Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Down for the Count


Marcus:  Jan says I have been a good boy this past week.

Jan:

This past week has been very hard on all of us and I am proud of Marcus.  He has so wanted me to play with him for weeks and I just didn't have the energy, but I did try to walk him and Buddy every day possible.  (I walk Merci by herself if she wants to go.)

I wasn't going to do this post but Loulou's sweet mama is concerned that we haven't been posting.  It's easier to type this once so we told her we would try to do a post.  This has been a hard summer.  I have been sweating buckets, cutting the lawn with a grass whip, and tottering around in exhaustion.

Last Monday I tried out my new electric lawn mower with a 100' cord that should make my life easier.  Six hours later about 3/4 of the lawn was done.  (There were a lot of breaks in there where I collapsed in a chair on the porch or over the trash can near the side yard.)  Then I wobbled up the street with the two dogs. 

Tuesday evening I set out with Marcus and Buddy for a walk.  We made it as far as the public sidewalk next door. Without any warning I was yanked sideways and back with such force the chest pain was excruciating and I was  screaming.  My feet were flying and I almost fell over Marcus and one of the dogs from next door when they both stopped.  Some distance away the neighbor kids were playing basketball in the alley.  I screamed for them to get their dog on a leash and they just stared.. 

There was another hard yank in another direction and I was face down on the lawn, still screaming in pain.  Bless the woman driving by who saw it happening and stopped to help..  She was there right away, wrapped the leashes in one hand (I had a death grip on them) and told me the dogs were okay. (I wasn't thinking straight and neglected to get the name of the kind woman.)  I couldn't see anything but I could hear those kids approaching.  From beginning to end, there was no sound from any of the dogs except one low growl from Marcus - his "I'm in trouble" growl.  One second he was walking, then he was playing, then I was on the ground screaming and there were all those kids coming at him.  He is timid and I knew he was scared. 

I spent a long time face down on the lawn listening to the mouthy teenager who doesn't believe the leash law applies to her.  And when I was finally able to get up. things got worse.  She told me to GO HOME (complete with arm gestures) or WALK THE DOGS ACROSS THE STREET but to GET OFF HER PROPERTY (meaning the entire side of the road).  No remorse, no concern that her off leash dog caused the violent take down (not a fall) of someone. 

Injured or not, I still had to take care of the Funny Farmers.  By Saturday, I HAD to get out of the house so I set out with Buddy and Marcus on a slow walk.  Buddy stopped to poop.  I cleaned up after him. turned around and there was that dog racing onto the sidewalk at us.   She will not put it on a leash!  The fact the dog is friendly and wants to play isn't the point. I don't know if Animal Control has been in contact with the family yet.

So, things are not going well around here.  The Mousebreath interviews are postponed.  I don't know for how long.  We won't be posting to the blog either.  I am taking a break from everything to recuperate.

I wasn't joking about Marcus being a good boy.  I don't blame him for what happened, nor the other dog.  I blame the defiant teenager and her parents.  He was going stir crazy without his walks, so he was so happy they resumed.  Tonight - Monday- Marcus stopped on our walk to make friends with a man in a wheelchair who has had a stroke and was frustrated because he couldn't convey to me what he wanted to say, but he and Marcus communicated just fine.


Friday, August 11, 2017

Today's Post

*Scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll*


Cyndi:  Hey, today's post is missing.  Where did it go?

Merci:  It didn't go anywhere.  We didn't write one.

Cyndi:  We did post an interview on Mousebreath, didn't we?

Merci:  No.

Cyndi:  Did we do anything for today?

Merci:  No.  You know Jan has been doing hard labor these last months in the heat and humidity and to say she's been creaky and crabby and running way behind on everything would be an understatement.

Cyndi:  Isn't that what we pay her the big bucks for?

Merci:  We don't have any big bucks!

Cyndi:  Okay, I got a bit carried away, but we don't have opposing thumbs so we can't clean up after ourselves or whip this yard into shape with a skinny weed eater, so maybe we should order some braces for her tottering legs and a scarecrow rack to keep her upright. 

Merci:  Have you considered how impossible it would be for Jan to feed us or change our litter with her arms sticking straight out in midair?  Why don't we just have a quiet weekend and stay out of her way so she doesn't fall on one of us.

Cyndi:  Well, it was mean of her to wait until 10 p.m. to tell us if we wanted to write a post, we had better be quick about it.

Merci:  And then there was that big bolt of lightning and she turned off the computer before Percy could even sit down at the computer.

Cyndi:  To be fair, it was too late for us old furries to start weaving the pieces of an interview together. Percy would have fallen asleep on the keyboard and we know from past experience what havoc that can wreak!

Merci:  Today was shot because Jan had something important that had to be done on the computer!

Cyndi:  Hopefully, next week will be easier and we will post  another Mousebreath interview. *scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll*  Jan needs to get her act together so we have more computer time.  Everyone is going to forget us because we are rarely posting any more.

Merci:  Don't worry, Cyndi, we'll always have Marcus's friends the geese.

Cyndi:  I didn't know geese read blogs.

Merci:  Well, surely if geese hold recitals and singalongs (Late for a Recital)  they have a channel on YouTube..  And while they're online, I'm sure they stop by to read about Marcus, their biggest fan.



Tuesday, August 08, 2017

Late for a Recital




Mo:  Look who's coming this way!

Minnie:   Oh, no, it's that dog that thinks he speaks goose.

Mo:  Has anyone told him all geese are not named Minnie or Mo?

Minnie:  I doubt it.  He has a hearing problem.

Mo:  How do you know that: 

Minnie:  Listen to this.  "HONK, HONK!"



Marcus:  Hey, Buddy, did you hear that?  Minnie just yelled, "Hey Marcus, good to see you again."

Buddy:  Are you sure?  I just heard, "Honk, honk."

Marcus:  Of course, I'm sure.  I speak fluent goose.

Mo:  "Honk, honk, hoooonk!"

Buddy:  If Minnie is so glad to see you, why are all the geese waddling off in the other direction?

Marcus:  Mo said they're sorry they have to go, but they're late for a recital.

Buddy:  They're late for a what?

Marcus:  A recital.  Or did he say they're late for a singalong?  The two words are very similar in goose, you know.



Friday, August 04, 2017

Do Mice Play (When Cat is Away)


Micah: We are glad to still see some of our posted badges in our travels around the blogs.  It's the "I Was Featured by the FFF" badge for those we have interviewed for Mousebreath.

Rusty:  We were pleased to add Taylor when we resumed the interviews this year, but we sometimes feel a bit sad for those we have had to remove from the badge over the years:  Cameron, Cotton, Crystal.

Cyndi:  We were the fuor "C"s.  I'm the only one left.  I hope we don't have to leave alphabetically for the bridge.  Not that any of us are in any hurry to go.   

Taylor:  Or chronologically, since you're the oldest of us felines.  I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have said that, should I?


Cyndi:  No!  You should have said we have a new interview this week with two cats we met recently.

Taylor:  Do the mice really play?

Micah:  What?

Taylor:  Tessa and Kajsa are from the blog When the Cat is Away.

Rusty:  Oh, you want to know if the mice play when the cat is away?

Taylor:  Yes.

Micah:  You'll have to ask Tessa and Kajsa.


Percy:  If you haven't met them yet, you will enjoy the introduction.  You can read their story,Tessa and Kajsa from Helsinki, on Mousebreath.  


We are joining the Pet Parade hosted by Rascal and Rocco, Basil the Bionic Cat, Barking from the Bayou and Owned by a husky.