Fleetingly Carol

This pandemic can go away as far as I'm concerned. I mean, I haven't been to my favorite restaurants in months. Take out. Bah! No ambience with take out. Where are the cozy seats, the smiling wait staff, the lack of clean-up after the meal? I don't think Old Man has been out of the house since March. It's a good thing we have Sweet Dog. After Girlie-Girl went to the Sweet By and By, Grown Son grew concerned that Old Man would not have a companion with whom to roam our hill. So, he made sure that by Christmas, Sweet Dog joined the family. And such a sweet dog she is.  Old Man decided to train Sweet Dog. She said, "Say what?" Photo by Lum3n from Pexels Of course, Old Man put his foot down. Sweet Girl is sweet, but she can be a shade on the lazy side. They get out in the yard and run and play, um, that is Sweet Girl gets out and runs and plays. Old Man and Sweet Girl are a great combination, because they both can be a shade on the lazy side. Old Man gets on th

"The hardest part was yet to come." It's been a while since I checked in. I hope everything is well with you, Dear Reader. Things seem to be calming down in our little corner of the world. "The hardest part" that was "yet to come" has come and gone. And Princess and I have been busy ever since. Old Man, Younger Son and Awesome Grandson made certain that Princess was safe that awful night. The next morning, I went out to the dog run to see how Princess was doing. Since the storm was gone, she was considerably more calm. She allowed me to check the pads on her front paws. Everything checked out alright. Then, I couldn't help it, Dear Readers, but I fussed and fussed and fussed, then hugged and petted the poor puppy. Wagging tail, licking tongue, wiggling body all told me that the fear from last night was gone. I put the leash on her, and she was so very happy as we exited her pen and began to run. The first task is to teach her to behave

The Devil had passed, but not Princess’ memory of him. She stayed with the shakes, like the DTs. She shook so violently inside the crate, I was afraid for her.  The wild dog came out in her as we tried to approach the crate to check on her wounds. We couldn’t open it for fear that she would escape and try to dig a hole in the floor or couch again. Old Man and I decided it was time to call Eldest Son. He told us that if we couldn’t keep her, call him. We couldn't and we did. Eldest Son had just lost his job, his car was repossessed and was in no way able to come to our aid. He lived several states away. We talked and we cried. We came up with this solution and that solution, but none were acceptable. He finally said the most feared words, words that I knew were coming, but didn’t want to accept. He had a friend who practiced veterinary medicine and who lived close to us. Eldest Son said he would make the call. As we were talking, Eldest Son was on speaker-phone so Old Man cou

         The trees did their voodoo dance, conjuring up a thunderstorm to rain down on our little house. Old Man was on the lawn tractor, completely oblivious to the warning signs, ears plugged up with strains of Satchmo. The first drops of rain on his glasses sent him into action.           He drove the lawn mower across the yard and into the shed, hopped off and ran to Poor Hound Dog who is being treated for heart worms. He wanted to get him into the house before he became too excited about the Devil bearing down. He glanced in Princess Super-girl's pen to make sure she was secure and safe. Leading Poor Hound Dog across the yard, Old Man remembered the windows were down in his truck. Remembering the windows down in his truck led him to look over at the neighbor’s vehicle to check their windows. They were down. Now it was a race to the finish.            Poor Hound Dog had to be kept very calm, because any active behavior may break up a clump of heart worms in his veins tha

Eldest son gave Old Man and me a gift that keeps on giving. And, for no reason! It wasn't Christmas, an anniversary or either of our birthdays. My mother would say he's awfully 'thoughty'. And it was a tremendous gift! One that I would not have ever thought to get for myself. The gift is about 2 feet tall and weighs around 45 to 50 pounds. It leaps tall buildings and stops a speeding bullet. No, that's not right. It leaps hurricane fences and scales 6 foot tall dog runs. And stops at nothing to get in the house when someone is shooting a gun, or there is thunder, or the door is open, or another dog has entered the house. Any of these reasons. Yes, you've guessed it - it's a dog. A Catahoula Leopard Dog, to be exact! Old Man and I already have 2 dogs. Girlie-Girl is a 25 pound Heinz 57 and looks like a big Miniature Pincher. She is very well behaved, never jumps up on people; she doesn't bark much; she's small and compact; she comes when she

Natural, medium, neutral, brown In spite of brown ears and scalp, in spite of Old Man really wanting to mow the lawn in 100+ degree weather rather than help me color my hair, the color, as you can see turned out fairly well. Now, dear Reader, I know that's a blurry picture, but I just need you to get this color fixed in your head. It is, as it says on the box "natural, medium, neutral, brown". Honest. That was the name of the color on the box. And, that is the color you see on the left. Girlie-Girl Can you picture this on Girlie-girl? Yes, that was our surprise! Wherever you find me, you will find my sweet little puppy, Girlie-Girl. You've read about her right her on the Fleetingly Carol blog. She's my froo-froo dog that isn't really. It's a rule that froo-froo dogs must be under 10 pounds and Girlie-Girl weighs in at a hefty 10 1/2 pounds. I'll put her on a diet when she reaches 11 pounds, so her poor belly won't scrape the ground.   Girlie

I just called time and temp . . . it's 95 degrees. The online weather service says it's 98, with 45% humidity, which translates into a heat index of 102! I don't know the math behind all that, I just know what I read online and report. I'm reporting because I have a dog who thinks the house is too cold. How do I know what my dog is thinking? Well, read the story, then tell me what you think she's thinking: It's 2:00 p.m. and I am happily ensconced in my airconditioned house, doing the usual, surfing the Internet, pretending I'm getting something done around the house so that Old Man doesn't do one of his eye-rolls when he comes home from work. Girlie-girl Dog gets up from her fluffy pink bed to tip-toe over to me and begin the Wee-wee Dance. It's really cute, y'all. Girlie-girl is a small black dog, so when she begins to dance her black nails beat a distinct fast-paced rhythm on the tile floor. But, I also know what this means - she wants me

     It was Old Man's birthday the other day. He turned old as dirt. He was old as rocks only a few years ago. And before that by a few years, he was old as boulders. So, his favorite birthday cake is carrot cake. Now, I suppose I could go to the local bakery and buy a nice carrot cake, but I had the time off, so I thought I would delight him with my culinary skills. I do not possess many skills needed in the kitchen, but I can make a mean carrot cake.    Having baked the cake, I skimped on dinner - I ordered delivery pizza. Old Man is married to Old Woman. I no longer want to put that much time into cooking a meal that will be eaten in ten minutes.      The carrot cake was impeccable. It was moist, fluffy, and smelled of spices and carrots. Old Man arrived home, and after the succulent odors accosted his nostrils, he praised his wife's culinary skills! And pronounced that he would eat the carrot cake this very minute to prove his elation over this most mouthwatering of bir

"Carol, you need to come home right away." "What's the matter, Old Man?" The quiver in his voice is spine-tingling. Old Man never quivers. "Just come home. You need to be here." I tell Aunt Mildred that something is wrong at home, I don't know what. "You all can stay here tonight. I have 2 extra bedrooms." "Thank you, Aunt Mildred," I answer, "But, I don't know what the problem is. We may have to take you up on that offer. I'll call you later tonight." I get to my car as quickly as possible, fearing the worst. As I drive up in the driveway, I see Old Man struggling with a small tarp. Now, I am thoroughly confused. I park the car so that my headlights shine on his work. "What's up?" I ask, "Why do you need the tarp right away?" Old Man looks really, really old. He looks up and tells me he's covering the windshield of his pickup to prevent ice from accumulating. You see