Better Than A Rabbit's Foot

Out doing a bit of roaming around today, helping My Boy with things he needs help with. He's always needing my supervision. No telling what trouble he'd get into without my guidance. Here he is holding Ruby Tuesday's baby, Giacomo. He's almost as big as My Boy is now! Queen Ruby likes My Boy and doesn't seem to mind. She's a good mama.

While we were checking out the cow and calf, I noticed Glynn had found something very interesting in the grass. I mosied over to see what she was doing, and she told me that she had found a bumper crop of four-leaf clovers and was collecting some to press and keep for good luck.

She said it's easy as pie to find a four-leaf clover. Just stare at the clover patch and one would jump right out at me. She had already found several to press, like this one.

Never in my whole eight years have I found a four-leaf clover. Not even close. I've never even caught a rabbit's foot, so I was a bit skeptical. Still, I gave it a go, and I stared at that clover patch until my eyes were crossed.

And then, would you believe, I found one! I was so excited I did a Snoopy dance. Glynn showed me how to press it when we got back to the house. Though it isn't a perfect specimen, I'm proud of it. A dog like me can never have too much good luck!

Wishing every dog and hammie out there a safe and fun-filled Memorial Day weekend.

~Tell

I Do A Little Spring Cleaning

I learned my lesson about climbing fences quite a while back. As you may remember, My Family tried everything to get me to stay home, but being an adventurer at heart, I couldn't resist levitating over the fence and having a free day now and then. As a last attempt to curtail my wanderings, My Family stretched a tiny little wire along the top of the fence. I laughed. Won't hold me, I thought. That itty bitty thing? Until I stuck my snoot to it. Lost a few brain cells that time, I'm tellin' you. No more giant leaps for me. I dig under the fence now.

So now that I'm on my best behavior as far as boosting myself over the boundary, I decided to help tidy up the yard this spring. Along with digging up some sweetpea and iris plants, I removed part of the hot wire on the fence (don't worry, it's been turned off practically forever now). Just a few more of these insulators to go, and you'll never know this place used to be locked up tighter than Alcatraz.
~Tell

Cap Gets Abducted by Aliens (Again)

An update on my ol' buddy, Cap. He went back to the vet Monday, again on Tuesday. Good news is that his knee is fine (I never did believe that story about an old football injury when he was a linebacker for the Cowboys). The x-rays showed "significant" arthur-itis in his hips and knees, but no other problems. Just a good wrenching of the joints when he flipped on the tile. Getting too old for such nonesense, he told me. Must have been a senile moment that made him act like a spring pup. He's very embarrassed.

Since they did have to knock him out for the procedures, which Cap likens to being abducted by aliens, the vet took advantage of it and gave him another dental cleaning, too. Lost a couple more toofers. He came home a bit tipsy, staggered around until he found his favorite toy, and fell asleep with drool running out of his mouth. Kinda like usual.

We are now feeding him a special diet that is good for arthritis and joint pain. Cap seems to like it pretty good and snarfs it down quick, so he doesn't even know he's getting a pill in there somewhere. I sniffed it but wasn't impressed. The main ingredient is chopped liver. I'm more of a chicken man myself.

I told Cap that next time he feels inspired to do bodily damage to himself, come to me. I can be pretty smart at doctoring things up. Comes from living on a farm. We make due with what's handy. Give me a little duct tape, some baling wire, I can splint a hindleg in no time. Spritz some WD-40 on those creaky joints, they'll limber right up. Yeah, I know, pretty impressive. I should have went to med school. I'd be a gazillionaire by now.

~Tell

Cap Takes a Wrong Turn

I don't know what got into Cap yesterday. He's older 'n dirt, almost blind, purt-near deaf, but once in a while he gets inspired to act like a puppy, and that almost always leads to trouble.


Mom had let him outside for a bit, then opened the door and called him in. Suddenly he burst through the door, bouncing like a bunny, and tried to spin around. He went one way, his feet went the other, and splat! It was a pretty spectacular wipe-out, and not the first time he's flipped on the floor. He hopped right up, but this was different. He started hobbling around on three legs and wouldn't put his back foot on the floor at all.

This meant a quick trip to our favorite vet. Now, I have to tell you, Cap's a funny terrier. Biggest wuss there ever was. He has no pain tolerance at all. None. Zilch. He stubbs his toe and cries like a baby. So it was rather strange that the vet couldn't find anything wrong. All the twisting and flexing, poking and prodding produced not one flinch or whimper out of the old boy. Still, he won't use his leg. It's a mystery. Then he got a shot, which did make him yelp, and some pain pills to get him through the weekend. We all felt like it was just a bruise. My Boy gave him a Zanies toy, which Cap is busy de-squeaking. With his lack of teeth, it will probably be a week from next Tuesday before he finishes it off.

Meanwhile, we're watching him through the weekend to see if he gets any better. If he's not trotting on all fours again by Monday morning, we're heading back for some x-rays. The vet said he may have ruptured a ligament (like football players do), and to check him for that he will have to be sedated. With his age, Mom does not want to do that to Cap if we can help it. So we're all keeping our paws crossed that Cap gets better on his own and doesn't have to have any risky things done to him on Monday. Until then, he's being waited on like royalty. Lucky dog.

~Tell

I'm Calling Shotgun Now

If there's one thing I've learned about living on a farm, it's that springtime means babies. Already we have played foster mama to a fledgling barred owl and four cottontail rabbits. And that owl sure made me nervous, the way he was watching those buns, so we made sure nobody went hungry until they were released (far apart from each other, I made sure of that). But the biggest surprise of all was when My Boy's show heifer, Ruby Tuesday, had her baby last week. Lookee here!

I'm a bit jealous that he has more spots than me. He even has a heart on his forehead. So far we can't decide on a name for him, but it has to be a special one because he will be My Boy's show calf next year. Isn't he a lucky one? We think so.

My new best bud weighs four times as much as me and is growing bigger every day. I have to watch where he steps so he doesn't mash my head in the ground. My Boy is teaching him to lead right now while he's small enough to handle. I just hope that when we all ride in the pickup, he knows I like to sit by the window.

~Tell

I Visit The Big Bucket In The Sky

I was sitting around the house, minding my own business, when I overheard Mom and My Boy talking about what to fix for supper. My Boy said, "Let's go to KFC and pick up a bucket of fried chicken."


Of course, I got excited about that. We live in the country, out in the boonies, so going to KFC means a RIDE in the truck! I couldn't wait to get my leash on and hit the road.


I said, "Hey, Glynn, wanna come with?" She ho-hummed a bit and then got her leash on, too. She doesn't live for riding in the truck like I do.


This is her "riding in the truck" face. Still, she'd rather load up and go with me than stay home and watch Cap snore.


I like visiting the drive-through of any restaurant, but KFC smells so good! Believe me, I'd drive myself there every day if I could reach the gas pedal.

Unfortunately, I don't get to actually eat any of the fried chicken because I have severe allergies and chicken is high on the list of things that make me itch (I get reminded of this each time I pluck one). However, I can eat turkey. If I could just talk Col. Sanders into starting a Kentucky Fried Turkey franchise, I'd be their best customer ever!
~Tell

I Dig The Mother of All Holes

It's been a busy week, gang. Lots of work to do, excavating and moving dirt. I have to say my schedule is about as full as it's ever been. Good thing I like my job, because there's just no end to the holes that need to be dug around here. I dig so much, sometimes I forget where I put a hole. That happened the other morning when I was bunny-hopping backwards in front of My Boy and did a one-legger down a deep one. Lost my balance and ended up-side down for a moment. Made My Boy laugh...a lot longer than I thought was necessary, but who cares? We like to have fun together.

Now, remember the rock wall that Somebody built awhile back? The one that tee-totally ruined a perfectly good hole I was working on? Yeah, that's right, the one with the water garden and sweetpea flowers? That sure did set me back, but I jumped in there this week and finished what I started, rocks and all. Yep, I caved in that rock wall and dug all around it, uprooted the flowers, and may have bowed the fence just a bit, too. I was mighty proud of the destruction, because those old fireplace rocks weigh more than I do.

Glynn is always sure to stand back when the dirt goes flinging. She says a hard hat messes up her 'do too much, so she stays in the safety zone whilst I work.

This one is even big enough to go down into, turn around, and come back out again. Quite a masterpiece.

My Boy was pretty speechless, I tell ya, when he saw how much I had accomplished in just one week. Took his breath away, I'm thinkin'. Shook his head in awe. What can I say? I'm pretty pleased myself. Well, enough about holes for now. I see My Boy heading this way with a shovel and wheelbarrow. I wonder what new game this will be? Can't wait to find out...

~Tell