Skinny, Dandy, Floppy and Henry

We had four dogs until Rachael took her two yorkies, Jezebel and Maggie. Now we only have our two thrifted dogs, Skinny and Dandy. And we have Floppy, the lop-ear rabbit, who came to live with us about three weeks ago. My little Parrotlet, Henry, has made his home here for about 5 years.

Dandy is a female Heinz 57 (that’s what my Dad called dogs of unknown heritage). She has the coloring and ears of a Blue Heeler and the body build of a wire-hair terrier. She has tufts of very long wirey hair and a smooth coat like the heeler. She has bulging eyes and very crooked teeth. She is beautiful to me and she is the happiest dog! She is in constant movement, every picture is blurred.

Her story began with me visiting a friend of mine and her retired neighbors came over to visit before they went RVing. They were talking about a dog that they had to return to the SPCA because they traveled and could not take care of her. The dog had belonged to his elderly aunt who recently passed away and they had “inherited” the dog. I saw Dainty (yup, that was her name) in the back yard. I became worried that Dainty would not find a home because she was so ugly. I had visions of her fate if I did not rescue her, so I asked them if I could have her. Plus she had lost her elderly owner, which I am sure loved her very much. So fate bound her and I that day and I changed her name to Dandy.  She seem to never know the difference.

On one of the hottest driest days last summer, I was out in the yard working and here came this young 4 or 5 month old Border Collie running up to me. He was wanting to play and was very happy to see me. When I reached out to pet him, all I felt under his hair was bones. He was the most skinniest dog I had ever seen, I could feel his skull bones. I won’t go into detail but I knew I had to feed him and fast. I also knew that once I feed him, that would be that and he would stay around. So once again fate sealed the deal and he became mine. I searched all the newspapers for owners, ask the animal control officer in the nearby town and looked for flyers around the area but no one was looking for a Border Collie.

Skinny loves Alex, where ever she is, so is he. One day last Fall, she and I were out in the front yard and she started walking towards the road.  I started toward her and Skinny reached her first and actually herded Alex back to me, either he was partially trained to herd or it is just a born trait of Border Collies. He has difinitely earned his place with us and every meal he gets. Skinny is now a very healthy and loved dog.

We have been wanting to get a pet rabbit for some time. I joined the local group of Freecycle about three weeks ago and the first day a lop-ear rabbit was put up for give-away. I quickly called the number and asked for it. His owner was moving and could not take him with her. My husband picked up the rabbit and all his stuff the next day. His name was Lover Boy but since he will be a pet of two little girls, we decided that Floppy would be a better name for him. Lover Boy didn’t seem to mind, as long as he got carrots, celery, food and water.

He is a sweet tame bunny. Mr. Handyman has already built a rabbit hutch for him. We live in the country and there are many coyotes around that would find Floppy a convenient meal so he is inside his hutch, inside a fenced yard. He only comes out when we are around to watch for those wiley coyotes.

 

Henry is my Green Rump Parrotlet. Their lifespan is actually unkown but somewhere around 20-25 years. He is fiesty and affectionate. He likes music, he will chirp very loudly if he does not like the music; kinda like he is yelling “Turn that crap off!” He likes for me to be in the room where his cage is, he will make very low, soft chirping as if he is talking to me.

My Surprise Lily bloomed this week (ignore the scratched propane tank that needs painted badly).

A very delicate pink blossom.

We have had extreme heat warnings this week. You know when I say it is hot, it is really hot!

I hope these hot summer days find you in a cool place.