Happy Spring! And, An Introduction.

I was originally planning to write this post this morning, while it was still winter, but now Spring Has Sprung!

I have already noticed some buds on some trees and flowers, so hopefully we won't get a freeze that kills them off, because they look so happy! And I have all kinds of plans for what I would like to try and do with plants and flowers this year. So maybe at least one of those ideas will actually happen. 😊

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Now I must introduce you to the newest member of our family. A couple of months ago, The Tim said we should get another dog. No argument from me! He said that he wished we could get another Golden Retriever or a mix, because those are his favorites. Well, as you might be able to imagine, those are few and far between in rescues, especially around here.

So after I spent a LOT of time looking for that kind of dog, he casually mentioned one day that we should instead look for a smaller dog, Towards the end of both Dug's and Hamlet's lives, they had trouble with the steps, and The Tim would have to sometimes carry them up and down. He said that he thinks he couldn't really handle that anymore. OK, so I was on the hunt for a smaller dog. Trying to find a dog who was good with cats proved to be extremely difficult. But one day I was perusing one of the rescues I had been checking (having expanded my area for looking out of just the city), and I saw this photo:

Now really, when you see a face like that, you have to fill out an application, right?  Well, the description said he was approximately 7 years old, was part Schnauzer, and weighed 18 pounds. It also said he was good with cats. So I applied to adopt him, and we had a meet and greet with his foster, and on March 6, we brought him home!

His name at the rescue was Paper Boy, but we changed it to Angus Podgorny, which was the name of a character from an old Monty Python sketch that we always wanted to use for a pet.

Angus looks a bit different now - when he got to the rescue and was vetted, it was discovered that he needed several teeth pulled, and that his fur was so matted that he had to be surgically shaved (as opposed to shaved to look like a Schnauzer, I guess). So now he looks like this:

 

Get a load of the ears! I freaking love dogs with weird ears, and his have two entirely different lives!

He is very sweet, but also quite crazy and completely ridiculous. We do not know what cats he was tested with, but he's sure not calm around our cats, which we're hoping with time and training will no longer be an issue (the cats, I'm sure have already alerted PETA to their plight). But he's catching on, and already understands a few commands. It's only been two weeks today, so he gets some grace, you know? 

And he kinda sorta does look like a Schnauzer until you see him next to the purebred Schnauzer across the street! Then it's clear that there's something else going on, but he remains a man of mystery regarding that part of his heritage. 

Considering everything is still new to him, he's doing better each day. I have plans to hire someone to help me train him, just so he becomes a better member of society - people and animal-wise. The rescue said they had no idea how long he had been a stray, but they guessed quite a while from his condition when he was brought in to them. 

Next week we have a visit with a vet, because I wanted to establish a relationship before he would get sick or need care urgently. When I called, the woman on the phone asked me his name, and I said, "Well, we call him Angus, but his complete name is Angus Podgorny," and she responded, "Oh I LOVE a good Monty Python reference!" so I think we'll do OK there. 

So hello from Angus, who I'm sure you'll see here somewhat regularly. 

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Our plans for this weekend are to start cleaning up the garden, and also do some shopping. The weather is supposed to be agreeable for the most part, so hopefully we can start to make some progress on moving biggish pieces of trees that ended up there after storms out of the way. Also, we had a crazy couple of extremely windy days, so a lot of paper stuff flew into the garden one way or another and we'll clean that up too. 

And that's the news from here. I hope that Springtime will bring some light and happiness to all of us, and that whatever you decide to do (or not do), that you have a good weekend!

Goodbye, Sixties

It's true - this is the last day I will spend in my 60s; tomorrow marks the Big 7-0 for me.

Frankly, it seems weird that I'm having my 70th birthday. Not because I am denying my age - would I be writing this post if that were the case? It's just because it always seemed like a number that was so far in the future. 

But, I have full expectations that I will wake up tomorrow to a new decade of my life, and as there is nothing I can do about it, I'm just gonna see what it brings.

Here are just some of the things I've been thinking about, related to turning 70 years old, in no particular order.

1. I have outlived both of my parents. My father died at the age of 53, and my mother died at the age of 69 years and 7 months. 

2. I have survived several bouts of, and types of, cancer. 

3. I have been married to the same person for 48 years as of this coming October. 

4. I never graduated from high school, but I have a master's degree.

5. I have only gotten more liberal as I've gotten older, unlike what you are "supposed" to do. If the general feeling is that as you age, you become more conservative, I can't guess what viewpoints I must have at birth! 

6. I am fortunate to have good health. Not that I'm in great shape, but I can still do all of the things that I have to do and want to do, for the most part. Maybe slower, maybe with more creakiness, maybe with a bit of difficulty, but I am fortunate that I can still take care of myself and enjoy my life.

7. Though I am not by any means a tech-savvy person, I am able to use technology for things that I must use it for, and enjoy it for the things I actually want to use it for. 

8. I am, for the most part, a happy person. I suffer from a base level of depression and anxiety, but most of the time, they do not affect or define every minute of my life. 

9. I have an extended family that are a wonderful group of people, who I love to spend time with when I have the chance.

10. My love of animals has only increased as I've gotten older. Of course, my own sweethearts mean more than I can say, but I love helping animals through my volunteer work, and in any other way that I am able to do so. Even just feeding the birds in the garden fills me with joy.

I always say this, but turning 70 years old tomorrow is definitely better than the alternative. So I hope that this coming weekend, you will take a moment to be happy to be here, and to have your life, even if it's not perfect or exactly what you might like it to be. Let's face it, sometimes (especially lately) life and the world suck, but since "Hope is the thing with feathers," we can always look for it to take flight and allow us to have some joy.

Older me will see you next week.😄