Miro's Low Tech Start-Up

Friends, do you have a problem with guests overstaying their welcome?

 

Has your old college buddy taken up permanent residence on your couch? Or maybe Uncle Bob came to dinner and never left? Party guests still hanging around at three A.M.?

 

Then you need Miró’s Room Clearing Service! Guaranteed to make your unwanted guests leave in five minutes or your money back!*

 

I accept cash, biscuits or jerky.

 Your consultant hard at work.

 

*Transportation costs are non-refundable.

 

Angry birds

This is to file an official complaint with the management.

 

A very bad dog vandalized my home this morning. (see below)

 

 

Here's the evidence.

 First, he apologized and said he was very ashamed of himself.

 

Not!

 

 

What's a girl to do?

 

 

 

 

4-15-13

People who take a non-human family member into their lives and hearts become familiar with the joy and grief of loving those whose lives are too short. With those experiences comes compassion for all others who endure sorrow.

"Many runners, clad in the blue and gold jackets given to this year’s marathoners, made pilgrimages to the blockade on Boyleston..." New York Times

Scented Saturday

 

Despite cold, stormy weather, flowers are blooming before the rain pounds them into droopy mush. This hyacinth bent under the weight of water.

 I started this daphne from a cutting years ago. A bad freeze during the winter killed most of its leaves. It looks like a stick with a few little pom-poms on the end but it's the best-perfumed plant in the Northwest, with a complex, haunting scent.

This vine is just opening. I could smell the honeysuckle-like scent in the air yesterday evening, despite the cold. The vine seems to like hanging out on the deck.

 

Maybe somebody knows what it is? It doesn't look like photos of honeysuckle.

Somebody's favorite year-round smell is that of dirty dishes.

The quest

One fine day when I let the chickens roam the yard, Edna the Modern Game bantam disappeared. When I rattled the treat dish, the signal that lures them back to the pen, she did not come. Had she flown over the fence, never to be seen again, like Zora? I hadn't heard a disturbance in the yard. I waited. An hour later when I shook the dish again, she emerged from the bushes making cranky squeaky noises, like a mom awakened too early saying, "Will you kids pipe down?"

I knew what she'd been up to. After locking the chickens in the pen, it was time to let out the hunting dogs.

Intrepid hound #1 didn't quite catch the idea of coursing through the undergrowth.

 

After the Mistress of Hounds (I've been reading English novels) cries, "Find it!" fearless hound #2 goes on the alert, listening for the faintest rustle in the wild wood.

Possibly in here.

A little deeper.

Boldly breaching the bushes with no thought of menacing wild boars.

 

 

 

Is the prize somewhere in the jungle? We're moving freely around the world from King Arthur's Britain (wild boars) to the jungles of Borneo where orangutans hide. It's an epic quest, worthy of post 500.

Ah ha!

 

 

 

The great hunter finds and consumes his prey. And totally blocks the camera.

 

The author hides one egg in plain sight for Alanis but has to remove it before Miro gets it. Most epic quests end with having to pick up the toys and put them away.

 

 

 

 



Miró's coming home day

Exactly four years ago today, Airecraft Airedale Miró flew home with me from Ohio, mostly on my lap. Ten pounds at eight weeks old, he was the biggest kid in a litter of twelve, which I nicknamed The Dirty Dozen.

He settled in right away.

Today he is the picture of neglect  robust health at almost 60 pounds.

But he cleans up and gets serious sometimes.

 

 

The next post will be #500!



 

 

What Wednesday?

Ah, spring!

The wearing of the green

How could anyone not kiss my adorability?

 

 

 

How about the profile for true nobility?

 

 

 

Mom says I'm relaxed 'cause she gave us green beer for St. Paddy's day.

 

 

 But here's the real story. She bought this stuff after Alanis had her teeth cleaned. It's supposed to keep new tartar from forming. I'm not so sure I like the funny flavored water.

She says I'll get used to it. Yeah? So why isn't she drinking it?

 

She says she gets to have this kind of funny water tonight.

 

Seriously?



$1200 later

Alanis' $400 teeth cleaning today morphed into $1200 with the unexpected radiographs, additional anesthetic, and extractions. For that price, they should include false teeth; instead the vet took out five. Poor Alanis has the worst teeth of any dog I've ever owned. She's also on her way to outliving my previous Airedales. Maybe running less and sleeping more helps you live longer.

The weird thing is that her front incisors are worn down to nubs. The vet says that will happen with dogs who chew on toys a lot and/or like to carry tennis balls around. In the 4+ years I've had her, I've never seen Alanis do more than pick up a toy and drop it again. The only chewing she has done was on the occasional bone.

I did learn that tartar and other tooth problems build up faster in older dogs. Her teeth had looked OK six months ago and were in bad shape today. The veterinarian, as vets do, suggested brushing her teeth. Right. Like trying to brush the teeth of the Looney Tunes Tasmanian Devil when he's in dervish mode.

Alanis will get soft food for the next seven to ten days. I bought some canned food to have on hand but cooked ground beef, potatoes, and carrots for her and mashed it all together. Miro will be soooo jealous. Anybody know how much of that stuff to feed a 40-lb, elderly Airedale?