Blog Archives
Taking a break for the ROADTRIP!
Posted by doggonedmysteries
The suitcase is packed, the car will be loaded tomorrow, and then I’ll be on my way. In the meantime, I hope you all have a good time while I’m gone. I’ll post when I get home.
Dear Hubby is in charge of the house and dogs while I’m gone—I hope to heaven the dogs behave for him. They can be a handful when I’m not around. (When the alpha dog’s away…and all that.) Hey, I even have an ‘Alpha Dog’ T-shirt and DH bought it for me.
I’ve left DH a list—it’s not long, just reminders as to what to do with the dog’s water, the fish, and to remember to water the potted vegetable garden and the flowers in the pots on the front porch every afternoon once the sun is off them. I know him, without a list he’d forget to water the plants. He wouldn’t add the cider vinegar to the dog’s water, which, by the way, has cleared up Gavin’s chronic ear infection. So we don’t want to stop doing that do we? He’d also ignore the fish and they’d have to live on algae—they would not be pleased.
Posted in Dog related, MS related, My blog, 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, Home, Humor, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
The gardens needed the rain
Posted by doggonedmysteries
It was almost time to drag out the hose and water the gardens. After so much rain there for a while, we had a nice dry spell, but we were due for some rain. The rain began around seven tonight and I’m jumping in here in between storm cells.
During one break between downpours, I went outside with the flashlight and checked around the pond. Dear Hubby calls this doing my frog count because I always tell him how many I’ve seen after I do my walk around each night. They certainly were active in the yard tonight. I think they were enjoying the rain. I counted nine bullfrogs. I don’t often see more than four or five most nights.
One small bullfrog took my presence as a threat. He panicked, screamed, and took off as if the hounds of hell were on his water tight butt. The poor thing careened into a plastic coffee can (we have it near the pond for the worms I catch to feed the fish), then he bounced off of a piece of slate, took a high flying leap, and landed with a loud splash in the pond. The bigger frogs have more sense.
Posted in My blog, 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, Ponds, Writer, Writing
You know the animals are spoiled when…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
The dogs bark at you when dinner isn’t in their dishes by five-thirty at the latest and you hurry up to give it to them.
The neighbor’s cat looks at you, at his treats, then at you again, and you give him some.
The Koi beg for worms as soon as you walk near the pond so you go dig some out of the compost heap.
The frog expects you to throw him some worms when you are feeding them to the Koi and you do it.
The squirrels jump on the neighbor’s screen door when the corn cob she puts out for them is empty and she brings them a fresh cob.
The poodle across the street expects you to have cookies in your pocket and you do.
The basset hound whose owner walks him by on a regular basis wants to take a water break at your house on hot days and you have the dish filled and ready.
The cat birds clean the blueberries off the bushes right under your nose, and you don’t chase them away. Instead, you sigh, and think it’s a good thing you have bags of frozen blueberries in the freezer.
Posted in Dog related, My blog, 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, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Goliath Frog and the remake of ‘The Birds’
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Late this afternoon I was settling in to do some writing. I’d opened my book file, found where I’d left off, and began to work. It’s been so lovely around here during the day we haven’t had to close up the house and turn the A/C on. Therein lies the rub.
With everything opened I can hear all that goes on outside. I was quite enjoying the sounds of the birds. That is until they began to screech, squawk, and scream bloody murder. I went out the back door to see what the heck was causing of all this dismay among the birds. I should’ve known. I should’ve guessed.
One of our bullfrogs has decided that flies, bees, worms, and large moths aren’t enough. He now has his eye on our feathered friends. We call him Goliath Frog. Goliath Frog mooches worms when I’m feeding them to the Koi. Goliath Frog is fat he’s far from starving. When I walked out into the yard, I saw a large flock of screaming starlings and grackles trying to aid a full grown starling who happened to have Goliath Frog attached to his tail feathers. The bird was flapping about the pond making a gallant effort to lose the frog.
Goliath Frog wasn’t ready to give up. He had hold of his stomach’s desire. The other birds were shrieking and flapping their wings, making dives at the determined amphibian. Finally, the bird shook Goliath Frog loose and flew for the wires over the alley. For a moment, I thought I was in a scene from Hitchcock’s The Birds. There were starlings and grackles by the hundreds on the wires and in the trees. They must have come from miles around in answer to the distress calls of the now almost tail featherless starling, AKA Goliath Frog’s intended supper. It’s almost time for Goliath Frog to take a trip. He can join our other bird eating bullfrogs, Frogadile and Frogzilla at the river.
Posted in My blog, 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, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
I’m no sugar and spice girl.
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I’m not a girly girl. I never have been, never will be. Proof of that hit me yesterday when my neighbor’s son came to the gate and told me he’d found a bunch of worms for the Koi. I let him in, we went over to the pond, and I asked him if he wanted to feed the fish. Nope, he didn’t want to handle the worms. He handed me the large plastic drink cup in which he had them contained. I giggled. I couldn’t help myself. I was trying to figure out how he’d picked up the worms without handling them.
I was always a tom boy. I started fishing as soon as I was able to hold a fishing pole. If we went fishing with Grandpa or my Father, we had to bait our own hooks. Worms don’t bother me. I remember chasing a cousin or two with a nice big night crawler.
I remember when the boys in school would try to scare me with a snake or a mouse and I didn’t scream and run. Instead, I’d squeal, “Oh, how cute! Can I hold it?” Picture their disappointed little faces.
When I came in from playing outside, much to my mother’s chagrin, I was as filthy as all the neighborhood boys were. Dad thought it was a hoot.
Have a happy and safe 4th of July!
Posted in 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, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Big city wild critters
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Wild critters wander this big city at night. At least they do around my neighborhood. Tonight I had a skunk trot along behind me as I walked into my back porch. You’d better believe I closed the door quick. He was within two feet of me. I’m so glad he didn’t spook and spray. That would not have been fun. The dogs would’ve barked at me for days. Dear Hubby would’ve laughed his assets off while handing me tomato juice and a bucket. I would’ve been mad as hell because I’m wearing my best jeans.
A couple of weeks ago a neighbor had to kill an opossum who had somehow managed to get his teeth stuck in the wire fencing that’s beside their house. The critter was truly stuck. He didn’t want to kill it but there was no way he could free it easily. As it was, he had to cut the fencing to get the critter off it.
We’ve seen deer, raccoons, and hawks of all sorts, tons of rabbits and squirrels, ducks, Canadian geese, wild turkeys and even a pheasant or two near our home. DH says that when he was a child they had foxes roaming about. I think the only wild critter we haven’t seen in our neighborhood is a bear. We are NOT out in the country. We are smack dab in the center of Pennsylvania’s third largest city.
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, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Evolving into a water creature
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I may be a Pisces but I don’t want to turn into a fish. When I woke up today, I thought I saw the beginnings of webs growing between my toes. I checked myself in the mirror for fear I may have some rudimentary gills erupting too. Is that moss covering my north side? Am I growing mold? Scifi or Darwin? You decide. All I know is, I want at least a week straight of sunny weather.
Since April, we’ve had 43 days of rain. Yes, I said 43 days of rain. It’s no wonder my yard is a swamp. When we actually do have a day of sun everybody stops, looks at the sky, and wonders if we should make a sacrifice to Ra. I forget what does the sky look like without clouds?
Farmers around here are worried that we are getting too much rain. I know if we had more sun I might have more green tomatoes on my plants but with all the rain a lot of the blossoms have dropped off the plants. I’m glad that some tomatoes had time to set, but at this sunless rate, they may never ripen.
Posted in 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
We’re getting close to breaking a record
Posted by doggonedmysteries
In June of 1947, a record was set here; 18 inches of rain fell that month. As of earlier this evening, before it began to pour down by the buckets again, we had 13 inches of rain. The month is barely halfway over. At this rate, we’ll be setting a brand new record and I’ll be building that Ark I mentioned in a recent post.
I have a bag of grass seed I’d like to spread over a few thin areas of grass in the yard, but I can’t, it’ll all wash away and my next door neighbor will have my lush lawn, not that she wouldn’t appreciate it. Heck, she’d probably dance for joy. After all, she has all the rich soil from the old vegetable garden that used to be on that side of my yard. Over the years, it’s managed to wander out of my yard and move to hers, leaving us behind, so why not my grass seed too.
Now I think I’ll go measure and saw a cubit or two of gopher wood, gather up some nails, locate some canvas, and find a hammer. Happy sailing everyone.
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
Mindless Monday
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I think I’ve lost my mind. Sometime while I was getting the dinner dishes done, cleaning Gavin’s ears, thinking about my dentist appointment tomorrow afternoon, and trying to figure out what to post tonight, my mind wandered off by itself and hasn’t returned. I’m betting it’s going to be one of THOSE days when I wake up.
We had sun so I worked in the yard again. The ground is so wet that it made weed pulling easy. We had such a pounding rain last night that I had to tie up some of my flowers and trim others back. My Cranesbill was completely flattened and looked as though someone had placed an anvil on it. I had to trim that way back. I was glad I’d taken the time to trim back my huge baby breath plant a week ago or it would’ve been flattened too.
If it rains tomorrow, I think I’ll curl up with a good book after I get home from the dentist and relax.
Posted in Misc, My blog, my garden
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, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Building an Ark in the basement ala Gibbs
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Lately we’ve had so much rain that I’ve been thinking it’d be a good idea to build a mini Ark in the basement. I wonder if I could get some tips from NCIS’s Gibbs?
“Hey Gibbs, I think it’s time to build an Ark.”
Gibbs throws me that baleful look he’s so good at giving. “”That’s 300 cubits by 50 cubits. Your basement won’t hold it. And for heaven’s sake don’t ask me what the hell a cubit is.”
“Okay, so I didn’t mean a full sized Ark I meant a mini-Ark. It only needs to hold Dear Hubby, me, and the dogs.”
Gibbs whacks the back of my head. “Next time say what you mean.”
I rub my head and glare back at him. “So where do I buy gopher wood?”
“You don’t.”
“Will you at least help me with the plans?”
“I have other plans. I’ve a murder to solve. Make your own.”
“But, I’m clueless.”
“So am I, but I’ll solve the crime. Will you build your Ark?”
“Hold on, I’m getting a clue.”
Posted in Misc, My blog, 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, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Commando trained weeds take over the gardens
Posted by doggonedmysteries
We actually had sunshine today. What a lovely change from the last several dreary, rainy days. The pups were ecstatic about being able to go for a walk, so was I for that matter. We don’t walk a long distance but we do it at a brisk pace. Both the dogs and I are panting when we finish.
After the walks, I was in the gardens weeding for hours again. Geez, I can’t get ahead of them no matter how hard I try. They must be commando trained. I get one area weeded and those darned weeds sneak over to another one and laugh at me. They can’t grow that tall in such a short time, can they?
My leather gardening gloves have holes in the finger tips I guess it’s time to buy some new ones. I can’t use those cotton ones because we have some prickery weeds that can bite through them.
After a day of weeding, I can tell I’m getting older. My knees, hands, and back ache. At least that’s the only time I feel my age.
I added some pictures to my pond and garden page today. I took them the other day in between rain storms. I hope you enjoy them.
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
Weeds, rain, Koi, and worms
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.
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
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