Booming Banter

Just last weekend there were mountains of snow.

During the week the thaw started and the white stuff turned grey.

Today it’s almost disappeared completely and beneath we see grass that’s been hidden since Christmas but that’s still surprisingly green.

Not just grass but other little signs of life.

Some daffodil shoots and even some snapdragons that Ma hadn’t taken out of the ground.

How did they survive that cold? Maybe the snow helped protect them.

The time has come to kick back, stretch and get going again and say adieu to winter.

Even if you’re a Christmas cactus!

Blessing # 1020 – Undercover

Ma reads a little verse most days if she doesn’t forget or skip because she’s too busy.

Yesterday she had time but her verse got her a little teary. I took care of that though like a guardian Angel.

The verse reminded her of Canon John Bell one of her life lights. He used it often to dismiss his flock on a Sunday morning from Holy Trinity Parish Church in Ballylesson.

My bro loved the good Canon too as he was always funny and kind. He told great stories about Ireland and could speak Gaelic which sounds so strange and special. The bro even visited Trinity Dublin the Canon’s alma mater last time he was in Ireland.

So Ma sent the verse to the bro as a reminder of the Canon.

It’s not the sort of message she would usually text him. Most of her missiles run along the lines of « where are you » « what time do you want your dinner » « are you awake yet» « don’t forget your dirty clothes » « answer me » etc.

The lesson with yesterday’s verse said to be sure to tell those you bless you’re doing it. They might need to hear it and it’s always good to know.

That’s what I do often with cuddles as warm as a big furry coat.

Blessing # 1019 – Shining On

Ma didn’t sleep well last night and so inevitably neither did I. She ate way to much chili and tortilla chips to calm her nerves and that gave her spicy tummy aka indigestion! You should have heard the burbs. Frightening!

We told Auntie Denise the whole tale of the car this morning when we met for our trot. Why on earth didn’t you call me last night Denise asked. Ma explained she wasn’t thinking clearly and thought Aaron was coming home to stay but he went back to work as he was on closing duty! I blame the paint fumes! Denise said she’d take Ma to the car immediately.

So we swung into action as soon as we got back. Ma called the garage, they said they’d come put the spare tire on and then we could take it to their shop to get the tires done.

That spare tire is really something. It is flat as a pancake but has its own little electric pump that blows it up to full size. You need to plug that pump into a cigarette lighter which we discovered doesn’t work in our car. Fortunately it worked in Denise’s truck.

The rip in the tire was impressive. Everyone marveled that the car didn’t grind to a halt immediately. Minor miracle it got off the highway with no incident in all the rush hour traffic.

Now the car is in it’s hospital and we are home catching up on rest. It’s sunny and we are lying on the bed taking it easy and bantering for you.

We used our time well though. Our little bedside clock had packed up and we’d put it in the trash. Yesterday though Ma had recouped it as she was putting the trash out for pick up. Dumpster diving your own rubbish is a very grave condition almost as bad as spicy tummy.

She said she’s fond of the timepiece’s gentle sound and demeanor and thought one day when she had a moment she take it apart and give it a clean inside. Well that moment came sooner than expected as we had plenty of free time today. So too it would seem has the clock. It’s back ticking.

Hope the car will be too! In the meantime I’ll take another little nap.

Blessing # 1018 – Repairs

It’s as well I have a bladder of steel.

Ma left me with Dad to go painting at 9:15 this morning. I gave her my soulful “take me with you” look but she left without me!

At 6:15 this evening our neighbor Karen came over to say Ma blew a tire on the way home. Seems there was metal debris in the middle of the road and it ripped her tire. Good that it was close to a place she could quickly stop! Shame they don’t fix tires!

She tried calling Dad earlier from the project and he didn’t answer so she knew our phone wasn’t working at home! It’s been on and off like the internet since the big snow. So she called our neighbor instead.

Next up she texted the bro. He was at work in the town where he goes to college so she called AAA. They said the wait for a tow is FOUR hours

The bro called back and said he’d talked to his boss and the boss said he could go rescue Ma.

I wish to heavens someone would rescue me and let me out! I am fit to burst. I’ll just chew piggy.

Blessing # 1017– Exits

Yesterday Ma and me had to go get more paint for the project. I was happy as a clam to get a wee car ride with her.

This pesky light keeps coming on in the car about coolant levels. She asked the bro to check it and he’d done that and said the coolant was fine. The light wouldn’t go away though. Ma said it made her feel uneasy.

After we got the paint she takes a strange way home. She pulls into this place, runs in, runs out again and drags me out of the car into this place that looked suspiciously like a vets office.

Man I was scared. What was she up to? What suffering lay ahead for me. Please not grooming.

I was pained for fifteen whole minutes.

It’s not obvious when I’m worried unlike other canines. My emotions tend to be hidden by hair.

I make noises though, sad little cries and I go droopy.

All that concern was in vain. It wasn’t me who was getting checked out it was the car. The mechanic told Ma he didn’t understand why the light was on as the coolant was fine. Add that to the bro’s scorecard!

Pays to check though when you see that even the best of us like the Tiger can have accidents. Better not tempt fait.

Blessing # 1016 – False Alarm

We were delighted to find that the leak was not leaking when we went to the project yesterday afternoon.

We’d expected the worse because of the thaw. Maybe it’s a done deal but we’ll say nothing for now incase we jinks ourselves.

To celebrate the lack of leak Ma took me to the dog park.

It was awesome. Packed with puppies. Blue sky, pure white snow and no wind.

I was in heaven.

There were pals of all shapes and sizes colors and races in that park and not a cross word was spoken.

One lad looked like a donkey. I know some Great Danes but this was was The GREATEST. There were some teacup pups as well that were about the size of his big toe.

We all played ball and chased each other and sniffed a little.

Why can’t humans be more like us?

Blessing # 1015 – Ideals

My Mother is a hit or miss cook. She misses more often than she hits. Today was a classic case of bin it babe.

Dad was feeling a little under the weather following his vaccine and all the racing around yesterday.

So Ma was pampering him and making his favorite pancakes. The bro hates pancakes but she tried to kill two birds with one stone and offered up making crepes stuffed with Nutella to please the pair of them.

Disaster my dears total disaster. Never try to make crepe with boxed “just add water” pancake mix.

Outcome she had to fire more mix into the batter and make the father real pancakes and scrabble eggs for the bro. She remained calm! JUST just!

Great news for me though. I got eggs and pancakes. She ate the gloop and said it was fine. She’d eat anything that woman.

We’re off to the project now to watch the drips. I’ll report on the seriousness of the situation tomorrow at least she’s sweetened up for the trauma ahead.

Blessing # 1014 – Scraps

Ma was in excessively good mood this morning. She’d got new season strawberries yesterday so made us all banana strawberry smoothie for breakfast.

I needed a reminder that strawberries are tasty as it’s been a while since she bought them. I’d almost forgotten I like them.

It set her off for a big walk and then she took off ostensibly to have hundreds of photocopies made but she landed back with a glass trolley for the tearoom. Can’t resist shopping my Ma. It is super cute though.

We wolfed down a little leftovers and hit the road to deliver all those copies and then since Dad was on board for the ride we went to our favorite thrift store. Nothing great there today so we moved on to another.

We were no sooner there and I was settled down for a snooze while they shopped than the bad news came that the leak was now a four dripper!

Heavens the speed of the journey to get to the place nearly knocked me out. We were flying past those barns. I saw a Church and suggested we stop and pray. She motored on.

Turns out it’s all limited to one area so we’ve bucketed it up for the night. Please please please let the ceiling hold or I might have to deal with a temper tantrum.

Blessing # 1013-Roadrunner

When you are feeling a bit anxious Ma says the best thing to do is get up and get going. Carpe Diem!

That involves getting on your brightest clothes if your human and hitting the road as quickly as you can to confront the worst fears.

Such was this morning. We headed to see the leak at the project as soon as it was light.

This was good news for me because I got to go along and had a big ride in the car.

Second benefit we stopped along the way at the lake. The beach was closed and the lake totally frozen. Not a soul around as you might imagine. So total freedom.

That’s me way out in front.

Next up when we got to the project we found the drip had stopped dripping

We also found a ball for me to play with.

The problem isn’t solved it’s just that the temperature has fallen so much overnight whatever was dripping has solidified.

That means another trip on Sunday when it’s set to warm up a bit and on Monday maybe to start work on finding the solution once some of the mountain of ice and snow is gone.

Blessing # 1012 – Refreeze

We got more snow today. It was a balmy 20F or -6C this morning.

The good thing about that is it’s warmer on the tootsies so I got a longer walk!

It’s not all joy though. The project has sprung a leak. All was well yesterday when we were there except there was so much snow a tractor had to be hired to clear out the parking lot.

Today we were grounded because of the snow but Paula was there as she lives local and found the leak.

It’s coming from the upstairs back porch where the ice is melting fast because we now have heat going all over the place!

It’s bad but it’s not Texas. You gotta get things in perspective.

In the meantime a space craft has landed on Mars. It’s colder there than here but only just!

Don’t you ever wonder why we don’t fix earthly issues before starting more on other planets.

Ma says that’s how she now feels about her project. Why the heck could she not have been content with what she had.

I told her to chill. As you can see she has left me maimed with another chopping session.

No one say I look like a Martian or I’ll take a chunk out of you too!

Blessing # 1011 – Thawing