Samson, Faith, And Me

Happy Mother's Day

to all of you moms on the blogs

Faith Says:

Nothing gets between me and my ball.

I Say: More like caught in the act.

Samson Says: Nothing stands between me and the couch. 

We woke up to a gorgeous morning, 14 degrees (-10C) so I went outside and took a picture of the sky, the frost, and the shadows. 

When I went back inside, the drapes were still drawn and it was pretty dark. So the picture quality is bad, but the dogs are funny. 

I moved my furniture together to protect my new rug from dirty paws. There's so much mud and water in the dog run and they drag it in. I have good rugs both outside and inside the doggie door, but they got wet and I had to hang them on the fence. 

Well, nothing stops a determined dog, I guess, and this is what I walked in on. Samson stole Faith's ball (I should say one of her many balls, but the one she wanted NOW). He's chewing on it. Faith sees me and her tail goes between her legs as she must know she's so BUSTED! I never caught her on the table before, so I guess she just had a sense it wasn't OK. But you know Faith, she just had to have her ball.

Here her tail is going  a guilty 100 miles an hour, but she stands her ground, and the minute Samson turns his head, she moves forward and grabs the ball. I missed that moment.

And here she is, on the folded up part of the rug with her ball. Life with dogs, what can I say?

Tidying Update

The clothes on hangers in both bedroom closets and the hall closet are sorted: keep, donate, consignment, and toss. It wasn't too bad. I go through my closets quite often. The difference this time is that got inspired by my friend Christina, who told me she had gotten rid of practically all non-essential stuff. 

This morning, I pulled down everything that was on the shelves above the clothes. There were bags, hats, caps, my CERT hard hat, scarves, and so on. I got so many gifts of bags from Rosemary after Errol died, her way of cheering me up, which has resulted in me having way more bags than at any other time in my life. I love them, I love what she did for me, so they will stay for now. Instead, I'm donating my older bags. I had all of them when I worked at UCLA, many years ago now, so time for them to go. 

I took this picture on our way home from the DMV in Arvin, where Mary got her license renewed and Bob got his Real ID card. After all this rain, there should be gorgeous wildflowers growing up and down those hills pretty soon. 

Bones!

Faith: The Chewy man came, but only with a small package. I knew that couldn't be our food, so I was a little worried.

But when mommy opened it, there were packs of snacks and dental chews and then she gave me two BONES! Ahh, just for me, me, me.... I must have the best mommy in the whole wide world!

Me: You know better than that Faith, you know that one bone was for Samson and one bone was for you.

Faith to herself: I don't think so. I better get the other bone and hide it. 

Faith can't figure out how to carry both bones, so she has to leave one. She picks up the other one and brings it outside.

Samson, who only has a moderate interest in bones, sees the bone Faith left, picks it up and proceeds to chew on it.

Faith hears him chewing and runs anxiously around the house, back and forth. I find her in the hallway, listening.

Me: I know he's got one bone, why can't you just chew on the other? Why do  you get so upset for nothing? 

Faith: Nothing?! That's MY bone!

Me: Let's go and see if he'll give it back to you. Unlike you, Samson is such a mellow dog, he probably won't care. 

Faith: Mommy said you have to give me back MY bone!!

Me: Not exactly what I said.

Samson continues to chew and says nothing.

Faith: Mommy, could you PLEASE help me -- that is MY bone.

Me: OK, since you ask so nicely I'll go outside and get the other bone.

As I leave, Samson, who doesn't like me to leave, gets up and follows me outside.

Faith wastes no time - the bone is HERS!

Much to my surprise, Samson accepts the other bone and they both lie down together, chewing away. Peacefully....

Good Dog Profits ~ Or Not?

Faith: First you disturb me so with that big blue and noisy thing you drag around the house. Then you show up with this flashy thing you think is so pretty because it's red. I wish you'd just leave me alone so I can chew on my bone in peace. 

Me: Maybe you'd feel better if you could be on my blog and show everyone, including lots of dogs, what a very good  girl you are.

Faith: Pretty too? 

Me: Yes, you always look pretty on my blog. 

Faith: OK.

Me: Sit!

Me: Good girl!

Faith: I heard some dogs get treats when they are good???

Me: We'll see about that. Now: Lie down!

Me: Good girl!

Faith: That's all? Good girl? No treats? 

Samson: Told you! No point in showing off if there are no treats to be had.

Resting With Dogs

All dogs know this: Loafing is good for the soul.

Samson and Faith

Whispered secrets.......

Faith: Mine, Mine, Mine.........

OK, so the other day mommy went to town and came home with lots of food and other goodies, among them a bag of colorful balls. You know they were all for me, right? I mean, who's the retriever of balls around here, who chews them until the felt wrapper comes off, who carries them around in her soft, soft mouth? Right, that would be me. 

But Samson comes over with that sweet smile of his, head tilted, looking like he's supposed to get a ball too. Would you believe it? She gives him this pretty orange ball, then turns around and gives me a red one. Samson gives me that look, takes the orange ball into the bedroom and starts chewing on it! My ball! Mine, mine, mine.......

I know I have to be smart (which I am) and patient (which I'm not) and wait him out. He is bigger than me, after all! So I sneak into the hallway and wait. Every now and then I peak around the corner to see what he's up to. It's taking him a long time to get tired of that ball.

But when he hears mommy unwrapping something in the kitchen, he finally gets up and  runs to the kitchen to see if he can get a treat (that's all he thinks about, treats). As you can see in the pictures, I now have both balls. They are mine! Both of them, mine!

I soon get tired of the orange ball and leave it behind. I pick up the red ball and go to lie down opposite Samson, chewing on it.

I wanted to show him how my smarts and patience had defeated him. How I now had both balls, even though I sort of forgot about the orange one. But Samson's so easy-going, I can't get the reaction I crave. He's just hot and can't be bothered, eyes closed, tongue out, frog position on the tile. 

So I hurry up and chew the red ball. Soon it will be gone and maybe mommy will give me the pretty purple one next. Better yet, maybe we can go outside and play with it. Oh well, a girl can dream........