dogs

My Own Circus (Kathleen’s Memoirs of The Great Depression)

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Illustration by Kathleen Swain.  Story by Linda Bethea.

One warm spring day as the sun beamed brightly in the open window, Miss Billie read a story about Billy Boy and the Buffalos.   I loved to hear her read but was distracted by a couple of flies who had slipped in and were buzzing a vase of daffodils on the ledge.   Almost hypnotized by the droning, I caught an inkling of faraway music on the breeze.  Continue reading →

Laughter and Life

parents wedding pic             Bill and Kathleen Holdaway Swain on their wedding day, June 29, 1946

Why I Would Rather Try To Find The Funny Than The Meaning Of Life

http://yadadarcyyada.com/2015/01/10/having-the-last-laugh/

http://lindaghill.com/2015/01/01/just-jot-it-january-pingback-post-and-rules/

I have continued to think of Pegoleg’s post  and Yadadarcyyaday posts yesterday. Laughter has saved me in some of the most stressful situations of my life.  It is cathartic.  On the way to my father’s funeral, my mother was sitting between me and my husband.  Of course, it was a somber time.  I was anxious to be of support to her, mindful of her grief and all the problems loss of a Continue reading →

Stay.

Reblog from Kelly Barnhill. Be thinking of her today. Nutsrok

kellybarnhill's avatarKelly Barnhill

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My dog is bathed and dried and wrapped up and next to the heating vent. I got her to eat a little this morning. She drank some watered-down unsalted beef broth (organic, because she is worth it), and it felt like a miracle. I’m sitting next to her, my computer on my lap, pretending to write my book, but really I’m just looking at my dog. Keeping close.

“Stay,” I say.

She thumps her tail.

“Stay,” I say again. She closes her eyes and groans she pushes her nose against my leg with a sigh.

When we live with dogs, we have a set of words that our animals are trained to obey on cue. We say sit, and they sit. But that isn’t always what we mean. When Harper was young – a gnarly, snarly, scruffy little street dog, narrowly escaping Death By Dogcatcher – I would say “Sit”…

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Fleas Come Home for Christmas, Willie Tharpe (Part 2)

Even Daddy, determined to be the “Man of the House,” found it hard to defend Willie Tharpe after Willie set the bed on fire, sneaked the dogs in the house, and left us with a maddening  infestation of fleas that Christmas.  Though he never acknowledged his embarrassment, Daddy never invited Willie to sleep in the house again.  Periodically, Continue reading →

Fleas Go Home for Christmas, Willie Tharpe

Daddy wasn’t just a magnet for strange characters.  He beat the bushes to flush them out.  If that hadn’t worked, I believe he’d have up tacked up posters.  Mother had no way of anticipating who he might drag in for supper, overnight, or until further notice.  I never did understand why she didn’t murder Daddy.  He must have slept sometime! Continue reading →

Talking Dog (Joke)

A guy walks past a pet store. There is a sign in the window that says TALKING DOG FOR SALE.

The guy doesn’t believe it, but is curious, so he goes into the store and walks up the the talking dog and says “Hello”. The dog says “Hey. How you doin’?”

The guy says “Wow! You can really talk!” The dog says “Yep. That’s right” The guy says “What is it like being a talking dog?”

The dog says “Well, I’ve lived a very full life. I rescued Avalanche victims in The Alps. I worked as a drug sniffing dog for the FBI, and now I read to people in an old folks home five days a week.”

The guy is just blown away. He turns to the owner of the pet shop and says “Why in the world would you sell a dog like this???”

The pet show owner says “Because he’s a damn liar! He never did ANY of those things.”

The World’s Best Birthday Party! (Part I of II)

Reposting an older story to introduce part II.  I loved playing with these kids.  Illustrations by Kathleen Swain.

Water play at the Party

Water play at the Party

Freedom at the Awful's

Freedom at the Awful’s

The Awfuls were awesome. Even though their name was Alston, the neighborhood mothers thought Awful was a better fit. We all envied them as they roamed the neighborhood with a freedom we only imagined. They weren’t mean; Continue reading →

Dog’s Life

burying bone

Buzzy came by a little more turkey skin than he needed Thanksgiving Day and took it out to his favorite burying place behind the rose arbor, where he has deposited countless biscuits and other treats that he didn’t need at the moment.b burying wing

Though he is currently the only dog in residence, he got no rest, frequently checking his stash, knowing a thief dog might happen by any minute.b digging up bone

Poor little guy dug it up and moved it several times, before finally getting hungry enough to eat it and get some rest.

 

Squeaky and His Pet Squirrel Neighbor(Smarty Kitty Update)

Squeaky in window with squirrelSqueaky was a rescue kitty who lived with us about three years, more or less.  I considered him a delight.  Bud, not so much.  They had dominance issues they never completely worked out, but Squeaky gave it his best shot, taking swats at Bud till the last.  Here you see Squeaky on his sunning shelf in the window.  I put a bird feeder right outside to keep it interesting.  Of course, the squirrel had to get in the act.  They had a fine time together, playing through the window.  Buzzy, my American Esky dog was always jealous of the quality time Squeaky spent on his perch in the window, backing up far enough to see them playing together, alternately crying and bringing toys to attempt to lure Squeaky away.  Naturally, Squeaky ignored all that.    Sadly, we recently lost Squeaky to kidney failure.