Tag Archives: Blazer

Escape Artist

24 Nov

That confounded dog is a source of constant amazement.

How he can remove his tags without disturbing his collar totally bewilders me.  So far, he has managed to lose two ID tags, a rabies tag, and two licenses. We only get a new tag every five years, and the county sends us a certificate saying he’s covered. When he lost the first one, I had to pay $5 for a replacement.

He lost that, too.

I stopped at the pet store and had a tag engraved with his name, our phone number, and the fact that he is microchipped. And repeated the process a year later.  We’ve gone out with the metal detector, but when you have two acres. . . well, there’s a classic lost cause.

It’s a darned good thing he can’t misplace that chip. Although it wouldn’t surprise me if he managed that!

 

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Bucky

29 Oct

For the last few weeks, just at dusk, we have seen a large buck either in our back yard or just at the edge of the woods around us. We put out deer corn in the “back forty” (the power company right of way behind us) to encourage him and any friends he might bring along.

The last day or so, he’s been missing.

Yesterday morning, The Squire and Blazer went out to collect the newspaper and found the deer in the woods on the other side of the stream. Ninety acres of state-owned forest behind us, and Bucky had to cross the road.  He’d managed to drag himself a good distance  from the street, and was lying on his side, with his head resting on a log.

Right now, he is perfuming the neighbourhood, poor thing. I kinda wish the vultures will find him soon.

I think the thing that disturbs me most about deer – and mice – is that they don’t close their eyes when they die. They just lie there and stare at you accusingly.

Bucky

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I Ain’t Goin’

30 Sep

Yesterday I was struck with a fit of ambition and took Blazer over to the park. Actually, it was that or go to the Y with The Squire, and I just find it hard to get jazzed up over sitting on a machine.

However…

We had a nice long walk – the loop is just shy of a mile and a half – and we were both pleasantly tired when we got home. Blazer was panting pretty badly;  I had walked him down the boat ramp so he could get a drink but the moving water startled him. He took one or two licks and then backed away quickly when the river lapped at his feet. He tanked up when we got home.

This morning I had a couple of errands to run, but it is cool enough – 60º at 12:30, up from 52º at 7:30 – that I didn’t feel he’d be in danger left in the car for ten minutes.  I grabbed his leash and suggested a ride. He took one look at me and went back to his bed. Normally, he will follow me outside, so I left the kitchen door unlatched and went to feed the birds.

The Squire said he told Blazer to “follow Momma” and the dog just looked at him and snorted.

Maybe we’ll try again on Monday.

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Out and Back

7 Sep

The Squire and I left last Thursday morning to head off for the wilds of Tennessee and Nawth Caro-lina.  We stopped in Winchester to visit our youngest daughter and her husband, and then set off for Newport.  We stopped on the way down at a little shop and picked up a sub for dinner; not quite sure why a foot long sub costs a dollar less than two six inch sandwiches, but there you are. I grabbed a bag of “Fried Green Tomato” potato chips. They did not bear the slightest resemblance to any FGT I’d ever tasted, and cost considerably more than they were worth, to boot.

We stayed with our friends, Mr. and Mrs. Rector, in Newport. Visiting them is always a real homecoming! Managed to leave The Squire’s trousers hanging on the back of the door, but, bless ’em, they’d mailed the long pants to us, and they were waiting at the post office this morning. We reached Canton, NC mid-afternoon on Friday, and settled in with another of his sisters.

It took me several years to sort out his family, as he not only has siblings, but half-siblings in both directions. AND, his mother was one of eleven children. My mum was an only child, and I had one sister. We can have a family reunion in a phone booth and there’s room for an extra chair. They rent a pavilion in a state park.

Anyway, the Canton High School Class of 1962 fifty-fifth reunion was a grand success. The staff had hired a caterer, since so many of us no longer live in the area, which makes pot-luck tricky,  and had made sure there was something for myself and two other vegetarians to eat.  Portobello mushrooms, stuffed with – crabmeat?  “No, ma’am. That’s grated zucchini and Old Bay.” Niiice.

We had to stop on the way home from the party to find The Squire a pair of slacks so he had something to wear to church, and replaced the ones we left in Newport. Lawsy, but I hate Wal-Mart!

We attended St. Andrew’s-on-the-Hill in Canton – of course, just about everything in Canton is on-the-hill. It is rather reminiscent of Gatlinburg; it’s uphill in every direction. An Escher drawing come to life!  There was a supply priest at St. Andrew’s – “The Rev. Walter Bryan; Have stole, will travel” – who had such a resonant voice it sounded almost as if he was chanting when he was only speaking.  The nice thing about the Episcopal Church is that no matter how far you roam, on Sunday morning, you are always back home.

Monday, we took the widow of The Squire’s best friend high school to lunch, and on Tuesday we went to the public library to do some genealogy research. It is jarring to  Yankee sensibilities to see a sign on the library door saying “No Food, No Drinks, No  Weapons”.  He did find lots of information on his family, so it was a day well spent. We got a suggestion from the librarian for a local restaurant, and had lunch in a converted car dealership, now a craft brewery.  A burger for him, a flatbread pizza for me, and a pint of Slippery Rock Ale to share.

We headed back home yesterday – Wednesday – and got back about 6:30, which was very good time.  We stopped for lunch in Troutville, VA to eat at a delightful restaurant called Angelle’s Diner.  We try to avoid chains as much as possible, so we bypassed the Mickey D’s next door to go where the locals seem to eat.  Great food, onion rings to die for, and nice, nice people.

We hit the driveway here at 6:20. Blazer’s leash was in my car, so I hopped out of one vehicle and into another, and sailed off to rescue the puppy, while The Squire went in search of victuals. Both the cat and dog were glad to see us.  Eddie wouldn’t get more than three feet from us, and then sat outside the bedroom door at 1AM and yelled. I let him in and he jumped on the bed, loved me for a while and then settled down with his back against The Squire and snored most of the night. This is not  common behaviour around here, but letting him sleep with us was easier than arguing about it.

 

 

 

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Chow Hound

21 Aug

ChowhoundWhen I woke up at 2 AM for my regular middle-of-the-night ramble, Blazer was sitting outside the bedroom door.

With his dish in his mouth.

I put him outside to make a puddle, while I did pretty much the same thing, and then we both went back to bed. I got up “for real” at 7 AM, and fed him.

After we had both eaten our breakfasts, I went into the den to check my email. Turned around and he was staring at me.

Honestly, you’d think he never got fed.

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A Tangled Web

28 Jul

The Squire and I took Blazer out to get the mail this afternoon, and we stumbled upon a sight that was really amazing.

Blazer has to take the scenic route back to the house – along the road and then up the stream bank, stopping to inspect myriad mysterious things along the way. I often wish he could tell me just what it is he finds so interesting.

There was one point where the bushes and weeds where shaking as if there was a high wind. Closer inspection disclosed a small black snake – caught in a spider web! The poor thing was twisting and flipping this way and that, trying to get loose. I know spider silk is one of the strongest things in the world, but to see this little fellow all wrapped up was amazing.

By the time I went and got a long stick, he had managed to work himself free, and of course we didn’t manage to get a decent photo.

I just wonder what the spider would have thought when it got back? Too big to eat, obviously. Untangle the snake? Try to save it for later? Invite some friends for a party?

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Beep, Beep. Beep, Beep.

12 May

The Gas and Electric company is doing something up the hill from us. In fact, since we live in a valley, they are working up both hills from us.

They start at some ungodly hour – around 6:30 or 7:00 – using what our eldest used to call diggers and pushers. Some folks think they are drilling massive holes to set up the big, single pole towers for the power lines. The “erector set” towers came down over a year ago, and there are already poles in place. I think, but don’t quote me, that they are putting in vaults to bury the lines. But then, why would they have already erected the poles and then come along and bury the lines?

Whatever they are doing is loud. The heavy equipment makes so much noise that I thought The Squire was running the leaf blower outside.  And when the trucks are backing up, the warning claxon is maddening. Beeb, beep. Beep, beep. The truck goes beep, beep, beep.

It is penetrating, and it drives poor Blazer to distraction.

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The Party’s Over

22 Apr

When I went to fill the feeders this morning I discovered the front porch wide open, and about a dozen squirrels chowing down on peanuts.  The “regular” birdseed is in a galvanized trash can, so they  couldn’t get to it, and they had not been interested in the finch food, but – boy, howdy! – did they have a blast with the peanuts.

When Blazer and I went out to feed the fish last night, the dog found a snapping turtle headed for the pond.  I  called The Squire out to take care of that little problem and he had come out through the front door, and then inside via back door, leaving the slider wide open in the process.

Nothing a good vacuum and wipe down couldn’t fix. That and a new metal bucket with a secure lid.

 

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Gonna Get Himself Killed

12 Apr

Blazer does not like to be tied out.

He used to runch himself out of his collar and go chasing up the hill. We bought him a harness – which he did NOT like. He snapped at The Squire in the process of putting it on, and we didn’t try it a second time. He didn’t connect, and I think he just wanted to make his point perfectly clear. Instead, The Squire put an extra hole in the collar, so it darned near strangles him, but at least he doesn’t back out of it anymore.

Today, I had some errands to run, so while my husband zipped around on the mower, I tied the dog outside to let the stink blow off, as my mum used to say.

When I came home, the dog was inside and The Squire was outside. I was informed that while he was mowing, The Squire caught a snapping turtle heading for the pond, and turned off the mower to deal with it. While he was turtle-wrangling, he heard tires squeal and horns blaring and looked up to see Blazer standing in the middle of the road!

The blasted dog had rolled around in the grass until he had gotten the lead unhooked and headed for the hills. Or, in this case, the street.

Houdini never had it so good.

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The Amazing Flying Woman

6 Mar

Saturday I tried to see if I could fly.   I can’t.

As I was coming down the stairs, my foot slipped on the carpet on the fourth or fifth step from the bottom and I went sailing.

I landed on my side on the floor. Missed the carpet, of course. A huge bruise on my cheek, and my ribs are sore – I probably only bruised them, but there is nothing to be done with ribs in any event.

The Squire was at the “Y”, but Blazer came over and helped. Stuck his nose in my face, whuffling and snuffling to see if there was anything he could do.  Dagnabbit, dog, but it hurts when I laugh!

If nothing else, we can be sure I don’t suffer from osteoporosis.

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