The Never-ending Song

  The USofA celebrated Memorial Day today.  Reports have it that this weekend  was a break-out after the many months of confinement.  Even with gas prices way up there, many people were said to have taken to the road.  I have not watched the news yet tonight--almost afraid to--hoping that everyone drove carefully and stayed safe. Perfect weather here in Virginia, but no parade or air show.  It was a very quiet day at Joseph's Dream.  Few people even sat outside.  Several apartment dwellers had placed a small flag on a hook in their flower beds.  Several of us older gals sported out red, white and blue blouses. I am certain almost everyone living here is either a  veteran him/herself or had members of their family who were.  Very few of us remember WWII.  My husband was in that war, stationed in England most of the time.  He was one of five boys in his family, every one of which joined up when Uncle Sam called.  ...

I learned two things yesterday.   1. How to cook beef short ribs.  One thing I had never cooked in all my years of cooking for my family.  The gal who helps me out with laundry and cleaning was here and gave me her recipe.  They came out so delicious.  Edgar was fairly quivering with delight when they came out of the oven.   That gave me an idea.  I do not feed Edgar "people" food.  I was in need of a high value treat to attempt teaching Edgar to climb the ramp to the couch.  So I saved a few chuncks of beef for training purposes. 2.  Edgar would never make an agility dog.   Ramp solidly in place against the sofa.  Short (2 foot) lead attached to Edgar's harness.  A few pieces of tender beef  tucked into my apron pocket. I devised a hand signal quite different from anything I currently use--first and second fingers of my right hand "walking" up the ramp.  The two fingers had been liberally basted with beef. ...

Edgar is up again, acting like a pup again, as the old rhyme goes.  What a week this has been, from tearful disbelief to tremulous joy and relief.  Most of you know the story from reading Jon's blog.  He did a wonderful job keeping readers updated and in encouraging so many people from all over the world to write to me with prayers and good wishes on Edgar's behalf.  Totally amazing.  I am so grateful to all.  Those prayers certainly helped.  Poor St. Francis must have been blanketed in requests-all for one little old dog. My Veterinarian, Dr. Joy  Watkins  of Bedford Animal Hospital, deserves an accolade for service above and beyond the call of duty.  She was in surgery when I called with my frightening report of Edgar's strange behavior.  As tired as she must have been, she was here at the door the moment she had finished her surgery at the hospital.  She treated Edgar and told me 24-48 hours would tell the story.  She w...

  Friday three friends ,who used to be at Joseph's Dream and left some time ago, came with take-out lunches to my apartment.  Seating four people at my wee table is pretty much an impossibility.  So two gals sat on my new couch, the third on one side of my table and I sat opposite her in my wheelchair.  That meant two had their meal trays in their laps, very accessible to one red dog, despite his short legs.  That nose, immediately followed by a soft pink tongue, has amazing reach. I was concerned.  Needn't have been.  Edgar was the perfect gentleman.  He greeted the ladies, one by one, as they entered the apartment, checking their shoes to see if they had been anywhere near another dog or one of those enticing pussy cats.  Then without any signal from me, he went to his bed and stayed there while the aroma of fried catfish and french fries assaulted his nostrils.  What a good dog!  He behaved as though he had spent the entire 8 1/2...

The box arrived yesterday.  It contained a "shock" training collar. After talking with my son who adopted a Boxer with some defensive behaviors with other dogs and my daughter whose husband, Jeff, has a Poodle/Terrier mix who killed 2 of her ducks and several of her hens, I have decided that hopefully this is the way to cure Edgar of his reaction to dogs and cats.  Sean's Boxer now actually plays nicely even with small dogs while Jeff's Poodle mix still watches the poultry, but will no longer go after them. I was surprised to find no instructions in the package.  You are directed to go on line and download the 9 page manual.  Apparently this is the way with all things one buys now.  My computer had issues with doing this (or maybe it is me) and I only got the first page.  Had to download a special App in order to even get that one page.  Then my Internet connection went out.   Today I contacted the very excellent Engish speaking tech at Shentel....