Spring! ( thank gawd)

Temps are warming up and I am desperate for spring to be here all the way. So, I broke one of my gardening rules and planted pansies this year. I used to figure: "why plant flowers that are guaranteed to fry when hot weather arrives?" But, I am especially sick of winter this year so, the deck "ice bucket" planters got pansied! The stuff in the middle is curly ornamental grass and I have two whole justifications for buying it. One: when the pansies bite the dust, I can put some petunias around it and it can live on the deck all summer long. Two: when summer is over it will live in the garden for the rest of it's perennial, ornamental, grassy life. So - it is a bargain!

Notice Henri Roo in the yard behind the deck post. He and Sirkhan were living in the bathroom for a while as they both needed a bit of doctoring, but now that the weather is warmer the "sick bay" is in the garden, where it belongs. Yay for getting my bathroom back to myself, it is really really hard to share a bathroom with two roos, they lack sphincter muscles, you know, so there is no way to get them to use the toilet even though they are living in the bathroom. Eventually, I gave in and got chicken diapers for them. Yep, chicken diapers exist and you can read about 'em here: http://chickendiapers.com/ if you are so inclined!

Hazel Rose, my little Frenchie foster girl, had a tail amputation. She came from a puppy mill auction and her inverted tail was sort of rotting inside of her skin folds. It was a truly horrific situation with the tail growing straight down and pushing into her rectum. Our vet, Dr. Ivan did her usual magic and amputated the tail bone, but saved a little skin flap so our little girl looks like she still has a tail! Hazel is going home after her spay surgery in two weeks and I am going to miss her like crazy, but I know she will be the Queen of Everything at her new home.

The little Toy Fox Terrier that lived loose in the wilds of Jefferson County and that I was finally able to trap, is now a permanent resident at our house. She is a tiny thing and I marvel everyday that she was able to survive on her own for seven whole months, including a freezing spring and a blistering summer. Although she is still shy as can be, she loves cranky old Heywood, my twenty year old farm collie. Here they are together on the deck. She had to have him with her to venture outside and will eventually gain enough independence to leave his side. Heywood growls when any of the other dogs bother him, but he can be seen sleeping on the rugs in the hallway with his tiny girlfriend curled up next to him. Go figure. At night she curls up on the pillow next to my head and I fall asleep to the sound of her tiny heart beating away against my ear.

And speaking of new dogs, we did get few more fosters. I saw Salty dog on a shelter rescue site, and it was love at first sight. I showed the picture to my husband and got the "go ahead" to pull Salty from the shelter. Actually the "go ahead" was more like a shove out the door, but bless his heart he worries about dogs in pounds and once the decision is made to save one, I don't think he can sleep until they are safe. Salty was listed as a girl because his "boy parts" were hidden behind folds and folds of fat. We found out he was a boy and all had a good laugh about that. However, the general state of Salty's health is no laughing matter. He is at least thirty pounds overweight and at his age, it is hard on his joints to carry all of that excess poundage around. Since he has been here, he has already lost four pounds. I think his weight loss because he likes to walk around and smell things. As you can see, he wants back inside and on the bed once he is finished with his perambulations, and if the door doesn't get opened fast enough, we are treated to the coonhound song. Salty's voice is very deep with lots of soft "airy" bass in it. Very Pretty Indeed! Unfortunately, we just found out that Salty has heartworms and because of his advanced age and his physical condition, our vet does not want to treat him. We are hoping that some weight loss, 21 days of doxycycline and Heartgard will make him a better risk for treatment down the line. Keep your fingers crossed as we were not counting on having another permadog!

I will leave you with the image of Gabe with his bottom feet on the rung of the ladder to the hay loft. I was climbing up to get flakes of hay to feed the goats and sheep and I guess I was not doing it fast enough. Gabe was trying to cllimb up to help!

You can see my leg and barn boot on the ladder and both of his front feet are on the bottom rung. Look at that impatient look on his face - I can almost hear him calling, "hey hhhuurrry up, mom, we are all hungry down here!".

The fields are all greening up nicely but my lazy boys don't want to walk out for fifty feet to get the new green stuff. After all, why walk when mama throws alfalfa/grass mix from the loft. Sigh. Hope you all are having a good time in the fabulous weather we are having - I'll be back soon with more news of the great goings on at Dogrush.