Someone had to get a bath yesterday. Good thing the weather was nice. She still wasn’t thrilled.
WORDLESS WEDNESDAY
Month: March 2021
TENNESSEE NESSIE?
As I started to work one day a couple of weeks ago, I topped over a hill on my driveway and saw that a fairly large, dead tree had fallen across the driveway. Great. I really didn’t have time to do the sensible thing and get my Gator and log chain to pull it out of the way. So, I decided to see if I could manhandle womanhandle it just far enough out of the way for the car to get by.
First try, it didn’t budge. Next time I pulled a little bit harder, and it at least moved a bit. Being that the third time is supposed to be the charm, I pulled as hard as I could and it moved! I got it pulled around into the middle of the driveway before it got stuck. Well, shoot. I tried one more time before giving up and going for the mechanical help. It rolled over and I was able to get it out of my way.
I took these pictures on my way home. Since I was in a hurry, I didn’t get one of it across the driveway that morning.
Later that evening, I was sitting on the couch and noticed, through the trees, that something was “moving” in the driveway at the top of the hill. I looked closer and saw that it was Tippy’s tail. I couldn’t hear her, but knew from the way her tail was periodically, tentatively wagging, that she was afraid of something and was probably barking at it.
We have neighbor’s that ride their 4-wheeler in the field next to the driveway and they also ride horses. I know that Tippy really dislikes the 4-wheeler and I’m afraid she might spook the horses when they are riding. She has seen the horses by themselves and don’t bother them. But, I don’t know how she would react with people riding them.
I got the leash and walked to get her, not knowing what I was going to find. I nearly laughed out loud when I saw this…
From Tippy’s point of view and the way the tree was laying, it looked a lot like a land loving Nessie or some other nefarious creature. I had to put her on leash and walk her down to it before she realized what it was and calmed down. Bless her heart. I don’t blame her for being leery of it. I haven’t had a chance to cut it up yet and I still get a little startled when I top over the hill.
I didn’t get a picture of Tippy’s interactions because I was too worried about what it was. So, here is a cute picture of her waiting to go for a walk into the neighbor’s field later.
A CONVERSATION WITH TIPPY
Last night, I accidently hit the lid of my laptop, making a weird noise. Tippy came running to see what was going on, but she was sure that the noise had come from the garage. Based on her looks and actions, this is the conversation that ensued.
“Tippy. It was just me. I hit the computer. See?” as I tried to imitate the sound.
“But mom. I’m sure it came from the garage. I believe you think you know what it was, but my ears are much better than yours. I really need to check it out.”
“Tippy. I promise you. It was the computer.” I pleaded.
“We really need to check, just to be sure.” she said as she looked toward the door.
“Okay. Come on.” I gave in because I knew she wasn’t going to give up.
We walk over, I turn on the light, and open the door. She stood in the doorway, listening and looking around.
“You were right. There was nothing there.” she says as she turns around to go nonchalantly back to her spot on the couch.
I was glad that she let me know she thought something was awry. I do think it is funny that she won’t give up until she checks it out herself. She has done something similar before, but it usually involves a lot of barking. It’s really bad if someone on TV knocks at the door. Even though the TV is not in the same direction of the garage, she runs to it, barking. (This is the door where most of our visitors enter. There is no door bell, so they have to knock.) I have to let her inspect before she is satisfied that no one is there and all is well. She really is a good dog.
I gave her a treat for posing for the above recreation – I didn’t have the camera handy last night. This the only way I can get her to look at the camera.
PUPPY UPDATE
Mom and I went to visit the neighbor’s and the puppies today. I know dogs grow fast, but I was surprised at how much bigger they looked today than when they were born just 8 days ago! Esther, the mom dog, is being really good. Ms. A. said that she was really protective of them the first couple of days. Now she could care less if you bother them and is already getting tired of feeding them. Bless her heart.
A lot of the spots we thought were black are actually partially brown, more so on the first born. I think I like that better than solid black.
The face of this one is too cute. I can’t decide if it looks like a little polar bear or an old man.
When I got home, Tippy was very inquisitive as to where I had been and why I smelled like puppies.
Then, I noticed another sign of Spring. My periwinkles are blooming. I guess it’s time to get the leaf debris off of them.
MOSTLY SILENT SUNDAY
When I got home from my Sunday morning visits with the neighbor and my mom, I turned Tippy loose and told her I had to change clothes and I’d be right out to go for our walk. When I walked back into the kitchen, I spied her looking in the back porch window. She literally looked me up and down to see what clothes I had put on.
Upon walking outside, she came bounding off of the porch, looking at me expectantly. She has gotten used to me waiting for my Garmin phone to synch with the satellites. When it does, it makes a buzzing sound. As soon as she hears it, she takes off, knowing I won’t be far behind. Sometimes, I think she is a little bit too smart for her own good.
PUPPIES
You may remember my neighbor’s dog, Esther, who came up for a couple of playdates with Tippy last year. (See my June 28,2020 post. Sorry, but I haven’t figures out how to link the page with the new WordPress editor. I’ll work on that.) The owners were planning to get her spayed after her first estrus cycle. Unfortunately, they had her outside and the neighbor’s pit pull came over and….well, you can guess the rest of the story.
Today was the day that the puppies chose to come into the world. The family are Seventh Day Adventists, so everyone but mom, I’ll call her Ms A., went to church this morning. That was probably good since the 5 and 2 year old would have been too much for Esther to handle while trying to deliver. When I found out, I decided to go down in case she needed any help and just to witness that miracle of birth.
When I got there, she already had three puppies. She got up from where she was laying and came over for me to pet her. Ms A. was really surprised because she had been growling at all of the family if they got anywhere near the box where she was laying. I guess she remembered me and likes me. Who knows.
First 3 puppies 
Mom being watchful
She went back to her corner and about 30 minutes later the fourth one was born. It amazes me how they have the instinct to clean up the puppies and that the puppies have the instinct to crawl around until they find the milk supply. Here is number 4 right after it was cleaned and all of them eating. Can you guess which one is the oldest and which is the youngest?
I went back later to see if there were any more puppies and just to visit with the family. There were no more. Four was all she had. She is being such a great mom. The older one was already trying to explore his surroundings. The two with black spots are male and the two that are mostly white are female.
I am looking forward to watching them grow and getting to play with them a little bit before they find them all forever homes. I’m sure you will see lots of pictures in the coming weeks.
LOOKING UP
I have had my second follow up from my open heart surgery and everything is going well. He still doesn’t want me to lift anything over 25 pounds or play tennis for about 4 more weeks. We want to make sure the sternum is completely healed first. But things are looking up as a lot of the restrictions I had have been lifted.
For the first time since September, I subbed at daycare yesterday. I still can’t lift the children, but I can do what they call the floater job – serve lunch, do dishes, and relieve teachers for their break while the kids are napping. The 4 and 5 year old’s were so glad to see me back and I got plenty of hugs. I really missed that.
I was also given permission to start running yesterday – taking it easy at first. Years ago I would have never thought I would say this, but I was so excited to be able to run! I had originally intended to take Tippy for a walk as soon as I got home and then go run. But, sometimes, she has her own agenda and disappears in the field for a while. So, instead, I took her a short, on leash walk out the driveway, put her on her tie out, and went out for my run.
I did a walk/run interval session – walking 4 minutes and running one, repeat, for 36 minutes. It wasn’t much, but it’s a start and felt so good. The weather was wonderful yesterday with sunny skies and 62°F. The sky was so blue and the daffodils are blooming. Spring is on it’s way.
The road where I ran. 
Daffodils across from my mom’s house
When I got home, I turned Tippy loose, changed shoes, and went out for our walk. I was expecting her to be anxiously patiently waiting for me, but instead, I saw this.
I thought I heard something. Did you? 
Umm. Smells good.
When our neighbor has a cow die, he buries it somewhere in the field. Something digs them up and Tippy takes advantage, confiscating a bone every now and again. This one seemed to be particularly good because she had no interest in a walk. The bone was just too delicious.
We did take a walk today and these “old fashioned” daffodils were blooming where one of my ancestor’s house used to be. At least, that’s what mom calls them. They are probably an heirloom variety of some sort. They are pretty, but the bloom doesn’t last very long.
I did a little research to see if I could find a name for them, but had no luck. I did however, learn that the name daffodil is from the Dutch for “affo dyle” which means “that which cometh early.” I love that.
Tippy Tales 