“Free from desire, free from possessions, free from the dark places of the heart… rejoicing greatly in his freedom.”
- Buddha (Dhammapada)
There’s nothing quite like a dog enjoying the freedom to run!
Random Quote Saturday
2 Replies
Oh sweet Boomer dog, I love you buddy!
Foods Dangerous for Dogs
I ran across this infographic and accompanying article the other day on Labradors.com and felt it was something too good not to share. This would be great to print out and put on the fridge or someplace you’ll see it to remember what Fido can and can’t have.
As you know Dottie managed to get into our no bake cookies a while back and really had me worried. Luckily she’s OK because I knew that chocolate was bad for dogs and knew what to do to help her. Whew, right?
Has your dog ever gotten into something they shouldn’t?
And, just an added note, we want to thank Snowieners for sharing their Versatile Blogger Award with us. Aren’t they just the sweetest? If you haven’t received this award already I’d like to share it with you readers!
Getting to Know Us
Today is a big day, a very big day. And, no I don’t just mean Mother’s Day, but I hope you moms are having a great day too. The hubby and I are celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary!
Last year I wrote a letter to the hubby and published it on the blog to show him some love. But, this year I thought we would do a post together, we would write up a few questions to ask one another and share the answers on the blog. There are 10 questions, 1 for every year of marriage plus a bonus question.
These are the answers my hubby gave me to my questions:
Who would you say has been the biggest influence on your life? My grandmother. She was a character, both of my parents worked so she would take care of my brother and I after school and during the summer. She was witty and to the point and a real character. Here’s a little background to explain what made her the person she was. She was a Catholic born in Northern Ireland, her family moved to Scotland to find work and eventually they moved to England again following work this time in a steel mill in a town called Corby. As a result they were a prime target for German bombers during WWII. She met my grandfather while he was stationed there and left all her friends and family to move to the United States with her husband. Everyone loved her, for example she didn’t own a car and couldn’t drive (she was too scared) however she was never at home, she was always going somewhere with a group of people of all ages from teenagers to people her own age.
What was the first thing that attracted you to me? Your smile and eyes, you have always had this mischievous twinkle like you were up to no good.
What is your favorite meal to cook for me? Tortilla soup, when we traveled to Dallas and got engaged it was your favorite thing we had from our fabulous dinner and it brings back happy memories.
What is your favorite meal that I make for you? Can’t really think of a dinner but my favorite thing that you make is pumpkin bread.
Who would you love to cook dinner for, past or present, and why? My grandmother, because I miss her and you never got to meet her. In certain ways you remind me of her.
If you could only have one bottle of wine for the rest of your life, what would it be? I can’t narrow it down to one bottle, but I can narrow it down to one winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown anything I have had that he makes is stellar.
If we could live anywhere in the world, where would you want to be, and why? Ireland, I’ve been there twice and love the scenic beauty, the people and the pace of life.
What does your “dream house” look like? I am not big on buildings so to me the location is more important than the building. There needs to be scenic beauty to keep you inspired and for perspective. Also somewhere within walking distance of good food and drink.
What do you consider to be the most important thing in your life? Easy, you and the dogs.
Bonus Question: Where do you see us 10 years from now? We’ll be living in a different place and house than now taking the dogs for a walk so we don’t feel guilty about leaving them for a couple of hours so we can go to a new restaurant for dinner followed by a show for some new rising star no one has heard of yet.
Aw… isn’t he sweet? Now, here are the questions he asked me, some are the same, but aren’t you curious to see what I have to say?
Who would you say has been the biggest influence on your life? My grandma, she’s always been a very strong woman who is never afraid to voice her opinions and speak up when it needs to be done. She’s been a great role model. Plus she always has time for her number one grandbaby, me, her Emmyton.
What was the first thing that attracted you to me? Your blue eyes, your laugh and your awesome sense of humor.
What type of dog would you be and why? I think I’d be mixed breed dog, a cross between a happy-go-lucky Labrador and a serious Border Collie. There’s a time for play as well as work and I think that mix would have a good balance! But, most importantly I’d want to make sure I’d have a loving family to adopt me and care for me all my days.
What is the one thing you would love to take a class or learn more about? I still kick myself in the butt for not getting the anthropology degree I’d dreamed of so I’d probably take as many anthropology classes as I could, mostly studying cultural anthropology and the bonds that people and animals form.
If money were no object how would you spend your days? I wouldn’t have a job, I’ll tell you that straight off. My days would consist of walking our dogs, taking a yoga class, volunteering with a dog rescue or humane society I care deeply about and the rest would be spent with you dear hubby enjoying good food, good entertainment and when we can get away, some travel.
What is your idea of a perfect day? Ah, a perfect day. We’d sleep in without an alarm clock or Boomer headbutting me to get up and feed him at 6 am. There would be walks with the dogs, bike rides and yoga. We’d get a breakfast of french toast and berries with homemade whipped cream somewhere along the way. There would also be lots of time spent walking around exploring a park or maybe even a national park to take in all the sights and get some good photos. Lunch would be an amazing slice of New York thin crust cheese pizza washed down with an ice-cold Mexican Coke. Our afternoon would be spent with the dogs, maybe some swimming or snuggling for a nap. For dinner we would need to get a little dressed up for our date, we’d find the best Mexican place in town for tacos and we must have dessert, either cinnamon sugar churros or sopapillas. Our evening entertainment could vary, maybe a show, or a night at a museum. We’d get home at a decent time to change our clothes and take the pups for one last walk before we all tumble into bed and have sweet dreams of our perfect day.
What is your favorite meal that I make for you? Tough question, it’s always changing! You know I love tortilla soup or roasted corn and poblano soup or potato soup or roasted red pepper soup, I love soup. Then there is always your potato salad or pasta salad, those are awesome. I also love the salmon cakes you make; I know you’re sick of them I won’t ask you for them again for a while. Honestly, I could write a whole post on the meals you make that I love!
What do you consider to be the most important thing in your life? Just like you said, it’s easy, you and the dogs.
If we could live anywhere in the world, where would you want to be, and why? I’ve never really traveled anywhere so it’s tough for me to say for sure where I’d want to be. What I’d like to do is get in a bit of travel and when we fall in love with a place we’ll make it our home be in here in the US or abroad.
Bonus Question: Where do you see us 10 years from now? Like you I want to be in a new place, not just a new house but a different city or state. I’d like to have a home that’s not too big and not too small, enough room for us and maybe a guest if they come to visit. We’ll always have dogs so our new adventure will need to be dog friendly. I want you to spend time in our large kitchen cooking yummy things and drinking good wine. I want to be able to work with a dog rescue and even take in a foster or two. But, in our spare time I see us doing what we love, checking out new restaurants, taking in a show, going to a museum or getting the chance to travel and take amazing photos. But, as long as we are together that’s all that matters.
Happy Anniversary hubby!
Yes, I am a Dog Mom.
No, I don’t have children. Yes, I have a dog, in fact I have two. And, yes, that does make me a mom. A dog mom.
Some people might look at me strangely when I say dog mom but it’s true, that’s exactly what I am. You don’t have to give birth to be a mom. What matters is the feeling, the love, the caring, the pain, the sacrifices, the successes and ultimately the bond.
So I’d like to take this moment to wish all the moms out there with children both two-legged and four-legged a very Happy Mother’s Day weekend.
Wordless Wednesday
Dottie really, really likes no bake cookies… but she’s not getting this one!
Dottie vs. the Bunny
John and I learned a tough lesson last week.
We’d taken Boomer and Dottie for a nice afternoon stroll around the neighborhood, we were in the driveway and Dottie’s leash was unhooked. This is a normal thing, she then runs to the door and waits to be let in to get a drink and a treat.
However… this time was different.
When she got to the door a bunny ran out from under our bushes and took off across the yard. Dottie was soon in hot pursuit and being completely overtaken by her prey drive was deaf as we tried to recall her.
Boomer is never let off leash until he is in the house. He started to bark and yip wanting to get in on the fun and became out of control. I grabbed him by the scruff, accidentally scaring him, and pushed him in the house still leashed up.
Dottie, in the mean time, was hot on the heels of this bunny and was now circling around in the neighbor’s yard. John was yelling for her to stop and come back, he threw down her leash and went after her. I ran out of the house to see her crossing the street with no intention of slowing down as Boomer barked and yipped from our front door.
Luckily the bunny was able to get out of sight so she slowed down and was able to register us giving her commands to stop. John was finally able to catch up to her and make her stay. Instead of letting her walk home he picked her up, carried her back across the street and back to our driveway.
When he put her down she ran to the door and when let in immediately ran to get a drink. She drank the whole bowl of water and then collapsed in the doorway tired. She had no idea she’d done something wrong. Boomer was confused, still leashed up and a little stressed out but soon calmed down too.
We were so lucky that our street and the intersection of side streets we live at wasn’t busy. And, we’re lucky that Dottie didn’t get hurt, she’s got arthritis in her elbows and spondylosis in her back that she most likely aggravated but other than being sore she’s OK. Our throats were sore from the yelling but we’re OK too, just shaken.
Things could have turned out differently though and we know it. When I saw this article on Dogster a few days later I almost cried thinking about what could have been.
So we learned a lesson… Dottie’s recall isn’t as strong as we thought it was and until it is she can’t be trusted off leash again unless she’s fenced in and then she still might not be let off leash. To me, it’s that simple, I won’t risk her life again.
We also learned that bunnies are faster than squirrels and will ignite Dottie’s prey drive just as much!
