Ramblings-n-Writings

Posts Tagged ‘dog’

We rode the 4-wheeler up into the woods last night. Naturally, the puppy pack followed along. And it’s quite the trudge up the mountain especially if you’re of the 4-legged species. Here’s the thanks we got for inviting the dogs …

Can you say MUD? Ack!

Unfortunately, that was the only watering hole with enough water in it for the dogs to drink out of. Why Honey insisted on getting a mud bath I’ll never know. All I knew was she WAS. NOT. coming in my house for the night!

We discovered that the dogs aren’t the only ones appreciative of this watering hole …

Those are deer tracks! Mandy, the farm beagle, was incredibly interested in the smells, but she behaved and followed us. Shocking, I know. Beagles can be soooo stubborn.

While the dogs appreciated the exercise and water, I enjoyed the scenery. Not much to look at except for trees …

But to me, that’s a beautiful site. I grew up in a heavily wooded area and sometimes I simply miss being surrounded by trees. We have woods that border our yard, but there’s nothing like being in the middle of nowhere in the woods.

Peace. Fresh air. Nature sounds. Freedom. Quietness. Praise God!

For more Wordful Wednesday, click here.

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Did you ever go to summer camp as a kid? I did! And today, I’m guest blogging over at Jendi’s Journal about one of my summer camp memories. Make sure you stop by and say hi!

Warmer weather means time for the dogs to dip in the creeks to cool off. Mandy, the farm beagle, is the only one who swims in our pond. She’s already earned her swim badge for this year.

On the other hand, Spot, the giant horse puppy and onlooker in the photo, is afraid to go any deeper than 3 or 4 inches in the water. At one point he went far enough in so that the water was touching his chest. He did NOT like that!!!

Sadie, our mini collie, is a creek dog. She loves to lay in the shallow part of the creek and let the water rush around her. Of course, she’s a muddy mess when she gets out, but at least she’s cool. LOL

Honey, our Chow mix, really isn’t much of a water dog. She prefers lounging in the shade. I guess her reasoning is that with all her fur, it would take too long to dry off if she hangs out in the water.

Here’s a quick recap of what’s been going on around the farm lately…

• Spot, the giant horse puppy, is learning to play frisbee, which is better than his other pursuit of duck- and chicken-chaser.
• A farm cat had a litter of kittens about three weeks ago. We’ve searched everywhere but can’t find them. They’re somewhere up in the hills.
• My bearded irises are soooo ready to bloom…if only the sun would come out. (Why do I have a song from Annie running through my head? Bet it’s in your head now too!)
• The potato patch looks wonderful, but the potatoes need to be hilled again (hilled means more dirt added on top). However, the ground is so wet that it’s almost impossible to do.
• My in-laws’ best friends moved to the farm last week. They left the rat race of Las Vegas to live in the backwoods of West Virginia. I wonder if they’ll have culture shock?
• They arrived in time for the Great Flood of 2009. The creeks are back in their banks now, but the ground is so saturated with water that every rain drop makes us nervous. We’ve had a lot of rain drops too. According to the farm’s rain gauge,  6 inches worth in 10 days. Here’s to hoping we don’t have a drought this summer.
• We spent the last 24 hours without phone or internet access. The culprit? A huge tree that fell and snapped a telephone poll. The phone wire stayed in the road with people driving over it for about 22 hours. Sad, huh? But all is well now.
• We ate some lettuce from the garden last week. It was delicious! Personally, I prefer spring lettuce to fall lettuce. Fall lettuce tastes bitter to me. I know there’s a reason why it’s bitter but I can’t remember – something with the sunlight and temperatures?
• I’m reading a really good murder mystery book called Blood Bayou. Watch for a review later this week.
• I’m hosting a giveaway this week starting tomorrow (Tuesday). It features an amazing book that every person who works from home needs to read. Make sure you come back to check that out.
• Mandy, the farm beagle, has decided that her new perch is the hood of my car. Whoever knew a beagle could jump up on the hood of a car, let alone sit there watching the world go by? Oh, and this is the beagle that has the supposed injured knee.
• Buttons, the previously missing cat, has gained her weight back and is romping and playing with the other cats. In her 2 weeks at home, she’s only ventured outside once and managed to get drenched in a sudden downpour. I think that put a damper on her wanting to go out more. I’m still curious to know where she was for 3 weeks, but I’m grateful she’s back home.
• I got my first deep fryer last week so we’ve been eating our share of fried chicken. Next up is homemade doughnuts. I adore doughnuts and really miss not living near a real doughnut shop. (Krispy Kremes don’t count as real doughnuts to me. My tastebuds crave the old-time bakery doughnuts with lots of icing and filling.) I’ve been known to make my husband get off the interstate at a random exit because I saw a sign for a bakery/doughnut shop in the distance. I’m hoping I can make yummy doughnuts right in my own kitchen.
• And finally, if you’re new around here, I live on a farm where it’s never boring especially since lots of critters roam our farm.

Are you curious about anything that happens on our farm? If so, leave me a comment (I love comments!) and I’ll tell you all about it later this week.

Honey, our cinnamon Chow mix, doesn’t visit Ramblings-n-Writings very often since Mandy, Sadie, and Spot (a.k.a. the Puppy Pack) arrived on the farm. However, I wanted to show you what a beautiful dog Honey is …

Isn’t she gorgeous? Those photos are untouched too. This year, her fur is incredibly thick after the winter making her all the fluffier. I don’t have an actual current photo of her except for these …

She showed up on the front porch looking like that. To get the true effect, you should really click on the photos to see them bigger.

All, I repeat all, of her fur is caked with dry mud. Actually, I’m not even sure that the word “caked” covers it. More like drenched. The Farmer said it reminded him of dreadlocks.

Yep, she isn’t so soft and fluffy now. And she didn’t exactly want to cooperate with the camera either.

Best we can figure she wanted to cool down in the unseasonable heat, and instead of wading in the creek, she found a mudhole. Thankfully, the mud wasn’t mixed with cow manure.

We tried using the hose on her. Brown, very brown, water. But I think we only got rid of .01% of the dirt. Needless to say, she isn’t allowed inside at night til she’s a lot cleaner.

I’m thinking a swim in the farm pond might be good on Honey’s to-do list for tomorrow…

From the desk of Mandy, the farm beagle…

We had a new adventure today! Spot (giant puppy) and Buttercup (kitten) left early in the morning in the blue car with our people, but they didn’t come home when our people did. I was worried, so I tried finding them with my nose. You do know that beagles are good trackers, right? I’m a beagle. I think my nose is broke ’cause I couldn’t find them.

Mom said it was okay ’cause I’d get to go find them later. She told me Buttercup had to visit the kitty doctor so we didn’t have more little kittens. That’s a bummer ’cause I liked playing with the kittens. We had lots last year. Sassy Lou had 4 and Little Girl Cat had 8. Did you know that’s how I learned to count? I’d count the kittens to make sure we always had 4. One time, I counted 5. But we didn’t have 5. Only 4 at a time. So confusing.

Spot had to go to the doctor too. Not sure why he went to the kitty doctor since he’s a dog like me. Mom said it was so we didn’t have dog fights on the farm. I’m a girl so I don’t understand the boy dog fights.

Did you know Spot is a GIANT puppy? Like reeeaaaally big. He’s the biggest dog on the farm and the youngest. See, here’s his puppy picture. Mom always takes puppy pictures so we can see how big we get. This is Spot after he was here for 1 week.

He was just a little guy. A lot smaller than me. Then something happened. Now he’s a GIANT.

See! He’s big. I saw his doctor paper. It said he weighed 67.6 lbs today. That’s 33 lbs more than me and I’m a whole year old. Spot’s only 7 months. If you don’t think he’s big, that’s one of dad’s old size 9 shoes we’re allowed to chew. See it in front of Spot’s back leg?

So yeah, back to how I found Spot and Buttercup again. I was taking my afternoon nap when dad picked me up and put me in the blue car. I haven’t been in the car in a long time. Sadie’s had a lot more car rides than me ’cause she hurts her leg. Mom keeps saying I’ll get to take a ride to see Buddy, ‘nother beagle, but I ain’t yet.

I liked being the navigator in the car. I sat on mom’s lap and told dad which way to go and how to miss all the cars. I watched each car go by to make sure dad missed them. And I was practicing counting. Since 4 is my special number, I counted 4 cars, then started at 1 again. I did that a lot. I lost track after 4 times. But I do know that I saw 2 big yellow school buses! (I can count to 2 and remember!)

When we got to the doctor, he said I might have to have knee surgery! Mom and dad aren’t too happy ’cause surgery costs a lot. I hope my knee gets better. I cost my people a lot already, like when I chewed the laptop cord. Mom was NOT happy that day.

At the doctor’s office, I sniffed out Spot and Buttercup! I found them! My nose wasn’t broke! Spot was happy to see me and wagged his tail … a lot. Buttercup was a little funny and walked a little crooked. Mom said her anesthesia wasn’t gone yet.

We all got to ride home in the car. I sat up front to navigate again just in case dad forgot his way. Spot sat in the back seat with his head out the window. Don’t worry, he could fit in the back seat, but I think he just wanted fresh air.

I’m glad everyone’s back on the farm tonight. It wasn’t as much fun today without Spot and Buttercup. Mom said it was boring and quiet in the house without Buttercup playing. I’m heading to the laundry room to take a nap. Mom will have to tell you about my knee ’cause I didn’t understand all the big doctor words.

~Mandy