Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Canine Wheelies.
Investing in Mulch

 "I know you want me to have a bunch of bones.
That is why you brought me here. Right? Right?"

Sassy often has the look of the dog pictured above. On our walks, she has a big smile to reward me when she gets to pick our route. Today she felt the urge to walk down Daline and return to Scott by taking Joye. The dog Romeo hangs out on Joye, but my walking stick keeps him away. I think she likes him, but large dogs tend to pick on her or alarm her, so I keep them away.

People wonder about how to deal with strange dogs. A walking stick is very handy, because they respect that and keep away when warned. The two ankle-biters that barked up a storm were on Sassy's case once, but I held the stick over my head and yelled, "Go back to Mordor. Go back. Go back to where you belong." They left walking backwards, barking. Now they stay 100 feet away and retreat without shame.

I noticed that dogs do canine wheelies. Our neighbor's dog is a dachshund mix and always does a wheelies when starting up. The front legs go up in the air and off he goes, like a herd of turtles. Sassy does the same when she is really energized, and she gives me a big grin for letting her have her way.

 Maple tree - garden of weeds.
Roses planted.
Tree trimmings at the curb - just a start.
Grass lawn just aching to be turned into roses.


Investing in Mulch
Today we found three squirrels working the lawn at a neighbor's house. Sassy ran over to give them exercise in tree-climbing. The weather is unusually warm, though foggy and a bit misty as well.

Some people see such weather as gloomy, but I think of it as hastening the decomposition process of the leaves. Because of the late drop of leaves, few have been raked up and hauled away. They have drifted into the streets and been crushed by traffic. Even the pine needles from our neighbor have blown along the street and now rest in front our house.

I happened upon a Google photo our house, wondering if they updated our front yard. Not at all. Mrs. Ichabod enjoyed the contrast. The old photo shows I have already begun trimming trees and digging in roses, but the front yard is all grass. Now it is all roses.

The Crepe Myrtle bush is a thin little bush in the photo, not a large, arching spray of blooms.

 Roses from the former lawn - a good return on the labor involved.