Monday, June 7, 2010

June 7 2010



Peonies: Yes, it's that time of year again. While these make look remarkably like last year's peonies, I just can't resist taking more shots. They are so spectacular! And each flower is unique, especially the pinky-whites, with those random flecks of red here and there. Though to be fair to the reds, they are more prolific (we've already started a second terrace of them when we divided last fall) and smell better.

Party and Pups: .
We had a small gathering yesterday to celebrate Brian's 68th birthday (yes, we are indeed getting older faster). Here's Brian with one of his kindergarten friends, Jerry. The other, Sanford, came with his wife Maria. Also our Newburgh friends Ken and Carole came by. Old friends and new, all were welcome



And I waited till the party was over to share with you our new foster dog Missy, as I wanted to see how she did. In a word: wonderful!
Little Missy was abandoned at a dog park in Long Island a bit over a month ago, by a woman who had her only three weeks. Fortunately there were a couple of much kinder women who worked for a vet, taking a break there. Missy got out of a small hole in the fence, and the unkind woman told the vet techs that she had gotten out of her fenced yard, and she was done with her. How horrible! The vet techs took her back to the clinic, removed ticks, bathed her, and brought her up to date on her shots, then called American Brittany Rescue to find her a great home. As I was not available right away, another volunteer took her, and within the first 24 hours she got away from his place too! Though in Missy's defense, an open door/gate policy is not likely to work with foster dogs, at least not right away.

So here I was, expecting people, kids and dogs, with a dog that I'd been told was not only an escape artist, but also rather snappish at first with other dogs. I was a bit apprehensive... okay, more than a bit.


Lisa, Josh, Hyla and Ayro arrived first. As you can see, no problems there. Then Daniel and Tim came with Ruby, the perfect dog - she can be unleashed and actually stays right by their sides (unlike any of my dogs, including dear departed Saul who lived to run down the beach at Santa Barbara becoming a smaller and smaller dot on the horizon, completely oblivious to the repeated appeals to return).

Then in quick succession, Tracey and Lynn (the superwomen who have a permanent pack of eight and frequently foster bringing the total to a dozen) with my former foster Brittie and their (sadly) blind girl Chilly (shown here wearing her kerchief that boldly declares: "I'm Blind!" - Tracey and Lynn think of everything!). And more people, and food on the table, and much commotion.
Missy outdid herself, kissing everyone including the babies very carefully, laying down next to each dog, and wagging and smiling at everyone that came in. Snappish? Escape artist? She couldn't get close enough!

And Hyla, who loves dogs dearly, was not only happy with the pack of four, but decided to try out the alluring crate - as you can see, she kept herself (and me and Missy) quite amused!

So that's the news from here. Though it rained hard, off and on, all day, and we never did grill anything, everyone was fine inside and the food (potlucks are always so good) was delicious and abundant. We all had a wonderful time, and when Brian headed out to the train station with Lisa, Josh, Hyla and Ayro to take them back to NYC, I looked around at my dog-hair-covered house, the remains of gift wrapping and paper plates, and an exhausted dog, and realized there's a reason why people should have kids when they're young. Now, for more sleep!