Blog Archives

The great robin rescue

First, let me get this straight. I don’t like heights. I don’t like to climb ladders, cliffs, or tall fire towers. I occasionally will still climb trees but I feel more secure in them than I do on a ladder.

Today when I took Patty out I heard a fluttering in the top of the magnolia tree. I didn’t think anything of it. Then I took Gavin out and heard it again. This time I looked up. There, high in the tree was a robin dangling on a string from a small branch. I’m a real softy when it comes to creatures in trouble but for the life of me, I couldn’t quite figure out how I was going to save this bird. He was awful high up in the tree.

“Hmm, ladder? Oh, crap I hate ladders and Dear Hubby is asleep so I can’t ask him to stand there and hold it steady for me.”

The poor bird flapped frantically.

“Okay, I’ll get the ladder.” I dragged the step ladder off the porch and climbed up to the top. Knees shaking, hands sweating. “No way I can reach you. Now what? Broom?” Climbed down the ladder. Climbed back up the ladder. Tried the broom—not even close. “Well, crap. Maybe the long pole branch cutter.” Long, poled, very, heavy branch cutter that could easily knock me off kilter. Don’t forget I’m also a klutz. There I am with the long pole balanced against a tree branch so I can climb the dreaded ladder. The robin is still dangling and watching me with trepidation. I slowly make my way up the ladder, reach for the cutter, and haul it up. Next comes the hard part. (As if all of this wasn’t difficult enough.) I now have to extend this 8 foot long, very heavy pole with a cutter on the end up above my head and try not to hit the now panicking, wildly wing flapping robin.

My plan was to cut the small branch as near to his foot as I could. (If I didn’t over balance and fall off the ladder.) I eased the cutter closer to the crazed bird. I hooked it onto the branch and suddenly the bird was flapping downward. I hadn’t cut the branch but somehow managed to clip the string. I eased the cutter down to the ground, rested it against a low branch, and climbed off the ladder. I was glad to be on solid ground, though from the way it looked not nearly as glad as the robin. Once he caught his breath, he shot out of the yard like a red and brown arrow.

Posted in Misc, My blog, my garden

4 Comments

Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing

Weeds, rain, Koi, and worms

Jun 8

Posted by doggonedmysteries

Whew. It’s a good thing we had another sunny day. When I said that all that rain made the plants happy, I should’ve said the weeds were the happiest. I spent all afternoon and most of the evening (while there was still enough light) pulling weeds. I’ve only managed to clear the garden against the back fence and the backside of the pond garden.

Unfortunately, the weather report predicts rain for tomorrow and Tuesday so all my work might’ve been for nothing. Two more rainy days and those weeds will be shooting up like sky rockets. I hate to think about the growth spurts the weeds I didn’t pull will go through.

While I pulled weeds, I found a bunch of worms and as I found them, I tossed them into the pond. My Koi were going crazy—they sure do love worms. If I take the time, they’ll take them right out of my hands. Tiki and Yang are real pigs about worms and will fight for the chance to get first grab.

Posted in My blog, my garden

2 Comments

Tags: Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Fish, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing

Rainy night rainy day…

Jun 4

Posted by doggonedmysteries

My plants are happy. We’ve had rain, rain, and more rain. The dogs aren’t happy they don’t like wet. I’m not happy because I’m typing this up in between thunderstorms—not my favorite weather.

We did need the rain, if only so I didn’t have to water the gardens. It was beginning to look as though I might before the rain began last night, and has continued throughout the day and into the night again.

I took the pups out for their last chance for the night out a few minutes ago. Patty went out first, she hates rain, and she thinks she’ll melt in the stuff. She cringed out the door, her tail tucked under, and clamped so tightly against her belly, I wondered if she’d actually untuck it long enough to pee.

Then Gavin had his turn although he’s not as theatrical as Patty he does show some disdain for the rain. Rather than dawdle he was done quickly and back in the door like a shot.

Earlier in the week, I’d thought about penciling in cleaning the kitchen floor on Thursday—not going to happen with the pups tracking in. I’ll wait until the mud is gone.

Posted in Dog related, Misc, My blog

12 Comments

Frog songs and gardening

Jun 3

Posted by doggonedmysteries

It was such a lovely night tonight that instead of watching TV Dear Hubby and I sat out by the pond listening to our bullfrogs sing. No, they didn’t sing The Michigan Rag. Gosh darn it, we could’ve made a fortune if they had—no, wait they’d only sing for us and everyone else would think we were crazy. Think? Heck, I know we are.

I spent most of the day pulling weeds, dead heading flowers, cleaning algae off the waterfall and rocks, backwashing the filters, and cutting back overgrown plants. DH spent the morning with his mother and then rode the mower around our yard. I think I got the better part of that deal.

We have a ground cover growing near the waterfall. I spent several hours thinning it out. I have no idea what its name is. What I do know, is that it hides the wild strawberries and those, ever so devious, hummingbird vines until they are well established and difficult to remove. I thought I liked hummingbird vine, well I did actually, until I planted it in my yard. Now it is a curse. It’s invasive as hell, as difficult to control as a fresh from the wilds mustang, and a real pain in the aster to pull out.

Posted in my garden

A klutz’s guide to yard work

May 31

Posted by doggonedmysteries

Dear Hubby finally listened to me and bought a weed whacker that isn’t too heavy for me to handle. I really like this one. It is battery powered. There’s no electric cord to drag around or heavy gas tank to struggle with or refill.

Today was sunny and warm. I decided to trim around the yard and gardens. I was blithely trimming away then I stepped backwards and tripped over a couple of bricks. As I looked at the sky, I pondered. Why was I seeing the sky? Gee, the hummingbird vine on the arbor needs trimming. I hoped none of the neighbors saw me do that double deluxe flip. Maybe I could tell them I was trying some new gymnastic move. Yeah, sure. They’d believe that.

Time to take inventory. Hey feet, you okay? Yeah, we’re fine. Ankles? Still here. Legs and knees? We’re a go. Hips? Not a problem. Back? Spry as ever. Shoulders, arms, and head? Ready. Whew.

Okay, the human was fine, but how was the machinery? I stood, picked up the weed whacker, turned it on and it worked too. What a relief. I shut it off. Then I heard my neighbor yell from her bedroom window, “Glad you got up. I was ready to send my husband over to check on you.”

Rats.

Posted in Misc, my garden, Writer, Writing

7 Comments

Patty as Esther Williams

May 29

Posted by doggonedmysteries

Patty hates baths, rain, wet towels, washcloths, and squirt guns. I’ve spent hours and numerous cookies trying to coax and or trick her into the bathtub to give her a bath. Once I get her in the tub, she cringes in the corner, tucks her tail, ducks her head, and looks pitiful. You send her out in the rain and you get the same reaction. You would think you were killing her if you try to wipe her face with a wet paper towel or washcloth. That is if you can catch her because when she see’s you coming at her with one she runs, hides in the back of her crate, and plays invisible dog.

Now if only someone could explain her fascination with the pond. Why is it, that when I turn my back for a second, I’m certain to find her standing on the rock ledge readying herself for an Esther Williams swan dive? Maybe she does this to make me yell. Could it be that she thinks my blood pressure needs a boost? She’s never actually gone in. However, she occasionally takes a drink while teetering on the edge just to make me crazy.

Posted in Dog related, my garden

6 Comments

Balance has returned to our pond

May 27

Posted by doggonedmysteries

We’ve been hoping to have breeding Koi again. A couple years back someone got into our yard, dumped a car battery in the pond, and killed all of our Koi. I was heartbroken, they were our pets, they had names, and they ate food from our hands. We had to work hard to clean out the pond, replace all the plants, snails, frogs—everything and get the pond back into balance. Some of our baby Koi had gone to friends’ ponds over the years and they very graciously gave a few back to get us going again. We also bought a few small Koi.

Late last night I took the flashlight out to the pond. A couple of weeks ago one of our Koi laid eggs and at night, shining a flashlight into the water, is the only time you can spot the fry (teensy newly hatched babies for those of you who don’t know fish terms.) Yes, we have babies. At least one that I know of and it looks like it might be yellow or white.

Proof to me that our pond is finally back to where it should be. We have nine frogs that we’ve seen, there could be more. We have eight large Koi about four or five years old and one that is small and is probably two years old. There are snails, the water lilies are blooming, and I’ve even spotted a few salamanders. Life in the pond is back to normal now if only we can keep Patty from trying to dive in there.

Posted in My books, my garden

6 Comments

Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Fish, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing

Sharing the wealth from the garden

May 9

Posted by doggonedmysteries

We had sun today for most of the day. Didn’t last, the clouds began to roll in late in the afternoon. The rain held off until dusk. At least it wasn’t a monsoon. For once, it was a gentle rain. My question is, does this count as ten days of rain? If half of a twenty-four hour period has rain, is that considered another day of rain?

It wasn’t sunny enough for long enough to dry anything out. While there was sun, I went out to weed the gardens. I shouldn’t have looked at my rhubarb, but I did. It needed picking, now. There went the weeding idea. I picked rhubarb. I had a large quantity of fresh rhubarb. I cut and froze some. I baked a rhubarb custard pie. I gave my friend G enough for her to bake a pie. She had strawberries. She’s making a strawberry rhubarb pie tomorrow.

This happens to me all the time. I start out to do one thing and something else grabs my attention. AOADD strikes again. Oh, yeah I was going to do some weeding…

Posted in Misc, My blog

2 Comments

Be careful what you wish for

May 7

Posted by doggonedmysteries

My gardens were looking dry over a week ago and I was hoping for a little bit of rain. I said a little rain. I didn’t mean monsoon season. We are now into our ninth day of rain. It’s been pouring all night. The yard is turning into a swamp and the Koi are thinking of going exploring. Even the frogs seem depressed with all the rain, probably because the bugs are in hiding. I don’t think they make umbrellas for flies or galoshes for beetles.

Dear Hubby mowed the grass the day before the monsoon hit and the yard looks as though it’s grown several feet. If this keeps up much longer, I’m going need a machete to get from the back door to the pond. My flowers are thrilled with all the moisture, but then so are all the weeds. The weeds are like an army of rampaging hookers attempting to take over the garden beds.

We thought we’d fixed the leak in the basement. It hadn’t leaked for over a year. However, tonight it has sprung forth anew. It looks like it’s back to the drawing board on that repair. I think Gibbs from NCIS has the right idea. Maybe I should be building a boat down there.

Posted in Misc, my garden

6 Comments

Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Fish, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing

Bullfrogs scream like little girls.

May 1

Posted by doggonedmysteries

Screaming frog

I keep hoping to hear our frogs croaking a web footed chorus but as of yet they haven’t. We have no Michigan J. Frogs out there. However, they do scream when surprised. Normally it’s just a quick little “ACK” when they hop into the pond as we approach.

This evening I was rambling around the yard when a sudden scream and a wild scramble at my feet startled me. The next thing I heard was a loud thud when the poor creature ran into the side of the garden shed. I had to find out what the creature was and whether or not it had dashed its brains out. I cautiously approached the corner of shed, flashlight in hand, and tried to peer into the jumble of ferns and chocolate vines. Whatever it was, screamed, and slammed into the shed again. I moved back and then approached from a different angle.

Finally, I caught sight of the creature. One of my larger bullfrogs cowered in the spot of light for a second, then it screamed like a little girl, and bashed into the side of the shed again. They aren’t the brightest lights in the harbor.

Posted in My blog, my garden

9 Comments

Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing

MIL’s home evaluation. We named the ducks.

Apr 30

Posted by doggonedmysteries

Well, we put in the six hours of work de-cluttering and cleaning at my MIL’s on Monday. On Tuesday, Dear Hubby had to pick her up at the rehab and lead two of the pain in the ass ladies physical therapists over to the house. Whereupon they proceeded to make the poor woman jump through their hoops demonstrate that she can do her day to day things in her own home. By the time they finished their circus act compressing an entire day’s worth of activities into two freaking hours, she was beyond exhausted but had performed very well for them. DH on the other hand was stumbling about and ready to fall down. The heat had his MS giving him fits.

At least today, after he came home from the rehab hospital he had the pleasure of watching the ducks play in the pond. Yes, they came back again. We sat out in the yard and enjoyed the floor show for a couple of hours. Then they took their bows. Gertrude stood at the top of the waterfalls, stretched her wings, and took off. Gaspar quickly followed.

Posted in Misc, my garden

The return of the ducks

Apr 29

Posted by doggonedmysteries

I guess the ducks enjoyed their afternoon tea at our pond yesterday, because promptly at five today, they returned. One good thing about their visits is that they seem to have a taste for the string algae. It has bloomed with all the heat we’ve had the last three days and I was ready to go buy an algaecide, which I do hate to use. However, since the pond is in full sun it does become necessary from time to time. The female in particular seems to relish the flavor. Yesterday she climbed to the top of the waterfall and cleaned most of it out of there. If they keep to this daily schedule, I think we can accommodate them without any problems from the pups.

Neither one of the dogs has spotted the ducks yet. Moreover, since I know they are there I take the pups out into the yard on leashes and direct them to the front of the yard. There’s no sense in tempting fate.

I can picture Patty having an encounter with those big birds. She’s used to robins, cardinals, finches, and mourning doves, and ignores them, but ducks? She’s never met one. She’d likely take a flying leap into the pond after them. Gavin would probably bark at them while backing up to get closer to me, just in case.

Posted in Dog related, My blog, my garden

6 Comments

	Carol on There’s nothing quite li…
	quiall on There’s nothing quite li…
	quiall on It’s been awhile
	Sarah Lomas on Popping in to update
	quiall on Time seems to get away from…
	Carol on Time seems to get away from…
	madaboutgreys on She’s broken, lives unde…
	quiall on She’s broken, lives unde…
	quiall on Damn, snow.
	doggonedmysteries on Enjoying my new life but…

Doggonedmysteries

Life as viewed from the skewed perspective of a mystery writer

Blog Archives

The great robin rescue

Weeds, rain, Koi, and worms

Frog songs and gardening

A klutz’s guide to yard work

Balance has returned to our pond

Sharing the wealth from the garden

Be careful what you wish for

Bullfrogs scream like little girls.

MIL’s home evaluation. We named the ducks.

Writer (n) 1. One who writes 2. One who engages in literary composition

Copyright

Blog Stats

My Facebook

Goodreads

A look back

I know it’s here somewhere!

Recent Comments

The posts you have liked the most

Categories

Login

See US Gv. Ratings on nursing homes

Spam Blocked

Ampyra site

Link to Fampridine information

Sock Dreams