M&M Monday: Breakfast in Bed

They usually eat in the kitchen--this will drive Mum crazy: But they're dogs!

Yes, I know. I've been massaging them most evenings. One of the ways I used to tell M & M apart was that Millie had wider, thicker front legs. Not anymore. I guess that was lymph congestion, and it's moving a bit more freely. Margaret is a tail thumper. I look over at her & smile & she starts wagging. Thump-thump-thump! If she's standing, her tail swings like a jump rope! Millie wasn't much of a tail wagger when she first came, but I think that was because her lower back really hurt. I've been working on her hips, and she's much waggier, now. The girls often split up at night; one in the LR & one in my office. It was dark & I went to pet Maggie, thump-thump-thump! & I then realized it was Millie wagging her tail! Cool, huh?

Day of Rest: Snow Labyrinth

Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.
~Bill Morgan, Jr.

Mum's Flood Story 2003

There's a saying that nothing in life is certain but death & taxes. A lesser addendum to that in the Land of the Mundane is that you can't control weather and traffic. Those certainly affect us on a more day-to-day basis. Weather happens. Best to go with the flow--or in the case of flooding, get out of the flow.

So.

I promised to tell Mum's Flood Story. First let me say, that Mum is famous up & down my road. I'm Queen Anne's daughter. The convo goes something like this upon meeting a new neighbor:

Me: I live in Ronnie's old house.

Neighbor: How did you find out about that house all the way out here?

Me: My mother helped to renovate it when our friends bought it.

Neighbor: That's YOUR mother? [PAUSE] Isn't she the one who got caught in the flood?

Now, in Mum's defense, the river was just on the last bit of the road before the driveway. It didn't look that deep. It never does. And the thing about that is that you never know what's under the water--still a road or did it wash away? So with her stiff British upper lip, I imagine her gripping the wheel & gritting her teeth as she thought she was going to ford the river to the other side of the driveway.

Road when it's not flooded.

That's when she realized how deep it was. Up to her window. Fortunately, Neighbor Chuck was behind her. "I thought to myself, she ain't gonna go thru that. But she did!" Fortunately she didn't float away. Chuck helped her out of the car & she hung out with him waiting for AAA.

Neighbor Chuck, our hero! He has a big back yard where the deer hang out. See the one in the background? See the bear? Kidding. No bear! ;-)

Here's a pic from that flood from Neighbor Dave:

See the road? Kidding. NO ROAD! It's supposed to be on the left. Where all that water is. ;-) It wasn't this bad when Mum was driving. Really!

River Flood

We had a lot of rain. The river has flooded a bit. It looks rather underwhelming from my front porch:

Oh sure, the river's all brown and whatnot. But it doesn't look too terribly spectacular. Neighbor Dave called yesterday a.m. & said that the river had crested & it looked like it was going down. So I grabbed my camera and ran down to the river. Like it's going to go back to normal in 2 minutes?

So here you go:

River on left, road 3 feet on right.

The last flood, the river reached the mailboxes, but the water was about a foot below. They survived, which doesn't surprise me if Neighbor Dave had anything to do with the construction. Apparently they're set in concrete.

Mine's the last on the left with the duct tape.

This is where Mum got into trouble during the last flood . . .

. . . stay tuned . . . .

For Dog Lovers

My friend Elaine sent this to me & it was too cute not to share:



Click here to learn more about the artist, Wendy Francisco.

P.S. What did the dyslexic atheist say? "I don't believe in Dog." Hahahaha

P.P.S. HAPPY B-Day GSF Kristina! LOVE you!!!

Seasons by the River

This is one of my favourite views as I'm walking to my post box:

This is what it looks like in the fall:

Here's my most recent photo:

I haven't taken any photos in the spring . . . but will do that next year so we have all 4 seasons!
Today is raining, raining, RAINING! I'm contemplating heading out to do a shop in case the river floods. It hasn't spilled over yet, but . . . if it does, and perhaps even if it doesn't, I'll be telling The Story of My Mother's Flood Adventure.

Oh, yes. I will. ;-)

First Snow Pix

Off my front porch, looking up at the Chalet:

Little what's-left-of-the-house in the center of the photo

Neighbor Dave's picnic table & Fisherman Willie's fishing place.

Last part of my road, 7 miles of dirt-n-gravel.

End-of-the-road & my driveway . . .

My house. :-)