Saturday, April 28, 2018

A weekend of dogs…oh, and family too


Sophie appears to be hiding around the corner,
and could not be lured any closer, even with a treat


The Hudgeons branch of the family arrived, complete with their miniature white poodle Eddie. Sophie and Eddie get along fine, IF there’s no human involved. If they’re vying for human attention, it’s not so smooth. And Sophie, now in doggie middle age, still gets so excited she runs in circles. It is, I’m sure, the border collie in her. Last night we had some dust-ups, some running from Sophie, and lots of laughs from the humans.

The result was that Sophie was so high strung she wanted to go out at one in the morning (I talked her out of it in a firm voice) and at three (couldn’t talk her out of that one, and of course she stayed longer than I wanted).

Today they are all tentative friends. Eddie is a lot smaller than Sophie, and he discovered he could stick his head through the gap between gate and fencepost. I worried that he’d get caught. Then neighbor Jay (the good-looking one) was having some work done at the back of their property, which involved taking down a portion of fence. I was convinced that Sophie and Eddie would immediately run through the opening. So, while Jordan and Megan were at Jacob’s soccer game, with Ford, Christian was off on errands, and Brandon and Sawyer at the BFX bike place, I was obsessively watching dogs. Like not taking my eyes off them, especially Eddie.

Jay offering Eddie cabernet
Eddie declined
I got a respite at noon—my two daughters and I had a long, leisurely lunch at Pacific Table, on the patio, and then went shopping, looking for something for me to wear to a wedding in June and also take on our cruise. Good luck at the first store, Chico’s, where I’ve never found anything before. A really cool shell and tunic/sweater in a heavenly shade of blue/turquoise, white pants, and another multicolor top. I rarely wear jewelry any more, but I even bought a necklace. Shopping and trying on clothes is not my favorite thing—I’m an internet shopping. But with both my daughters fussing over me, it was almost fun, and I am pleased to have solved the what-to-wear problem. These are clothes I will wear many times.

Tonight, it’s back to doggy times. Jordan tried her best to get a picture of Sophie and Eddie together, but the best she managed was the one above, with Cricket, one of her Cavaliers. She had treats for all three dogs—the fourth was hiding in the house. For some reason, Sophie decided Jordan had evil intentions, and she lurked around a corner, refusing to come any closer.

Jordan and a calm, contented chicken
Megan has taken two of the boys to a TCU baseball game, and Brandon, Sawyer, and Christian are at the movies. Jordan and I are having a ”chill” night at home, including a lovely time on the patio. Just to round out the animal experience of the weekend, she went to the neighbors behind me to visit the chickens.

Quiet, still, and peaceful. But they’ll all come home soon, and pandemonium will probably reign again. I cannot tell you how much I love having family around me, but it also makes me feel a bit disassociated, removed from my daily life. Must be a sign of age to be so stuck in your routine. Breaks in routine are good, I know that, and I’m enjoying this one. Not sure about Sophie—she sometimes looks like she wants to ask how long these extra people and, particularly, the extra dog, are staying.
Jordan scored a hit and made the boys
bellinis, without alcohol
They loved them!


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