One day I will be able to sit down and watch TV without a million paws asking for something. To the right of me was Louise, begging in her cute ‘please Mommy’ way for a cookie. What you don’t see is a moment before she was pawing at my leg relentlessly. I don’t know about you but I have these long black and blue marks down my thighs, and then I remember it was Louise.
To the left of me was Mini Cooper. Wanting my endless attention, all the time these days. Sometimes I notice these little scratches all over my legs and tummy and realize, oh yes, Mini was kneading me.
Then I turn away and it is Charles now on my left, who has rousted Mini because he was jealous and wants to make sure no one gets more attention than him. At least, the little man doesn’t leave any marks.
My wonderful Louise, aka Lulu Belle, turns 11 today. She is just such a wonderful soul. I really enjoy her company. She is patient with the cats and tolerates Sofie and Charles very well. She loves to have Mom all to herself on morning walks and it seems like the only time that I really see her smile. Except for this picture above. She had the biggest smile that day. Usually, she is more like the picture below.
“Why are you making me sit here in front of the roses, Mom? Grump, grump, grump. Let’s just keep walking.”(Don’t my wild roses look great for late fall? They really had a second burst.) I just love this dog.
I loved to sit on my father’s shoulders. He would walk down the street with me way up top and we would play a game he called ‘high bridge, low bridge.’ He would stoop down when a low branch came so that I cleared the danger. I was so lucky to have a man in my life who was a true Daddy.
Someone asked me one thing that I learned from my Dad and I said ‘kindness.’ Can you name something you learn from your Dad?
When Mom was a kid, she got both Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays off separately as school holidays. It is not fair that someone in the government decided to combine them into one holiday instead of two. We want both days off!!!!
Well, if we can’t get both days off can we get every other Friday?
Happy birthday, George and Abe! We appreciate the February break. Mom gets a 3 day weekend which means: EXTRA WALKS! Yahoo!!
Mr. Nine, our 9th cat, is 9 years young today. He is a wonderful Tomcat. He loves to butt heads and kiss faces with you. Lately, he is very sweet on Louise and likes to kiss on her too. His favorite pass time is stacking the cave crickets in the laundry room when he is not looking down on you from the rafters. A good-natured cat, he rarely gets into to much trouble.
“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
When you look at a whole year in less than 9 minutes you realize that your life is full of moments that are so valuable. We were so blessed this year with everyone at the DogDaz Zoo staying relatively healthy and happy. We look forward to another year of moments and cuddles and licks and love. The greatest lesson I learn from documenting life with my Zoo is that consistent love and caring make everything flow in just the direction it should. Oh yes, as long as we do it Queen Noel’s way.
DogDaz Zoo 