Spoke too soon

OK, the neighbor guys have not adopted Yella Dog, so one of them told me, despite the fact that I saw the dog in their yard twice last week. So that guy's a big liar, and Yella Dog is still homeless. And now Leo, my feral cat, is missing--haven't seen him all day. And Yella Dog isn't being fed by people. I'm a little worried about Leo now.

I had to be gone for several days, so today's the first I knew of Yella Dog's status since my last blog entry. I saw him early this afternoon, still as friendly as ever, but now his right rear foot is hurt somehow--I couldn't see what the problem was, but he was limping a bit--and he was very hungry. I had just brought home a salad and I gave him all the chicken off it; he hosed it down in the time it took me to fetch a bowl of water for him. I had nothing else but cat food, so I brought him a cup of that, and by the time I got it out there, the entire bowl of water was gone! So I brought more water. I wanted to keep him in my carport so that Animal Control could find him easily. Yes, I called Animal Control--I just didn't know what else to do for him.

By the time the Animal Control officer got here (quite soon after I called), Yella Dog had vanished, of course. The officer said he'd drive around the area looking for him. I haven't heard back, so I don't know if they found him. Poor dog.... He is a handful, but he just needs attention & training & space to run. And food--lots of food. I'm afraid he won't ever get that chance, though.

And, no, I cannot keep a dog. My yard belongs to the feral cats, and I don't know the first thing about dogs except that you have to walk them in all kinds of weather.

Confirmation :)

Yella Dog does indeed have a new home next door. He started pawing at my fence "blockade" and whining as soon as I came out to feed the ferals this morning, so I went over and petted his head when I was done, then pushed him back through the fence and told him to stay. I'm sure he paid close attention...oh, yeah.  :D

Wow, does that boy ever have big feet! Wonder if there's some Great Dane in there somewhere? Whatever his breed, he's a very friendly pup, and I'm so glad the neighbors adopted him.

Happier tail today

I went out this morning to feed the feral cats and who should come bounding over to me but my little yellow friend from yesterday! He'd gotten into my backyard somehow...and I hope it was through a hole in the fence between my yard and my neighbors, because that would mean the nice boys next door have adopted him! (They do need to fix their fence, though.) I'll try to find out for sure after work today.

The dog seemed a lot happier today--tail wagging a mile a minute, snuffling everything, and doing that funny play-with-me front-end dip that dogs do. Since I had food in hand (albeit cat food), I set it down to see what he'd do. He just took a sample bite, didn't snarf it down as if he were starving, so someone has fed him. I got him to follow me to the gate into the carport and let him out of my yard there, then stacked an old gate and a bunch of cinderblocks in front of the hole in the neighbors' fence. He's a big, muscular, solid dog, so a bit of piled-up junk probably won't do much good, but at least it'll remind me to ask the boys to get their landlord to fix the fence.

As I was leaving for work, I saw the dog snoozing on the neighbors' porch, looking a lot more content than he was yesterday. I hope he's found a forever home.

Oh, and I did fetch new food for the ferals and gave Leo lots of calm-down lovin's.  :)

Dog tale

Some people aren't worth the skin they walk around in.

This morning, there was a dog without a collar curled up in the neighbor's yard by the curb. Looked like some mix of lab and sharpei, gold-colored, with long legs and big feet, so I think he's still quite young. When I opened the kitchen door (which opens into the carport) to let Minnie out (something I quickly rethought!), the dog got up, wagged his tail, then sat up attentively. He was practically radiating "I'm a good dog." And I just knew that his worthless owner had dumped him there sometime last night.

I checked on him now and then while I got ready for work. Every time a car drove by, the dog would stand up, watching with anticipation, as if expecting his owner to return for him. I could be totally making this up, but that was the impression I got. When I pulled out of the drive to go to work, he trotted right toward my car, tail wagging, and went around to the passenger's side as if hoping to be let in. I couldn't, of course. He followed me for a few steps as I drove off, then went back to his spot in the neighbor's yard.

My neighbors, who live in the house in whose yard the dog was sitting, seem like good boys. I hope they want a dog. I do not want to call animal control on this fellow because I know exactly what will happen to him.

Cat = center of universe

I'm doing a time-consuming computer setup and brought out my old playing cards for a few rounds of solitaire while the computer did its thing. After a bit, Minnie arrived, hopped right up on my desk, had a sniff at the cards, and promptly lay down on them. Clearly, Mom's attention was not being directed toward useful pursuits. Why mess about with silly little paper things instead of showering Miss Minnie with lovin's? Why, indeed? So, of course, I did.  :)

Please observe the magnificent whiskers and bountiful toe fluff on this fine specimen of cat-hood.

Contest results

Well, I got third place in the Halloween costume contest, but I had fun putting my costume together. And it was a good opportunity to start relearning how to use a sewing machine.  :)

Next sewing project: canvas tote bag. (You weren't expecting me to say "diamond-studded ball gown", were you??)

Happy Halloween!

Here's my costume--a Pioneer woman! I got the bonnet from a lady on eBay who makes them for re-enactors, the dress from my favorite fat-lady store, the apron from my sister (who made it herself), and the boots online for a clearance price. I added the extra ruffle on the bottom of the dress to make it long enough to reflect pioneer days--that was my first sewing-machine project. I also tucked in the wing collar and fixed it in place with a few tiny stitches so it would look more like a banded collar--again, more appropriate to the time. All in all, I think it turned out pretty well, and I got a lot of compliments on it. We had a costume contest at the office party (for the few of us who dressed up), so who knows--maybe I'll win! (I voted for myself. Is that crass? Too bad!)

Note the long apron strings. I discovered that if you don't tuck those apron strings into an apron pocket when you go to the bathroom, they might get dipped where you don't want 'em dipped. Nuff said.

Below are a couple more pictures. By the way, I have no idea who that fat lady in my dress is. An interloper, I would guess. Surely, she'll return my formerly svelte self one of these days.