Welcome to Cutie-Boy Junior

Junior is a 9 1/2 year old that was surrendered due to his owner's terminal illness.

He is getting used to being here and becoming a little attached to me, the sadness from his eyes is starting to leave, but the first couple days you could see how he just did not understand why he was here. He was with his owner all the time. It will take him a little adjusting to become himself again. He is a sweet boy so far and is easy to have here. 

The first night he was here, at around 4am he started to moo-howl. I always find howling humorous whenever I am in earshot, but this sounded so sad. He has since done it during the day and it's just how he howls. It's so funny. I was mimicking him to a friend, with him right there, and he started to sing along with me. So cute. Then, before I knew it, there was a cacophony of singing from all 4 dogs. This also happens when I leave, by the time I get to my car the howling has begun, and I love that I can tell by their voices, which one is doing which pitch. 

Junior is an excellent car rider, and is a good boy going into the vet's office. Yesterday he had some dental work done, the poor thing, he had an incisor removed and two molars. His teeth were worse than nasty, I wasn't surprised that a few were removed. Late yesterday afternoon and into evening, he was a bit groggy still, the anesthesia was still in his body, but today he's got some spring in his step and is getting back to normal. 

Bella Was Quite Comfy

She was such a good girl at camp. I had to leave her alone in the camper a few times and she just snuggled into my 'new to me' afghan that I picked up at the thrift store.

Bella's First Trip to Camp

She's an excellent car passenger.

Why Hello Bella!

Bella came into our rescue a few weeks ago.

Angela had been hanging onto her until I got back from vacation. She made herself at home here pretty quickly. She and Bug played the second day, running around the yard and having a great time. I haven't seen the same activity since. Bug mostly yells at her, even if she's just standing there. If they do start to play a little and Hanzie tries to get involved there ends up being arguments. Hanzie just doesn't know how to play with two dogs at the same time. Barking ensues, he gets protective of Bug and then I'm breaking them up after they've all sworn at each other a few times. I have to keep telling them that I'm the only one that is allowed bad language.

She is a sweet girl, easy to have here, happy, and independent. When she was at Angela's she took a liking to her husband and would jump up on his lap often and have some cuddle time. She likes to play with her toys and to fetch balls. She's great with kids and cats. What more could you ask for in a dog? 

Bella's story: An ad was placed on Craigslist giving her away free. Whenever people see these ads, they send an alert to us. Angela called the woman that owned Bella and had a few different conversations with her. Bella's tear glands do not function properly, therefore, she makes little if any natural tears, depending on which eye we are talking about. Due to the severe dry eye, she has lost some sight. The owner said that they get all gooped up and although she has medication for her, "what's the sense in applying it if they are goopy all the time anyway?" Apparently this woman was also overwhelmed with many other things in her life and it seemed Bella was the last in line for proper care. She was often kept outside on a lead attached to a tree. Bella likes to walk in circles for comfort and we are thinking it's because she is used to tree circling. 

Angela said that it was like Bella's eyes were glued shut from the secretions. She brought her to the ophthalmologist for the right medications and instructions for application. Within a few days her eyes were clearer and then brighter. She is to revisit the ophthalmologist again in two months. Right now she is on a 3x a day eye medication protocol that we are hoping will go down to 2x a day. They still get a bit goo, mostly in the left eye, but it's so minor in comparison. Bella is not thrilled to have her eyes dabbed at 3 times a day, but it is something that must be done and I've gotten it down to a rhythm with her. 

Angela has been in touch with and having conversations with 3 different foster moms that volunteer for the Blind Dog Alliance. We are hoping they will take her because we feel that she will have a better chance for a quicker adoption because they hit a specific market. When people come to us they are looking for a 'no medical issue' dog. If she is taken by them, it opens up a spot for us to take in an adoptable dog that might otherwise be cast aside. We are the only Miniature Schnauzer rescue in New England and currently have only two foster homes, each having limited space. Barbara, our MA foster mom has Harley in her care and he is diabetic. Normally that is not a big issue, but it's been hard in the rescue community to adopt out healthy dogs with the way the economy has been, adopting a special needs dog is even more difficult. Harley has been with us for quite some time and I imagine will continue to be. 

In the meantime, as we wait to hear if the Blind Dog Alliance has space available, Bella will be here with my crew getting spoiled like the rest of them and experiencing camp this coming weekend. 

Vintage Thrifting

On the way home from work today I stopped by 'My Favorite Little Thrift Store' around the corner from my house...to drop off a bag of stuff...um...then I went shopping. The two automatically go hand in hand, I can't help myself.

I own this set of chrome canisters....

but for some reason I am drawn to this set of 4 (the smallest is missing from the picture.)

I've been eyeing it for a couple weeks now. It's butt ugly and cool at the same time. Since my walls are chartreuse, it won't really go, and I don't have enough room on my counter, but that whole 70's thing has my heart. 

ANNNNNDDD it has the salt and pepper to match!

I am drawn to this owl carving it's so cute, but not really my style -- once again -- the 70's.

I did buy this 6 cup Pyrex Flameware Percolator...coffee anyone?

and I've been keeping an eye out for one of these jars, and this one is BIG. It will be used to store my homemade laundry detergent. 

Then, curbside, I saw a pile of wood and a doll house. I turned the car around, lifted things up and there were two of these Gothic architectural frames. They're awesome -- and a bit heavy. I think they might just be what the living room needed.  The guy at the house where these were saw me and yelled over the fence that they were 150 years old. I should have asked for more history. They definitely did not come from a house in this neighborhood, as they are all '50s Ranches and Capes.

The doll house ended up being more of an architectural mock-up and since there were a couple pieces missing I figured I didn't need to bring it home. I try to remember that I'm getting RID of things. 

I'm hopeless, I swear. 

Flea Market Sunday

We were there for 2 minutes. The first table I perused I found this cuff bracelet. $3. Mine. It just so happened to coordinate beautifully with the rings I was wearing (the 2 larger ones are vintage, the other an artist made.)

It was quite appropriate, too, as I was wearing my Wonder Woman t-shirt...too bad there wasn't two

Bam! Pow! Pow! Bam!

Whooooaa Black Beetle Bam-A-Wham

When I saw this beetle, I was amazed at the size, you know, the HUGE size! Then I put the tape up to it and found it's only an inch long...