Checking on Her Stash

Whachaupto Mabel Lou???

As soon as the tree came down, Mabel Lou came out and had to inspect EVERYTHING!

 She snooped ...

... and sniffed

 ... and inspected every inch behind the shrub. She did this repeatedly; still does it every day over a week later!

It took me a while to figure out... she must have goodies buried back there. And... as luck would have it, our current Baby doll went MIA about a week before the tree came down.

For those of you unfamiliar with Baby... When Miss Lou is being particularly stingy with her loving, I start yelling for "Baby." I tell Baby ( the stuffie du jour) all about how mean Mabel is and how Mabel won't kiss me and Mabel won't cuddle me and Mabel won't let me rub her tums. I will kiss and hug and cuddle and rub Baby's tum. But eventually, I push it too far and ask Baby if she wants to go to the creek and leave Mabel at home... and shortly thereafter, Baby either dies a tragic death or "disappears." (I feel like I'm living with a Mafioso sometimes!) Here's a link to the rather funny beginning of the Baby Game!

Anyway, I'm pretty sure Baby is buried around the stump of that tree based on the way the girl is acting.  Time to up the ante and find a shovel!

The Tree I Didn't Know I Had

I somehow thought I had mentioned here about my tree situation but apparently I haven't and... it's a precursor to the post I originally intended to write this morning.

In the process of tearing down the old fence, Chloe's dad found a huge palm tree leaning on the fence! How does one not know they have a HUGE tree??? Well, being short and looking up at tall shrubbery helps!

But take a few steps back and there are clearly palm leaves coming out of the top!

I would stand there and enjoy my tall yellow bird of paradise and the really tall shrub and simply never noticed those palm leaves!

But, go around the shrub and it's evident that the tree needed to come down.

Yet another unexpected expense... have I mentioned my a/c has been out and Mabel and I have been "camping" in the living room on hot nights with borrowed fans from our hiking buddy and our French doors wide open??? August has been a trying month!

I got a few references and was appalled at the cost for what all contractors deemed "an hour of work." Wish I could get paid that well! I tried a few tree farms that often remove grown trees for free. But it turns out that this is just a common Mexican palm that will grow in the crack of a sidewalk. So I had to buck up and pay for the removal of the tree... which cause quite a disturbance in the force household.

But... you'll have to wait til tomorrow to see those pics! 

Furiends on a Hot Day

It's so hot, and Miss Chloe will NOT come in the slightly cooler house! So I ply the pups with Frosty Paws in the afternoon! Chloe had never had any but LOVES it!

Mabel prefers to stand and eat hers!

When the girls are all done, Mabel "clears the dishes!" Yep, she picks up both containers and brings them inside! (I'm certain she's hoping Chloe left a few licks in hers! And Miss Lou wants to protect the dregs of her own container from the tongue of Chloe! She's figured out that Chloe will not come inside!)

Silly Mabel

Miss Lou was showing off for Chloe. I just love how she rubs her face!

Yep, she knows she's cute!

We've Got Company!

It's CHLOE from the creek! Okay.... so she didn't come from very far... and she goes home at night...but we love having her here!

Her dad is working on our deck that collapsed in the windstorm last December! Genius me messed around on the insurance claim until June and Chloe's dad was booked until now... when it's 100 degrees in the shade!

While Mabel Lou does make some effort to be the hostess with the mostest, she generally just wants to be inside with me. I don't run the a/c during the day but it's still about 20 degrees cooler. Of course, once she's inside and I'm working on the computer, she immediately wants to join Chloe outside.

Don't think we are so awful as to not invite Chloe in too. She's more than welcome. But.. she has an issue with "buildings." The only one she will ever enter is her own home!  Even if her dad comes in! We think it's an association of the first building outside of home she went in was the V-E-T! Or maybe she just wants to be near her dad.

But we keep the water bowl filled with ice -water... we even bring her dad some. We have cookie breaks. And we moved one of our fans outside for her (our a/c is actually on the blink and our house is a constant hum of 6 ceiling fans and three portables. We kinda have our days and nights mixed up as it takes forever as the house cools off before we can sleep. Our a/c seems to work come morning, so we blast it a bit and then take a long morning nap!)

Chloe found one of Mabel's tennis balls under Mabel's bed. Mabel took it. So I tossed another outside. I made a few trips back and forth getting water and ice and cool rags, etc. before I came in to work. When I came inside, there were TWO tennis balls on Mabel's inside bed! Think about that... she had to make TWO trips! BRAT!

So Mabel Lou, whadayathink about playing hostess for a few weeks while Chloe's dad works here???

18 Months

 My girl has been on the DL this week. She and Bart took off after some coyotes and she returned with a hitch in her giddyup.  By bed time, she didn't want to get in the bed. Reminders that she is not the young pup she once was weigh heavy on my heart. Discovering a  small stash of Baby May pics hasn't helped!

But she's stubborn, this girl. I implored her to "use your steppie" to get out of bed. She backed up the length of the bed and flew off it like Super Dog taking flight! She certainly runs her own agenda!

We took a night off from hiking - Mabel was actually OK with staying home; I was perturbed; Bart was tortured! She was raring to go last night and yes, she took off after a coyote again...but changed her mind and stayed closer to Mom! Because she wanted to, you know.

Mabel Lou at 16 Months

As I've been traveling through my massive collection of photographs, I'm seriously shocked at how few pics of Puppy Lou that I have. Aside from the fact that I seemed to be way more photographically interested in a book I was writing at the time, HOW did I, a person who has shot thousands of photos a year since the age of 16, not take more pics of my cute puppy?

I'm afraid my answer is brutally honest: I simply didn't like her that much! My heart was aching from losing the dog that had saved my life. And I had NEVER owned a puppy! Mabel drove me NUTS! And I apparently went months and months on end without a single photo of her! I so wish I could time travel! I would go back to the summer of 2002 and kick myself in the behind!

Sweet Lazy May

I'm looking through old photos for class project pics... and found Mabel Baby pics! Miss Lou was seven months old here.

Say it with me.... Awwwwwwwe!