Author: boomingbanter

Ma stayed home with me apart from a run to the store for liquid refreshments. She also got pork chops which interest me more than margaritas.

We have the windows open again to try to prevent death by suffocation as the AC man can’t come till next Tuesday.

One advantage of windows open is that I can talk to Ma while she is working in her jungle.

I stick my nose up close to the screen and give directions.

We’ve managed by some miracle to grow a small field of wild strawberries behind the lavender and mint.

I told Ma to try them.

She did but says they taste of nothing.

They are pretty though and I’m sure the birds appreciate. I’m too kind you know!

Blessing #1020-Groundcover

In brief.

Verse of the day delivered. I knew it would when I heard it this morning.

Ma had a tea party this afternoon with a gluten free guest.

She had located great things at Trader Joe’s

Others at Gordon’s.

Bread was a challenge though.

There are crackers of course but only so many ways to serve them

The gluten free variety of bread is well gluten free a tad flat and cost three times as much at least as even the best of the standard stuff.

You need a couple of slices for a cucumber sandwich not a whole loaf and you can’t store it.

Guess who delivered? Good old Walmart. Individually packed rolls. Just the right size. No waste.

That seeking sure solved the sandwich setback.

Blessing # 1019– Wise Words

Our air conditioner has packed up at home. It’s a cool 90F so we are a tad toasty.

We have the windows open to try to get some air flowing but there isn’t even a breeze.

Ma says it’s a good day to use one of her least favorite words to describe how she feels. LETHARGIC!

There is something about that word she doesn’t like. It makes her think of dampness and bad smells.

I promise you it’s got nothing to do with pinky. He never tires. Just like me.

There’ll be no roast dinner tonight though as herself cannot take any unnecessary heat in the kitchen.

Hope there’s a few croutons on the go as that green stuff clean does me in.

Blessing #1018-Salad Days

As I was staring out the window this morning Ma said I looked like some dame named Rapunzel as my tail reaches down to my feet.

I told her to get a life and hurry up and get me out to leave some messages.

I have to take different routes each day to make sure everyone knows I’m the head hound in this neck of the woods.

It’s important as you have to assert yourself regardless of your size.

I mark bushes and trees mostly but if there is a stinky flower around like those daisy I’ll give them some special treatment.

Ma says to keep up the good work on the blackberries as there’s a great crop in the making and she has plans to Jam.

Some sessions that will be!

Blessing #1017– Berry Bloom

Last Sunday when Ma was working at the antique mall a customer came in looking for old marbles.

Seems he is running a project in West Virginia to reestablish marble making and likes to give the people working with him a special old marble on each visit.

He taught Ma a lot about marbles the most sought after are called tiger eyes.

She searched all over the shop and with the help of her friend Karen who was working at the desk they managed to find some for the customer.

He liked some but they were in a very big collection so he didn’t need the others. It’s a whole art this marble collecting.

Anyway this man was very happy with the help Karen and Ma gave him in his search and said he’d definitely come back and to the mall again.

He was gone about ten minutes and then he was back. This time bearing a gift of a CD each for Karen and Mom. Seems he’s not only into old manufacturing arts but he’s a musician too.

Ma and I have the CD on in the car all this week and we absolutely love it.

I like the sound of this guy. He even writes songs about my kind. Well if you consider a coyote a canine.

Check out the music it’s really great!

Blessing #1016-FunFolk

Ma and me were about two miles from home this morning when the heavens opened. We were in the woods so we got a little shelter but still we were soaked to the skin by the time we got back to base.

It wasn’t cold so we kinda enjoyed splashing in the puddles especially since Ma had her flip flops on. Sorta like the Ohio version of paddling at the seaside!

I love the fun of getting dried. I pretend to be all fierce and run in circles around the living room with my towel on.

I grab my toys and shake them like they are wet too.

Pinky gets the worst of it as he’s the biggest.

Ma says by the time I’ve finished he’s as wet as me. I say he needed a spruce up anyway.

There was another torrent on the way to work. Ma said it was even worse than before. Free car wash weather.

Blessing #1105-Wash and Dry

I got to go to one of my favorite trails yesterday down by the riverbank.

We always see deer there and true to form we saw two young bucks out and about as well as lots of little critters. I left them a message to say I’m back!

Yesterday was special though.

We heard the creepy circadas calling but I won’t bore you with them again. Hum!

They melt into the background when you confront a snake head on. This was a big guy too and he was sunbathing right in the middle of the path.

Ma got some video of him and I was wise and sniffed him out from a distance. Really slow moving that snake but why take a risk. He’d gone by the time we got back from the circuit.

Thinking that we’d had our surprise for the week we weren’t expecting anything special today but as I tell Mom you must always be on the lookout for adventure.

Just look what I sniffed out! Isn’t he gorgeous. Auntie Denise and Mom were very impressed by my skills and stamina to keep up the good work. We were almost tempted to take him home but then we thought he may be a she and there may be babies around.

Blessing #1104-Nature Trails

It was a great Granny Barr tribute morning.

We started out early like she always did and went harvesting some of our mint as Dad is going to make the first batch of chutney for this year.

We thoughts we’d help him so while we were watching the morning news we trimmed off all the bottom leaves, checked for Cicadas and plonked the plants in Granny’s big white jug.

She was very poor our wee Granny Barr and didn’t have many things but seems when she got married one of her gifts was this big jug. Almost as big as me!

It followed her from her hometown of Banbridge to Belfast when she moved to live with my Moms parents and eventually made it across the Atlantic to our house.

It held buttermilk at one time but today it served a different but equally noble purpose.

Our Granny did her baking ever Tuesday morning when she got her pension. Seems my Mummy helped her when she was little so we have adopted this tradition and made our scones this morning.

While we baked Dad worked on the harvest. This mint is great this year he said not a single bad leaf!!! We gave him a broken scone and moved on!

Blessing # 1103-Effortless!

See all these fancy afternoon teas my Ma is making and I’m not eating well there are some benefits.

Being very frugal (aka stingy) she hates throwing food away. She brings home the leftover strawberries and cream and the milk and croissants and broken cookies all of which are yummy.

Of course herself being herself she takes it to extremes and even collects the crusts of the bread when she makes those delicate cucumber sandwiches.

Dad has found an outlet for them making super spicy croutons. Now Ma is in on the job. She trying bread pudding. It helps use up the leftover milk too.

Not bad at all and quite well balanced from the nutrition perspective bread, milk, eggs and raisin oh and of course sugar.

Served with some of those leftover strawberries and we are all set for the day.

Blessing #1102-Odds and Ends

My Mom has been trying for weeks to get into this TV series called Bridgerton. It comes highly recommended by her friends but so far she’s not hooked.

Can’t say I am either. So far not a dog in site. In good old Pride and Prejudice there were always a few hounds about.

When we are in doubt as to what to watch we always revert to PBS and the good old programs we’ve seen a million times. Especially if there is a link to the homeland like the one about Carrickfergus Castle.

We love Keeping Up Appearances and have seen the episodes so often we know the words.

I’ve even learned to bark on cue.

Don’t you think there may be some role for me in a remake or maybe a movie?

Blessing #1101 – Familiarity