Bluegirl and April dog Adventures

Bark out loud, bark out strong, let the Whole World tag along!

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  • It’s a Dog’s Life

    It’s a Dog’s Life

    This morning we woke up with daylight pouring through the big sliding door in Bluegirl’s bedroom. I was snuggled next to her. When she petted me, I turned over and exposed my belly, all four feet in the air, and stretched. She kept rubbing my belly. I so enjoy that. Eventually, she stopped, and I got up, ready to start my day.

    First things first—I need my walk to do my business. I don’t have to make the bed, brew coffee, or even chicory, since she stopped drinking coffee a week ago. I wonder how long that will last. She’s on week five of her WildFit lifestyle, giving up all sorts of things like dairy, grains, processed foods, caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. She already gave up sugar in all its forms.

    She has to put on shoes and a coat if it’s cold. Usually, she asks Alexa what the temperature is in our little town. Once she grabs my harness, I know we’re ready. Sometimes, she lets me wait by the door while she fetches her phone—she likes to take pictures a lot.

    It was drizzling outside, but only briefly—just a light sprinkle. I was eager to reach the line of trees and sniff and sniff. She paused to look at her newly planted herb garden—one tomato and one pepper plant—in the raised box she set up a week ago.

    I have simple needs: lots of sniffing at strange smells. She’ll tell me “enough” if I go on for too long. People can only smell something if it’s very strong. If someone who smokes leaves a room, she can tell they were there. Or if they wear perfume—it’s obvious. In the same way, I can smell creatures that left their scent just by walking through our yard. It’s what dogs can do.

    It doesn’t take long for me to finish, and when she says, “Let’s go back,” I’m not quite ready—I’d like to sniff some more. But I go.

    Inside, she gives me some soft food on top of my crunchy food so I’ll eat. I love soft food, but she says crunchy food helps clean my teeth, so I eat both. She also fills my squealing ball with good stuff—bits of freeze-dried liver—but I’m full. I’ll play with that later.

    Then we go to her “bedroom office,” where she sits on the bed with a meditation cushion. I stretch out along her legs and nap, until it’s time for another walk.

    The day’s not over, and who knows what it holds for Bluegirl. I know I’ll do my usual—and I’ll bark at you soon.

  • Rain, squeals and rear windows

    The day before yesterday, it rained pretty good. We went for a walk anyway, but it was quick. Bluegirl led the way. She seemed to know the driest route. She even turned around to show me which way to go. It was almost like she was checking on me. I think she knows I don’t love getting my feet wet. Once we passed the worst puddles, I was ok. I relaxed and started sniffing around. I had to find a good spot to take care of business. After that, no drilling around to get wet, just a dash for indoors.

    Yesterday was sunny but cold. Today? Colder. One day we had the air conditioning on, the next she’s talking about turning the heat back on. Nothing has happened yet—I’m just trying to keep up with the weather shifts. My fur handles it better than her layers, I think.

    Laundry got done, but painting, not yet. She cleared and rearranged  the work area in her studio and managed to order 5”x7” shadow box frames from Michel’s. They were having unbelievable sale and a good deal on them. In her studio under the desk where she does the painting I have my own spot. Before I settle into it, I always scratch like I’m digging a garden bed. Maybe I scratch to make sure nothing is hiding under to get me. Or maybe I just want to have a cozy hole that has no draft. Sometimes it drives her nuts: “Enough already”, she’d yell. “It’s good enough!”

    In the afternoon she took Ford to get the rear hatch striker replaced. It takes a very large, star-shaped bit—one of those odd tools. Also, the rear glass window lift supports needed installation. The old ones let the window fall down on her a few times. She was very frustrated when camping last year and that happened. Around 4 she drove to nearest town, leaving me at home alone. I was ok no reason to fret. But when she returned two hours later, oh my joy! I was wiggling my tail uncontrollably. I was jumping to get her to pet me and reassure me it was her. I needed to know that all is well. I couldn’t decide whether to run in circles or to keep jumping up and up at her. My ears kept going back and sticking to my head. I wanted to drag myself low. I wanted to jump again. She did pet me and hug me and tried to calm me down. It was just too much I was just so excited. 

    Today we had a little fun with one of my food toys. It is the kind that squeals and dispenses treats when rolled around. When I move it with my foot it rolls and sometimes treat comes out and sometimes not. I’m impatient and whine at it. Mom laughs at me. Sometimes she puts plain food in the toy. Other times, she adds chunks of freeze dried liver bites. I love those. They are so yummy, I can’t get enough. This toy was a good buy from Chewy. Or maybe it came with the bag of toys she ordered from Amazon when I was a puppy. She buys a lot of stuff cheap from Amazon. It comes right to our door. I get to warn her by barking up a storm. A stranger is out there, oh boy.

    Again she is blogging instead of painting. I’m napping nearby, that much is old news. Tomorrow is a brand new everything 🙂 (what did you think I’d bark?) 

  • Bark 3: humid, warm ahh, air-conditioning

    What did people do before air conditioning? Bluegirl started it today for the first time this year. The fan in the sleep area has been running for three days already. Aah, it feels good.

    I should be sporting summer fur by now since I stopped shedding so much. No need for me to move my winter wardrobe to storage and put out summer clothing. We are simple that way. All we need is a nice bath every now and then. She does that in the bathtub and I tolerate it. Maybe I like it a little. I run wild afterwards, rubbing on rugs and shaking myself to rid the wetness. Today, bath is not in the plan.

    She is doing laundry, making wild fit menu, and blogging. I wonder if she’ll get to her #100dayproject . I’m taking a nap.

  • Post two: barking in the city

    It could be a long story, but who has the time? However, as stories go, it might be interesting, entertaining, and there might even be a nugget of information to be learned. Learning’s good for both young and old, after all.

    Now, let me tell you about my mom—well, my human ‘mom’—and I’ll call her Bluegirl when she’s upset me. Yes, she can upset me sometimes, but that’s a whole other story.

    My mom has two cars, both old and on their last leg, but she keeps them for different reasons. One is a 1999 Mazda that gets great mileage—29 miles per gallon on the highway. The other is a 2003 Ford Explorer Sport, a gas guzzler at only 20 miles per gallon on the highway. But it’s roomy, and when the back seats are down and the hatchback open, it’s great for tailgating, hauling large items, or taking a lot of trash to the dump. Most of all, it’s used for camping. She sets it up with the open hatchback like a tent, and we sleep right on the floor. It’s cozy in there.

    As luck would have it, the Mazda’s engine light came on, and she had to tow it to the repair shop. It’s still there, waiting for fuel injectors that they can’t find because they don’t make them anymore. That was three weeks ago.

    Now, the Ford was sitting in the yard with a dead battery. Mom tried to trickle charge it with an electric charger for a few days, but it didn’t do much. She works on Saturdays to help her son-in-law with his business, and that’s when we make our weekly drive to town. I get to play with Coco, the schnauzer, and the kids. They’re a lot of fun.

    This time, though, mom got the Ford started, but the battery kept losing charge. It finally died at the corner of our street. She managed to park on the embankment while we waited for a tow. A couple of hours later, the car was at the auto parts shop, and they installed a new battery so we could finally head to see Coco.

    I spent the day playing in the yard, lounging on the couch, and giving lots of licks to everyone. The neighbor’s miniature dachshund pup was there too. Oh boy! There was a lot of running, chasing, and barking while mom worked on her car troubles.

    It looked like she had a pickup to run, but she didn’t quite make it. A few miles from her destination, the car died again. It was towed 45 miles to the AAA shop, where they replaced the alternator. But then—surprise!—the engine light came on again, so they had to replace the vacuum hose. That took another week.

    But wait—there’s more. The noise! It was loud and scraping, like a wheel was falling off. Mom had to find another shop to fix it, and it turned out she needed new rotors, brake pads, a spindle, and bearings. Another week of waiting.

    In the meantime, mom went to baseball and softball practices and games. The 10-year-old, Cal, and 5-year-old, Jo, both played in the little leagues, and their dad coaches. Their mom helps with snacks and cheers them on. It was nice to get out and watch the games.

    Now, we’re back home, it’s late at night, and I’m stretched out napping. Mom’s finishing up the tale for you. She’s happy the Ford is fixed. At least that one’s good to go. As for the Mazda, well, they’ll call when the parts finally arrive.

  • Exploring Daily Life in SC with Dog April and Bluegirl

    Post one:first bark at home in the woods

    Hi, I’m April.

    I’m two years old, cute and spunky. I’m also very careful, maybe because I’m small by the way they tell the breed of dogs.

    My mom is blue girl, I think she is a little shy to reveal her real self, and because deep down she is sad. She doesn’t think so though, and continues to live as best as she knows how.

    This is my first post and since mom is doing all the work who knows, she is not very tech, and tells me that there is so much she doesn’t know. I think she wants me to tell you the story of us living in rural area of SC, in the house that’s dwarfed by tall pine and hardwood trees. Where deer come to lick salty ground after the watersoftener regenerates, and I bark loudly at them from my perch on the second level, through the glass sliding door. She tells me to calm down, it’s ok, but I don’t listen very well and keep on barking.

    She comes close and gives me a hug, laughs, and says, “Thanks for being such a good guard dog. You told them—they won’t come back to bother us again.”

    I’m not completely reassured, but once those creatures ran off into the woods and out of sight, I sort of forgot about them. I hopped up on the bed and settled down. Mom sat nearby, working on her iPad.

    Most days, we go on a few more walks so I can stretch my legs, sniff deeply at the mysterious smells hiding everywhere, and—of course—relieve myself. I’m very regular that way. Always have been.

    Mom walks me on a 16-foot retractable leash. I never go anywhere without her, and never without the leash. She’s afraid I might run after a car or get lost in the forest. I wouldn’t mean to, but I do get excited sometimes.

    For the most part, that’s how our days go.

    But the past few weeks? We’ve been in the city. Mom has a daughter there, and two children I like quite a bit. There’s also a dog named Coco—a miniature schnauzer. He’s black, a few pounds heavier than me, and I have to admit—he’s handsome. We’re the same height, though, and even though I’m a super mutt, I’ve got 25% miniature schnauzer in me too. So I think of us as distant cousins. Very distant. And between you and me? I’m still cuter.

    Next time, I’ll tell you about our stay in the suburbs. Mom had to get her car fixed—it took two whole weeks and a lot of money. I don’t concern myself with that kind of thing. I’m a dog.

    But she’s the one writing this, so I know she wants to tell you that story.

    Catch you next post—I’ll be keeping watch.