Onward to Christmas!

It's the end of the Thanksgiving weekend.  It doesn't feel like I've been off work for 4 days, because it passed by so quickly.

-Cissy, everyday is a weekend for her!-

This afternoon the handsome Berkley did go back to his foster home.  We enjoyed our weekend guest, and I'm glad I could do a favor for another foster home.

-The only photo of I have Berkley-

This week on the agenda is a visit to the vet for our newest arrival, Sherlock.  I've noticed that he's not putting any weight on a back leg, so he'll be seeing the vet to have that looked at.

-Sherlock-

Around the house we are at the very beginning of preparations for Christmas.

-The lovely Ms. Yellow-

We all know it will be here before we all know it!  It never came this fast when we were kids, did it?

The Handsome Houseguest

I can't believe that it's Thanksgiving Day, and we're just less than a month away from Christmas.  With the warm temperatures we're having today, it is not feeling quite like the holidays.

Later this afternoon we'll be enjoying Thanksgiving dinner at the home of our good friends and their family.  My rolls for the meal are all baked and ready.

Until it's time to leave, we've just been enjoying a nice, quiet day at home.

~Bella~

~Sherlock~

Since Monday we've had a houseguest.  His name is Berkley and we're keeping him for another foster home until Sunday when they return from the holiday. Knowing how much I love the senior boys, the foster home said to me, and a couple of other people from the rescue that they were afraid I'd not want to give him back.  Now I ask you, with a face like Berkley's, (below) should they be worried?

~Our Handsome Houseguest, Berkley~

Despite what I think of this most handsome boy, and how easy going he is, Berkley is not staying. There really is no more room at the Inn -- Is there?

~Charlie~

I Resisted Everything -- Almost!

I returned yesterday afternoon from my overnight trip to see our good friend, "Sid" in Pennsylvania. Having lost her Golden about a year ago, she recently added a new addition to her home, and Sid was anxious for me to meet her new girl, Gracie.

Anytime I have the chance to get together with my friend, I know it's going to be a great time.  This trip was no exception.  We had a fun day catching up, and we took advantage of the beautiful day to drive around Lancaster and see a few places I'd not gone to before.

I had no idea that there was not one covered bridge in Lancaster.

But there are two

And you can still drive across both.  

My friend wanted to use the day to get ready for Thanksgiving, and pick up a few things for the dinner she's planning at her home.  That meant several stops at a few of her favorite places.

First on the list, were pretzels at the Hammond Pretzel Company.

Then we were off to the bakeries.  Despite how good everything looked, I resisted buying anything here.

And here...

And here too.

One of our last stops was the "Wilbur Chocolate Company.  Where, I am not kidding, the air outside smelled like chocolate,  Again, I resisted buying anything.  

Despite there being a great selection.  

But the one thing I just had to buy was this monkey hat. Dusty didn't seem to mind wearing it.

But when I put it on Todd, he made it pretty clear that he wished it was one purchase I had resisted!

It didn't last long, and as soon as I removed the hat,
Todd's dignity was quickly restored!

I hope you've had a good weekend!  

He's a Good Boy

~Cissy on Thursday afternoon~

We're at the end of our week with what I hope is our phone and internet problems all sorted out.  We've also gotten our hot water heater fixed, and Sherlock is pretty much all settled in.

This week he remembered his house-manners and he's had no accidents (knock on wood) in about the last 3 days.  He still has to learn that the lovely Ms. Yellow is to be looked at and not touched or chased -- And I do think that if Sherlock wanted to make a meal out of her, he would have done that by now.  However, I still don't totally trust him around her, so we're still watching him very closely and treating/or rewarding him when he turns and walks away from her. I'm still trying to decide about his hearing.  I'm pretty convinced that he can't hear much if anything.  I also think that he's afraid of getting left outside because he'll go out, "do his business" and come back to the door to be let back in pretty quickly.

This shows that Sherlock has at some point, lived inside.  He knows all about sleeping by a bed, and that the refrigerator is where the food is. Sherlock also knows about begging and how to endear himself; he'll rest his head on my leg and just look up at me with his big, hopeful eyes.  I'll pet him and tell him "he's a good boy"  Then he'll go and lay down.  

Enjoy your weekend...  

~Another "good boy" at our house"  

I'm off this morning for an overnight road trip!

See you tomorrow! 

Getting to Know Sherlock

~A freshly groomed Todd on Thursday~

Despite our internet being spotty at best since Friday, (knock on wood that it's easily and quickly resolved), its been a quiet weekend.  Our crew meeting Sherlock the newcomer, as hoped was thankfully, uneventful.  He's been easily accepted into the group, which is great news, and always a relief.  

Some of you mentioned in my last post, that maybe Sherlock's reasons for not responding to us, may be because of his hearing, or possibly because he doesn't understand English.  Both are possibilities.  Golden Retrievers rescued from the streets and shelters of Istanbul, Turkey earlier this summer were flown to a rescue in Atlanta.  The dogs had to be taught English, and their caretakers a few Turkish words. I think you'll agree that we will just have to get to know him better to hopefully figure it out.  

What I do know is Sherlock really is a nice boy.  He follows us all around the house and the yard, and is interested in whatever we're doing.  He is rough around the edges, and needs (re) training on his house-manners -- It's all no doubt from being a stray and outside for an extended period of time.  He's also a bit too interested in the cats, so we'll work on curbing his over interest in them.  But all in all, I think he's going to be okay.

I hope you have a good week!

Sherlock Arrives at Golden Pines

To start, like so many all over the world, I join in offering my prayers for all those wounded, and my deepest condolences to all those families who lost loved ones in the terrorist attacks in Paris.  It’s truly heartbreaking.

While we will remember what the day brought for France, it also brought us a new arrival.  From Maryland's northern most shore, comes Sherlock.

Found as a stray standing in the  middle of a  country road one night, he was taken to the county shelter where he was given a new name, that he totally doesn't know, and when his "hard time" was up, he was given to Lab Rescue. When we got home last evening, it was easy to see that Sherlock was really happy to be out of the kennel (all dogs coming into Lab Rescue via a shelter are kenneled and boarded first for evaluation).  I do not think he stopped wagging his tail or barking the entire evening.  Because he was so excited and happy, I decided against doing one on one meetings, to just let him relax and get used to his new surroundings.

Sherlock is estimated to be about 10 years old.  As you can see in the photo below from the shelter, he is very thin, probably from being a stray.

Sherlock, or whatever his name is, is not responding whatsoever to anything I'm saying to him.  Meetings will be done slowly and one at a time this afternoon.  Judging by the smile on his face that hasn't disappeared since I met him, I've a feeling it will go just fine.  Wish us luck, as we welcome this new and enthusiastic boy to Golden Pines.

The New Neighbors

~A contented Cissy~  

I've not mentioned that last year the 10 acres that adjoins our property was sold.  The same person also purchased 10 acres that adjoins it to the south.  In August, construction started on a house. I'll reserve my thoughts about how I think it's strange that what I think (??) is the front door of the house facing us to the north, and not west as all the homes on our side of the road do to take in the view of the mountains and face the road.  We can see the house, and with the electricity now turned on, I can see its lights at night from our back porch.  I know it's really trivial and petty, but given that they have 20 acres to build a house on, I was bothered that I can see the house, and now its lights at all.  But it's just that in the 8 years we've lived here, I've gotten used to the darkness and the privacy as well.

But then it occurred to me, sound really does travel here in the country.  And now I wonder if they're going to be bothered that there's not going to be a shortage of dogs barking that they probably will be able to hear.  *Of all of our dogs, who do you think barks the most? 

The lights being visible and dogs barking aren't going to change, so I'm thinking that if the new neighbors are bothered by it, maybe it makes us even.

From Black to White

Thanks for your thoughts about the ring in my last post.  I have checked with everyone that has been a guest at our home and it doesn't belong to any of them and they are as clueless about it as I am. One friend suggested that cosmic forces were to blame, while another taking a more earthy approach thinks that the dogs could have somehow tracked it inside. For now, the story of how the ring came to be on the floor in my hallway remains a mystery.

It's been a busy day for us.  It began with an early morning vet appointment for Dusty to just recheck the tumor on his leg, and refill his medications.

The trip was combined with giving our foster cat "Apple" to her new family, who are so excited to add her to their two-cat household.

I was home for nearly an hour when a text came from the cat-rescue... Despite my telling them that I wouldn't be able to take another cat, SHE asked if I would please consider it.  SHE  did say please...  So about an hour later, we were welcoming "Flurry" to Golden Pines.  

Flurry and his brother "Blizzard" (very un-original names for two white cats don't you think?) are both about 4 months old, and with several other cats were rescued from a hoarding situation. Both little boys were pretty sick, and now that they're feeling better they need to learn that people are a "good thing."  The brothers have been separated in hopes of their finding their own self confidence and that they can trust people.

So, we've gone from a black kitten to a white one.  But no matter what color the kitten might be, Charlie is of course pretty happy about it and Todd at the moment doesn't know quite what to think. But I know that's only temporary.

A Real Mystery

Tuesday evening before I went to bed, my eye caught sight of what I thought was an earring on the floor in our hallway.  When I picked it up, I realized it was a ring that I'd never seen before.  I asked Carl if he knew where it came from, and he didn't.  I figured it probably belonged to my dog-walker and thinking that she may be worried about having lost it, I texted her to let her know I'd found it.  "Connie" replied that it wasn't her ring.  With no school here on Tuesday, sometimes her daughter comes with her and so I asked if it was hers or if it could belong to one of her friends?  It does not.  I have asked everyone that has been in our house if they have lost a ring, and sent a picture, and everyone is saying the same thing that I've said, "it's not my ring."  I am totally baffled and have no idea how this ring came to be on the floor in my hallway, or who it could belong to.

It's times like this, that I wish the dogs could talk.  Maybe they know.  But if they could talk, would they tell me?  I've a feeling that George wouldn't. He's a dog of few words, especially if it's not dinnertime.

Neither would Dusty....

Charlie can barely see, so I'm sure he couldn't shed any light on where the ring came from.  And yes, if you look closely, you'll see that's a leaf on his beard.

Apple the kitten is too busy watching television these days to notice.

And I'm sure Todd wouldn't know.  He's too busy with MY shoes out in the yard.

I guess where this ring came from is just going to have to remain a mystery.

~The lovely Ms. Yellow in a favorite spot~