Simplicity and the Bucket List

So it turns out I have a rather simplistic bucket list, things like training a dog for agility and showing successfully in a trial (done),

 training a dog for therapy dog work, getting them nationally certified and doing therapy dog visits (done),

riding again after blowing out my knee (done), but one that had escaped me for all these years is having spring flowers from fall bulbs in my yard, somehow I'm never able to find bulbs to buy at the right time, and this house didn't have any in the front yard (a few daffodils in the back)......so last fall I planted about 80 (no kidding).....and the first of them are blooming, and the later ones starting to peep above ground......and it makes me really really happy

.....and happiness should be shared.... 

The Saga of the "Bed"

For today's amusement we finally have proof that Halle B (Blackcat) Berry is positive that she is a dog......Hope's crate ended up in the living room (long story not important), and so Halle goes in this morning, kneads the bed a few times, and settles in....

the door is open....

And her dog sister, the one whose bed it really is????   Somebody mentioned 

recently, or asked if Hope was 'spoiled'......well my thought was not......

 because she has for the most part taken her 


obedience lessons to heart.....and unfortunately this adorable pic was 

made possible by the suggestions that she 'get in her bed' 

(crate=bed) and 'stay'......door to the 'bed' was still open......

and the 'torture' only lasted long enough to snap the pic....

Ya know that thing, where one sibling doesn't want something til the other

 sibling takes it????.....

well guess where the cool place to hang out is now....door is still open.....

 Post Script:   Several days later......it's still the place to be, and the best place to take a kitty bath.........

What?

More in the world's oddest dogs file......so, Hope loves absolutely loves our regular mailman....Terry......

she hates and will act like the world's fiercest watchdog with anyone else delivering our mail......

if he comes and doesn't tap on the window to say hi, or she misses getting to see him, she looks and me and whines.....actually it's more like she carries on an extended conversation with me about how sad she is that he didn't say hello (it of course is always, his fault in her mind)......

today he tapped on the window at her, and she was beside herself with happiness...she then came over to me and for the first time since I've had her....smiled......it was hysterical.....all her little front teeth showing.....

.isn't puppy love great?

Pink Hope

So little Miss Hope loves pink toys.   Here she is with several of them, and her discarded non pink duck toy in the background.  She arranges them herself and often has them grouped by color.

 So for Christmas a friend, her Auntie Maurine, sent her these two little balls.  Christmas evening I realized that she was only playing with one of them, even though they were both put in the same spot for her to play with after 'unwrapping them'.   Guess which one she was playing with........

If you guessed the one on the right (the one with 'pink'), you are correct!   What a hoot it is to live with her.

The not so fun part has been that she has had intermittent bouts of really terrible tummy troubles.   We have spent the better part of the past year trying to figure it out.  It isn't her regular diet, but we thought it might be something she was getting infrequently like treats for training.  So now she gets only her regular diet, no treats of any kind.

Which brings me back to Christmas, Auntie Maurine knew of the tummy issue so didn't sent any treats.  Not for Hope or for Halle B (Black Cat) Berry.   She did send a green (yes, Halle prefers green toys), rabbit fur mouse for Halle.   I saw it and thought hm, I hope that Hope doesn't try to eat it, but didn't act on that thought by putting it out of her reach.

Yesterday I found this

Yes, it is the little green mouse that was Halle's present, minus its tail, the 'fur' on it's head and part of its head and body.   I had shared the picture with another of Hope's aunties, Auntie Val, and said isn't it odd that she left the ears.  Val's reply?   Not odd at all, they are pink.

Oh right, we can't destroy the mousy ears, because they are pink! 

Priorities,  life is about priorities ......

and 

Pink.

Oh Dear, or what a difference a week makes.....

So this is Oklahoma and we have seasons, and weather, but it seems that we really get winter in odd numbered years (as in the ice storm of 07, the blizzard of 09, and the really big snow storm of 11).  Thus far this winter we've had about 6 inches of snow in one snow at my house (parts of the city got less, I think of it as the 'river effect snow'.)  And here is a lovely Christmasy picture of my little pine tree in the snow with its decorations of red and green..... 

So then a couple of weeks later we get freezing rain, which translates into 'ice', which is not nice like snow.  Ice does really bad things to trees, and power lines, and can make us all powerless in a heartbeat.   It also really crushed my little pine tree.   I posted about it on Facebook, while battling the sick feeling in my stomach that seeing my tree like this did to me.  I realized that I grew up in a family that loved its trees almost as we loved out pets, and we really really loved our pets.

Many friends posted that pines are quite flexible and resilient.  I quickly realized this was a good lesson for me, flexibility in the face of adversity.   But I was really afraid for my tree.  Especially after driving around town and seeing massive pines just destroyed by the ice.  Several people posted suggestions, like knocking the ice off the tree, except it continued to rain, the lovely freezing rain for about 12 hours, dawn to dark.

And it occurred to me that another truism from my life is that when I try to 'fix' things rather than letting them fix themselves, things often get worse.   So I left it alone.   I did ponder getting out my hair dryer and melting the ice, but I left it alone.

So that brings us to this, 4 days later (it took that long to get above freezing).

 I figure a few days with our wonderful strong south winds (see previous post on the advantages of my little house), and it will be right as rain, or as good as it was before.

A lesson learned.....flexibility in the face of adversity can save a tree, or a person.......

So many helpful things about my house that were not known when I bought it.

 It faces East, and we have not much east of us, or South of us, and so the prevailing North, and South winds keep the yard pretty free of leaves, (the rest I mulch).

 Then there's the porch protected from the winds on both ends, making a nice resting spot for the neighbor's cat, 

He is Hope's BFF (don't tell Halle). I call him Fluffums.....He would love to move into the house (although I think my neighbor, his owner does let him in her house), 

 Ms. Halle the killer cat will have none of it......

If the front porch doesn't work for him, and he can't get into his owners house, there is always the 'cat shelter' in the backyard.  It is in a little alcove with the house again blocking the wind from the North, it's raised above ground with a nice pink blanket........

Ancestor Pride

So this is my great grandmother, Margaret June Lyons Geyer, known later in life as Jenny Geyer.   She was 100% Irish, with both parents having come to this country from Ireland in the mid 1800's.

She married George Geyer, who was 100% German, with both parents coming from Germany in the mid 1800's.  Growing up, and during my lifetime until the death of my father, what I heard about in terms of family history was my dad's mom's family, the Rosses, and my dad's dad's German heritage.  No mention was ever made of the fact that my dad's grandmother was as Irish as his Grandfather was German.

Even when I showed an affinity for all things Celtic, but particularly music, my dad didn't share the story of his grandmother.   I'm not sure why, I don't know if he wasn't aware that she was Irish, or if again it was another example of the prejudices held toward people of Irish descent.

The funny thing is that my dad resembles her more than his father, or mother's side of the family, or his grandfather.

As do I

And did even more so before I cut my hair........

I guess we will never know why she was lost in the family history, or why her family or heritage was lost.....my father was an only child, and his cousins and he not close enough for me to still be in contact with any of them, or their children.

But it has been a joyous finding for me, finding Great Grandmother Jenny, and being able to claim my Irish for real......

Things I love about my dog

Here are some of the things I love about my dog, which are so wonderfully characteristic of the MAS (Miniature Australian Shepherd, aka Miniature American Shepherd) breed.   Today we spent two hours visiting as Therapy Dog team at St. Francis Children's Hospital .  And alas, she was not the star today. Willis the Newfie, and Heidi the Yorkie, in her Hello Kitty outfit were.

 But over and over I heard, "oh my gosh she is just so quiet and calm, is she always like this".......and tomorrow at the agility trial, or in agility class I will hear...."oh my gosh, she's so excited (and sometimes they say hyper), is she always like this".....and it's what I love...the ability to turn on the drive when needed, and to turn it off and be a soft soft dog also when needed.....

But then there is the 'other' Hope.   The Hope that we see in class and saw recently at her second agility trial.  This was a 'Teacup' Trial, for dogs 17 inches and smaller.   She was in 9 classes and placed in 8.  She won 4.  We were not perfect by any means, but she gained fans as the weekend went on, because of her absolute love of the sport, and her talent.

Here she is in action:

And with some of her ribbons from the two weekends.....

But at the end of the day.......she is love, and laughter, and she is Hope

It's been a year????

So my intention when I started the blog (how many bloggers have said or written this I wonder??), was to write something daily or if not daily, weekly...something, anything.......and to let my pictures do the talking if needed.

Somehow it's been almost a year....it's not that I don't think of things to write, or take pictures that would make a good story.   I do think that part of my procrastination (besides that being my middle name) has to do with the world of Facebook, where it is easy for me to write a little something and post a picture or two.

Today I started a Facebook post and thought, hm, that makes a better blog entry than FB post, and here I am.   And here it is:

The oddities of life....I know some people who have lived in the same house for 30 or more years.....I lived in too many places to count between the time I was born and age 3 because we were traveling with a vibroseis crew. Then once we 'settled' in Tulsa, I lived in 4 houses before age 14, then to the lake, then on to college. Once I left home for college til now I've lived in 36 places (no kidding), with 9 since 2007...sigh.....but the odd part is that I am now only a few blocks away from the 2 places that we first lived here after leaving the crew. I started kindergarten living on 50th street, and now live 4 houses from 50th street, a half mile away.....and the majority of my life has been lived within a square mile radius....and within a half mile of the river......

I don't know if any of this has anything to do with the fact that one of my favorite songs growing up was "Don't Fence Me In"...."Give me land, lots of land, under starry skies above, ....don't fence me in"

I  wonder if all that early moving experience acclimated me to the idea of changing addresses frequently.  All I know is that I seem to have moved way more than most of the people I know, especially as an adult.  There are some things in my life that have stood the test of time.  I still go to the church that we started attending when I was 4.

There is also the fact that I have repetitive dreams, and for years they have been about trying to find a place to live.  Sometimes it's a new apartment, sometimes a home, sometimes it's returning to an old home, sometimes it's just a hotel room, but they all have similarities in the search.

I supposed it's also not surprising that another of my childhood favorite songs was, "All I Want Is A Room Somewhere".   Now don't get me wrong as an only child until I was a teenager, I always had 'my own room'.

And it's not about searching for a spiritual home.  As I am fond of saying to people who come to sell their religion at my front door, "I have a church (and thank goodness spiritual, they aren't always the same thing) home as well.

Or if I'm just trying to find the  place that is, Somewhere Over the Rainbow.....

Saturday Morning Wrestling, starring Miss Halle B Berry Black Cat (age 7, weight 12 lbs), and Miss Rockin R Hope Floats (Mini Aussie, age 1.5 years, weight 16 lbs).

So last month, I wrote about coincidences.....today I was sitting here, not really focused on anything, and going back and forth from Facebook to a game I'm playing, when up popped my blog on my screen, with the last post that I'd written.....

No I didn't 'click' on my blog, and it isn't bookmarked in a way such that I can accidentally 'click' on it.....it seems to be just another gentle reminder of where I need to be focused....

Today have been taking more pictures again, of the hummers at my feeder, and of Saturday morning wrestling (it is a combination of Friday night fights, and Saturday morning cartoons.   I will include the illustrations......complete with the blur of motion.....

Not sure if having a cat as an alpha dog is a good thing for any of us......

Mysteries

I have believed for a long time that my dad is now a beautiful male cardinal.  One often visits at the most unexpected times, and in the most unexpected ways.   My dad loved taking pictures of cardinals, so it seems likely that would be how he might visit.

Today I was getting ready to comment on a friends Facebook post.  She had recently returned from an amazing trip and was afraid that she'd lost the SD card with the pictures from the trip.  She finished the post by talking about how happy she was to have found the card, and that it was the 'little things' that led to happiness.

I started to write that I grew up with a photographer father, and that now I enjoy taking pictures myself, so to me it wouldn't be a 'little thing'.  As I was writing,  I realized that I could hear a cardinal chirping loudly.  I looked out my picture window and there he was flitting from tomato cage ring to ring and hovering as well.

I thought how wonderful, (and typical) that this happened when I was thinking of him and photography, and how typical that I didn't have my camera nearby, and if he was trying to tell me something.

I then looked to my mantle where I have a candle burning in honor of a much loved baby who is transitioning from this world to the next, and had the strongest feeling that he was saying....little wolf will be with me, he will be all right, and is surrounded by love.

And then the bird was gone.  It is difficult for a bird to be calmly flying and flitting on my front porch, as I have roll up blinds mostly rolled down, to protect the porch and house from the strong east sun that we get, since there is nothing blocking it.

How amazing to me to have the visit today as I was writing about my father, and also thinking about little wolf......although, some of you who may read this will think, truly she's off her rocker (I just love these old sayings, may start posting one a week), and others will know precisely what I am talking about.

My mother used to say, there is no meaning in such things, they are merely coincidences, and said it more as she entered the last years of her life.  I used to reply, maybe so, but by believing that there is meaning in them, it makes my world so much more interesting, and such moments precious.

Thanks dad, for dropping in....



Post Script:   I decided that I wanted a picture of the mantle to go with the story, snapped one and then realized what was there.   Everything on my mantle is just as it was,  no arranging done.  It includes the large framed 'print' of the cardinal, a wooden cardinal, which is actually placed on top of my Spirit Song music folder, the candle, and a clock made from a slab of stone that my dad found on one of his many working trips, and which he had made into a clock for me for the last birthday that we shared with him on this earth.