Pages

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Fosters, Flutes and Frost

You know when you say yes, then some days go by and certain information makes its way into the dark crevices of your cranium and then....WHAM!?  No?  Some days ago, I got an email from Peanut Butter's foster parents (who I secretly think wish they had never given him up - too bad ... ) asking if there was any way I could look after their current foster for a weekend.  Of course.  I can certainly relate to wanting to get away for the weekend... 


Because we live so far from each other, it was decided that I would toss the dogs in the car after work on Thursday and drive to meet them halfway at a popular dog-rescue-meet-and-greet area.  Sounded great at the time but I failed to realize a) it now gets pitch dark by 7 and b) I loathe driving in the dark.  They failed to realized that the favorite spot was not lit.  After an hour's hair-raising drive, we finally made it to the abyss meeting spot.  They pulled in and we tried our best to light the area with our headlights.  How did it go?  There were four dogs involved; Peanut Butter thought he was going home with them; Lovey, tail firmly cemented to her tummy, was having nothing doing with this new dog, the dark and strange people all in the dark; we were all afraid someone would call the police.  I finally just said the heck with it, put Lovey and Peanut Butter (his foster mother, still trying to get one last cuddle in) in the back seat and put Rusty Jones in the front.  Rusty, poor lad, thought it was the end of the world.  I drove back with Rusty trying to get onto my lap (he's Lovey's size) and everyone else exhausted.  By the time we pulled in, it was 10P and they had not eaten.  Soooo, in we went, with Lovey still giving Rusty The Lip every once in a while.  I got their dinners together and then there was calm.  We took a little time to peruse the chicken yard in the dark, then came inside to collapse.  I had had the foresight to take Friday off, which was a very good thing, as I think I got four hours of sleep.  Everyone settled down and Rusty was actually playing with Lovey and there was much kissing, on and off all day.  I renamed him Velcro and got almost nothing done.
Are you now my mommy?

What's going on over there?

The dark lump is PB...

This is more like it!
Saturday, however, I escaped and met my sister at The Clark in Williamstown, MA, for a telecast of Mozart's The Magic Flute.  OMG!  It was quite wonderful, especially compared to the bizarre rendition of Obsession we had witnessed the previous week.  The costumes, staging and talent were spectacular and I developed a major crush on the baritone.  It was a beautiful autumn day.


NOT the baritone.  He had dimples...
View from the museum parking lot.
Luckily, Rusty's foster parents swung by on their way home Sunday, so I didn't have to repeat the night-time drive.  He was thrilled to see them - having believed he had been abandoned...again.  The four of us (Slimbo ventured out after he was sure the monster was gone) stumbled to our positions (Peanut Butter is back by my side) and made it an early night.


Monday night brought freezing temps.  I knew it was coming but had very little time to spare over the weekend to get things battened down.  I did manage to empty the duck pool and drag in the Meyers Lemon tree - without putting my back out - and repot the geraniums for their indoor hiatus.  Sunday was a very windy, warm day - the precursor to the cold front, thundering toward us.  It brought some rain, so I left the geraniums outside for a free watering.  Yesterday I brought them in, along with the fig tree, and I had all good intentions to cut my herbs when I got home from work.  Instead, I spent ONE HOUR inching through traffic caused when some nimrod rammed into the back of another car in one of two lanes.  I am sure he/she was texting something of incredible importance - the state of their adenoids, perhaps?  I was sure to put the voodoo curse on them as I drove by at one mile an hour.  By the time I pulled into the driveway, it was too dark to clip herbs.  I did a very fast round of evening chores and then put my headlamp on and covered the oregano and marjoram and clipped a few sprigs of pineapple sage.  Everything else was on its own.
Beautiful flowering pineapple sage
I have not had a chance to reconnoiter the garden since the freeze.  I doubt if anything survived except for the kale - that survives almost anything!

31 comments:

angryparsnip said...

So much going on.
The dogs have been through so much happy to know everything has gotten settled.
No freeze for me still in the 90's.

cheers, parsnip

Theresa said...

LOL, it is amazing the places we find to pass off pups. The rescue train around here likes the Home Depot parking lot. It's got good lighting too. ;-)
So glad everyone got along and the Velcro learned an important lesson. His peeps do come back. Even when we think our lives are not busy they are....
I like to to remember to just sit and "be". It's dang hard to do.

Michelle said...

I feel dizzy from just READING your post. No good deed goes unpunished, huh?

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

I do like the pictures of the dogs all tucked in on the couch! We've had night time temps go down to single digits (celcius...zero is freezing) but to my knowledge, no frost yet. I don't even care about my garden now. -Jenn

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

What a whirlwind of dog fun. I can't imagine driving at night with all of them. My garden calls me too. So much to do yet.

ElaineChicago said...

I'm surprised you didn't ask to keep Velcro!! Is that a shadow of a sheep outside on your curtain or something else??!!

Ed said...

I grew up on a farm with dogs. It was easy to leave that way because we just gave them extra food and left. If gone a long time we would have someone stop in every few days to put out some more food. Now living in small town Iowa, it isn't easy like that and so I resist getting another pet. Maybe when I'm older and have no plans to travel anymore.

jaz@octoberfarm said...

i thought for sure velcro was going to be a new addition! how do you winter over your geraniums? do they have to go inside before a frost?

Susan said...

Hey, parsnip! I shovel on the love and hope for the best, when it comes to all dogs. I do hope we are done with the 90s, although this freezing stuff is a little too much too soon.

Susan said...

But, "be" what? :) I would have gladly traded the dark grassy spot for a Home Depot parking lot. Poor Lovey-pants is easily frightened and all that dark and strange moving bodies was a little much for her. Yes, I think that Rusty was just over the moon when he saw his foster dad - he is a man's man dog.

Susan said...

Hahaha! I was just thinking the same thing!

Susan said...

Yes, good riddance to the garden, I say!

Susan said...

Elaine, don't think that didn't cross my mind. Luckily, I let it go right by. I am not ready for a third dog. Unless Scrappy reincarnates. That is a handwoven linen shade, given to me by a very dear friend who has passed on. I love it.

Susan said...

How about a travel-sized dog?

Susan said...

Your heart answers before your brain. No cure as far as I know even if you wanted one.

Florida Farm Girl said...

Well hell, looks like winter is approaching. We actually got down to 37 degrees here on the hill night before last. I still haven't done anything to my deck plants. Debating whether to toss them all and start anew or haul them inside again. They get messy and very leggy inside over winter.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

The only two things to survive nuclear armageddon will be cockroaches and kale.

Ed said...

I'm a big dog kind of person.

Susan said...

Isn't that the truth! My brain has always been lots slower than my heart...

Susan said...

Yes, it's making a beeline for us. Nothing seems to happen gradually anymore. I had the same debate about my geraniums. Frugality won out.

Susan said...

At least the cockroaches won't starve.

Susan said...

As tempting as it was, I couldn't do it to Slimbo. He is still adjusting to Peanut Butter - although it is going well! Yes, I have been over-wintering the same geraniums for about four years. I divide them up every fall into pots, bring them inside and then put them in two large pots in the spring. I am too cheap to buy new ones. Plus, they are still looking good, so I don't have the heart to let them die.

Susan said...

So, no ground-squirrel-sized Maltese in your future? :)

Susan said...

It never seems to end, does it? It really is one of the big blessings of snow - it covers everything you didn't get a chance to finish!

Mama Pea said...

You are just too good a person . . . with a HUGE heart. If I am reincarnated, I want to come back as one of your dogs.

I had a pineappple sage blossom like that once. It was gorgeous. And huge!

Rain said...

Hi Susan :) You are a lovely soul. :) Too bad you couldn't keep Rusty...looks who's talking with 5 dogs now lol...I love the photos of the dogs under the blankets, we do the same, cover them all up, even give them pillows for their little heads :)

I'm GRATEFUL I don't have to commute anymore, I hated every moment and it gave me even worse anxiety. Knuckleheads who text and drive deserve to be thrown in the clink.

Theresa said...

Be whatever....;-)

Sandy Livesay said...

Susan,

You're such a sweetheart with animals!! I know the other family truly appreciated what you've done for them. A freeze, already!!! Oh dear, I'm glad you were able to get your plants taken care of.

I hear you, the darkness comes too darn soon now. It's hard to get everything done outside before it's too dark to continue.
Sending hugs and love your way,
Sandy

ElaineChicago said...

It's Fantastic!!!

Leigh said...

I'm so glad you mentioned your Meyers Lemon tree! I must remember to bring mine in too! We're supposed to dive down into the 30s in the next day or so and I really want my lemons to survive and ripen!

You're such a good soul for dog sitting. He looks like a sweetheart and it probably did his moral good to go "home" for once.

The production of the Magic Flute looks like it was a really good one! I'm a Mozart fan and of course who doesn't love the Night Queen's aria?

Leigh said...

Susan, "Like!" LOL