Welcome Neighbor

We live on a quiet dead end street but we do have some neighbors. Our closest neighbors live directly across the street and our properties are adjoining. They know our dogs and our dogs know them. Still, when the dogs are outside, they must inform us when the neighbors appear.


Tsar is often the first alert.
Here they come, the car is turning into the driveway.


I don't see them.


Turn around, Norma Jean. You're looking in the wrong direction.


Let's go guys, we have to say hello.


I see them.


Hurry, they're getting out of the car.


Hi neighbors, where have you been? Did you bring home anything good to eat? Do you want to come play with us?

Either Rob or I are always with the dogs when they're outside, so if they begin to bark we can put a quick stop to it. We want them to be good neighbors.

Who Am I?

Did anyone else watch the new NBC show on Friday evening called "Who Am I"? It was about Sarah Jessica Parker tracing her mother's ancestors and she found a number of surprises about her family tree and about herself.
As many of you know I was raised by my mother's parents. I never knew my father. My parents separated before I was born and divorced when I was about two years old. I knew no one in his family.

A few years ago Rob gave me some genealogy software for Christmas and I started playing around with it. It was pretty easy to trace my mother's side and I soon filled in my family tree, but it was lopsided. I knew my father's name but nothing else.

Several people remembered reading that my father had died, so I contacted Social Security and they provided his birth and death dates. Then I wrote to the librarian in the city where he was from and she was kind enough to look up his obituary and send me a copy. From there it was easy. His obituary named his parents and several siblings. I was able to find my grandfather's obituary and it named his parents.

Then things really opened up for me. There is a lot of documentation on the paternal side of my family tree and I was soon able to fill it in so that my tree is full and rich. On Friday evening I found tears streaming down my face as Sarah Jessica Parker said that her discoveries changed the way she felt about herself, because I feel exactly the same way. Here are a few of the things I learned about myself.


My ninth great grandfather on my fathers side came here in 1630 from England. He was one of the founders of the city of Hartford, Connecticut. Amazingly, one of the other founders, who also came in 1630 from a different city in England is a maternal great grandfather. Above is the monument to the Founders of Hartford.


Sarah Jessica Parker discovered that one of her ancestors was charged as a witch in Salem, but she was fortunate to never go to trial. My ancestor was not as lucky. My maternal grandmother's family also came here in 1630 and one of our ancestors was Rebecca Nurse.


Rebecca was in her seventies when she was accused of witchcraft and she was hanged.


Again, it was amazing to me to learn that I was related not only to someone accused of and executed for witchcraft, but also to one of the judges who sentenced her to death.

One of my favorite ancestors was Samuel Adams who orchestrated and probably took part in the Boston Tea Party. I like the idea that I'm related to someone who actually pushed for freedom.

I have great grandfathers on both sides of my tree who fought in the Revolutionary War. Thomas on my father's side and Hezekiah on my mother's side. They were both farmers who could have ignored the political situation or even sided with their mother-land, but they both put down their plows, left their families and fought for a new country. How many of us today would do that?


When the Civil War came along, my ancestors again left their farms and went to fight for the Union.

I only knew half my family. I never felt complete until I traced my ancestry. Now I have a whole history and it's a history to be very proud of. My history is inseparable from the history of this country. I feel differently about myself than I did before I started my research.

In the last two years I've discovered a half brother and half sister that I didn't know I had. I have met a niece I didn't know existed and then I found and made contact with my father's sister who lives in Florida. We've talked on the phone and written many times. She has told me about her family, my father, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

I'm not done yet. I plan to trace my family across the ocean, back to the cities in England where they came from and see how far back I can go. Yes, this has changed how I feel about myself.

You've Got Mail

This week Tsar has gotten more mail than I have.


Earlier in the week he got that great package from Mango that included his gold medal. Then on Thursday he got another prize from Scout and Freyja. Everybody had to check it out right away.


Because Tsar won as 'best cat-dog' and he competed against a lot of cats, the prize was meant for a cat. Who knew a big dog would win as best cat? There were several cat toys and cat food and cat treats. I gave Tsar the cat food, a can of turkey and gravy on his dinner Thursday evening and he thought it was great. He finished the whole thing and checked to see if there was any more.


The treats and toys we decided to give to our friend Meatball.


Meatball lives at our Vet Clinic. He was brought in by his owners to be put to sleep, but he was a sweet kitty, just too fat. The people at the clinic got permission to keep him and put him on a diet. Now he's slim and trim and lives there playing with the techs when they get some free time. He works for his living, though. Meatball is a blood donor and has saved lives of other kitties who needed transfusions. Good job Meatball. He deserves the toys and treats.


This toy didn't go to Meatball. I kept it because I really liked it. My dogs are too rough to wear it around their necks, but it'll look great on one of my teddy bears.


The very best part of the package according to my dogs was the bag of homemade frosted cookies that Freyja and Scout's Mom made. She thought Tsar would appreciate a dog treat and she was right. Tsar got a whole one and I broke the others up so that the whole pack could enjoy the prize. They decided they want me to write to Freyja and Scout's mom and get the recipe. Thanks guys, Tsar really enjoyed his mail.

Come out, come out!

My dogs have a language of their own that they all understand. I am mystified as to how they communicate complicated ideas to each other, but they do.


This is Norma Jean. She's a real people dog. She hangs around me all the time and is always the first one to come when I call. I don't usually even have to call her, she's just there.


Bailey and Norma Jean check to see if Dad's home to play with them.

When the pups were little and living in the kitchen, they invented games. There were rules and somehow they all knew the rules and played by them. Even then at five and six weeks old, they picked a 'safe spot' where the one being chased or anyone who needed a rest or to regroup could go and the others couldn't touch them. One of the earliest safe spots was under the desk in the kitchen. If a pup ran under the desk, everyone else had to wait for him or her to come out. It was against the rules to go in and bother them. They chose the spot and they made the rule.


When they got a little older the favorite safe spot was under the trampoline. The other dogs could run around it or even get on top, but they could not go under the trampoline if someone else was there. When they grew too big to fit under the trampoline, they chose the swing. The swing is open on all sides, it would be easy to attack the dog under it, but that's against the rules. Remember they made up the rules.

Here Bailey is 'safe' under the swing. Norma Jean wants her to come out and is going thru lots of tricks to entice her out.


Maybe a play bow will work to make Bailey come out and continue the game.


Bailey's not budging. Norma Jean can dance all she wants, but Bailey has the upper hand. As long as she stays under the swing, Norma Jean can't touch her.


Reasoning doesn't work either. Norma Jean can bark or whimper, but Bailey knows she's safe under there.


Now Tess has come over to see what's holding up the game.


Maybe the two of them can convince Bailey to come out and play.


Tess has taken over the negotiations.


Norma Jean thinks an approach from the other direction might work. It doesn't.


Bailey, who has obviously been digging from the dirt on her nose, is starting to move.


Yea, she's out. Now the game can continue.


Oh no, Norma Jean wanted Bailey to come out of the safe spot so she could go in. She's going to roll in the straw under the swing. Now the negotiations have to start all over again.

So how do they communicate the rules to each other? They all know them and they all abide by them, so they obviously communicate. But how?

Tsar Has Mail

Yesterday Tsar got mail. It's pretty unusual for him, in fact I don't think he's ever received mail before.


It was a nice sized package so we were all curious. What could be inside?


It was his prizes for winning Best Cat- Dog in Mango Minster. There was a really big carrot flavored chew bone and a squeaky toy. Tsar loves to play with squeaky toys. He throws them around the room, then pounces on them. Sometimes he serenades me by standing in front of me and squeaking it till I plead for mercy. There was a postcard and a refrigerator magnet.


The very best part, especially with the Olympics just ending, was his gold medal. Isn't it beautiful? Tsar was very pleased with it, but didn't want to wear it.


On the back is his name and the category he won. I liked this medal so much that I wore it out to lunch yesterday. Yes, I am that dorky!


Even though Tsar declined to wear his medal, we had a medal ceremony in the back yard. Here he is receiving his acknowledgment and waiting for Rob to sing the National Anthem.


His patriotism got to him and he joined in singing the anthem. He thanks everybody who supported him in his big achievement.


If you're wondering what to make for dessert tonight, today is National Banana Cream Pie Day. No I didn't make this one, I didn't even have a slice. This is sitting in the cooler at one of our favorite restaurants.

New Neighbors

We live next door to a farm. Our house is situated next to the back pasture and each spring we get to meet a new herd of cows that look over the fence and make some interesting noises to amuse the dogs. At the end of our development is another pasture filled with cows that watch the cars driving by. Last week we noticed that the second pasture was filled with a new herd, but there was a different look about them.


We now have a herd of American Bison as neighbors.


These are pretty impressive animals.


They have huge heads.


They also like to watch the traffic going by, but so far they've been very quiet.

Last week I reported that the boys had been to the vet for their annual check-ups. The reports came back on the bloodwork for all four boys and it was all perfect. This was one of our best check-ups ever.


Noah did have a splinter that had entered the bottom of his foot and was working it's way thru the web between his toes. It was a red, angry looking injury. He took an antibiotic for a week and twice a day I soaked his foot in hot water and an iodine solution.


Here Noah is demonstrating how he sat on the grooming table with his foot in a bowl for five minutes at a time. He was a very good boy and sat there holding his foot in the hot water until I told him time was up. On Thursday evening he started licking his foot and when I looked at it, the area was very red and swollen. We went right downstairs and soaked it immediately. The next morning the swelling was gone and the skin was pink and healthy looking. He still wanted it soaked, so we continued for a couple more days. Now his foot looks almost healed so I guess the splinter worked it's way out when it was swollen.


In honor of peanut butter month, our mid-day snack today was blueberry bagel pieces smeared with peanut butter and carrots. Everyone seemed to agree this was a good snack and there were no left overs.


While we were outside Morgan and Samba had a little chat. Who knows what they discuss during these times?


They get their heads very close together and some growly sounds can be heard.


They're obviously gossiping about something.


Then a quick kiss and they're off to play with the others.