Millie is Surprised

Here's my faulty reasoning: we're to have rain this morning. Outside, the skies look cloudy, but not dark-cloudy. I do not hear rain against the roof or windowpanes yet at 5 a.m., therefore we must be in a pause. Ergo if I get up now and take Millie out, we will have beat the rain and we will stay dry.

Millie always comes out of her crate in the morning with great enthusiasm, no matter what the hour. No different today. But as we step outside, I see that it is indeed raining. I take out the umbrella. She gazes up at it apprehensively. Millie does not large strange objects. But, nature beckons and so she concentrates on the grass before her. Said grass is wet, but even more strangely, there's wet stuff coming from above. My pup keeps looking up, thinking perhaps that she should catch the rain drops. That effort fails, so she goes back to sniffing. She quickly finished what she set out to do and pulls to go inside. 

(wet dog)

 

It strikes me that she and I have not been out in the rain since the first week of her life at Sally's House some two months ago. It's been that dry. (And on the rare occasion that it did rain, the cloudburst would have been quick and dirty. We managed to stay out of it.) 

It is a very early morning for the both of us. Is that why she refuses to eat breakfast? She'd been cleaning her bowls every day since we started on the fresh wet food. Not today. Is she feeling off? Too tired? Or does she not like the smell of turkey? I can't tell. She walks off, curls up not too far from me and falls asleep. 

I eat breakfast on the porch. I wont be able to do that on rainy mornings at Steffi's House -- the front open air porch has a pergola roof. 

The sound of rain outside is lovely. And the construction noise for once is completely missing from my morning. The dust, too, has settled.

But it's a gentle rain. A sweet sound, but the water wont reach the roots of my new plantings. Unless it intensifies, I'll have to take out the hoses again. 

Millie was supposed to go to doggie daycare so that I could work outside, but within minutes, I can tell she is not well today. Upset tummy. Sure, it could be anything, but I would bet a small pot of gold that the reason for the upset lies in her high interest in picking up junk from the porch and on our walks. That dog does not recognize the words "toxic" and "this is not good for you!" 

(an even more wet dog)

 

 

As she seems to be in a dozy mood, I put her in the crate and go out to work in the Steffi Gardens. I really do not like the one little corner planted by Beth from Bevalli. It's not her fault. She did a fine job, but a true garden person will have a vision and I did not communicate my vision well enough. So I moved out some of the plants (don't tell her!) and substituted them with my own. And then I planted stuff around it that will take your eye away from her corner. Too, I put in a path. 

 

 

Note how I talk about planting. Am I digging without Ed's pick-axe help? Yes I am. It's drizzling now and the soil is saturated (as am I!) down to about two inches. I can break through that and chip away at the rest. Ed brings over more farmhouse soil. I work steadily for nearly three hours and then call it quits. 

The front beds still need plants. As many as 3 more on each side. But I'm not in a hurry with choosing those. My efforts on Monday will be on the side beds. I have to get the flowers into those. HAVE to. In one day, three beds. With Ed's help in digging I hope. I have long swallowed my pride and gone begging again.

When I deposit empty buckets to the farmette, Ed asks if I want to go out for a Tati's lunch. I do! We pick up Millie and we're off!

 

 

 

My pup is still not fully herself, so I leave her once again as I go to pick up Snowdrop.

 

(it's locker clean out day today; the girl is loaded with a year's worth of stuff!)

 

 

I don't dwell on the fact that this may be Snowdrop's last visit to Sally's House. I'm not sure what either of the big two (kids) think of the place, but I have to think their feelings are positive, because they so associate it with Millie, and of course, I dont have to repeat what their feelings for Millie are.

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight, there is a get together in the new development. Women and wine, that kind of thing. I really push myself to go. I've met quite a number of people as a result of dog walking, but those have been doggie conversations. I should join the human world more often. So I walk over, leaving Millie yet again, for a third time today, in her crate.The good news is that Millie is getting used to being left there for short bursts of time. Separation anxiety, at least for now, has receded. And because she is off a little with her eating, and resting quite a bit, this isn't a bad day to leave her home so often. Still, as you know, I avoid wine these days and I'm anxious about my puppy, so I walk over briskly, just for an hour's worth of socializing, and then come home to my girl.

I'm glad I went. Where there are two dozen women sipping beverages together, there will be information about the hot issues of the day. I learn about construction plans. About who has what dog. About book clubs and weekly coffee meetups. All filed for future reference.

I really should go to bed early today. But sleep seems very unimportant to me this month. I love June daylight and staying up feels somehow so luxurious. Still, there's more digging before me. With and without the help of the pick-axe guy. Maybe in an hour I'll retreat upstairs. Or two hours. Or so...

with so much love...