It’s been a long weekend with the dogs. I took a new client, Lucy, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, who has had a rough 2 years being shuffled from home to home. She can be oh, so sweet and calm one minute and the next minute be a quivering mass of energy that cannot be contained. Here is one side of Lucy.
Here is another side of Lucy – frantic enough to be destructive and she was not confined when this happened.
There is a wonderful dog inside that needs a permanent family she can believe in and depend on to be there for her, day in and day out. In six days there’s not much I can do to solve her issues but it is enough time to know what a nice dog she really is and to know that she’s worth the effort.
Toby and Dakota are here, too, but we are well acquainted and they behave perfectly.
Early this morning a thunderstorm rolled through and I thought all 5 dogs would be in bed with me. They paced, they panicked, they barked, they hid until I finally just got up to 5 quivering dogs who are scared of thunder. We got over an inch of rain again which brings me to my next concern – my houseplants that have been living outside, my succulents in particular. They’ve been living in partial sun/shade and we have had lots of rain which has begun to worry me. I would never give my succulents this much water in the house yet they have never looked so beautiful, so lush, so green, so thick and healthy. It’s going to take awhile to dry out and when the nights get chilly, those plants will not like their feet to be cold so I will need to be ready to move plants when the weather changes. And that means the low temps, not the daytime temps because the plants would still love to be outside during the warm days but who can move them in and out each day? And when they move back in generally the shock leads to dropping leaves which always makes me sad because they were so beautiful when they first came inside.
And this is what I’m trying to work on while keeping track of the dogs — a quilt for the cupboard bed out of mens’ shirts which I love to look for in the thrift stores.
One last comment – no, I don’t have even one bloom on my morning glory vine! So disappointing.
Love your pictures I have a basket of mens plaid shirts and have been trying to figure a way to cut them into useable pieces Do you have any suggestions? Thanks
My neighbor puts all her potted plants on a small trailer or large wagon and puts them in the garage at night and pulls them outside for daytime sunshine during rendition months.
My neighbor puts all her potted plants on a small trailer or large wagon and puts them in the garage at night and pulls them outside for daytime sunshine during transition months.
Miriam – great idea! I would need a hayrack to move all of them but I could move some of them that way.
You may not have a bloom on your morning glory…but you are about to be the proud mama of a million babies on you Mother Of Millions (Bryophyllum delagoense) It is looking very healthy : )
Melissa – yes, I have several Mother of Millions and cannot possibly keep all the plants they produce!
Mary McCarron, Go to Bonnie Hunter’s web site. She has a tutorial on “de-boning” shirts
My succulents sit outside in all types of weather, but we are in CA and it’s no rain in sight for another month, so they must be happy where they are. Your rain and thunder must be frightening for the dogs and hope they can adjust by sleeping more during the day. Hope you can keep your succulents happy by maybe covering them at night when the temps are cool. I usually use a light cover over mine if it begins to get cold. We don’t expect cold weather until late October. Weather trends can change though so I must check later in the month for any significant rain or cold. Have a wonderful Labor Day and enjoy your visiting dogs.
Oh, poor Lucy. You can see in her eyes she is sad. I hope someone close to you see this and adopts her. How did you get her? Your plants, as always, are beautiful. Happy Labor Day:)
Diane – Lucy has a new family – they are on vacation.
Poor babies, I know how they can be with thunder, we have to give Sophie a little chill pill when it’s going to storm. I hope Lucy realizes that she has a forever home with your cousins and understands that she was not being shuffled off to another home but attending Happy Dog Camp. They sell those anxiety shirts that puts some sort of pressure on the dog to make them feel that they are being held (I think that’s what it does) and wonder if Lucy should wear one when she visits. I don’t know what she destroyed but WOW. Hope you have a good Labor Day.
Rose – it was a memory foam mattress pad on the bed in the shop/kennel. I slept out there with her the first 2 nights. Smile.
Love the idea of making a quilt from men’s shirts. I made a quilt from my sons flannel shirts plus some from thrift shops. Used a flannel sheet for the back. It turned out super. My orchids will have to come in soon and then they bloom for some crazy reason. Outside under the deck, inside in sunroom.
I had Yoda, a Chihuahua, for ten beautiful years and when he was little he hated storms and fireworks. I always talked to him before a cloud arrived or before the fireworks of July 4. “Yoda, it’s going to be noisy with the cloud coming in,mbut Mom is right here I will always keep you safe. It was the same co versatile with fireworks. I just took the time to talk to him and let him know what was happening, but Mom promises to keep you safe. He was a sweetheart to trust me. Lucy needs a lot of that conversation and reassurance in a soft voice. She’s probably heard plenty of the harseness.
….and yes, I am glad she was with you through the one last night.
Bless those dogs hearts. I don’t like thunderstorms either & I know what’s going on. I can only imagine what they think. I have one dog that hates thunderstorms & I always feel so guilty if I happen to be out when it starts to thunder & rain & know she is home without me.
Your plants are gorgeous!
I have had the same luck with morning glorys…I have cut them back 3 times as the grew with vines into everything…only after threating to cut them off completely, they decided to have a few blooms
Mary, I taught my sister piecing/quilting skills. I gave her a Bonnie Hunter book and, of course, she picked a more difficult quilt, a snail’s trail. We used men’s shirts, blues, greens, yellows …it turned out great. “Snips and snails and puppy dogs’ tails…” for her grandson’s big boy bed!
The next men’s shirts quilt we made was an Italian Tile pattern from Anita Grossman Solomon, red, white and blues, a few Hawaiian shirts and women’s shirts tossed in…so cute. Quilted with stars and wavy lines, like the stripes on the flag.
Poor puppy, poor foam bed! My other sister has an adopted formerly abused dog, she can be extremely needy often. It takes a long time for that security to develop.
Happy Labor Day, Mary…you are the hardest working, most interesting woman I know. Even though I don’t know you exactly! I sure feel like I do!
Huummm. Don’t have any blooms on mine either. Bet you don’t have the same prob I do — I never got my seeds planted. Hope you get rest in there some place for yourself.
Mary I love your succulents. I wish I had some or even knew about them more. I have hens & chicks (I think they’re a succulent) and my jade plant indoors but I have seen others I would like to buy. Maybe in the spring.
You are a wonderful pet care lady and make sure all your guests get the love they need. I’m the one who pet sits here in Mn (we’ve emailed each other) and I have had to try to calm dogs during storms or fireworks. Meds didn’t help nor the thunder coats as a dog can hear or sense a storm coming before we can and the meds need to get in their system in advance. Yet other dogs are oblivious to storms….why is that??? The holiday is nearly over but happy Holiday nonetheless.
Donna – if you visit me, I will give you some succulents. When I trim them, I plant all the trimmings creating more plants to care for! Why, oh why do I make more work for myself? But I just can’t throw them away.
Looking forward to seeing more of the quilt made from men’s shirts!
Lucy was lucky to have you caring for her. I don’t know of many that would make her feel that welcome. Hope her family is as caring to her needs as you are.
Mother of million? I am familiar with it, in Nicaragua we used to call it Hoja de aire or Air leaf.
Hope you had a good. Labor Day, Felicia