"Juli" Without an 'E'

As much as I love sharing silly and fun stories about all the crazy stuff my pups do-I have a special tale to share today. I had the honor of taking care of a super sweet pup this week that has left quite the impression on me and gave me a lot to think about.

It all began when I met with her owner for an initial consultation. As I was filling out my paperwork and getting all the details I would need for the week, my client pointed to the folder where I had her dogs name written and she said, "it's Juli without an 'e'. She then shared with me a little history about Juli.

We all face challenges in our lives. We all have baggage that we carry. We all suffer hardships from time to time. Hopefully, most of us have family, friends and members of our community to help get us through these times-even if it's simply a kind word shared, a hug offered or lending a hand when we've taken on too much. We have been blessed with a voice and can use it to share our fears or excitement, to ask for help or offer help to another.

If your an animal lover like me, you have probably watched your fair share of animal rescue shows on Animal Planet. Or perhaps you have seen your local news channel's segment on this week's pet for adoption through an animal shelter. Have you ever stopped and really thought about the hardships, challenges and baggage that these shelter animals carry with them every day? What their eyes have seen, their ears have heard and their hearts have suffered from?

I learned that day that this is Juli's 3rd family in her many years of life so far! I don't know what her early life experiences were but she found her way to her second family by a husband who desperately hoped that this dog would bring some joy to his wife's world. See, his wife was not well and had struggled with her emotions for quite some time. Juli did bring lots of happiness to her and they were described as being like "peas and carrots". Inseparable thanks to the bond that only a dog and his owner know. Sadly, life's challenges were far too overwhelming for Juli's owner and she made a choice that left Juli alone in this world once again.

Juli found her forever family and couldn't be happier! (by my standards anyway!) She is surrounded with love in a home where life is happening around her with every minute of every day. She always seems to smile when you walk into the room and doesn't hesitate to lay down at your feet and roll over in hopes that she'll get a nice belly rub! Dogs are simply amazing.

Dogs don't have a voice, they can't ask for help, they can't share their feelings, they have no way of showing you what their eyes have seen in hopes that you will understand what they need- not the way we do anyway. One thing is for sure though- they will never run out of love and understanding for their human companions! If your family is ready for the unconditional love of a pet-check out petfinder.com, they have almost 350,000 pets just waiting for their forever family to bring them home!

Unfortunately, even those with a voice are not always able to use it to get the help they need and life's challenges overwhelm them. Today's blog is dedicated to a childhood friend of mine who left this world way too early this week ~ And to Juli without an 'e', for sharing your puppy world with me.

A Thief Among Us

This crazy southern weather has been doing a job on my flowers and vegetable garden this year. Usually I am overwhelmed with tomatoes by now-but not this year-so every ripe juicy tomato I pick is worth its weight in gold! In my haste to get out of the house the other day (Garden Ridge was having a huge sale ~ and I have been in search of a park bench-how could I resist?!) I left the basket of veggies I had just picked on the table, vowing to wash them when I got back.

Shopping turned into dinner...dinner turned into dessert...needless to say it was no quick trip to Garden Ridge~ though I did manage to find an awesome bench for the front porch! I had long since forgotten about the basket sitting on the table until I saw one of my puppies jump up on the table {{GASP}} and poke his big furry head into the basket! (Note to self: work on table manners with the pups) That's when I noticed something was missing. I had waited days to pick this tomato, checking it daily for just the right firmness and color~it was the perfect tomato! And now it was GONE!

I was willing to overlook this until I went back out to my garden...okay, apparently in my rush to find the perfect bench I also forgot to close the gate to my garden...and the ONLY other tomato on that plant had a big 'ol bite taken out of it!





It was time to take action and have a little "chat" with my not so sneaky dogs. I don't mind sharing veggies with them but there needs to be rules! I called them each into the interrogation ~ I mean living room, and this is how it went...

First, I questioned them about the basket. I already knew who the guilty one was but I wanted to see who would cave first!





It quickly became obvious that an alliance had formed among the new guys and I got the feeling they were well trained in how to get through an interrogation! Then I brought up the half eaten tomato on the vine left to rot ~ and that's when it all started to fall apart!




Nobody was willing to fess up to the crimes...and I'm pretty sure this isn't the last of the veggie burglar!

If by this point you're still reading this-and thinking I have way too much time on my hands...you are probably right! And I am fairly certain the only one that learned anything through all this was me... (1) always double check the latch on the gate leading into the garden and (2) next time Garden Ridge is having an awesome sale that just can't wait ~ buy the red cushions to go with the bench...

Blackberries For Breakfast

We've had some wicked storms come through here over the past couple of days. Yesterday, Mother Nature sent some tornado's our way and about 10:30 pm last night the power went out.

No power = my Blackberry didn't charge last night so I left it on the nightstand this morning-plugged in...about 30 minutes later one of my children hands me an unidentifiable object and tells me one of the pups had it. As soon as I turned it over, my mind went into search mode-scanning my memory to identify what this light purple piece of plastic went to.

That memory search took all of about 5 seconds to identify it as the back cover of my Blackberry! I sprinted upstairs-muttering a few choice words under my breath, desperately hoping that the rest of my phone was still sitting safely on the table.

No such luck! Caught him red handed (or is that red pawed) chewing on my Blackberry like it was a delicious treat! This week alone I have found my clothes, hair accessories, flip flops and now my phone in his kennel! I think I have a battle for the alpha dog position on my hands...

I learned a couple valuable lessons- the first one is that the couple $$ a month for insurance-is well worth it. New Blackberry will be here tomorrow morning. The other lesson I learned is that it's important to stay positive and have a sense of humor when things like this happen... I'm still trying to find the humor in all this...

Anyway-I am posting a couple pictures...one of the guilty culprit obviously displaying his look of shame afterward and a picture of what used to be a brand new Blackberry. The picture doesn't actually do it justice because the screen actually has tooth marks that go right through the phone and the backside is pretty much chewed up!

One Bad Bird!

I am an avid gardener. I am that neighbor that drives the rest crazy every spring and fall because I am right out there digging, composting, mulching, pruning, moving around plants to make room for new additions-and I do it with enthusiasm! I am that motivator for everyone else-though not always willingly. I have gotten used to hearing their 'sighs' as they comment that I am making them look bad! We have fun with it though -I have some great neighbors.

One of the benefits of my obsession- I mean hobby, are ALL the birds who nest in my Bradford Pear trees, grapevine and Chinese Privets. Each spring the birds get busy building their homes as close to my house as possible, after all, my yard has one of the few 5-Star restaurants known to birds in our community! Each morning countless birds wait in line on the fence for their turn to dine in my veggie garden and compost pile.

This year two Northern Mockingbird's nested in my yard. We watched these Momma's work tirelessly, carrying twigs, twine, leaves and netting up to their new homes and then we waited with anticipation to hear the sweet sounds of baby birds chirping so we could get our first glimpse at our new fuzzy friends. That's when things turned bad!

Each morning I let my two German Shepherd's out into the backyard where they run around as fast as they can, chase each other, chase some butterflies and burn up energy before coming in for breakfast. On one particular morning, I noticed that they were hovering near the door and no amount of encouragement was getting them to go play. Later that afternoon the same thing happened! I decided it was time to investigate.

I walked my yard looking for anything suspicious that would cause these two gentle giants to cower in the corner but found nothing. My being in the yard must have given the dogs courage because they quickly joined me, nudging me towards the pile of Frisbee's waiting to be thrown and that's when it happen! Out of her nest, Momma Mockingbird came swooshing down with determination and poked the dogs right in their butts! And it didn't stop there! She called out for a full assault on these poor pups and before I know it there is another Momma coming from the other angle!

This aerial assault went on every time the dogs tried to go outside. The poor things could barely get one paw off the patio and it was on in full force! Now, it did not take long for these smart pups to figure out what was going on and they must have had a secret meeting to plot their counter attack because after a day or two of this rather comical act-they figured out how to bait the birds to chase one of them-so the other could get out to the yard to "take care of business" and then they would switch places! Smart pups indeed!

Our fuzzy friends have long since left the nest...and each morning they can be seen in line on the fence waiting for their turn to pluck a juicy worm from the compost pile or pick at the ripe strawberries. As for the German Shepherd's...they are back to their old games of running around playing and barking at all the new sounds they hear, obviously content to have their space back again...that is until Momma Mockingbird does an occasional fly over just to remind them of who the real protector of the yard is!