I spent yesterday morning working in the garden, cutting more things back and getting ready for spring. I cut down that buddleia in the foreground of the photo above, so it will grow back bushier. I also raked some of the moss out of what's left of our grass and threw out some of our broken flowerpots because, although terra cotta shards can be useful in the garden, we have a ridiculous quantity of them.
See Olga trying to imitate a plant?
Thinking ahead to spring is still an act of optimism at this point. Our nighttime temperatures are in the 30s (F) and we're supposed to dip down into the 20s this week with possible SNOW!
I left the shed open at one point, and Olga happened to see her Jolly Egg toy sitting inside it. We don't play with the Jolly Egg much -- I've always felt like it's just a bit too big for her, plus it's hard and in the garden it inevitably winds up in the flowerbeds. It's like a plant steamroller.
But she got fixated on that Jolly Egg. Even after I closed the shed doors she would just stand and stare at it, barking.
So we took the egg to Fortune Green and played with it there, and even managed to keep it out of the daffodils.
As you can see, Olga gets a little wild-eyed about this toy. I don't understand why she loves it so much (just as my dad's dog, Maybelline, loved hers, and my brother's dog Snoop loves his). I always try to kick it away from her -- to protect her teeth and forelegs -- and as you can see it makes her insane. If I stop kicking it she barks at me like a little kid yelling "KICKITAGAINKICKITKICKITKICKIT!" And if I put it in a bag and carry it, as I have to do to get anywhere on our walk, she can't keep her nose out of the bag. The toy is all she wants.
Anyway, we wore ourselves out on that walk.
Dave comes home tonight! Yay! I have been surviving pretty well in his absence, eating things like peanut butter and fried eggs (not together) and in fact I think I've slimmed myself down just a little bit. Dave is the cook in this family, as many of you know. My weirdest meal may have been last night -- baked beans over rice. But hey, it filled me up.
Dave also normally buys our groceries, and while I've had to pop into the store for things like milk or soup, I've avoided any large-scale shopping. My game is always to see what kind of meal I can eke out of ingredients we have here at home. (Hence: baked beans and rice.) I was going to have to buy dog food, but while walking Olga yesterday morning I found that some guardian angel had left a bag containing three cans of dog food and some unopened packages of treats on a bench on the high street, evidently for the taking. I assume they bought them for a dog that they didn't wind up feeding, for whatever reason. So I took them home and now we're stocked with dog food until our next shop.
Today my plan is file our income taxes. Ugh.
Fascinated about the Jolly Egg. Our cats have been obsessed with a little piece of paper I balled up two days ago. I hear them chasing it around the house during the night.
ReplyDeleteThat's a toy that requires you to play along, too big for her mouth. She doesn't care though, funny to watch! Maybe it's the joint playing that she likes, where she gives the orders.
ReplyDeleteBless your heart, bub, where I live, daffodils mean it IS spring! (And we won't see daffodils until mid-May.)
ReplyDeleteI think maybe it is the fact that she can't get her jaws around it- it is a perpetual challenge. But who knows? Dogs. We had a dog who loved to play with a bowling ball of all things. She would not quit trying to grab it until we took it away from her. It was like a party trick.
ReplyDeleteStrangely, I dreamed this early morning that I was adopting a dog who I took to the theater with me as I was in a play and the dog loved being backstage. She would run right to where she was supposed to be and settle in. Everyone loved her.
Your garden is going to explode here soon. It will be so pretty.
Great time was had, until you got to the income tax part.
ReplyDeleteOlga looks like she is herding a particularly recalcitrant legless lamb and doing a fine job of it.
Your evening meal - beans and rice- not thrilling but got the job done. (Dave, hurry back!)
Keep it moving dad! crazy that's she's sp crazy about it, can't even get a grip on it.
ReplyDeletewhen it's my night ot cook dinner I usually start with whatever has been in the fridge the longest, onion, and garlic.
I would totally eat beans and rice. In fact, if Mike wouldn't object, most of our meals would have beans of some variety and probably rice. Ha!
ReplyDeleteOlga definitely had a grand old time with that egg. Was your kicking leg sore today? Probably not, since you walk all the time.
Yes, thinking ahead to spring is quite a bit of optimism. Your yard looks much like the yards in our neighborhood here. Lots of daffodils and the promise of things to come... if the weather would just warm up a bit.
ReplyDeleteOlga does love that yellow egg.
"I think I've slimmed myself down just a little bit" = "I am starving!"
ReplyDeleteThank God Dave wasn't away too long or you might have appeared on a poster in Oxfam shop windows. You'd be holding a bowl like Oliver Twist.
I'm so glad you treated Olga to an afternoon out with her jolly egg! I love seeing her enthusiasm! It reminds me of the "almost indestructible dog ball" one of our Rottweilers loved. She would shove and chase it all over our back yard. It's funny how they'll fixate on something and not give up, even when it's out of sight!
ReplyDeleteDogs know what they want and in many situations how to get it.
ReplyDeleteBeans over rice sounds like a perfectly acceptable meal to me! Olga and the egg are adorable, for an elder dog, her energy levels are still impressive.
ReplyDeleteLove Olga and her toy; animals having fun is sheer joy.
ReplyDeleteHey, you had a great meal! Red beans and rice together have a whole lot of protein. Believe it or not! Not separately, but together.
ReplyDeleteI think Olga is fascinated by that egg toy because, try as she might, she can't get hold of it. But I'd give up on something like that long before she does.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Olga sees in that Jolly Egg. She obviously loves it. I wonder if it's the challenge of trying to get her mouth around it.
ReplyDeleteAnd some grated cheese and sour cream and you have a meal fit for kings.
ReplyDeleteOlga loves that egg. I wonder what goes through their little doggy brains.
Yay for Dave coming home. While it's nice to have a break now and again it's always lovely when they come home.
Judging by that tail, Olga loves her Jolly Egg. Your opinion does not count.
ReplyDeleteGood day, sir!
I too am a hit and miss eater and will put together some odd but tasty combos. That's great that Dave is coming home! I bet he'll be exhausted. I would be.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I'm not as impressed with the egg as Olga is. Perhaps she loves it because of the random way it rolls?
ReplyDeleteI love watching Olga have fun.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely not used to looking after a dog - cats have such sensitive interiors you have to take a week to change to a new food, increasing the new gradually and phasing out the old! I can't imagine finding cat food on a public bench and switching to it in one fell swoop! lol
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or does the jolly egg frustrate anyone else? Just watching Olga unable to grab it with her mouth does my head in. But your description of her being so fascinated that she can't keep her nose out of the bag you were carrying it in was funny :)
Beans and rice is completely acceptable as a meal, and a pretty healthy one at that.
Mitchell: Cats will play with anything. I love the fact that people spend money on cat toys, yet a wad of paper or an empty box is all they require. (Kind of like dogs and sticks, I suppose.)
ReplyDeleteBoud: She always loves variations on "keep-away," and I suspect this falls into that category of game.
Lynn Marie: I'm sure we are springier (?) than some parts of the world! But as the weather is about to remind us, winter is still here.
Ms Moon: What a funny dream, about the dog! I think you're right that she loves the challenge of trying to bite the egg. (Probably the same thing that attracted your dog to the bowling ball.)
Linda Sue: Ha! A legless lamb! I suppose this COULD be related to some herding instinct.
Ellen: That's a good method of cooking! I do the same.
Bug: I wasn't sore, but Olga was!
Robin: I really do think you and I have similar climates.
YP: Ha! It's not THAT bad. I could stand to slim down a bit.
Kelly: It's interesting that your rottweiler responded to a similar toy. I never realized how much dogs like large, ball-shaped objects. I always thought they'd prefer something they could put in their mouths, like a tennis ball.
Red: She has LASER focus!
Allison: Red beans and rice, or black beans and rice, yes. Baked beans and rice? I dunno.
Bob: They're fun to watch when they get so absorbed!
Peace Thyme: Yeah, I have no objection to beans and rice together (complimentary proteins!) -- but baked beans, from a can with tomato sauce, seemed a little weird in this context. :)
Catalyst: I think you're right. You can hear her growling in frustration!
Sharon: Yeah, I think so. She wants to bite it but she can't because it's too hard.
Caro: I even had cheese in the fridge! Why didn't I think of that?!
Debby: Ha! That's true. It's all up to her, in the end.
Margaret: I think the egg shape definitely helps add excitement, just as the odd shape of the Kong toy helps it bounce in unpredictable ways.
River: So do I! :)
Jenny-O: I had cats before I had dogs, so I remember food drama all too well! Fortunately mine were pretty flexible about what they ate, though. I think Olga would have climbed INTO the bag with the egg if she'd had a chance.
ReplyDeleteOh, that toy! She's in love, isn't she? Such joy to watch her play. I love that!
ReplyDeleteWell, it's an interesting menu -- no arguments there! Although I suspect the food might elevate a bit upon Dave's return! Hey, whatever works!
Thanks for coming by today, Steve!