Oh, well, that explains it George, our number is 545-5149.  Oopsy.  He sounded puzzled, “she must have thought that one was a seven.”   Ya think?

So I called Tom back and said that I would pick up the ashes on my way home.  And he actually said this:  (I am not making this up)  “Do you want to come get Rufus and drop him off when you go?  It would save gas and making an extra trip…”  Did I not say that I needed closure on one dog before dealing with another???

So, to continue with the parallel construction needed for this post as outlined by the title, Sonny is gone again.  We saw him enter the highway on ramp (without benefit of a turn signal) right before the cruisers arrived at his mom’s house.  Haven’t seen him since.  His truck was towed back a few days ago.  Hope he is resting comfortably somewhere taking meds.

Rufus needs to go to the Rainbow Bridge.   He will be happy there.  His wounds are open, draining, yucky and there is nothing that can really be done.  There is a new one on the end of his nose.  It is time.  Now that Lily has returned, I can deal with him.  It was 10 years ago that I knelt with Jennie in the vet’s office for her to go to sleep.  It was peaceful and I know she was grateful.  Even the kids are all on board with this.  Except that will leave us with “zero dogs” as Bubbles says.

We now have 3 demon dog puppies (Anne, Allison and Ari) whose breed apparently stemmed from a mix up between cattle dogs, Corgi’s, and wild dingos.  They are all teeth, like brown, ambulatory pirranhas, and full of pee.  And the pee comes out.  In puddles.  Wherever we just have cleaned.  They actually tell us when the want to go out, it’s just that in the 2 or 3 nanoseconds it takes us to respond, the pee comes out.

They are really, really cute, and have a sweetness that is the only thing that keeps us from bringing them right back to the shelter.  But they are herding dogs who need to be outside on a farm herding things that need to be herded, not old dying dogs.  This morning, as I noticed a forming puddle of pee, I hopped into the kitchen to clean it up. All 3 pounced on my slippers with a ferociousness that scared me.  I looked and noticed a poop pile as I turned, and they jumped and ripped off my eyeglass holder.  Beads went everywhere.  I tried to get the poop, the pee, save my slippers and grab the beads out of their little mouths all at the same time.  It was a fiasco.

Bubbles is sick.  She is not very bubbly.  Her temp has climbed all day.  Last check it was up to 103.8.  I gave her medicine, took away the comforter, put a cloth on her head and let her go back to sleep.  I will wake her in a minute and check the temp again.  I hate it when the kids are sick.

We Have Puppies!! (and a Spaetzle Maker)

Check out these beautiful babies!  Zelda, Zeke and Zeb (short for Zebulon).  They came from a tiny hound mom and an unknown dad.  There were 11 in the litter, all survived and were split up for socialization and adoption.  They are scrumptious.  (Zelda is my favorite).

I didn’t think this blog would be overtaken by pet issues, but here’s yet another post with…pets.

In other news, our spaetzle maker arrived.  If you don’t know what a spaetzle maker makes, it is, well, spaetzle.  Spaetzle is a german pastry made by dropping dough in boiling water.  This is really tricky and potentially dangerous because the water is boiling.  After trying various methods and failing miserably, Tom suggested that I look into purchasing a spaetzle maker.  What an idea.  It turns out that there is such a device, several versions in fact.  I trolled ebay for a while and then found a “used” spaetzle maker for about 1/3 the cost of a new one.  I’ll let you know how that goes.

Bubbles LOVES spaetzle, so if she’s happy with it, we will all be happy!

Here’s a tip for you.  Want to lose your kids in a hurry, if you’re in, say, Walmart and want some alone shopping time?  Pretend to sing along with your ipod.  It helps if you actully have one with you, but if you don’t, pretend that you do.  Not scattering fast enough?   Grab an object and use it as a microphone.  Now sing louder.  Pretty soon you are all alone in the aisle with other people doing exactly the same thing.  This can be our little secret.