We all learn things from our animals. I like to occasionally make a list of things that I've picked up over the past few weeks, so thought that it would be a good thing to do at the beginning of a long weekend. So, without further ado... THE LIST.
1. Hydrangea bushes, especially freshly planted ones, hate dog pee. Argos has managed to kill both of the ones that I planted in the back yard last fall, and I'm wondering about the one that I planted back by the fence near Romeo's grave. I have one perfectly healthy hydrangea - on the side of the house where Argos can't get to off-leash.
2. Dwarf spruce shrubs, especially freshly planted ones, hate dog pee. Two dead dwarf spruces and one that is looking kind of ragged.
3. Grass hates being run over by dogs. Especially my grass, which struggles due to being in dry shade anyway.
4. I may have to completely pave my backyard to keep it from turning into a mud pit every time it rains.
5. It doesn't matter if cats have the run of the entire house except for one room, they will obsess about that closed door and not enjoy the rest of the house.
6. It doesn't matter where you partition off ANY of the animals, they all want to be on the other side. Argos desperately wants upstairs, the cats desperately want downstairs, and EVERYONE wants into the guest room with the fosters.
7. Coming home smelling like another dog is one way to make sure that Argos refuses to leave my side for the rest of the day.
8. The fridge only exists to hold milk and other things that Charlotte might like.
9. It is apparently okay to wake up the entire house screaming your head off because you're hungry.
10. It is apparently okay to wake me up in the middle of the night to show me that you killed a stink bug in the hallway.
May we add that it's imperative to wake up from a dead sleep and praise the moaning twenty pound tabby perched on your chest for killing the toy carrot.
ReplyDeleteIt's not really something I've *learned*, but sometimes Casey the Lab wakes up from a nightmare barking as if someone is breaking in to the house and gives me a heart attack each and every time. Everyone's in a dead sleep and then all of a sudden, he has some outburst of the most savage barking I've ever heard.
ReplyDelete11. Cats will ignore you all day until the telephone rings. Then they want/need food, water, and all of your attention.
ReplyDeleteIt is also okay to wake up the whole house if your bed isn't positioned properly in front of the floor fan! *snort*
ReplyDeleteOur yard is half dirt and weeds, I know the mud pit woes. And I had to giggle at having the smells of another dog, try having six sniffing and licking you for a good half hour after you even come close to another dog. BOL!!
ReplyDeleteAh, the lessons we learn from our animals! :)
Great list!! One to add:
ReplyDeleteI've learned I shall never, ever go to the bathroom alone again.
I have a cat who wakes me up in the middle of the night to eat too!! It is part of the fun of having animals!! Yes?
ReplyDeleteHope you have a wonderful Forth!!
xx. Fern
Thanks for your visit!!
crapola, I just typed a whole really good response to your blog, then lost it.
ReplyDeletedang it all.
So the short version is.
Love the blog
Love the lessons learned
and FYI a SWAMP COOLER is a big fan that has water pumped into it and it sits in the window and pretends to cool off your house.
Oh to have central air.
Love
Bert
OMG, I laughed my head off at #5 and #9. Truer word were never spoken. P.S. I miss you!!
ReplyDeleteAh the companionship of the blogosphere. I love all the observations in this post, Melanie. I also need to add to smj's No. 11: And commence to biting the phone cord. What do you say to the client on the other end of the phone, as this is happening? It gets even more interesting when the cat moves over to biting the ankles.
ReplyDeleteThat is one good list. Luckily we don't have any boy dogs, so our bushes don't get killed. But we do know all about closed doors and cats.That is a really good list though. Take care and have a fun day
ReplyDeleteHeeHee, I can relate to numbers 5 and 6 fur sure!
ReplyDeleteThis is a nice nice list... thanks for sharing it with us... so.. who was the stink bug killer? hehe Argos?
ReplyDeleteHeh, it's somewhat comforting to hear other people going through some of the same. There are other people who have sleepless nights, interrupted phone calls, muddy yards, and protests against closed doors.
ReplyDeleteWe love our animals dearly, but they do make life interesting sometimes!
Oh, and the stinkbug killer is actually Bit, who fancies herself a mighty huntress. She was afraid someone else would get the credit for it, I guess, if we just found it in the morning. :)
On the bright side, at least the stink bug was dead. I've had to catch and evict mice on a couple occasions.
ReplyDeleteOnce the kitties caught the mice, they didn't seem to know quite what to do. (or maybe they were expecting me to join in the chase)