Monday, June 28, 2010

FARMER'S MARKET

During the summer our little town has a farmer's market set up on one of the streets in the historic district that is lined with antique stores etc. It's only on Thursday and I love it. Montgomery always goes with me and this is his third summer. He loves it too and of course he always gets loads of attention. I have an old wooden radio flyer wagon that has wooden slats on all of the sides and I always take it with me in case I get a watermelon or a lot of corn or peaches or who knows what. This is my first summer with Brogie and Zeke and ...........yes, I was crazy enough to take all three at the same time......... with the wagon in tow ............to the first market of the season. We created total chaos in no time at all...........it was a happy, lovey dovey kind of chaos.............but it was still chaos. We had leashes wrapped around me, the wagon, baby strollers, moms, kids, dogs, farmers and anything or anyone who approached us............and everyone approached us. Cavaliers are magnets...........people are always attracted to them and kids can't keep their hands off of them and their moms are so happy to see how gentle they are. But an hour of untangling leashes and dogs is enough for anybody and we headed home.

Now I take one dog each Thursday and it works out great for everyone. Montgomery's day is like ole home day.........lots of people know him and he gets treats from some of them so he's in heaven the whole time.
Zeke is actually a shy boy and I didn't know how he would do without the other boys but as it turned out he had a solution...........as soon as I got my wagon out of the back of the suv he jumped in it , I started to get him out but he loves to ride and he looked so happy sitting there.......... so off we went. He's been twice now and each time he jumps into the wagon and inspects all the produce on the way back to the car. He gets a lot of attention sitting up in that wagon.
Brogie always walks on my left and slightly behind me...........he is perfect on the leash.........but for some reason the wagon confused him. He kept wandering behind me and walking beside the wagon so I tied him to the left side of the wagon and pulled it with my left hand...........he was content and each time I stopped to look at some fruit or veggies he sat down beside the wagon and waited for people to come over. He is precious and loves all the attention he gets.

Quite a few people bring their dogs..........and some of them are cute and sweet............some, not so much. I know they all love their dogs but I don't think any of them get as much enjoyment as I do from my little guys. A friend of mine told me recently that she would love to have a dog but they are too much trouble.............I shook my head and said her problem was that she had never had the right dog. I am so lucky.............the right dog times three.
e

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

PET FRIENDLY

Lots of things about the rental market have surprised me but this takes the cake!
A young hot shot rental agent gave us a call with a lead on a house with a "pet friendly" policy. I realize that the English language is ever evolving but the word friendly now has strings attached. After viewing the house we felt it could work for us...... so he handed us a FOUR page rental application................couldn't believe the things they wanted to know but we saw no problems until we got home and read the whole thing.
At the bottom of the last page there was a paragraph that was entitled PET POLICY and it started off by stating a nonrefundable deposit of $5oo was required .............per pet.............we have 3 dogs and 1 cat...................but that's not even the worst part!!! The last nail in the coffin was that the rental amount would be increased by $25 per month ...............per pet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obviously I have been looking in all the wrong places and working with all the wrong people. I could not resist calling the agent .............and in my most softspoken southern way I suggested what he might do with his rental application and all of his other rental requirements. When I finally gave him a chance to respond he stammered his way through an apology............. and waived all of the pet requirements. I thanked him and wished him well in his career and life............and I left it at that.
If I don't find a house soon we are going to be living in the car..............Zeke would love that!!!!!!!!!!!
e




















Sunday, June 20, 2010

HOUSE HUNTING

In the past each time we got out of one house we would build another, but this time we are not sure what we want to do or where we want to be............. so for the time being we've decided to rent a place until we can decide. Some form of retirement is around the corner and I just know we are not going to be living in this area for that, but who knows! The last time we rented a home was in 1973 and boy oh boy have things changed.
We have two major requirements.........a garage for Steve ( no, not to live in ) and a fenced in yard for the boys..........and I guess there is one more thing.......I don't want to pay an arm and a leg. Is that too much to ask? Maybe.
When a rental agent says "charming family home" that means little house with three little bedrooms and a one car garage with an area to store bicycles. A "cozy home with character" means a tiny house with itty bitty bedrooms and a color scheme that will knock your socks off. But if he says he has a "spacious executive home" that translates into a house that you can fit most of your furniture into but is grossly overpriced...............so the search continues.
We have been taking the boys with us when we do our first drive by to see the outside of a house and check out the neighborhood and even though Steve and I find it tedious, the boys are having a blast. When they see another dog or ducks (they were all over one little neighborhood) the boys bark and wag...........bark and wag.
We almost hit a deer in Belfair and I thought Zeke was going to have a stroke............it took him 10 minutes to calm down. Every time we slow down and look over at a house they all look in the same direction as we're looking and check it out............Brogie looks in the general direction but Gummie and Zeke stare as long as we do. It's our version of HOUSE HUNTERS.
e























Friday, June 4, 2010

COFFEE

Every once in awhile I have a mostly sleepless night during which I worry about............you name it and I worry about it. I'll worry about some personl things but I'll mostly worry about stuff that I have no business concerning myself with. Go figure......maybe I think I can solve the problems of the world in the middle of the night...........good luck, right? Last night or should I say this morning at 3am I was still awake but at 3:30am I was getting sleepy. Big problem.........I had to pick up my best friend at 5:30 to take her to the airport. Decided to make some coffee and wouldn't you know it the can had about 1 tsp in it. None in the pantry either...........no problem ......Kroger is open 24 hours and it's just a few miles away. Simple!............or maybe not.
The boys are always asleep at this time of the morning but the phone rang (friend calling to make sure I was up!!!!!) and I picked up my keys and walked out to the garage. When I opened the car door Zeke catapulted himself onto the front seat with Montgomery landing almost on top of him. So the three of us were off.............almost. Just as we were pulling out of the garage I saw Brogie at the top of the stairs .............sleepy eyes and all. I was in a hurry but who could leave that sweet boy.......I lifted him into the car and we took off.
Shopping in the middle of the night has some perks.......my parking space was so close to the front door I could almost jump from the car into the store. As I walked in I hit the button on my key to lock the car......just habit.............but that's a mistake when you have the boys with you.
I was walking up to checkout when I heard all the noise and saw the lights flashing and a few people coming into the store all laughing .............I heard "they're so cute" so of course I knew who they were talking about. I paid for the coffee and walked outside to see my hazard lights flashing and the car alarm blasting and 3 very alert boys. The lights were so bright and the alarm was so loud!!!!!!!! My car has a motion detector and the boys set it off and then stepped on the hazard light button. There was a firetruck parked nearby and two firemen were standing by my car.......oh no........ I asked if someone had called them. No ma'am, he said, we were going in to get some things for breakfast and thought we'd wait here until the owner came. That would be me , I said............ and they started talking about how the whole time the alarm was blasting the boys were just wagging their tails and never looked stressed or anything like that. I thanked them and we went home.
I really didn't need any coffee after all of that.
e