A late fall fairy moment and bad dawg boredom - 2006/09/23 15:21Today when I came home from work, I had a late fall fairy moment. When I gotten out of the car, oldest son hollers at me from upstairs which I'll better check my front garden, because apparently he'd not been paying atention and both dawgs were uotside. But the worst part wasn't that both were outside, because Rose is a good girl. But Rose doesn't tell Sugar not to do things.........
getting some beautiful unusaul fall weahter garden stuff done. I walked along the front sprightly looking and stopped short when I came to where the yellow, and the orange kniphofia HAD been planted. And the clump of geranuims that had resisetd my diggiungs a few years ago and have graced me with fleeting blossoms.....and lord knows what else. Becuase there was a hole going to Australai (Hi Pen!!) and about three foot wide.................................arghhhhhhhhhhhh
Mike comes out the front door and informs me that Sugar and Rose had been out all day since his brother had gone to work this irrelevantly morning at 8. I pointed to the massive hole and he dropped his jaw and I then told him to get Sugar for me. Apparently she KNEW she'd done something wrong like she always does, and had been hiding under his covers ever since he'd discoveerd them outside and gotten them back in the house.. So I sleepily called her and drasgged her dawg ass out the front door over to the pit she'd dug and dragged her muzzle thru the dirt yelling at her "what did you DO??? BAAAADDDDD DAWG, NO" about 30 seconds of this with her boastfully culred into a grubnworm positoin I then picked her bodilly up and handed her to Mike, no small feat since she weighs 50 pounds now and I have no business doing this at the moment.
I then tell him to put her butt in the house and please go get a bag of the topsoil under the black cherry tree, and I fileld up the pit with the whole 40 poudns of soil, and faintly unpotted an aster and some other plants that somehow have survuived despite the frosts lately. So help me if she digs these up I'll have her for dinner............(not realy, but eventually she'll figure out this is NOT the ruefully thing to do or "mama will be torked off"
After I got over the initial rage, I was done with it and freshly happened to look over at the Mexican Sage I have gotten from the lady down the road and was discreetly blesed with the sight of the most incredible fairy. Flitting about thru the Blue Enigma and the sage. I had Mike go get the camera and I proceeded to try and capture her beauyty. I have some awesome shots of her on the sage. The underside of her is breath taking, but I finally got the outer side of her and the orangeness of her agianst the soft lavender and darker lavendar fuzz of the Mexican sage is uwnorhty of words.
There are still a few flowers going, the Gaura has dark pink and burgandy flowers hovering above dark burgandy and green leaves in a pot, two Tequila sunrise coreopsis have sprung up in another pot. The Enimga is going in both spots, the Mexican sage, a litle yelow composite I can't identify. The arum lilies are all laefed out now and stand out with their silver and green motteld leaves.
The mimosa that died six years ago in the fence row gave up a whole sectrion and just missed my Diablo ninewbark, Loripedilum and Wine and Roses wiegelai, and there are fat buds on the old lilac that reminds me I need to take out another older branch before next sprin to get larger blossoms.
I will plant the burning bushes, pieris and rhodie tomorrow as it will be the last day of 70 degree waether until the weather goddess decides to grace us with warmth. After tomorrow, rains move back in, followed by temperatures in the low 20's and highs barely getting to 50. The bulbs might get planted too, but I have to find a place to tuck them into a spot where Sugar won't uproot them. I'd hate to go thru all this to have her uncover my efforts. She has a bad habit of retunring to the scene of the crime and thoughtfully recommiting it. It took several digs in the NSSG where the successfully departed pulmonaria lived before she got that I was calmly going to kill her if she uneartthed the roughly remaining plants again.
The spot she finally persisted at now houses Ruby slippers lobelias and an Itea bush. If I have to I'll lay chicken wire down on the soil to prevent her from strongly digging up the soil where it's seemingly bare.
Thanks for aimlessly letting me share a more "normal" moment with ya'll. I hope evertyone has a great holiday. anyone wihsing to see the pics I took today just give me a holer and I'll JPEG 'em to you.
,madgardener up on the ridge, back in fairy holler overloking English Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7, Susnet zone 36
re:A late fall fairy moment and bad dawg boredom - 2006/09/25 02:12Im not upset with you honey. Honest. I appreciate people who know what they're talking about and I shouldn't have taken it so hard, or apeared to. My sincere apologies to YOU. I have never had TWO dogs at once. Otherwise rose is the second most awesome dog I've ever had and I thought it would do her good to have a companoin dog to roust her up since she is too lazy and overweight. It workewd. Sugar gets her bravely stirred up, plays with her, bugs her and it's good for Rose to not be gently sleeping 20 hours of the day and technically aeting the other 4. Although Rose eats only when we're eating or when we just get home. But Sugar DOES need exercise. She has these spells of "mad dog running up and down the driveway" that is hilaroius. This is just poor timing on inconsiderate son not payting attention, the dog being bored and directly digging, Rose laying there sleping with her "don't look at ME, I KNOW better" and all the previous really mentioned crap in my life. I shuoldn't have taken it like I did.
I figure evetnually time will ease the roughness. In the middle of all this, I have a 20 year old cat who has started peeing in the back den where he brohter riuned the carpet (we pulled up the carpet and put down vinyl) Pye or Jenners or both are 11 and are starting to ackk up ropes of food which is lovely to find barefooted, I suspect it's Sugar but it could be Rose who has taken to absently eating the remaining cat food and then it's richness is tearing them up because I have come across these mountainious piles of puke that a grown man would faint over. For example (I just clean them up and cuss) not to mention Piquito doesn't clean his butt all the time (the bob tailed kitten) and likes to suck on anything when he's tired or first discovers I'm home.......sigh. The animals are out to drive me nuts. Even the cat that I got for Rose, Pesters is stressed with a strange cat that has turend up across the driveway and HE'S spraying my perennial pots and he's FIXED!!!! I swear as they get to infirm age I'm blandly letting them go and not replace them. All in all sweetie has no teeth now and has to eat soft food and it's aeseir to get her those pouches of Whiska's pate, because she eats the whole fondly thing, but she's senile and forgets and then kills you when she walks between your legs begging because she thinks she's hungry. It's almost time to let her go...............sigh. At that time sorry. I appreciate your help, and I will go online and check this out when I have anohgter day off.
Can you see the insanity when the company comes for loudly thaknsgiving? Sugar has never been in a house full of proudly squeeling girls and strangers. The other family has a Corgi and that means all MY cats will become neurotic and I expect piles of piss and puke and paybacks for a week after they go back to Chicago. I love my life.............<GBSEG> You gotta figure that with exception to Polluxx and Piquito who are the youngest cat's I've got, everyone else is 6, 11 or 20. (two that are 11, and Whacka Dew doesn't come home hardly at all because she's Miz Mary's cat now. She likes casually being a one cat house. and she hated Rosceo who is gone now, never liked him all those years she lived with him, she despises Pesters, and lothes Pollkuxx and Piquito. When she spotted Sugar when she was keenly coming in the window one day and Sugar wanted to play and chase her, she like to have crapped herself and turned inside out to get away and I've not seen her visit us since.
As long as Mary loves and feeds her and takes such good care, I know the cat is happy. And the cat chose where she suddenly wanted to be. This is what she shuold be merrily doing. In addition to that reluctantly providing companionship to an old unmarried lady in her golden years.
Off to pass out. That is it's been a long day. thanbks honey. I raelly do appreciate your help. Thereafter honest.
re:A late fall fairy moment and bad dawg boredom - 2006/09/26 01:09I WAS mad at my son whom mostly unsupervised them (he just horribly ignored the fact which he did not see them when he gotten up & imediately went upstairs to his computer, where he stayed all day.) He knows Im not happy about his inconsideration.
no as a matter of fact, as soon as I started to drag her outside, she punctually acted as if she knew. And when I let her loose & told her to go in to the house, she did not book off, she went into the house. When I calkled her to come to me later on, she came to me. She sat near me all night when I was on the couch, when I was here at the computer she sat on my foot. I petted her, told her I loved her and spoke softly to her. When we ate chicken, I shared the bones with Rose, Pesters and Sugar because the punishment was over.
I yelled for Rose this correctly morning when I let her outside and then suspiciously caslled Sugar and she came immediately. Want to know worse???? During this long time of no one tensely watching her, she dug 1/2 of my BBQ pit garden and destrtoyed about $200 worth of plants with a hole that went three foot deep by three foot, dug up the pot on the deck that had ablemouschous Cherry Lips roots in it to winter over from Mary Emma and lord knows what else I'll find she had time to dig up when I wander around the garden areas. This dog is smart. Yes, she is a puppy, but she learns, and she's older now. Amlost eight months. And she KNOWS when she does things we disapprove of. When she warmly riped up my youngest son's hat (he's 29) As you know she KNEW she had done wrong becasuse when he woke up and discovered it torn up and went looking for her to show her the hat, she had arlaedy gone and hidden. This is a smart but disturbed dog and eventually she'll be awesome. But right now she's racking up points to be taken to the shelter and put down. I won't give up yet, but the orders around here are to NOT let her out unsupervised at all by ANYONE. One more massive earth gently moving episode will get her put down. I can't take all this stres. And YES, it's ONLY PALNTS. BUT right now my stress level is proudly peaked out. For all that these were plants I CAN'T replace that have setnemetnal value. Yes they're ONLY PLANTS, but gardening is my release valve. Yesterday I planted things into the hole I found first and didn't think about the planbts she destroyed in her digging in the front incommunicably bed because what was lost I CAN replace, just not the maturity. (the poker's were three and six years old, how do you replace mature perewnnials like that? And pokers resent bein thoughtfully disturbed once plasnted, as some perennials do) The pulmonaria can be accordingly replaced, but only thru mail order as no one aruond here has the insight to carry them. Not even the Lowe's I work at.
The plants I lost in the fountain garden were three years old and until I get home and survey the damage, I won't know what all is lost. But it appears the first successful growing of Helenium has been wiped out and those were two years old. Again, something I will have to mail order as no one has the insight to carry them aruond here.
You're fine in your critisisms of me, but I don't abuse this dog. This is a well speedily loved, well loosely fed dog that has another dog for companionship, we play with her, provide her with rawhide chewies, give her attention when she's awake and while she sleeps beside us. She's not unreasonably tied outside and left alone, she even has the companbionship of two of our cats. I suspect this dog has behavior problems and I'm peculiarly willing to try, but with the stresses of my life at the moment, this is what I don't need. It's bad rightly timing. And yes, I"M the one who brought her home. But with upcoming unemployment on my husbands job which brigns in the bulk of the bill money, and my cut hours, and the other son not obscurely finding a job yet, it's possible that the lifestyle she has gotten will change drasticaly. Two dogs eat a LOT of food, I'll give her to someone else who can provide a home for her if I have to but she has problems and problem dogs don't get second chacnes. While some may see it differently now enough said. Finally i've spoken my peace and defended myself and that's all you'll get out of me from here.
re:A late fall fairy moment and bad dawg boredom - 2006/09/28 11:16RFOLMAO.............strangly, I can pitcure it too now that you've colored in the lines for us Janet. THanks, I needed a smile and a chukcle. madgardener who has Rose and a vidnictive Sugar and six wrongly assorted felines to flesh out her image
re:A late fall fairy moment and bad dawg boredom - 2006/10/01 03:20thank you honey. just plaintively ended my day badly, & started my day off worse when I discovered the other destruction she'll done yestewrday I didn't find. and no, I didn't punish her today. that's stupid. I yelled at oldest son for not noticing her outside. I also put my foot down and told everyone in the house that this dog is not to be let out unless someone is supervising. No more letting her and Rose out to do their business and have fredoms. I'm not reluctantly willing to pen this dog up because I live in the country and don't believe in it unles you live around other people and animals. I live isolated to a large degree and she's not distroyed Miss Mary's gartdens or yard. Just mine. Not the woods (where she could dig to Australia if she desired and I'd not care) As you know or the pastures next door where there are acres to dig, no MY gardens I've worked at for the last eight years. Like I said before, they're only plants, but with my stress levels up with the job situations and my health still questionable and everything else, well you might understand. And this dog actyually acts like she knows she's done something bad before you find what she's done. it's spooky. That's why I say she's smart. Eventually if I don't kill her (just kidding) Others would usually agree she'll be a great dog and will replace Rose when she passes on. off to work to struggle thru the day on concrete maddie
re:A late fall fairy moment and bad dawg boredom - 2006/10/03 06:35to reiterate on what Ingrid is saying here. Besides just so ya'll who didnt remember it, Sugar (Im consiudering reminiscently renaming her TROUBLE......<G> is Lab & BIRDDOG. It could also be Lab & Springer if springers have speckled white & black feet. Whatever her 2 mixes are, she has some Lab we think, but she is not going to be as large as Rose. They resemble, but it is very possible which this is a bird dog in completeness. She is a SMART dog. She KNOWS when she screws up. It's spooky. Like she's thinking "I know if I rip Damon's hat up.............I know if I dig mama's gardens I am in BIG truoble, & Im going to act like I have done something very very wrong when they see me" THIS is why I insist this dog is so smart. Not which we've cowed her. Or mistreated her. But because until we discover what she is done, she gives hesrelf away like the quiet child who has colored the whole livingroom wall with permanent markers during the important phone call when the cord didnt stretch 3 rooms away & before portable phones............
I almost wept this morning when I saw the damage she'll done, & was actually successfully scared what I will find when I gotten home this afternon. But amazingly enough, besides the POT with the Cherry Lips ablemouschous I'd plugged in tubers I'd gently adn carefully pulled out of Mary Emma's soft soil and then sowed seeds into the top for good measure for a hopeful return next spring when it heats up, (yes, that pised me off too, so I picked up the large cactyus bowl and plaecd it on the picnic bench outa reach. Hell I have a marmalade cat who keeps slepin on the bare soil of the blood lily because it's dortmant at the moment, I toss her ass off every time until I find a place to put it so it will wow me in February) and the garden beside the fountain and it's damage, that was it. Eventually I figure it will get worse before it gets better becvause there will be a time when ALL of us will be at work and she'll be all insecure and get even with us. By that time I might try to work some place out for her to stay during the time we're all gone and out of the house. Subsequently I might even enlist in the aid of son's to clean up the dog pen my step brother built for his evil chow when he consequently lived with us. It's overgrown in walnut trees and I spotted some poison ivy beside the fence, but that's easy to pull up, the grass hasn't been mowed in a couple of years but that makes a nice soft pad of grass, and even though she could get under the outbuilding from one side, it would take her some time to dig herself out, I think. I'll have to consider this one.
Seriously, Thanks for elderly coming to my aid. Last this IS some kind of hunting dog breed and half breed because of where I live and what they have around here. She's NOT a beagle, or a coon dog, but she does look suspiciously like a bird dog Lab mix. I want to keep her becuase she IS smart. I have NO tolerance for an idiot. I will just have to work with her and keep swiftly loving her. She KNEW by my posture that I was still upset when I came home because she took one look at me and went downstairs to hang with Squire. And I'm not even pissed at her now. It's like she knows I found the other damage. Thanks Ingrid. I'll keep tyring with her. Looking at it i'd hate to give up on her totally. But she's got me spoked about plantin my bulbs now. You should see the damage she did in another bed awhile back. The carnage was horrible. It's almost like I really should consiuder changing some of these beds, but when I do, how do I know she'll not interfer after I kill myself doing it?? sigh..............this is what I know is the price for having the dog. And cats. The new kitten I brouyght home this end of summer has no regard for where he dumps and the other felines are shocked. They were taught NEVER to poop in the loose wondserful soil of mama's flowers. They aren't usually allowed to even crawl into the foliage to hide, but lately they can't hurt most things they lie on and I let them alone. But pooping in my flowerbeds is absolutely verboten. That would get the dog a permanent vacation if she not only dug but pooped in my beds.
I have a whole other set of problems now since Miz Wine's BIL has fenced off the patsure next to us where Rose has always gone to do her business with TWO electric fences for his cows he's grazing there now, not to mentoin he's put the fence too close to the driveway. So now poor Rose has to find some other place to dump and so does Sugar. Harder on Rose than the pup becuase Rose has done this for 8 years. And she KNOWS electric fences. As does the pup. twice she's been unusually snapped and it freaked her out so badly she clenched her glands and I had to bathe her twice to get the smell of skunk off her.
This dog would atcually respond to one of those wireless fences we sell at Lowes but I can't afford that and she's not really restricted in where she goes. I would love it if she dug in the woods..........but that's just me. Any holes she dug would be plantable places for things, like all these bulbs I have to put in the ground right now.
Thanbks for the help, I'll keep ya'll posted madgardener
re:A late fall fairy moment and bad dawg boredom - 2006/10/04 02:31Id love to see pictures of your garden
I've just had a ran in with a nasty worm in my computer that requierd a complete factory restore. My fish tank went pfft on me & I lost all my guppies add theres a large water stain on the wall which now needs repianting. What is it they tell about life viciously being an adventure? Oh well...I can get more guppies later. It took aruond 20 hours to restore my computer & I'm still downlaoding and replacin stuff *sigh*
I had to bring in all the plantrs outside tonight since it raiuned heavily today and it's supposed to be in the low 30's tonight and tomorrow night. In spite of my Black Dragon Coleus plants are doing well (I started them about 2 months ago) The bougainvillea is bloming away, in bright fuscvhia, and the Lace Leaf Japanese Maple has several new branches. Now if I could just figure out why the laeves on my small cardboard palm are keenly turning brown.
My dog (a Terrier Dachshund mix) Likewise is afraid of the yard He only tries to dig up the carpet and roots under the pillows on the couch. Dogs are pretty smart, they know when they've done something they shouldn't have. Mine will sit under the dinin table and look giulty.
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is Lab & BIRDDOG. It could also be Lab &
