Back last May I had to put down ‘Problem Child’ Patches, age fourteen, a couple of weeks after one dose of a monthly flea/tick medicine. They were being eaten up by ticks, and nothing was working. I found out afterwards that coconut oil works very well. The FDA filed a warning about two of the medications a few weeks back. Patches was one of these Border collies who was smarter than her college degree owner.
A month ago, Karen, President of NW Alabama Herding Dog Rescue through whom I rescued my Hooligans, before she retired to WV, sent me a picture of a smooth coat Border collie named Lucy. She had shown up in someone’s yard in Memphis. West TN Border Collie Rescue was looking for a foster for her until she could go to rescue. I contacted them and a few days later after she was fixed, some friends and I met them on I-40 somewhere between Nashville and Memphis.
On the way home, we stopped at Hagy’s Catfish Hotel in Savannah for lunch. She sat in the passenger seat watching the door of the restaurant until we came out. As we were walking along the Tennessee River before we left for home, a gentleman from Alcorn, MS came out of the restaurant and saw Lucy. As he was walking toward us, she stared at him with hair standing up on her neck and back. She was okay once I started talking to him. He said his neighbor had just gone to Kentucky to get a Border collie.
Once we got home, the greeting from Blackie and Levi went better than I expected. Lucy was the one growling at them. The next morning, we started training with the underground fence and back garage doggie door. The doggie door was learned in less than fifteen minutes. She did very well with the wireless fence. Right now, they are locked in the front and back yard. Soon, the flags will come up and they’ll have three acres to roam on again.
With a fifteen and fourteen-year-old, I’ve forgotten what a young Border collie can be like. I had to child proof everything back then. I have three ‘Ruby slippers’ oakleaf hydrangea that I’ve been watering in the containers since spring. Finally, we had enough rain about 2 months ago, so I could dig a hole to plant them in front of the house. She wasn’t bothering my azalea’s, so I didn’t think about the hydrangeas. She must have noticed the orange tags on them and had them for dessert after eating a 100-foot hose. Later she somehow pulled a brand-new pair of goat skin garden gloves still in the package off of the third shelf and ate the ends of the fingers and thumbs off. She keeps one of my old garden shoes in her bed in the back garage. She ate the other one. I didn’t realize she was watching me while I was measuring rain in my rain gauge I use for reporting to CoCoRaHS. It had little bit of ice in it, so put it on the patio table by the house, and laid the measuring tube in a pan on the table. That little voice said to put it in the back pan on the table. Later I went back to finish measuring, and the measuring tube was gone. I found it in bits and pieces by the front door. It had gotten very difficult to read.
My fifteen-year-old Blackie is just not going to tolerate her. Lucy hangs out with my fourteen-year-old Levi. He had gotten a little on the chunky side since Blackie is no longer able to chase him. Lucy has slimmed him back down to a good weight. He’s getting a regular amount of food now.
Hooligans Letter to Santa
Dear Santa, we’ve been very good doggies this year. Mom took Patches off a while back, and every time she comes home, Patches is not in her truck. We miss her; well Levi does. Recently Mom came home with this new juvenile she calls Lucy. She is just a nuisance for us old folks. She keeps chasing after Levi, and he is just worn out. He was getting a little on the chunky side but now he has slimmed down, and is very tired. After all he is an old boy of fourteen. He’s been finding things for this young whippersnapper to chew up so she’ll get into trouble. You can take her back to where Mom found her please.
My Christmas Wish for you:
Wishing you the Warmth of Home, the love of Family and Friends. May you have Enough.
May you have a Blessed and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
On the home front, I’ve been very busy with Veterans Day and Christmas events. I was able to make the Veterans Day Parade in Russellville, AL, The Tuscumbia one was rained out.
The Dickens Christmas Y’all went inside due to lots of rain. I made two trips to the Roxy in Russellville to take pictures at their wonderful production of Legends of Toyland, and back for the KGB show with guest Leroy Troy from Hee Haw the Marty Stuart show.
Christmas in the Country at the Lagrange College Site is a yearly event, along with Belle Mont’s Plantation Christmas. The mansion is decorated in the style of the mid 1800’s.
The music and dance are of the same period. The Trees of Christmas at the Tennessee Museum of Art in Tuscumbia, featured twelve decorated trees by various groups.
Several of the Christmas parades were rescheduled or cancelled due to the rain. I made it to Tuscumbia’s Christmas parade. The Christmas concert at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame featured Bobby Tomberlin, Aaron Wilburn, and Mark Narmore. Jessie Lynn joined them for a couple of songs. Wilburn had the crowd in stitches will his song ‘Wal-Mart on a Saturday night, after Midnight’.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, and if you see Santa, give him a peck on the cheek.
