Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Update on Lucky Dog

I broke the news to the husband last night over the telephone that a stray was at the house. He gave me the "uh huh," "really," and "you didn't feed him did ya?" Well, I HAD to! So I told him the dog was extremely scared and timid so don't mess with him when he came home.

This morning the husband asked me what I planned to do with the dog. My response was feed him, see if anyone comes lookin' for him and if not, take him to the no-kill shelter. The husband looked straight at me and busted out laughing! He said you won't take that dog to the shelter.

I told him there was a reason he showed up at our house. The husband said "yea, he was told to go to the crazy dog lady's house, she'd take care of him." That's not a bad thing, is it? So apparently, according to the husband, there is an underground dog society that helps strays find the crazy dog people.

This morning I found him curled up with Miss Kitty. I gave him a treat and headed to work. This afternoon he seemed really happy to see me. I tried taking his picture but he is scared of the camera. He cowards down and runs off anytime I bring it up to my face or press the button. I wonder if it reminds him of a gun or something? But I did get this one....


Lucky Dog

He seems to be a very sweet dog. Doesn't quite know what to think of Diesel though. Diesel soooooooo wants to play with him. I tell him to be gentle with Lucky Dog cause he's fragile. But the word fragile is not in Diesel's vocabulary. We'll need to work on that.


Tuesday, September 29, 2009

A Stranger Among Us

I came home this evening to find a dog at the end of my drive. Initially, I thought it was Diesel and he had managed to get out of the fence somehow. But as I got closer, I realized it was a dog I hadn't seen before. I stopped after I pulled into the drive and tried shooshing it away. I thought it may be the neighbor's dog and it would go home.

I went on up to the house and changed to do the chores. Came back out and saw the dog laying in the pasture. I let the kiddos out of the yard and noticed they didn't pay any attention to the dog. Very odd. So we did our chores and I kept an eye out to the pasture. The dog never moved.

Finally, I walked back down the drive and stood at the fence. He still laid there. And the kiddos didn't pay no never mind.

Finally, Diesel decided he needed to check it out. As soon as he headed out, the girls followed.


The kids advised me that the stranger was okay.

I called the dogs back and went about my business. The stranger stayed in the pasture. Then I put the kids back in the yard. I turned to see the stranger had come up to the barn so I went to check him out.

The first thing I noticed is he was EXTREMELY timid. See the submissiveness he showed just when I walked up.


Then I could see that he was skin and bones. His ribs and hips were poking out. And something had happened to his right eye. I think he may be blind. It was real cloudy and had scars around it. He also had some marks on his body.


I really don't know where he came from but he belonged to someone. Has a collar and flea collar on. The collar is pretty ragged out. No tags. But he hasn't had any groceries in awhile. So he got a bowl of food and some belly scratches. Don't know what the husband is gonna say. Well, I do, but I don't listen anyhow. If a dog needs help, I'm here to help it.


Monday, September 28, 2009

My Child Has Blood On His Paws

So you remember that cute scare crow that I showed you on Sunday? Well, it lasted all of two days here at the ranch. I came home to this...

Exhibit 1:


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Exhibit 2:


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Exhibit 3:


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The head was never found. I think the culprit was trying to stop the identification process. Or the cause of death. But I think both are pretty evident!

There is just something about fall decorations and my animals. If you've been around for awhile, you may remember this little incident. I thought I took the necessary precautions to ensure the crow's safety. He was placed outside the yard fence. The dogs are only allowed outside the yard in our presence. Somehow when the husband allowed them out this morning, he didn't see the perpetrator grab the victim. He swears it was an inside job. Otherwise, the victim was hid until the husband left the house. It's all a little fishy if you ask me. RIP not scary enough scare crow


Saturday, September 26, 2009

Sunday Stills-Signs of Fall

This week's Sunday Stills challenge was to photograph signs of Fall. Well, it is really lookin' like Spring around here. We've recently had lots of rain and the temps are still warm. The grass is green and the crepe myrtles are blooming.

But to get in the Fall spirit, I recently bought mums to decorate the entry and front gate. That's the only fallish thing around here right now.


pink mum



white mums



mum close




orange mum


And I couldn't leave out the cute lil crow I picked up today.

Crow

Happy Fall Everyone!!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Happy Dance

Yep, I'm doin' a happy dance. Can you picture it? Well if not, it looks a little like this..




And why am I doing a happy dance? I'll give you a clue.


Yea, that's not really a good clue, huh. So here it is, the husband got a job as a warehouse supervisor with Dr. Pepper! Go hubby! Go Dr. P! Go job!

The husband was laid off late March, yet for some reason our bills kept coming? What's up with that? He has been on unemployment since April and was within a week or so of runnin' out of benefits.

Lucky for us, we have a great friend that works for Dr. P. He let the husband know about the opening and put in a good word. The husband wowed them at the interview and he starts on Monday!

He is soooooo ready to get back to work. He never thought it would take so long to find another job. He figured he would work around the place for a couple months then get back to work. But it didn't quite happen that way.

I'm happy for him but I do have some mixed emotions. Cause now, who's gonna do the dishes? Or the laundry? Or run my errands? Fix my lunch? Cook my supper? Hmmm, maybe I'm not as excited as I originally thought?!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Hottie!

I was looking thru my old photo albums scanning some pictures and came across this one. This was one of the FIRST pictures I had of the husband after we started dating. I remember having it right next to my bed in my college dorm room. I couldn't help but stare at it wondering what this hot guy was doing dating me. I don't know what I did to snag him, but I was a lucky girl. Still am 14 years later!



Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Which Way Did They Go?

I don't know where these guys were going but it wasn't together!


They are so silly. Runnin' crazy!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Fishin' Crazy M Style

We went out to the tank this afternoon for some fishin'. How often do you see your average fisherman with the following?


Yep, that's how we do it here. Fishin' pole in one hand, 22 in the other! Actually, we're having an issue with snakes in the tank. And if you know the husband, he HATES snakes! His reaction has gotten LOTS better over the years. He used to hurt himself trying to get away from a snake. Now, he's a little calmer. Not as good entertainment for me but at least he won't hurt himself!

Unfortunately, the fish weren't bitin' today. Diesel was on bobber patrol.


Well, this could be one reason the fish weren't bitin'! There was a lot of splashin' goin' on.


Diesel likes to make a splash, or two, or three....


Loved this pic. It's the "what, I didn't do it" look.

Even though the fishin' wasn't any good this afternoon, we still had a good time. The husband shot two snakes so it was still productive. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Practicing for Christmas

Y'all remember how our Christmas pictures went last year, many outtakes in order to get a good one. Well, today we had a little test run on the family pic. Well, part of the family pic.

I had worked on the entry to our place. Bought some mums. Had the husband help me with a welcome sign. Got it all purty and the husband said hey, let me take your pic with the dogs. Okay! Of course, Pepper was too busy to be bothered with a picture. She was no where to be found. Zena, Diesel and Harley obliged me though. However, I couldn't wrangle them all at once. I only managed to get two at a time in a picture. And I had my hands full with just two!

Zena is all about the love.

The Lick


Harley and Diesel didn't know what to think about it.

Group


Then Harley drew the line! Diesel intruded into his personal space!

Mad Harley


Diesel was being such a good boy. Notice the bone. It keeps him from chewing on my arm, leg, finger, pant leg, etc. The rawhide bone is a necessity right now!

Me and Diesel


There may be hope for the Christmas pic. Maybe...

Friday, September 18, 2009

Friday Funny

A friend sent me this story via email. It is too funny.

"THE LAWN MOWER "

We have the standard 6 ft. Fence in the backyard, and a few months ago, I heard about burglaries increasing dramatically in the entire city. To make sure this never happened to me, I got an electric fence and ran a single wire along the top of the fence.

Actually, I got the biggest cattle charger Tractor Supply had, made for 26 miles of fence. I then used an 8 ft. Long ground rod, and drove it 7.5 feet into the ground. The ground rod is the key, the more you have in the ground, the better the fence works.

One day I'm mowing the back yard with my cheapo Wal-Mart 6 hp big wheel push mower. The hot wire is broken and laying out in the yard. I knew for a fact that I unplugged the charger. I pushed the mower around the wire and reached down to grab it, to throw it out of the way.

It seems as though I hadn't remembered to unplug it after all.

Now I'm standing there, I've got the running lawnmower in my right hand and the 1.7 giga-volt fence wire in the other hand. Keep in mind the charger is about the size of a marine battery and has a picture of an upside down cow on fire on the cover.

Time stood still.

The first thing I notice is my pecker trying to climb up the front side of my body. My ears curled downwards and I could feel the lawnmower ignition firing in the backside of my brain. Every time that Briggs & Stratton rolled over, I could feel the spark in my head. I was literally at one with the engine.

It seems as though the fence charger and the piece of shit lawnmower were fighting over who would control my electrical impulses.

Science says you cannot crap, pee, and vomit at the same time. I beg to differ. Not only did I do all three at once, but my bowels emptied 3
different times in less than half of a second. It was a Matrix kind of bowel movement, where time is creeping along and you're all leaned back and BAM BAM BAM you just crap your pants 3 times. It seemed like there were minutes in between but in reality it was so close together it was like exhaust pulses from a big block Chevy turning 8 grand.

At this point I'm about 30 minutes (maybe 2 seconds) into holding onto the fence wire. My hand is wrapped around the wire palm down so I can't let go. I grew up on a farm so I know all about electric fences.....but Dad always had those piece of shit chargers made by International or whoever that were like 9 volts and just kinda tickled.

This one I could not let go of. The 8 foot long ground rod is now accepting signals from me through the permadamp Ark-La-Tex river bottom soil. At this point I'm thinking I'm going to have to just man up and take it, until the lawnmower runs out of gas.

'Damn!,' I think, as I remember I just filled the tank!

Now the lawnmower is starting to run rough. It has settled into a loping run pattern as if it had some kind of big lawnmower race cam in it. Covered in poop, pee, and with my vomit on my chest I think 'Oh God please die... Pleeeeaze die'. But nooooo, it settles into the rough lumpy cam idle nicely and remains there, like a big bore roller cam EFI motor waiting for the go command from its owner's right foot.

So here I am in the middle of July, 104 degrees, 80% humidity, standing in my own backyard, begging God to kill me.

God did not take me that day.....he left me there covered in my own fluids to writhe in the misery my own stupidity had created.

I honestly don't know how I got loose from the wire... I woke up laying on the ground hours later. The lawnmower was beside me, out of gas. It was later on in the day and I was sunburned.

There were two large dead grass spots where I had been standing, and then another long skinny dead spot where the wire had laid while I was on the ground still holding on to it. I assume I finally had a seizure and in the resulting thrashing had somehow let go of the wire.

Upon waking from my electrically induced sleep I realized a few things:

1- Three of my teeth seem to have melted.

2- I now have cramps in the bottoms of my feet and my right butt cheek (not the left, just the right).

3- Poop, pee, and vomit when all mixed together, do not smell as bad as you might think.

4- My left eye will not open.

5- My right eye will not close.

6- The lawnmower runs like a sumbitch now. Seriously! I think our little session cleared out some carbon fouling or something, because it was better than new after that.

7- My nuts are still smaller than average yet they are almost a foot long.

8- I can turn on the TV in the game room by farting while thinking of the number 4 (still don't understand this???).

That day changed my life. I now have a newfound respect for things. I appreciate the little things more, and now I always triple check to make sure the fence is unplugged before I mow.

The good news, is that if a burglar does try to come over the fence, I can clearly visualize what my security system will do to him, and THAT gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling all over, which also reminds me to triple check before I mow.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Where Have I Been?

We didn't float away. We're you beginning to wonder? Did you even notice I've been gone? Okay, don't answer that!

I went on a little work retreat in the Texas Hill Country. The husband had to be a bachelor for a whole three days! More importantly, he was unsupervised for THREE days! However, I arrived to find him intact along with everything and everyone else.

So my work meeting was held in a very nice upscale resort called Horseshoe Bay. The landscaping was the most impressive part of the place. It was beautiful. Like you were in a tropical paradise in the middle of Texas. Very cool.




A face reader was at the training. He says you can tell everything you need to know about a person by their face. I finally got the courage to have him read mine. Here's what he said about me:

I think I'm always right. (pa-shaw)

I don't take criticism well. (whatever)

I'm very hard on myself. (who isn't)

I get bored easily. (what, are you still talking to me?)

I need a creative outlet. (okie dokie)

I exude authority. (that's right mister!)

And I have movie star cheek bones so I'm noticed more than others. (you can't see it but I'm doing my beauty pageant wave.)

It was really amazing. So much so, I bought his book. Gonna try to learn some face reading techniques.

Learned some good stuff but was happy to get home. The husband and kids welcomed me at the gate. I think they missed me a little bit.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Six Inches and Counting

It's been raining! For three days as a matter of fact. Most of the time it's a nice slow rain but every once in awhile we get some hard down pours. For the first two days, the ground was soakin' up all the water. I guess we got saturated cause today our place looks like this...





We had to go to town for groceries this morning. Our bridge is about under water. I made the husband stop. He told me it wasn't safe to sit there and take pictures. But I did it anyhow. The bridge will most likely be under water by this evening.




Lots of water everywhere. We live three miles down a dirt road. Luckily, our dirt roads are maintained well enough with gravel that it's not a big ordeal when it rains. The only issue we have is the water going over the roads. In Texas we have a sayin' "Turn around, don't drown" due to flash flooding. You have to be real careful not to get washed off the road from the water.


We made it back from town with a few goodies for the dogs. Diesel doesn't mind the rain cause he got a new bone. Doesn't he look happy...


The husband may have to get the aluminum boat out of the barn to take me to work tomorrow!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Country Folk Go To Town

The husband and I went to a play last night. Actually, a musical.

IMG_3465

A friend from work got a part in the Little Shop of Horrors at the local civic theatre. We couldn't pass up a chance to go root him on so the husband, another coworker and myself went to watch.


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The husband said I didn't tell him it was a musical. He was a little skeptical. A little culture wasn't gonna hurt him.

The pictures aren't very good. I had to be covert. Photography was prohibited. Did they really think that was going to stop ME from taking pictures. Please! The husband said I'm an outlaw!

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That's my friend, Joe, on the left with his hand puppet. Oh, I'm gonna give him all kinds of grief about that hand puppet!

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They did a great job. We enjoyed it. Well, the husband described it as "different" but I'll take that as it was okay. The funniest moment came after the musical. As you leave, the actors are lined up for you to congratulate them and talk. The very first lady looked at the husband and said "Bet you would rather be huntin' then here, huh!" I busted out laughing. She had him pegged!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Two Peas in a Pod



Or trough...


Yea, I'm talkin' 'bout you two!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Come on Fall

It's still HOT here. Just ask Harley...

If there is a mud hole around, he'll find it.

Monday, September 7, 2009

The Playing Has Begun

Zena has decided that Diesel isn't so bad. She's always stand offish in the beginning with a new pup. She has to affirm her position as top dog before she can commence with the play. Yesterday, she must have decided he knew where he stood in the grand scheme of Crazy M pack and let loose.

The chase was on...



Zena lets him take her down ...




Then she runs him around the hay...


They have so much fun. Zena FINALLY ran some energy out of him. After they played and we went for a walk, he came back to the house all tuckered out. Of course, about two hours of rest, he was rarin' to go again. He recharges very quickly!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Helpin' Out Around the Ranch

Diesel thought he should help out with the chores today. He helped the husband feed Silk.


Tagged along while the husband fed some others.


Served as security while the husband fed Death Wish.


Over saw the burning of the trash. Safety first you know.


Properly disposed of old horns lying around.


And removed old cactus parts from the grounds. (no needles in our cactus, just fyi)


He's fittin' in real nice!