Out Like A Lion

I think March came in like a lion, so it's supposed to go out like a lamb. It seems to have a different idea. There are winter storms all over the country, snow, ice and flooding.The weatherman is still talking about substantial amounts of snow for us, but so far it's been rain. It rained hard all night and this morning around 6:30 we had thunder and lightening. For some reason I woke up early and fed the dogs and got them outside. It was raining, but not too hard. I had just crawled back into bed when it started pouring with flashes of light. Morgan is afraid of thunder so she got up beside Rob and Samba was next to me. It was cozy and fragrant with wet dog smell.


The next time I got up I was opening the blinds in the kitchen before making coffee. There were two bluebirds all puffed up sitting on the deck rail. By the time I grabbed my camera and got the lens cap off, one had flown away, but the other waited for me. You can see how gray and hazy it was, and still raining.


My Christmas Cactus in the kitchen is still flowering. It started in October and is still at it.

When I fed the dogs this afternoon, the temperature outside was falling. If it goes too low, we're going to have an ice problem. I did the grocery shopping yesterday, so we really don't have to leave the house. We're all snug here at home. Rob and I are going to play Scrabble tonight. I usually beat him.

Just to remind myself that it really is Spring, I pulled out some Spring themed cross stitch pieces that I've done over the years. I used to cross stitch all the time. There was always one in progress. Then, when Fudge joined the family I stopped. He was always stealing my floss and getting his dirty feet on the fabric. I was afraid he'd steal a needle, so I gave it up. I expected to start again when he was a little more mature. As you all know, Fudge never did mature. I just started again last year and I've really missed it.

Sometimes I design my own pieces. Usually I use a chart designed by someone else. Why reinvent the wheel. I often make changes to an existing pattern. For this piece I used a border from a magazine and added a poem from a box I was given many years ago.


We have a cabinet very similar to this one with lots of little drawers. It's called a seed keep and the farmers used to actually keep seeds in the drawers. We keep junk in ours, but I liked this picture and maybe someday I'll clean ours out and make it look like this one.


Who wouldn't love to stroll down a boulevard in Paris in the springtime? Well, actually there are a lot of other places I'd like to see first, but if someone offered to fly me to Paris for a stroll, I wouldn't refuse.


Closer to home, I have a basket very much like this one that I shove all my gardening tools into and carry around the yard. I used to do this before I had all these helpful puppies. Now they try to steal the basket when my back is turned.


When we were first married we used to go to the park in Spring and fly kites. My dog Libby thought they were huge birds that were trying to attack us and she tore up our kites.


This is what my house in the country would look like in Spring, if I had a house in the country.

I'm about to start a new cross stitch piece, so I'll go make a cup of tea and get started.

Enjoying Spring

Yesterday we listened to the weather forecast for the weekend. We're supposed to get 6 - 12 inches of snow tomorrow. We decided we'd better start enjoying spring while we still had some, so we headed for the yard.


Aren't cherry blossoms beautiful? The tree is in full bloom and I saw Bailey standing on her back legs trying to reach the branches so she could strip the flowers off them. I hurried back to get my camera, but by the time I got back outside she'd given up.


These are some kind of wild Hyacinth, I think. We have quite a few of them this year. I think our bird friends have planted them for us.


The Crabapple trees are almost ready to bloom. I hope the cold temperatures that come with the snow don't damage them. We have three Crabapples in the yard and they are so pretty in Spring.


The dogs seemed to be looking for something in the area near the tree.


I watched to see what they were looking for.


Morgan found a stick worthy of her talents.


Ahh. This is what they were looking for. That wonderful weed that calls a dog to roll around in it. Lola was the first to find it.


Samba got her chance after Lola.


Boy, that sure felt good.


Bailey, as usual, was too busy doing her own thing to join the others.


After a roll everyone needs a race around the yard, Norma Jean started this one. If we do get the snow, the dogs will be happy to play in it, too.

March Madness

If you stopped here to read about basketball, then you're in the wrong place. The March madness here is about these silly red noses mom painted on us. Please go visit the beagles at Dughallmor and while you're there vote for us, we're number 14, so we can stop wearing these silly noses. We look like we should be pulling Santa's sled.


Remember this?


Dr Nicki made this and had a contest. Yesterday she announced that we had won the blanket. Thank you to all our friends who visited her blog and told her we sent you.

Today Morgan and Samba went with us to pick up our new blanket. Les and Dr Nicki greeted us.


I had to have a word with Samba about acting like a lady. She was very excited and thought she should get a treat.


She was paying more attention to the Scottie that walked into the exam room than she was to her new blanket.


When she saw the camera, she decided to pose.


When we arrived home everyone was interested in examining the blanket.




I think Fudge is claiming it and telling Noah to forget about it.


The one who wanted the blanket most was Tsar. He really was taken with it and since he sleeps on the hard tile floor most nights, I think it will become his blanket. Samba sleeps on the bed with me, so she doesn't need a soft nest the way Tsar does.

I missed a milestone last week. March 18 was the one year anniversary of my blog. It sure doesn't feel like I've been posting for a whole year. I never thought I'd have enough to say to keep it going this long. Thank you everyone for reading about my spoiled pups.


While driving to the clinic today we noticed a couple signs. This one at our clinic was amended to include the male population. We're glad they made the change.


We thought this sign was pretty funny. If you're in the market for a huge kid, this is the place. I would suggest if you're buying more than one that you bring a horse trailer or some other large vehicle to transport them home.

Don't forget to visit all the other dogs on Dogs On Thursday, and when you get to Dughallmor Beagles, be sure to vote.

Soon It's Gonna Rain

Yesterday we had a windy day. Several times the sky darkened, but nothing happened. The wind continued all night and now is still very strong. It has gotten so dark outside that it looks like late evening and the dogs are all curled up and asleep. It's beginning to rain. We're going to have a doozy of a storm when it gets here. Rob is now taking the dogs out for one last chance to do whatever before it begins.


I'm trying to get this posted before the storm hits, as we may lose power. I'll post some pics of the dogs enjoying spring. This is Bailey watching. She spends a lot of time watching. She watches her siblings race around. She watches for squirrels to enter the yard.

My cherry tree is in bloom. It looks so pretty. The storm will probably knock all the blossoms off the branches, so I took the picture this morning .

We planted three cherry trees, but the ice storm two years ago killed two of them. This is the lone survivor. We call it Pylon's tree. She would have loved to nap under it. It adds some delicate color to the yard.


One of Morgan's favorite parts of spring is the chance to nibble on tender little shoots of grass.
She goes along the edge of the garden or the fence line and find new bright green grass to graze on. Sometimes I think I have sheep instead of dogs.


Bailey loves to find a new stick to chew on. She usually carries one around with her so none of the others can get it.


Yesterday when I didn't have my camera with me, I was walking around the yard with the dogs. There is a certain weed that grows this time of year that drives my dogs wild. They love to roll in it. As we walked along Tess found some of this weed. She put her shoulder down and started to roll. Sky came running over and he too started to roll. There they were both on their backs with their feet kicking the air. Suddenly Samba, Noah and Lola came running. They too dropped to the ground and began to roll. Tsar got in on the act, too. There I was with six dogs on their backs rolling in the grass and no camera.


This is a common pose for Morgan. I don't know why she leaves her butt in the air, maybe it makes for a faster getaway if she needs to check something out on the other side of the yard.


Bailey keeps her butt just off the ground. She has springs in her legs.

Over at Dughallmor Beagles they're having 'Red Nose Day'. We're supposed to put these little red noses on the dogs and send in a picture. My nose didn't arrive in time and I was unable to download one from the official site, so I just drew red noses on my gang and sent in the picture. I don't expect to win. I couldn't think up anything very original and funny, but here's our red nose picture. Pretty wierd, huh?

Off To The Races

Yesterday afternoon just before dinner the pack went outside to play. Rob had been trimming some trees and there were some new sticks and branches on the ground, so of course they had to be carefully checked out.


A few needed immediate attention.


Then suddenly Bailey jumped up and started racing down the hill.


Soon all the pups joined in and they circled the yard several times.








I love to watch them all play together just like they did when they were little.






After a big run like that everyone was ready to go inside and settle down till dinner.


I'm glad they got all that energy out yesterday because today is cool and rainy. They've been out several times today, but they don't really want to stay out in the rain. I guess without their heavy coats, they feel the rain more.

Today has been a lazy day. I got up at 7 with the dogs, ran them and fed them, then we all went back to bed and I slept till 10. Our friend Brendon called from the restaurant he manages to tell us he made mushroom soup. That sounded good on a rainy day, so we went out for lunch. Now I've just fed the dogs and plan to do some crafting tonight in front of the TV.