More Melody

Here's a few more photos of Melody. She's such a little cutie!

She weighed 20 pounds at her last vet appointment. 

That's the exact same amount Blondie weighed at that age.

She often takes naps near her bowl.

It's as if she's telling us, 

"I don't want to sleep through any meals!"

If she's not napping there, she will probably

be cuddled up next to her "big sister" Blondie.

Today the girls were by the door. I felt like they
didn't want us to leave after all that time spent
together during the cold snap. It also reminded
me of this photo of Rusty taken in the same spot.

Well, it was time for me to get out of the house.

But I didn't get out before shooting this movie

of Melody climbing our stairs. This was a big

deal at our house because Blondie has been too 

frightened to climb stairs for a long time. We are

hoping she will conquer her fear now that she

sees the puppy doing it without any trouble.

Fun in the Snow with Melody and Blondie

Here's a short movie clip of my two dogs playing in the snow. The puppy is named Melody and the bigger dog is Blondie. The clip is open captioned in English.



After all that fun in the snow, it's time to come into the house and get warm. I like this photo of them side by side so you can see the size difference. Melody is growing at the same rate that Blondie did as a puppy so she may end up the same size when fully grown.



Look at who's taken over our living room couch. Blondie is dog tired but Melody looks as if she's ready for more play time.

Meet Melody

Meet Melody, our new golden retriever puppy, just 7 weeks old.

Our little beauty

She's ready for playtime.

Me and Melody bonding.

Sleepy little girl.

Blondie watching over her new friend while she sleeps.

Melody and Blondie meet for the 1st time.
(with captions)

Apple Picking at Radke's Orchards

On a misty Sunday morning this past weekend, my son and I set out in our car to pick apples in Indiana. Our destination, Radke's Orchards, allows dogs on their property, so we brought Rusty, our golden retriever, along with us.

The funny thing is Rusty hates getting into the car so I have to lift him up. He's a large dog so I do it by manuevering him close to the door, putting his front paws on the seat, and then lifting with all my might the rest of him into the car. Ooof! In movies, dogs seem to just jump into cars all on their own and enjoy sticking their heads out the windows, but not our Rusty. Doesn't he look angelic in this photo? You'd never guess he's a reluctant rider.


The fog lifted well before we arrived and we had a perfect fall day for apple picking. I had chosen to travel country roads rather than highways to get there which made for a relaxing drive.

The apple orchard sold half bushel plastic bags for fifty cents each so I ambitiously bought two. We started our apple picking with Galas. The orchard provided us with a map showing where the various varieties were planted. Trees at the ends of the rows were marked with tags denoting the variety name and harvest date.


Rusty was a big hit with all the little children out apple picking with their families. He was very well behaved and enjoyed his opportunity to check out new territory and smells. My son and I had to laugh when he sniffed around the outside of the porta potty and relieved himself right in front of it.


Radke's Orchards has picnic tables located throughout the orchard which makes a great place to eat lunch or just rest a bit. We looked over the amount of apples we'd already picked and decided maybe one bag would suit us just fine. After all it was quite a lot to haul around along with holding the dog's leash, his water bowl, a water bottle, my purse, my camera...you get the idea.


While we were resting here in the shade, Rusty ate some apples and apple peels that were underneath the picnic table. [Unfortunately they didn't agree with him and he got carsick on the ride home. Fortunately we were almost home and I had lined the backseat with a towel.] Ahhh, life with a dog.

We concluded our apple picking with selecting Golden Delicious and Jonagold apples. Safely returned home, that night we made homemade apple crisp. Yum yum! It's easy and quick to make so I've provided the recipe below for those of you who haven't tried it.


APPLE CRISP RECIPE given to me by my friend Marilyn

Preheat oven to 350° F. Thinly slice 6 cups of apples. Mix apples with 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons flour, and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Mix well and place into an 8" x 8" baking dish. Make apple crisp topping by melting 1/2 stick of butter and adding to it 1 cup uncooked Quaker Oats, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. Spread topping over the apples. Bake 30-35 minutes.

Note: I really like the topping and will double the topping measurements.


Hope you're enjoying apple season where you live. It's one of the highlights of my fall.

Farewell, Dear Rusty

Rusty - final photo

Sad, sad news. My beloved golden retriever, Rusty died earlier this month. He was nearly 9 years old. He was part of our family for eight years. We had many good times with him, several of which were shared on this blog. Here are a few of my favorites:

The Brown Sugar Incident or Sweetest Dog Ever!

The Soggy Doggy Easter Egg Hunt

His first blog story, Pancakes for Puppy.

A short story of mine that included Rusty was published this month in the ALDAReader, a publication distributed at the national ALDA convention. The piece was based on this blog post in which dependable Rusty served as my "icebreaker" at a hearing loss support group event. I never dreamed when I submitted the story that he wouldn't be around when I received my copy. I'm really glad I picked that one to share.

Rusty and Blondie - final photo together

We are all heartbroken and Blondie is a little lost without her buddy. She stayed very close to him during his final days. In the first photo, you can even see her fluffy tail by Rusty's nose.  Everyone asks when are we going to get another dog. We are just not ready to think about it yet.

Skunk - 2, Dogs - 0

Recently, our dogs have had two unhappy encounters with a skunk in our backyard. P.U. Multiple baths later and hours outdoors drying off, they have been allowed back into the house. 

P.U. That skunk smell is hard to get rid of. We used a home made recipe from the internet which combines 1 qt. hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, and 2 teaspoons dish washing liquid. We also used a product from the pet store. (We had to visit two stores because the first one was sold out of it. Apparently skunks are active right now around the area.) Then we used normal dog shampoo and conditioner with oatmeal. 

As you can see from the photos below, the dogs were not too happy about their cleanup. Maybe next time they will learn to run the other way when that skunk comes calling!

By Reader Request: Blondie & Rusty

I was asked by a blog reader to post a recent photo of Blondie & Rusty. So here they are! It's hard getting the dogs to pose together, so I hope you will enjoy these two separate portraits. The dogs were wearing flag bandanas in honor of a special family occasion.

Blondie is now a year and a half old.

Rusty is almost 9 years old.

Funny Text Message

My husband sent me this text today:
I hope you didn't like the shoes that were up on the table in the Florida room.

Oops, I had put them up on the table (not a table for eating I want to make clear) to keep them out of my puppy Blondie's reach. Ha! She got into them anyways.

The Crime Scene

The Accused

Blondie's 1st Birthday

What a difference a year makes!

Picture of Blondie taken the day before her birthday.

Photo courtesy of her breeder.

Blondie has brought so much love and joy into our home this year. We celebrated Blondie's birthday over the weekend by taking her and Rusty on a special outing. She had such a good time I want to make it a regular part of our family routine.

Last night I came home from work and discovered she had chewed one of my winter boots into an open toed design. I admit that for a minute I was exasperated, but then I quickly forgave her. After all, it's easier to replace boots than one of my best friends!

While I've Been Busy, Blondie's Been Busy Too

 While I've been busy with school, the
morning glory vine grew into the bushes.



Blondie noticed my lack of time spent in the garden
and decided to relocate some fencing and plants
to our side entrance. See the missing piece of fencing
near the bottom right of the photo? Although at a glance,
the fencing may look like wrought iron, it's only
plastic and apparently easy to chew through.


  Speaking of chewing, this is a new shoe
I bought to replace the first pair of sneakers
she chewed. I must have a lot on my mind,
because it didn't occur to me that she might chew
these ones too. LOL - Blondie's teaching me to
put my shoes in the closet when they aren't on my feet.


 Blondie must not like my busy schedule. When I
came home from work on Friday, I found our
family calendar in shreds on the floor. I spent an hour
piecing it together just so I could write down when the
dogs' flea treatments and heartworm pills are due next.

Another day, I came upon Blondie creating a tutu. She
was unraveling a shower sponge and had it arrayed all
around herself as though she were wearing a tulle skirt.

I feel as outwitted and exasperated as Wile E. Coyote.

Stay Cool

Blondie keeping cool 

With temperatures soaring, nothing beats an afternoon nap in front of the fan. This picture was taken in our basement which stays naturally cool. With a fan running, it feels just like air conditioning.

How are you staying cool?

Beached Blonde

Blondie at Central Avenue Dog Beach, 

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Blondie enjoyed her first day at the beach. At first, she was uncertain what to make of the waves coming up on shore, but unlike Rusty, it wasn't long before she was swimming. Rob had fun tossing her a frisbee and watching her retrieve it. One time she even dove under the water to fetch it. Good girl!

As always, Rusty preferred to stay dry. He enjoyed saying hello to the other dogs that were there.

Blondie and Rusty

Love is blind.
Love is Blondie!

My little miss at 4 months and 40 pounds.

Look how tall she's gotten.

"C'mon, Rusty. Let's play!"

Blondie & Rusty - best buddies

Enjoying each other's company in the backyard
It's going to be a wonderful summer!

Blondie

My aunt asked me for an update on Blondie. I told her I never realized "house breaking" meant so many things around the house would be broken. Blondie looks adorable, but she's a one pup demolition crew in disguise. Here's some of the evidence for your entertainment:

Oops. Did I do that?

Having fun with Mom's puzzle magazine

(When I took this photo, I didn't realize
she had torn up the answer pages too!)

"God bless me" - Blondie

"But where is the plant?" - Mom

Blondie is 3 months old now and 32 pounds.

If they made American dog dolls...

At the end of a long day, we are all "dog tired" at our house.