adoption

I don't remember if I had hurt my shoulder muscle again or if Bobby was sick, but I do know we had three Belarussian kids inside and my brother-in-law was at the house helping out.  He finished and headed home, but then quickly returned.  When I went outside to meet him, he laughingly said, "I know the last thing you want or need is more work, but there's a mother dog with five puppies, still nursing that have been put out on the road just a few steps past your property line.  They look like beagles.  I told him I would go take care of them, and he grinned.  He had them in the back of the truck. We gave away three puppies, the mother ran off, and Lucy and Linus became a delight to watch (and an aggravation to see all their destruction).  For the last three years, whether it be flower pots they emptied and chewed up, to hiding in the van and chewing off the arm rests on chairs, they've enjoyed life with us.  Sometimes a little too much.  But since we've added chickens within the last 16 months, they've acquired a thirst for the hunt.  We were accustomed to finding moles, rats, and birds in the driveway, as well as half-eaten pears, apples, and pecans. (They didn't care for grapes.) But chickens and geese became a diferrent matter entirely.
So today with sad hearts but knowing what was the best (we hope!) for everyone, we gave Lucy & Linus up for adoption.  I know they'll enjoy being petted by children (especially Linus) and having someone to run with (specifically Lucy).  They'll like having a place where they can run, in the country, where there are no chickens or geese to get them in trouble.  I like the fact that the family is also a Peanuts fan and knew where their names originated. And I hope their next 13 years are as wonderful as their first three. So farewell my pups.  You were the cutest dogs I've ever had.

a sad day at the Bryan household

This morning at 3:30am our dogs started barking and yelping like mad. At 4:15am I finally headed into the garage to see what on earth the problem was. Thankfully it wasn't a mouse, though it was something just as bad...a possum. It was cornered behind the feed bins and was hissing for all it was worth. I debated for a brief moment, then came inside for dog biscuits to pull the dogs away in hopes it would come out of hiding and leave. It didn't. It only stopped hissing. I briefly considered taking the broom and poking it out, but since I hate possums even more than I hate mice (their bigger, more heinous, not to mention downright scary), I simply came inside and crawled back in the bed. I think it was almost 5am before my body succumbed to tiredness and ignored the yelps of our crazy dogs.

Before Bobby left for work he managed to shove things around enough that the possum actually moved into a corner, where he stayed. I locked the dogs up before I left and turned the chickens out, and the dogs were crying and yelping like crazy, most likely because they knew that possum was still there.

Evidently it was more than they could take, especially Lucy. I came home to find two dead chickens, three hiding out in the woods, and two unaccounted for. The door to the pen was still shut, but the dogs were out. I couldn't see a hole, so I shut Linus up and turned to get Lucy and he was there by my side. So I locked him back up and stood back to see how he was getting out. Evidently Lucy bit and pulled at the wires around the base of the door enough that they made a small hole. I wouldn't have thought either one could have fit through it, especially her, but they did. We'll see if the remainder all come home tonight.

I'm thankful they didn't get them all, but hate that one of the ones they did get was our Americana that lays the green eggs. :O(

sigh...Bobby says maybe we can replace them after Christmas. I'm thinking perhaps we need to replace/repair the dog pen first.

Meanwhile, meatballs are simmering in the crockpot and I'm off to wrap an ornament for tonight's party. FUNFUNFUN!!!!

sigh....

Yesterday Bobby came in from getting the paper and informed me that the dogs appreciated the mums. Sure enough, I go to the front door, and one of my two pots is totally empty, and there are yellow, white, and red mum bushes shredded and scattered across the front lawn. I even took a picture, but when I came home and started to post, my computer wouldn't connect to the internet. DOT actually scraped the road (which it desperately needed) and in the process hit the phone line again so we've been without a phone until 4:30pm today. YEAHH! I love it when things go as they are scheduled and are actually repaired. It's nice. As for mums, I guess we'll just stay with one empty pot this fall...

totally disgusting

Tonight as I was taking the trash container to the road, I noticed Linus had something sticking out of both sides of his mouth. To my chagrin and horror, it was a frog. I don't think he actually bit it, just carried it around for a while. Later he put it down and Lucy had it hopping by pawing at it. Poor little froggy.
Even more disgusting, while working in the garden, I came across a leaf on my tomato plants that looked like it had a fungus on it. So I pulled it off, but made the mistake of examining it before tossing it out. Turns out, it wasn't mold. It was actually a caterpillar with little white things all over it. Then I spotted another one. So I called Bobby outside and had him look at it. The little white things I thought were worms on the caterpillar, according to my farmer husband, are actually...eggs. I refused to touch the next one, and instead shook it off the plant. I think tomorrow I will actually wear my work gloves for a change.

names

Two years ago we bought a Russian version of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Though the kids balked and whined, we made them read a little bit every night. Then once a week we wouldn't read, and we would watch Disney's movie up to the point where they had read. I think they liked the movie a lot more, and it made reading a little more bearable knowing there was a movie to go along with it.

Sunday at lunch, someone in Bobby's family asked the kids how they liked Lucy and Linus. The kids looked to me, puzzled, so I told them "Dog..zavoot (the Russian word for name)...Lucy..." and before I could finish with Linus, they all chimed in "and Edmund!" We all cracked up laughing. I told them, no, it was Lucy and Linus, but their mind was already on Narnia. Bobby watched them today, and he informed me that they're still calling Linus by the name of Edmund. I've never heard of a dog with a middle name, but I guess one of ours now has one. Oh, well.

sock monsters and toilets

There must be some conspiracy between the flush handle on the toilet (or the drain in the bathtub) and the path between the boy's bedroom and the laundry room. HOW can six pairs of socks disappear in 2.5 days? What are they doing with them, eating them? HOW can one of my munchkins be here for 2.5 days, and never open the bag of clean underwear in her drawer? HOW can they not comprehend flushing the toilet when I can smell it all the way out in the hallway? Hasn't it clicked that the odor from their bathroom is either A) the unflushed toilet or B) their brown, dirty bathwater? Some days, like yesterday, I smile at how far they've come in the last 3-4 years. On days like today it seems like they're still 7 and 8.

Updates:

• Aleh is still running a fever, but is doing much better than last night and this morning. We did go to Rex to see a dr this morning.
• Geese eggs #6,7 have hatched. (#7 is the one I pulled out of Lucy's mouth!)
• Lucy has chewed off another one of Linus' underground fence collars - AGAIN! Gggrrr!
  

jealousy

Lucy isn't too happy about this strange, chirping thing that gets to go outside the fence line.
And the brooder box's empty cord hole makes a perfect peep hole to stare in at the strange critter, which she and Linus do on a frequent basis.

And a similar but separate note, eggs #1 and 3 have way surpassed the hatching stage and will be thrown out of the incubator tomorrow. Egg #5 has now stopped its rotation schedule and has begun its countdown to hatching days. No peeping sounds, yet. Eggs #6,7, and 8 still have another week of rotating.

And such is another day in the life with geese, a gosling, and dogs.

craziness

It's been of those weeks. You know, the kind where you have something every single night and your to do list, which you're not at home to do, keeps growing larger. And today was supposed to be our next to last day of extreme craziness. Until I did what I do best...I got sick.

This morning, with help from my brother-in-law, I was supposed to install a new wire for the underground fence. The one we put in previously was breaking, causing the dog's warning signal to disconnect. He had other things to do this morning, so we didn't get started until around 11am. Yeah, the hottest part of the day. So I get a headache, then I get way too hot, and get sick. So poor Tim finished the remainder of the yard, and it took him almost all day.

One guy did show up and helped for a little over an hour. He was returning to Charlotte, had just finished a job here, and the guy didn't pay him. So he was looking for any kind of work to help him buy gas to get home. I think he was our temporary angel.

We were supposed to go to Duke this afternoon to visit Lauren, but I didn't get back up until almost 4pm. So maybe I'll get some laundry done before bedtime. Maybe.

at wit's end

During Bobby's first hospital visit, Linus's collar was discovered in three pieces in the yard. I haven't had time to replace it, so they've both been in the pen. Tonight I go to feed them, and Lucy's collar is chewed in pieces with the plastic clasp totally missing. It was partially buried.

We have put in an electric fence. It quit working. We bailed them out of the pound. And again. We then called a professional company and had a new electric fence installed, and then had it repaired. Now the dogs refuse to wear their collars. I'm at my wit's end. Any suggestions for my vagabond wanderers?

my snoopy

When the puppies were first dropped off near our house last summer, the only spotted was one was dubbed "Pig" for various reasons, all of which pertained to food. As we started saying good-bye to puppies as they found their homes, I found myself relieved every time my spotted pup wasn't chosen. And then one day he was. But two hours later, the college student returned, asking if we'd take him back. Turns out his roommate was allergic to dogs and his parents gave him a resounding "NO!" Not long after, we were down to two dogs, one of which became known as Lucy. To my silly mind, it made perfect sense that if one female dog was to be Lucy, then her brother should be Linus. Bobby suggested Snoopy, since he is my all-time favorite beagle, but Linus just never exhibited any Snoopy-like characteristics - until today. He has learned to crawl on top of his dog house, where he spent a good portion of the day. At one point I became fearful he was stuck up there and couldn't get down, but once I opened the back door and headed toward the pen, he hopped down. The minute I came back inside, up he went again. I guess that gives him a better view.

Rainy Day

Today has been an unusual day for Garner, NC.
We've had a whole day of rain - you know, that wet stuff that falls from the sky.

My garden is a mud puddle!

But my snow pea plants have grown quite a bit!

And then I heard a strange "Kwoosh, Kwoosh" sound.

For the first time since I don't know when, the water in the pond is above the drain!

And this little "trickle" is now a stream as it gushes out the drain pipe on the other side.

But I don't think the puppies are too happy.

The calf-deep hole they've dug in the middle of their pen is full of water.

They're HOME!!!
Now I just need to call the fencing company...sigh.

prodigal puppies

It's the same old saga.
"Who let the dogs out?"
Our beagles are once again playing prodigal. The day of the storms, Bobby turned them out so they could sleep in the garage, and we discovered where they were escaping. (Lucy was scrouching on her belly beside the pond; Linus was actually wading out into the water and around the shock of the fence.) So yesterday morning, they returned to their penned prison. When I got home from work, I rewired the fence line out into the pond, reconnected the radio current, and we turned them loose. They stayed in the fence for a whopping total of 20 minutes. Bobby stayed outside to watch them, and says they both sat and whined where I had fixed their escape route. Then Lucy ran up and down around the fence line for a little bit, then ran straight through it. Linus whined and cried inside for some time, but then yelped and joined his sister. They did return home this morning, but before I could get dressed to get them back into the pen, they were gone again. I am so aggravated. Hopefully they'll come home tonight. And if they do, Dog Guardian Fencing will be getting a phone call tomorrow. Our neighbor uses them, and his dog NEVER escapes.
So if you hear rejoicing and the fatted calf sizzling, you'll know our prodigal pups have returned.