The hazards of weeding

The chickens like to eat dandelion greens and the minute delicacies that live in the roots. It's a cheap means of getting them their salad greens, so every once in a while I dig up the plentiful weeds from what is called a lawn, for lack of a better word. This evening Miro helped by putting his head in my line of sight everywhere I started wriggling the trowel into the hard-packed dirt.

Being Airedale-experienced, I know it is highly dangerous to let the dog get his head anywhere below yours when you bend over to tie shoes, pick something up, or weed. The Airedale head will inevitably pop up straight into your nose, chin, or eye; and you will go out the next day looking as if you have been in a fight. On me, it's not a particularly romantic look. As a result, every time Miro got between my head and the weed, I moved my head away and groped around, trying to dig up the dandelion without being able to see it. The chickens grumbled over the poor pickings.

Noting my apparent interest in dirt, Miro dug a few small holes; but I was not able to persuade him to dig up any dandelions. Probably I was just teaching him the joys of digging holes in the back yard, a lesson I'll pay for later.

Leggy

Miro plays with his favorite toy

I was upstairs when I heard an almighty thumping and scraping and tearing. Naturally Miro halted his efforts to dig his way through the box when I went down to see but I managed to capture a bit of the action. It's never the toy; it's the box it came in.

June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square

Although this is a blog about enjoying animals, not a political blog, I'm making an exception today to observe the 20th anniversary of the pro-democracy uprising in Beijing's Tianamen Square when the army moved on its own citizens to crush the demonstration. In an attempt to quell observances of the anniversary, the Chinese government blocked a number of electronic communications.

Those of us living in countries with laws protecting our right to free speech can mark this day for the sake of those who cannot.

Miro's first beauty treatment

I have missed keeping up with other dog news, not to mention missed keeping up here. Last week Miro had his first ear-gluing and stripping. Less and less puppy coat remains. No more punk hairstyle! It's always sad to see that go. Here are before and after pics.




Standing on the grooming table nets lots of treats.