Doggy Tales

 

I love this picture of our BreeBree even though it doesn't show much of her beautiful brown eyes. For months we've had her on a prescription for her allergies causing sneezing and wheezing.

It turned out that all of that really wasn't allergies. We had put off her dental for two years and when she went for it the other day they found more teeth that needed to come out. Even some of the bone in the gum had disintegrated.

Guess what? She no longer wheezes and sneezes! 

 

James Mason was so forlorn while she was gone that day, much more than I would've ever thought he would be as she is the one who acts the most loving. He's always too cool for Sunday school.

He whimpered for an hour after we came home without her.

To top it off, his birthday was that day and he was 13! Next month she'll be 11.

 

He was perfectly happy to snuggle with her when we brought her home even though what he really wanted to do was play. He was so excited and tried his best to get her to run circles like they usually do but after her meds that we managed to get down with some peanut butter, and a spoonful for him of course, all she wanted was a deep nap.
 

Then it was out to potty in the garden where he never left her side. She was pretty pitiful for a few days and he was very patient with her, adjusting himself to her pace.

But this morning when she gobbled her breakfast down and then tried to eat his, RH and I looked at each other and said, BreeBree's back to normal! 

And a big sigh of relief from both of us. 

September Morning

 

Our garden is a fine place to be on a cool sunny September morning with a "scarf of blue mist around her shoulders."

I try to snap a clear picture of BreeBree and James Mason as they chase madly around trying to pick up the scent of Chester, resident chipmunk.

Hummingbirds zoom in and out to the tiny red flowers of an unknown plant. On one day the flowers dwindle down to a few and I wonder if they should be cut back to encourage more blooms but then the very next morning it is loaded with red blooms, and hummingbirds. Over and over.
 

The hydrangeas are past their peak. This year I'm not cutting bunches for drying. 

We haven't taken down the Fourth of July bunting yet. Hopefully it will come down before the Christmas wreath goes up.

 I'm letting go of summer a little bit at a time this year but a September garden with BreeBree and James Mason is a fine place to be.

September comes to us as a woman blessed with a great inheritance, whose lines have fallen in fair places. She has the flash and frame of leaves that begin to turn, she is colorful with blossoms, and she wears a scarf of blue mist around her shoulders. But to think of all the glories that have been handed down to her from August.

Richardson Wright, Truly Rural

For Zack and Daniel, from Tex

 

 From my journal on February 4, 1998:

_________

Black branches and silver limbs. The cedars are powder puffs of green and white, branches drooping. The holly tree's red berries are lunch for our Mockingbird. The creek is green and brown rushing water. Tex snores beside me on a pallet while Penelope must be in the bedroom, probably on my bed. 

Earlier we three went for a walk in the snow and oh, the glory of walking in it with fat wet flakes falling on my face, coming almost horizontally with a northern wind over the wooded hillside. 

We went slowly, Tex and I, stopping to look at each new vista. Penelope racing ahead of us in her red sweater and then back to me. We crossed the back creek into Daniel Boone Hollow and stood under a tulip poplar. 

Just watching across to the waterfall of wet gray slate, snow swirling, I stood still so long that the birds forgot I was there. They began to chatter and call, woodpeckers and many others.

 _________

 

Tex, our Welsh Corgi, was our companion on so many snow walks. He loved snow. I remember standing at the kitchen window and watching him run after the boys' sleds as they came down the hill. Once he stayed out too long with them and actually got a little frostbite on his pink paws. 

We have had so many special dogs over the years but Tex loved his family with a passion. I don't care what the Dog Whisperer says, Tex truly was almost human. Or maybe that is an insult to canines. Would any human have shadowed me so faithfully? Adored me? Hah! It was Tex that stuck to me like a tick when I was sick, when I was recuperating from surgeries, lying at the end of the sofa by my feet or beside me in bed.  

Whenever I was doing whatever I was doing, he was there.

Except when he was with his brothers.  

Our Valentine's Day Breakfast (a little late)

 

I'm a week behind but here is RH cooking bacon for our Valentine's Day breakfast. 

He's wearing a special hat for the Daytona 500 race planned for later in the day.

James Mason is keeping him company in the kitchen.

He knows the kitchen is a good place to be.

BreeBree darts in and out of the room, skittish around kitchen noises, loud noises of any kind.

I mix up the buttermilk pancakes and cook the first one for our bird friends outside while RH fries an egg for himself and one for BB and JM.

Next come three pancakes for ourselves.

With lots of batter left to freeze for another Sunday.

RH gave me a large vase of purple tulip bulbs from Costco that have been beautiful growing this past week.

And I baked him cookies. 

These might not be "pretty" cookies but they were a big hit at Christmas with all three of our sons and I had extra of the special ingredients--Andes Peppermint Crunch Pieces and Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Chips. I had to order them from Amazon as we couldn't find them in local stores and they come two to a pack. Those combined with chocolate chips make this a delicious cookie. 

Here's a link to the recipe. I'm pretty sure another blogger recommended these but I can't remember who. My cookies are darker than shown in the link, maybe because I always use dark brown sugar. I also used grapeseed oil for the vegetable oil called for in the recipe.

Our snow is starting to melt here. It's been beautiful and I've enjoyed it so much, but I've watched the news from Texas and other parts of the country where the snow, ice, and freezing temperatures have brought heartache and so much trouble. I hope those affected by it get help promptly.

Trick or Treat?

 

With dachshunds in the house, it's always a treat day--for them and for me. 

A thank you to our dear Courtney for these classy dachshunds and my furever thanks to God for all the dachshunds in my life, and two very special Welsh corgis. 

 

Keeping a Dachshund Still and a September Garden Tour

 

This was supposed to be a book post but instead it's a James Mason and garden post.

Our beautiful and normally active boy is having another IVDD flareup. I thought something was wrong when he didn't leap into his bed last night in my bedroom. It's a funny little ritual we have, I fluff his nest and blanket up and he runs from the hall and leaps into his bed and I laugh and say, "Good boy!" 

After that BreeBree jumps up into my reading chair on her blanket and after tummy rubs for both of them and several I love you's and nite-nites I get in bed myself. 

 That didn't happen last night and he was restless all night, also unusual, and this morning was walking that way that signaled back trouble again and to the vet for prescriptions. 

And another week or two of keeping him as confined and quiet as possible. He's asleep now, both of them are, in their nest in my office while I keep them company, my laptop open.

Instead of books I'll share some pictures of our morning garden tour from a few days ago.

The walk from our kitchen porch to the gate opening to our driveway is lined with boxwoods and marigolds and a profusion of garlic in flower.

The little spots of amber color on this one are  the small bees that love it all summer. Larger bees join them as noon comes. You have to be brave when by afternoon three kinds of bees are covering it and daring you to walk by them.

The picture below shows the manicured path after RH took scissors to the garlic this week after trying to navigate the path while carrying armloads of groceries to the kitchen. 

 

 I'm one who begs to let everything spill out into the path and I hide the loppers when he threatens to cut back low branches over the garden, but I could see his point about this main path. 

The garden is winding down, not much color in it now except for marigolds and some purple sages and salvias.

 

 

The Autumn Joy is pretty now.

A little color is left in the oak leaf hydrangea.

 

And the tomato plant is finally doing well and I plan to pick these three when they first start to turn pink before the critters get to them.

 

 

 

We are having such pleasant weather now that it is nice to sit in the garden.

 

I have to admit that I've always been a little bit of a marigold snob. This is the first year here that we've had them. Our daughter planted four small ones here in May and I am so thankful she did. They are gorgeous now and such nice pops of color after all the pinks and purples have almost disappeared by now.

 

The pond is pretty after all the rain we had this week, but I hope RH will use that pile of gravel blocking view to it soon! [Sometimes he actually does fix something after I point it out on the blog.]

 

When RH took scissors to the garlic I asked him to bring them in to me. I'm not going to pass up free greenery and flowers anytime! 

 

Of course there was garlic perfume in the kitchen all day but I happen to love that scent.

Here's a picture of James Mason and BreeBree that a dear friend reminded me of this week. It's a favorite of hers and mine too, and I told her that it only took about 50 shots to get this one perfect one. Simply because you cannot keep a dachshund still. And that's my job now while James Mason's back heals. 

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day, Burns!

In my opinion you should have won Best of Show at Westminster, you handsome dachshund, you!

We dachshund lovers are pretty burned up about it going to a wire fox terrier--for about the 1000th time. Sorry, King, you had a face I wanted to kiss and it's not your fault, but that trophy belonged to Burns.

I spent far too much time scrolling through every single Best of Show winner since the Ark landed and King's ancestors appeared over and over and over. 

Can we next time have a judge who's raised dachshunds for decades, please?

I must get over this insult that I and BreeBree and James Mason took personally. It is Valentine's Day and my heart should be filled with love towards all, I guess. 

I have Bolognese sauce cooking slowly for a candlelit pasta supper tonight so I'll think only of romantic things the rest of the day--like that scene from Lady and the Tramp where the darling couple are eating spaghetti and they each take an end of one pasta strand.

Isn't that one of the most romantic movies ever? I must see if Amazon has it where RH and I can watch it next Valentine's Day.

I hope Burns gets to dine on his favorite meal tonight and is being spoiled rotten this week so his mind will be kept off that rival wire fox terrier. 

In the meantime, RH and I will spoil our own champions...

One of whom is the same color as Burns!

Let's face it, it'll be a long time before I'm not mad at that judge. And from what I see, a lot of dachshund moms and dads feel the same way. 

Happy St. Valentine's Day, y'all!

And yes, most of my blogging problems got solved, with lots of help from my son, hours and hours of help. There are still some hair-pulling episodes happening every day as I try to sign in again to everything, changing passwords as I go, but I have a security system working so no more pop up ads, yeah!

January Goodbye

I almost forgot about a January Goodbye post and will hurry to slip this one in before midnight.

Tomorrow I'll turn the first page of the 2019 Kevin Dodds calendar. It seems like only yesterday that I closed the 2018 calendar. 

As usual the beginning of a new month meant a few changes on my kitchen shelves, always something I enjoy doing, and the very last bloom of amaryllis 'Caprice' lasted a long time in a juice glass away from the sun in the big window.

All the Christmas decorations were packed away earlier than I had anticipated I would, the few in my bedroom being the last as they were cheerful at night before bed. Mainly only an old Waterford wreath and a German book of the Nativity.

One book that I've enjoyed every night before bed is this day book by one of my very favorite authors, Richardson Wright, editor of House & Garden from 1914 to 1950. 

I try to buy his old books as I can and I dearly love day books so this one has been such a pleasant surprise. As many of his books that I have that were written while he was with the magazine, it was only in this one, published after he retired, that I learned he was an Episcopalian lay preacher. There's been a little gem on almost every page.

RH has been busy working this month but managed to do a day of yard work last weekend on a mild day, transplanting a few small trees to better locations and digging up one of the two butterfly bushes in the back garden and moving it to a front bed for more room for both of them to spread.

He also hung the new coat rack above, a sweet bargain from our trip to Goodwill for under $5. When I spotted the Smith & Hawkin label on the back I knew it had to be quality. It gives him space for gloves and knitted hats in the cubbyholes.

He also found two half-price things at Costco in the January clearance and brought them home hoping I'd like them.

Would I like this green ceramic olive oil jar? Be still my heart!

This porcelain cookie jar not only had the best chocolate cookies in it, it's now a great jar for homemade treats!

I'm still using cranberries from my freezer, making three loaf cakes of Orange Cranberry bread from an old recipe in Romantic Homes magazine that was amazing, pictures forgotten, but twice making this simple apple-cranberry crumble with oat topping that was so very good! 

Our precious James Mason is doing better, we hope and pray. Time will tell. This last week has been devoted to him.

His little sister has gotten her share of attention too. This has been dachshund week, just can't keep our hands off them! 

I am afraid the sofa is now off limits to them, their stool taken away and the sofa forbidden even for BreeBree. Dachshunds backs are just not made for jumping, even though they like to fly like the birds.

I'm publishing this with no proof reading because they are both letting me know that it is time to go night night, so forgive any errors, please.

Goodnight to all, goodnight to January!

James Mason's Woes

It's okay, James Mason.

It's only for two weeks, I hope.

And it's doctor's orders.

We have to let the meds and being crated do their work because neither of us wants surgery, do we?

And no more jumping on and off the sofa for you, my dear boy. It's just too risky for dachshunds.

A dog figures you can really do no wrong, though you may be misguided now and then.

Gladys Taber in Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge 

Run BreeBree, Run. And other snow adventures.

RH and I were gone all day yesterday to various doctor appointments and errands and didn't get to post the pictures of Nashville's one and only snow so far. 

But Sunday's snow was so beautiful, if skimpy by comparison to other parts of the country. Dachshunds all seem to love snow but BreeBree dashed in and out in the bitterly cold temperatures. 

I didn't venture out in the slippery stuff but was never far away from a window all day long, enjoying it from inside.

Isn't it nice how the white stuff outside makes you notice everything so much more? The red bracts from this old houseplant that we really need to transplant into a larger pot stood out as red as a beautiful Chanel red lipstick.

I admit that I also did a little nosey peeking at our neighbors across the street as it is only in winter that we can see them, the snow showing them up even clearer. I can't help wondering about them over there in that big house, the neighbors we never see but sometimes hear talking when they sit outside in the summer.

You're never guilty of being nosey, are you?

I was so glad there were two Christmas decorations that I've yet to get rid of as they looked pretty in the snow. I had finally moved the wreath from the front porch to just prop up on the kitchen porch, still too fresh to dump.

And I was so happy that the birds' red Christmas bow still graced their dining room!

It looks like the cardinals are finding every single seed but the many finches are there even if they don't show up well.

And a few other kinds visit.

I missed a fantastic opportunity for a picture yesterday when RH was driving home from Nashville. 

I screamed out to him, "Look!" And pointed to the sky, probably not the best thing to do when someone is driving fast.

It looked like a helicopter was sitting on top of power lines strung high in the sky. And it was! I thought it was stuck there and trying to get lose but RH told me there was a linesman on it fixing something on the lines.

Have you ever seen that? I had never heard of such a thing. My heart was pounding. Why didn't I grab my phone for a picture? My kids would have.

But here's the cute picture I did snap when we were welcomed home by BreeBree and James Mason.

For you to fully realize the cuteness of this, I have to explain that all his toys are piled in a corner of the room and this is what he did while we were gone--drug them out and played with them one at a time and then put them in a row on the rug. BreeBree doesn't play with toys. I think she was too busy having babies the first five years of her life before they came to us last year to ever learn to play. I can't bear to think about it.

James Mason didn't play the first six months here but then he gradually got interested. But to line them up like that? Now isn't that a brilliant little man?

And just now he's talking to me, in that voice that says it's 4:30 p.m., Mama. Time for his and BreeBree's dinner.

Pronto. Right now.