Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Look what showed up.

7/29/08 Tuesday
It’s gonna be a hundred plus degree day. Cherie is working a full 8 to 5 day so got up early to get ready. This helps me get out to the farm/garden early too so that works out well to beat the heat. There is so much to do, there always is.
===========
7/30/08 Wednesday
The weather yesterday was nice and cool till about 1:30. I had come in to rest at noon and after a one hour nap went back out. Boy! What a difference an hour and half make. I kept at it and think I got a lot done though I don’t remember what. I did pick up the trailer from Chuck and Lillian but have yet to fill it with the limbs and debris I cut from the mulberry tree this spring. Later I intend to get some more horse manure from…those folks we met who’s name I can’t remember at the moment. The manure we got before has been composting aggressively. It was running at 160 degrees but has dropped down to 150 or so. It will greatly enhance our soil next year.

What else? Oh, I heard through the grapevine that my cousin Daryl’s sister died. I don’t know if it was from a long illness or sudden because there is no communication from that quarter but that doesn’t matter. I understand well the pain that comes from a relative dying so our hearts go out to him. I made it a point to buy a card for them yesterday and will get it in the mail today.

The other thing that happened yesterday is this dog showed up. I suspect someone dropped her off. She has recently had a litter but there are no signs of the puppies. There is no question that Gretchen (We already named her) has been severely abused. She cowers at every move. It breaks my heart to see this. It also makes me mad and I want to find who did it and beat them for a while to see how they like it. But that’s the old me and that part is gone now, I put it away. Both of us love animals so are reaching out to her. We were going to make posters to see if we could find the owners but after seeing how she has been treated have no interest in returning her to that situation. Gretchen has been well fed so has not been out in the wild long if at all. It’s clear that she has been used to human companionship and she dearly wants to be loved, approaching with great trepidation when I call her and crouch down to be less threatening. She will lick my hand ready to run at any sign I’ll strike her, but will follow me every where I go at a distance. On occasion she will show a desire to play but that is quickly overcome by her fear. She will be strictly an outside dog.

Trixie is not at all happy about this newcomer and aggressively asserts her dominance, especially jealous when I pet Gretchen, or at least try to. She cowers to Trixie as much as she does with us. Gretchen is infested with ticks so this morning I will make a run to get something for that. We can’t really afford the gas or expense but it’s a sacrifice we are more than willing to make. Gretchen did go after the cats a couple of times but they have no problem getting away. Most of the time she’s ok with them so as long as they get along she can stay. I don’t have a clue what kind or kinds of dog Gretchen is because I’m not really up on that kind of thing.


Lots to do as always so got beat the heat and go.

By the way, I've made a couple more entries on my Whataboutbob blog on the "America's for sale" thread. Check it out.

2 comments:

That Janie Girl said...

Janie the dog identifier says at the very least you have a part labrador on your hands. They are great dogs. She looks like a sweetie.

Bob Westbrook said...

Oh she is. Just follows me around wanting to be loved everywhere I go but afraid to be touched. We'll need to take her to a vet and get checked out at some point but that'll wait.