Sunflowers and the Place I Call Home

The sunflowers are a reason why I love July. The fields of them in nearby Maryland could never come close to the ones in the south of France, but they're all I've got to enjoy. So, along with Charlie, and a good friend, I made my annual pilgrimage to see them last week.

Again, as I said, they don't compare to the fields in France, but they do not disappoint.

After all, how can you not smile when you see something like this?

Or this?

Or even this....

They are such a beautiful and bountiful display of bright, cheery, yellow!

It was a nice morning and by 10 o'clock, we returned home.  Back in June another friend surprised me with a thoughtful birthday gift of aerial pictures taken in May, of the place we call home.  I thought I'd share them with you.  Amazing what can be done with a drone these days.  The picture below is the front of our property.

The next photo is of the back of our house with our fenced yards in view - You can see that Todd has plenty of room to run.

Todd also has plenty of places to lay in the shade too.

Emotions and Trust

It's the time of year that the sunflowers are in bloom. On Saturday I took my annual pilgrimage to see the fields in Maryland. I'll share a few more photos in my next post.  

Emotions are still running high as the struggle with Eva continues.  She's not eaten much since Tuesday, and it continues to be both crushing and heartbreaking and I am at a loss as to what to do.  We're getting great support from both the rescue, and the holistic vet. But in the end, it's up to me to try and find something she'll find palatable and want to eat. But I keep striking out, but of course we'll keep trying.

Turning the focus there's our temporary addition Chipper. He's been here since late June, and its been a bit of a challenge, but he's gaining confidence in himself, and isn't hiding as much as he was initially.  Because of this, when the foster home coordinator for the rescue returned from being out of town, we decided it was best if Chipper just stayed here ..... for now..... The only thing is, is that the rescue wants to make him available for adoption, and let another family work with him.  I don't think that he's ready for that step, because he's still so afraid of so many things.  But maybe Chipper's trust that he's building with us, is the same that we should have in someone else.

Fake vs Real

Two new toy balls ordered for Todd arrived a couple of days ago. They are the only ones he has never been able to destroy.  The favorite and preferred color is red, but we don't get to pick when they're ordered online, and blue is what we got. 

Whatever color they are, Todd was excited to have them to play with. 

We had a long talk about throwing balls, specifically how to spot a fake throw.  It's nearly impossible, at least for Todd to tell a fake throw from a real one.

This is only because the strategy really needs to be to follow the ball with your eyes.

Instead of the trust he has in his heart.

If Any Dog Needed a Friend

I cannot believe the month of June is behind us.  Wasn't I just saying that about May?  Time passes much, much too quickly. Am I the only one who can remember when time seemed to stretch on forever, especially in the summertime? 

Of course things have been steady and busy.  Eva continues to do pretty well.

Her appetite has been pretty consistent for the past week, but the last couple of days, I've noticed that she's eating a little slower, and not finishing her meals. I'm hoping it's just the heat and not the nausea associated with the kidney disease returning.  I've given her the medication to try and head it off, just in case.

Then there is our new TEMPORARY addition Chipper.  While the foster home coordinator has been out of town, we've been trying to decide what to to - Move him to a new foster home, or work with him through the transition to being part of a family. I'm on the fence.

Chipper is making slow progress and is still very nervous and unsure. The progress is his going outside on his own without a leash.  This is only if it's a clear path to the door.  Chipper is truly torn between what he knows and what he wants to do.  Outside he's more confident and I'm glad that he has found a companion in our other little foster girl, Kirsten. If any dog needed  a friend, there's no doubt that it's Chipper. 

Finally in my last post, some of you were surprised to read about the Amish puppy mills and their treatment of dogs; especially because their religion is all about peace. It's not my intention to put all Amish into the category of mistreating animals.  That would be totally unfair. My friend that has lived in Lancaster Pennsylvania for many years is not the only one that knows many of them to be truly kind, humorous, educated and reliable people. But the Amish that raise and breed dogs in deplorable conditions, (without electricity) and sell them do not consider them any different from the livestock that they raise on their farms and treat them that way. This is because to them, dogs are almost of no practical use for them except for hunting, especially since they don't produce anything edible, like milk, meat, etc.  I am not the only one who finds it heartbreaking and sad that this is how they perceive and consequently treat dogs like Chipper. But he is lucky, he has found his way to a better life.