More Fun Than One Rescue Dog - Two Rescue Dogs - Or More!

 

We were lucky to have a professional photographer at the dog park one day, and Sassy Sue adored a crowd.

Treasure (Treshy) was a medical mess, but we took her on and had a riot of fun with her, Sassy, and Precious II . I think Norma A. Boeckler took this photo.

Ranger Bob recently spotted an abandoned dog at the cemetery and took her in, naming her Lady. She had serious ear infection problems, but that was cured with antibiotics. Lady's antics at the Ichabode were hilarious, because she loved her superhero Bob and found so many ways to  have fun and be funny.



More than one person said to me, "Rescue dogs are special, because they always have that unique attitude from being given a forever home."

Friends asked me when I would fill the void left by Sassy Sue, who died from kidney failure. Looking quickly changed to visiting Lowell Animal Shelter to have a walk with Charli, a female Patterdale Terrier.

"When can I take her home?" They said, "Now is fine." They were wonderful with Charli, who wanted to stay there.



Charli's ambiguous name repeated the question asked about Sassy - boy or girl? I added Sue. Everyone is noticing that Charlie Sue is almost identical to Lady, except she is much smaller. 

The two of them got along at once, and they love tearing around the backyard. Christina asked me to create a green fence in the middle of the backyard, because we were looking right into the backyard of neighbors. A variety of dogs saw a rival dog facing them and barked their terrible threats whenever possible.

I followed the idea of stretching logs across the center of the backyard, letting the birds plant seeds for a green fence. I added elderberries earlier, and soon some large hostas and lambs ears.

I never saw the backyard as a race track, but Lady and Charli Sue did. First they were running up and down the fence with Porchi (aka Snowflake, a Great Pyrenees). Charli Sue demands running because Patterdales were bred for catching moles and rabbits. Charli Sue turned a bit of tag into a madcap race, around the oval formed by the green fence. Nothing is funnier than a small dog identical to a larger dog, racing full speed. To add to the fun, Charli took short-cuts through the green island and practiced zig-zag and spin around running, grinning all the time.

Charli Sue Is My Associate in Gardening - She Loves To Dig

 

This is a fancy honeysuckle named Scentsation, but it was planted in semi-shade.

"Honeysuckle?! Honeysuckle?! You paid for two of them? Didn't anyone tell you honeysuckle is a weed? You can't get rid of it. I've seen 70 feet of that weed."

The same person often spoke of the fragrance of honeysuckle in summer, the aroma drifting through the windows in the summer. Two children have made a point of finding the few berries deep in the back of the yard. Honeysuckle is a big deal in the South.

Mr. Gardener told me years ago about that same weed taking over the grass alley behind our homes. I confessed that I could not get it going. He was amused and puzzled.

I am one of those gardeners who grabs bargains at the end of the season, so I bought two tiny honeysuckle starts - not very impressive. Like some hostas I have ordered for their special colors (stripes, white, gold and green, green and white, blue) - I imagined the honeysuckles pulled out of the ground and eaten by rabbits, squirrels or anything wanting some expensive salad.

I put collars around each plant and bamboo sticks to mark them, pinning down the flighty collars (a collar once rolled a block away during a wind storm).

By spring I had forgotten how to distinguish honeysuckle leaves from a normal weed or ordinary plant. I looked them up on the Net - Aha! They are starting to grow and reach up for support, which a handyman is going to set up for me with "cow squares."

This is Charli Sue on a walk at the local animal shelter, showing off her alert status. 

She is 23 pounds, very active, intelligent, and attentive to most commands. She is gleeful when playing and running at rocket speed. I added her middle name so she would not be misgendered.