Grooming Day (And Other Stories)

On Tuesday I decided to trade Toby in on a skinny puppy with short fur and big eyes. Not a bad bargain.

When we got to the groomer’s, Toby figured that if he never got out of the car he wouldn’t have to get a bath. He firmly planted himself on the seat and refused to budge while I tried to tempt him with beef cubes and sweet words. The whole time I was struggling, the lady in the car beside us was laughing and laughing. She said she used to have a Cairn terrier, and he was equally stubborn. She asked if she could take a picture of Toby to send to her daughter as their pup had died several years ago and was still deeply missed by the family.

We talked for a few more minutes, and she mentioned that her Cairn’s dad was named “Robbie” and was from a town not far away. I was stunned for a moment. I asked, “Did you adopt your pup around 2006?” She said that sounded about right. Robbie was my dog’s dad too! It turned out that her dog any my Geordie were littermates!

Happy memories of brother biting.

One day the two brothers showed up at the vet’s office for checkups at the same time. These photos are of them doing their Smothers Brothers “Mom Always Liked You Best” routine. (The one doing the biting was, of course, my boy.)

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If the story is not about me, then who cares?

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If you would like to see more of my boys’ adventures, then pick up a copy of Dream Our World. Inside, my pups view the world of art from a canine perspective and enjoy a day of unsupervised fun!

Dream Our World and other fine gifts are available from my shop at L Bowman Studios.

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White Water Rafting

Water smashing and dashing

and thrashing the raft

One more hit,

and there’ll be no more craft.

Rocks crash the bow

And then bash the aft.

To enjoy this sport,

you must truly be daft.

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I’m really more of a landlubber.

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If you’d rather skip the adrenaline rush of white water rafting and instead enjoy a calm sunset at the beach, then consider purchasing this peaceful Lighthouse painting.

This oil on canvas Lighthouse painting and many other fine gifts are available from my shop at L Bowman Studios.

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Return

But seriously, why don't you all bark? You'd make so much more sense then. Could I interest in you in a Benedryl or maybe some NyQuil?

Well, a Benedryl does sound kind of nice…zzz…

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Memorial Day is just around the corner. That makes it a perfect time to show someone you care about your patriotic side with this Armed Forces Themed Quilt. Each block depicts an aspect of military life while the corner blocks show the human side of our soldiers.

I drew each picture for this quilt, then hand appliqued and hand embroidered every one. Even the quilting is done by hand. Gift this labor of love to someone you love!

This Armed Forces Theme Quilt and other fine gifts are available from my shop at L Bowman Studios.

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The Encounter

This is so upsetting to me that I can barely type. I find that I use this blog as a way to keep track of incidents, though, so I am making an entry today.

When Toby and I go out these days, I take a can of Halt spray with us because several neighbors have been irresponsible about leaving their dogs out without leashes. One is a pit bull that is aggressive toward other dogs, and I have been afraid of having a run in. Instead we had an encounter with a different little dog that I have written about in the past.

Even though I am very frustrated that this family has been so irresponsible with their dog – to the point of endangering my own – I have tried to be kind. I can see that they adore their little dog, and the dog loves her family deeply. I’ve never said a bad thing about the family, and I have even defended the little dog to others. She is not a bad dog, she is a fearful dog, and her family is doing her no favors by not protecting her with a leash or fence.

These are some of the entries I’ve written about before: The Great Roundup, The Day After, Shhh!

When Toby and I got to the corner of the street where the little dog lives, we could see her in her front yard. I looked at Toby and said, ‘Let’s let the little dog enjoy her day outside. We’ll walk a different way.” We turned and went and were already on a different street when the dog saw us and came charging. If you’ve ever been present for a dog attack, you know the circling/growling/biting the aggressor does to disorient her prey. The victim dog has to keep spinning to protect his flank, and when he is turned around and dizzy the aggressor will either head butt him in the ribs to flip him on his back exposing his belly or she will jump on his back and bite him.

Not wanting Toby to be flipped and bitten, I tried to spray between the dogs so the aggressive girl wouldn’t want to come near him. Unfortunately the little girl dog lunged at Toby and got hit in the forehead. I felt so awful. I still feel so awful. I never wanted to hurt anyone. ..not this dog, not her family, nor did I want my own pup hurt.

As I figured would happen in a small community like this one, I am now the town pariah. I am the mean lady that hurts elderly dogs. Somehow folks never noticed the more than dozen times the little girl dog attacked my Toby. Somehow they ignore the other dog walkers in the neighborhood referring to her as “The Bad Dog on X Street” because she chases and bites their dogs. I have watched a neighbor with back problems painfully bend over to scoop up her senior Yorkie to keep her from being attacked yet again by this little girl dog.

Now Toby and I are on everyone’s poopy list, and I have a feeling that if we need help no one will help us or if we accidentally step out of line, everyone is going to be all over us. I feel bad for Toby. I haven’t taken him for a walk since the incident. He misses his friends and his exercise and doesn’t understand what is going on.

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Come visit with Geordie and Toby during happier times. In Dream Our World, they view the world of art from a canine perspective and enjoy a day of unsupervised fun.

Dream Our World and other fine gifts are available from my shop at L Bowman Studios.

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I Felt a Great Disturbance in the Force

For years, scientists have known that plants emit chemicals into the soil to communicate with each other. The plants send chemical messages through fungal networks to warn other plants about threats in their environment. Plants also emit electrical signals to sense and respond to what is going on around them. That lovely scent of a freshly mown lawn? It is actually all those blades of grass and flowers releasing chemicals as a cry for help with whatever is damaging them.

For those who feel they are doing something extra ethical by not eating “something with a face” and instead eat plants, this article might be interesting.

Plants make audible sounds to communicate stress

It turns out that not only do plants use chemicals, electrical signals and fungi to signal distress, they also make sounds. While above the limits of ordinary human hearing, the sounds plants make can be heard by insects and animals.

Last week we had an island of sunny dryness in an otherwise cold and rainy fortnight. Everyone in town cut their lawns at the same time. Imagine the disturbance in the Force that day. For those with ears to hear, the clicking-screams must have been deafening.

Like I care. I’m going to keep eating grass whenever I want!

I think Toby’s biggest complaint about the Great Mow Day was that all the tall grass clumps he chooses for #1 were gone at the same time. It was so hard to decide where to go.

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Feel like celebrating something galactic for May the Fourth? Then why not add an Alien Hand ASL pillow to your decor! The pistachio green hand forms the American Sign Language sign for “I love you”. This pillow would make a great gift for someone you think is “out of this world”!

This Alien Hand Pillow and many other fine items are available from my shop at L Bowman Studios.

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The Spider and the Fly

(Not my image.)

“Oh my”, said the fly

”Dear spider, come see

My gossamer tablecloth

Laid out for tea.”

“In the shade of the tree

We’ll have crumpets and scones

And while away time

Till the afternoon’s gone.”

“And while we are chatting

Come look at my phone!

See the wonderful website

That I have done.”

“It’s all about you

And your wonderful home.

The lattice-work structures

with your silk you have sewn.”

Spider looked at the screen

And was quickly entranced.

She could not look away,

Not even a glance.

And with that

Tricky Fly was a fly celeb

’Cause nasty ol’ spider

Was caught in ‘the web’.

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I’d eat ’em both if you’d give me the chance.

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Come join the boys at the Museum of the Imagination in Dream Our World where they experience the world of art from a canine perspective and enjoy a day of unsupervised fun!

Dream Our World and other fine gifts are available from my shop at L Bowman Studios.

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Rhymes With Orange

Don’t worry, it’s not till July, but you should get your tickets early.

I wanna be a ball retriever!

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If you would like a picture of your beast and his/her favorite tennis ball, then visit the Pet Portrait Page at L Bowman Studios for information on sizes and pricing. Trust me, you can never have too many pictures of your fur babies!

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The Sunbeam

This made me laugh. For as narrow as that sunbeam was, Toby was determined to be in it.

I am your sunshine….and this is mine.

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If you would like a pet portrait for yourself or someone you love, visit my shop at L Bowman Studios for information on sizes and pricing.

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This picture of Geordie is for my friend Rosco. He’ll know why.

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Potty Car / Car Potty

When my nephew was little, I got him one of these Hot Wheels Potty Cars. Recently I found out that they have become quite valuable. I wonder if my nephew kept his?

On a semi-related note, I found out that there is such a thing as a car potty. It is a camping toilet that can fit between the front and back seats of a car. You line it with a human-sized poopy bag and add a handful of kitty pine before using. Later you can dispose of the waste wherever waste is disposed of.

I talked to my neighbor about these, and she declared me “bat-sh*t crazy”. In this day and age, though, how crazy is it? I’ve read of people being afraid of using public rest stops because they feel unsafe. Some truck drivers have these rather than using truck stop restrooms. If you live in a house/apartment with one bathroom, having a backup might be nice because plumbing nearly always decides to break in the middle of the night over a holiday weekend. Living in your car? This solves at least one of your immediate problems.

In my family, intestinal disease runs rampant. Several relatives have had to have sections of their intestines removed. Hospital won’t discharge you until you’ve had a bowel movement, but there is no guarantee that more might need to come before you can get where you’re going. (Full control doesn’t come back for several weeks.) Set one of these up in the back of the car with a privacy blanket, and you might have a more confident drive home.

Even if your initial reaction to collapsible toilets is that they are a bizarre idea, now that you know about them, I bet you find yourself thinking about occasions when they might be useful.

Just knowing that I’ve caused you to think about pooping in your car brings joy to my day.

I’ll poop in your car.

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If you are interested in commissioning a pet portrait for yourself or a loved one, please visit the Pet Portrait page at L Bowman Studios.

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Onion Grass

A friend who lives in a different part of the country said she had never heard of onion grass. I thought I would take some pictures of mine to show her what it looks like. Of course I took stinky monster with.

This is onion grass. It is kind of like chives. It inconveniently grows in the middle of lawns, and when you mow, the whole neighborhood smells like an Italian restaurant.

The roots are deeper than you might think, so it’s not easy to pull them out.

As soon as Toby noticed that I was getting rid of the onions, he wanted to help. He would dig around the roots, then try to pull them out with his teeth. What was funny was that he really didn’t like the taste or the smell of the grass. He would snort and sneeze each time he did it.

Mom, are you digging something? Then I want to dig too. Achoo!

No matter where I sat, he had to come right up next to me to dig. He covered me with dirt and filled my boots – but not in a good way.

Not my image.

My mom tells stories of when she was little, and her family bought milk from a nearby farm. She could always tell when the cows got into the onion grass because their milk tasted like onion. I can’t imagine how horrible that must have been with oatmeal.

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Come join my boys at the Museum of the Imagination in Dream Our World. Inside, they view the world of art from a canine perspective and enjoy a day of unsupervised fun.

Dream Our World and other fine gifts are available at from my shop at L Bowman Studios.

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