Never Too Old For A Nap With Mom – Silent Sunday

image: Bella and Helena; from martha0stout’s phone

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Put Them Down!

So my sister got goslings to help with the weeds in a part of the yard we haven’t done anything with yet. They’re doing pretty good with it, but they’re not fenced in yet. (Because, for some reason, this is how we do the ‘get animals’ thing. We get the animals and then get the fencing.)

Anyway, our oldest dog, Vincent has spent almost two years trying to teach our second oldest dog, Helena how to safely pick up our birds. She’s not the best at it and seems to take a terrible delight in pulling their feathers. We lost a chicken the first fall up here because of that.

They both have soft mouths and can hold raw eggs in their mouths without breaking them. Of course, there’s no way to get the eggs back after they show that they can safely hold them because they eat them.

Now Vincent has realized that the goslings are supposed to wander around, but every now and then Helena decides she won’t stand for that and picks them up to carry them around in her mouth. Whether because she wants to ‘put them up’ or just likes to do it, I have no idea, but she’s not supposed to presently do that and she does actually know that. She keeps doing so today, but half the time before we can even get outside or the window open to stop her, Vincent’s getting on to her and making her let the gosling go.

The gosling, which isn’t missing feathers and is completely unharmed.

When In Quarantine… – Silent Sunday

image: Usako, Helena, Bella (clockwise starting at cat on blue pillow); from martha0stout’s phone

Casts Arise

Why ever have you done this
And trampled over me
Kept your joy contained
Even as it reigned free

Unless this was the plan
Perhaps more clever you are than I am

So I’ve got a cold and feel like crap. I wasn’t going to get up for a while yet because I was warm for once. One of our dogs, Helena, didn’t like that I wasn’t up right now this second. So she catapulted herself not just onto my bed, but directly onto me and started jumping around. She’s a medium-sized dog, our smallest, but she’s still a decent size and heavy enough to knock the air right out of you.

It wasn’t the wake-up call I had in mind and it was at least two hours earlier than I had planned. Unfortunately, I know from experience that trying to go back to bed while Helena wants you up isn’t just futile, it’s also incredibly foolish. She has no problems using her little claws to aid you in arising. Her claws aren’t sharp enough to cut, but they still hurt. (Clipping her nails is hard because they’re black and I don’t want to clip too far.)

Of course, heaven help you if you need to get up and she’s asleep on you.

Exhausted, But Worth It – Wordless Wednesday

image: Helen and pups; from martha0stout’s phone

Expected

Just going to keep going
Onward till the end
Because there was no one else around

That moment when you’re the most knowledgeable in your family to help the dog deliver her first litter because you were the goat midwife. (Which also was a default, because the goat was due that weekend and you were the only person who couldn’t drive granny and the children into town for appointments. So that meant it was your job to watch and aid the goat if needed.)

There are just so many jobs that people become skilled in by simple virtue of the fact that there was no other person around and the job still had to be done.

Animal Whisperer – Wordless Wednesday

image: (counterclockwise starting at the brown cat and ending at the human) Jackdaw, Locutis, Vincent, Helena, Chris; from martha0stout’s phone

My Life Right Now

Comes running in
Jumps on the couch
So excited!
Stop!
What’s that noise?
I’ve never heard that…
Lets sit quietly
Watch what’s happening
Fall asleep
Just in time for the laundry to be done…

My dog’s puppy sister has never heard kittens before. By the time we got her, all of our kittens were grown up. She came rushing into the living room while I was watching a clip about a kitten trying to steal someone’s drink and was Not Happy it wasn’t being allowed. Helena was so confused! It was adorable to watch her lose all of that frenetic energy trying to figure out what was making that noise.

She’s asleep now.

On me.

And the laundry just finished.

All Smiles

Perhaps I had forgotten
Until you saw her face
Peering into the case

We got a puppy a few weeks ago. Ironically, from the same people we got our dog Vincent from. She’s from the last litter they’ll have as their mother was a stray that wandered into their yard and decided she really liked their two male dogs who weren’t fixed. They have a happy little pack, but only recently was the female comfortable enough with her new humans to let them catch her and take her to be fixed. Vincent is three years older than his little sister and he’s from one of the first litters they had.

Moving has been hard on Vincent and we had already decided we’d get him a companion once we’d moved. (We have, in fact, moved and are still unpacking at the new place.) We didn’t expect to be able to get him a puppy which he is just over the moon about. I’m pretty sure he was happier over her than the rest of us put together. He adores his little sister.