Tuesday, March 31, 2009

A DOG, A DOG; MY KINGDOM FOR A DOG ? (5)

I decided to have a shower today. Life has been a bit harried for the last few days, what with trying to mesh our family's schedule with Young Dog's schedule.

Anyhow, I thought today would be a good time for a shower. So did the dog. (You did notice that he is a Portuguese WATER Dog?) I got in the shower and turned on the water. Young Dog began immediately to bark, and whine, and wail. He wanted in.

Now I'm fairly open-minded (as even The Blog Fodder will attest, when he's in a good mood). But I'm not so open-minded that my brain has fallen out. The dog was NOT coming into the shower with me! Fortunately, I got out of the shower before YD could break down the shower doors. (He's only a 10-month-old pup; I don't think he understands his strength. Or maybe he does. Hmmmm. . . .) And, as the last bit of water drained from the tub, he was still thinking very seriously of jumping in.

After I dressed, we went outside to trim the daggum drattem rottem Elm tree. Previous owners of the house had installed two of them, before we had a problem with Dutch Elm Disease. One of the challenges with this disease is that you can't trim the Elms after March 31st or before September first, since that's when the elm bark beetles are supposedly active. (They're the bugs that carry the disease.) So there I am, almost knee-deep in snow at some spots, trying to trim this tree, while strongly doubting the beetles would be active in this year's climate. (BTW: I've decided this activity is my version of Winnie the Pooh's "stoutness exercises."). YD, who loves to chew on the small branches, was in his glory; I was almost in agony.

The problem is that this particular elm tree is right where the electrical and phone lines come into the house. If I don't trim the tree, and a storm comes along, and tree knocks down those lines, guess who pays? Right.

I quit earlier than I had planned. Young dog came in and wanted to play. I declined. Very clearly. So YD is sleeping, I am blogging, and I'm going to try to have some tea and a rest. I am determined to survive, and stay sane (or at least one of those two).

5 comments:

The Blog Fodder said...

And you claim you never do "Nothing"? You spent all day doing "Nothing".

Rob-bear said...

I resemble that remark! No, wait, . . . Oh, never mind.

French Fancy... said...

It sounds like you need an enclosure to restrain the dog during the times that you need to get on with things. Like a doggy playpen.

Can we have a photo of the dog please

Rob-bear said...

FF: I'll have a photo of the do once I've mastered the technology involved. I'm way too tired from looking after Young Dog to investigate that technology right now.
If he were to stay, we could get some kind of pen for him. Only problem is that he would bark and howl all the time he's in it.

Natalie said...

Look Rob, I am glad you decided to have a shower today........Hmmm, Thank Goodness for that!

Sounds like YD is getting more like my toddler every day!xx