Blog Archives
Sun and flowers
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I couldn’t resist the tug of the sunny day we had today. I bought some potting soil and flowers for the planters on my front porch. The planters had been alongside the driveway for several years. However, last year, when we had new, very nosy, and noisy neighbors move in directly across the street, I removed our chairs and moved the planters to the porch. I can’t wait to see how my petunias, pansies, and snap dragons will look once they begin to grow and fill out the planters. (I didn’t get them planted last year so this should be fun.)
While I was filling the planters with soil and flowers, a pair of mourning doves decided to work on their nest above me. Mourning doves aren’t the greatest nest builders, but this pair tries. They’ve been nesting in the same spot for a couple of years now and are used to us coming and going. I enjoy hearing them so they are welcome additions.
Even though we lost the neighborhood camaraderie we used to have while sitting out on our front porch, we’ve found something special. We have our own sanctuary in the yard on summer evenings and enjoy the pond along with the wonderful peace and quiet.
Posted in hobbies, Misc, my garden
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, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Who the @#$*turned off the heat?!
Posted by doggonedmysteries
It’s darned cold outside again. Who the @#$* turned off the heat? Sure as shooting my poor magnolia tree’s blossoms will turn brown from frost tonight with the mercury dropping to twenty eight degrees. I’m glad I didn’t pack my warm jacket away.
Even the dogs are disgusted with the chill in the air. They preferred to do their romping indoors today. My couch looks as though a tornado hit it and I can’t tell you how many times I picked pillows up from the floor. Everything on the top shelf of my curio cabinet walked to one side. They both banged off the kitchen cabinet doors so much today I thought the doors would fall off. They run into the kitchen, slide, and use the cabinets to stop and turn. Yes, my house was pure bedlam today.
They dragged Dear hubby into the frenzy and I don’t know who was worse the dogs or him. My sanity walked a thin line as I tried to write and either a dog or a big ball thrown by DH bounced off my chair every few minutes. At least they all had fun. I want the warm weather back so the dogs and DH can blow off steam away from my desk.
Posted in Dog related, Misc, My blog
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
A tangle of topics
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I finally got outside with the camera today and took some shots of the gardens and pond. I posted 3 of the best ones on our garden and pond page.
The pups and I enjoyed the gorgeous, warm day we had today. They played circus dogs and jumped through the Hula-hoop until I ran out of cookies to give them. Then they ran about until they were near collapse. I did some more cleaning out of the gardens, once again over filled, and emptied the wheel barrow four times.
Yesterday, Dear Hubby’s best friend cleaned out all the gutters on my MIL’s house while DH played gofer on the ground. This was a job that hadn’t been done in years and it took most of the day. The high winds didn’t help much. Yes, it’s a real friend, who will climb on a roof for you when the wind is gusting at 48 mph and all you can do is stand on the ground and watch. DH is fortunate to have such a good friend.
My cousin, Carol has posted a new painting on her site, Carol’s Art Blog. I am so impressed with her work. The gal has talent.
Posted in Dog related, Misc, My blog, my garden
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, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Wild weather for the beginning of April
Posted by doggonedmysteries
We had plenty of crashing thunder, wild lightning, and monsoon-like rain today. The pups weren’t thrilled with being inside but neither were they particularly thrilled with being outside. Patty hates rain, she thinks she’ll melt or something. Gavin doesn’t mind it too much but the drenching we got, was not his idea of fun either. The rain battered the heck out of my daffodils but they might stand back up after they dry out a bit.
Tomorrow the weather people are predicting wind gusts of up to fifty miles per hour. I spent what little daylight (with no rain) we had left, battening down the hatches. I’m sure I probably missed a few things and will find them moved tomorrow. With my luck, they’ll be sleeping with the fishes in the pond and I’ll have to run a salvage operation. Is Jacques Cousteau’s son still around? Maybe I’ll give him a call.
The poor magnolia will probably lose many of its not yet opened buds if the winds get too high. I don’t remember ever having as much wind as we’ve had this year. I do hope this will be the last of the high winds or I’m going to have to take some more bungee cords out into the yard to keep things from blowing away.
Posted in Dog related, my garden
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, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Oh, my aching back!
Posted by doggonedmysteries
We had such a sunny and warm day today I couldn’t resist doing some yard work. I cleaned out the garden surrounding our pond. Four over loaded wheelbarrows later, I was feeling it in my back and my knees. It was worth it though, that garden looks a lot better.
By this evening, we had clouds and rain again. We’re getting more rain tomorrow so the rest of the gardens will have to wait. Down the side of our yard, I have this one-hundred and twenty feet long by four feet wide flower garden that I have to clean out. Then there’s the twenty feet by three feet garden across the back of the yard and two small circular gardens under the magnolia and tulip poplar trees. The way I figure it, if we keep getting rain like this, it’ll be sometime in June before I have them up to snuff.
The magnolia is beginning to bloom and if I ever get around to dragging my camera out, I’ll have some new pictures to post on my pond and garden page. The pictures I have up don’t show how the privet hedges are gone (I dug them out—all 135 feet of them) nor do they show the new fencing we put in last year. Sunday is supposed to be sunny again. If I get the rest of the gardens cleaned out so they look nice, I’ll take pictures.
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, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Out like a lamb
Posted by doggonedmysteries
The old adage held true around here. March did come in roaring like a lion and it looks as though it will tip toe out of here like a lamb. We did get some rain yesterday and today which we needed. It was getting to the point where I thought I might have to water the gardens.
I’m happy that it was a cool and misty day because I didn’t feel as though I was missing anything by not being able to get out into yard. The rain did push some of my daffodils into opening. The gardens are looking nice even though I haven’t had time to get out there and do a major cleaning of the beds. (Geez, that sounded like another laundry day.)
I’m hoping our magnolia tree waits to bloom until there’s no danger of frost. I hate to see the blossoms get frosted and brown in one night.
Tonight the sky was clear and you could see the stars. I enjoyed the sight when I took the pups for their late night last out. The air was cool and fresh and a heavy dew had coated the lawn.
I can’t wait until it’s warm enough to sit outside at night.
Posted in Dog related, my garden
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
Dumb questions
Posted by doggonedmysteries
If you don’t want to hear my smartass answer, don’t ask me a dumb question.
When I took Gavin and Patty for their walks today, a neighbor asked me, “Are you going for a walk?”
“No, I’m tap dancing and the dogs are going along with it.”
I staggered from the car to the house with a forty pound bag of dog food slung over my shoulder and someone asked, “Is that heavy?”
“Nope, I always walk like this.”
I dragged a few dozen flats of flowers out of car and had them next to the gate ready to take them into the yard when another neighbor asked, “Gonna plant some flowers?”
“Nah uh, I’m going to toss out the plants and use the dirt for decoration.”
After watching me spend the day running up and down two flights of stairs doing laundry Monday, tonight Dear Hubby asked me, “Do I have any clean underwear?”
“No, I was just carting those laundry baskets around all day on Monday for the fun of it.”
I’m curled up in my chair, paperback book opened, and I’m very, very quiet. Dear Hubby asks, “Are you reading?”
“No, I’m counting pages.”
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
Adventures in DIY Land…EEKS!!!
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Before his MS caught up to him, Dear Hubby had many home improvement projects in the works. Now he’s unable to do them so we’re stuck with a few unfinished DIY ventures. Then there’s all the stuff around the house that needs repair work done. It’s enough to send me screaming off into the wilderness.
Although I am capable of doing many things, lifting dry wall isn’t one of them, and we have two rooms that need it. The last time I tried to lift some dry wall panels, I managed to get one about a foot off the ground before my back chimed in, “Are you stupid? You sat in front of a computer for years and now you want me to help you lift that? I’ll show you!”
OUCH! I spent the next several days with a heating pad as my best friend. My second best friend was the muscle relaxant my doctor prescribed.
Soon I’ll be climbing a ladder to do all the painting I need to do. It’s not that easy when you have a fear of heights. I get halfway up the ladder and my brain hits me with, “You’re going to fall. Can’t you feel the ladder shaking? Tell you what. How about I hit your adrenals get them pumping and start your heart racing a little?” There’s nothing quite like some cardio work and an adrenalin rush to brighten your day.
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, DIY, 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
I need to get out the camera and the rake
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I was out puttering in the garden by the pond today. The crocus are so gorgeous I should get some pictures of them. I might wait until the daffodils begin to bloom they are loaded with buds right now. However, with my luck the crocus will be finished blooming by then.
I need to drag out the rake and clear the leaves from all the gardens. The rhubarb is starting to peek out of the ground so I did clear the leaves away from the plants. I can’t wait until it is ready to pick, rhubarb custard pie here I come! All the blueberry bushes are loaded with buds. I’m relieved I was worried that the bitter cold we had this winter might have killed them. The yard is greening up and it looks nice.
Gavin and Patty have been kicking up their heels in this weather. The pups have been looking for the squirrels and rabbits to chase but I think the critters wised up and when they hear the back door open, they dash out of the yard. I had to re-home a small garter snake yesterday. The snake was heading for the pond, Gavin stepped on it and he didn’t even notice it. The snake no longer resides in our yard.
On another note Dear Hubby took the basket I made into his mother today. She was delighted with it.
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, Pond, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Flu shots, DH, and miscellaneous questions
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Dear Hubby hasn’t felt well for the last couple of days and tonight he thinks he’s figured out why. It seems that every time he’s with his Mother, when or right after she gets a flu shot, he gets ill. Could it be that she sheds just enough of the virus/antiviris that his contact with her gives him a mild case of the flu?
Why does my inner child play with matches when I’m already warm but refuses to when I’m cold?
If you’re the only person to show up for a meeting, is it a meeting?
Why is it that when you decide to have a quiet night reading, the phone that has been silent for weeks begins to ring every five minutes?
Why is it that if one dog is quiet, the other one decides to cut up?
If the damned squirrels can’t remember where the heck they’ve buried their nuts, why do they bury them in the first place. (You should see the holes in my yard and gardens.)
If you know someone is always late, do you tell him/her to come at an earlier time so he/she will arrives on time? (I do.)
Posted in Misc
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
Of mourning doves and dogs
Posted by doggonedmysteries
My dogs aren’t supposed to be bird dogs. It’s not something that BTs were bred for but lately you’d think they were. For some odd reason I have two mourning doves who are hanging around the pond. After several days of them taking flight from under Gavin and Patty’s noses, the dogs are looking for the dumb birds, even pointing them. I say dumb birds because they don’t go far and return to the same place as soon as we walk away from the pond.
The dogs know I have a strict rule of no birds, no chasing them, no hunting them, and no killing them. But what’s a dog to do when they no longer fly away but run along in front of them? (If you recall from an earlier post, I won’t let the pups run loose in the yard until we can repair the fence this summer.) The doves are driving the pups crazy with this ground hugging nonsense. Although I think if the birds took flight, it’d really chafe under their collars.
Every time we go out now, they drag me to the pond where they will point out the doves. I keep telling them they aren’t bird dogs they’re BTs. I think they are suffering from delusions of Setter grandeur or Brittany fantasies.
Posted in Dog related, my garden, Writer, Writing
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, Pond, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
MIL update, Gavin, and miscellaneous thoughts
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Dear Hubby’s mother has come down with a cold but she’s still working hard in her daily PT. The feisty old gal is quite resolute about getting out of the Rehab Hospital. It’s been a little over a month since her fall and she is showing no lack of determination. Dear Hubby is there every day while she does her PT, which I think is a great help in motivating her.
Gavin’s ear looks good and he’s been enjoying daily romps with Patty. Although, now when she gets a bit nippy around his ears she does get a scolding. You can practically see her roll her eyes at you. “Geez, I can’t grab his ears and you yell at me for dragging him around by his collar. What’s a girl to do?” The no collar rule stems from having to buy Gavin new ones too many times after she’d chewed through them (while they were still on his neck.)
We had a gray drizzly day today but it was warm. In between sprinkles, I did some clean up work on the pond. I won’t be able to do the major work until spring is in full blast.
Posted in Dog related, Misc, my garden, Writer, Writing
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, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
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