When we first got Roxy we put her dog food in a giant Tupperware container with a good sealing lid.
This was due to my association with a friend who worked for Terminex who,
once told me that critters go where ever they can find dog food...
and that dog food was an excellent bait for traps.
We have been fortunate not to have indoor critter problems...
so far...
with the exception of ants.
(Which are as inevitable as death and taxes.)
So... into the Tupperware with Roxy's food.
Then it was stashed under the kitchen bar counter,
next to her food and water dishes.
There it stayed until an ant attack forced us to move her dishesto the shop,
where ants did not bother to go.
I'm not sure why that is.
Yet, sure enough, the ants did not follow.
The first time I spied the shop mouse,
she was looking pretty fat.
Never a good sign with a mouse.
The next time she skittered by in the corner of my vision,
she was slimmer.
I like mice.
I used to have a large walk-in closet in the house where I grew up,
that my mother allowed me to use to raise mice to sell as a business.
I had at one time 28!
(All in cages of course.)
The man, however has no sympathy for mice.
I must agree that the wild variety are not good for human living spaces,
but I'm kind of funny about killing them.
I'd rather catch and release.
:-)
When the man spied the mama mouse, he set a trap.
Whap! Whap!
He quickly dispatched two mice bodies to the dumpster.
I admit to being a mite sad at this,
but they were mature mice who had lived full mousey lives.
Better a quick snap of the trap than slow death by playful kitties.
Not long after I spied a tiny puff of fur with a pink tail by Roxy's dish.
One of the food pellets must have been a feast to someone so tiny.
To tell or not to tell...was my question.
Yes it was a wild rodent full of nasty germs and disease.
But darn, it was cute!
I didn't say a word.
(Shame on me!)
Roxy ratted me out!
That pig bull nose of hers began to snuffle and search.
Who's been eating my porridge?
She spent hours at a time trying to track my fuzzy secret friend.
The man noticed and the trap came back out.
He uses peanut butter for bait... another tip from Terminex man.
The first night... nothing.
Yay!
the second night... nothing again.
Yay! Yay!
Unfortunately on the third try
the poor little fellow got the ax.
I wasn't at all surprised when I spied a flash of fur this morning...
close to Roxy's dish.
Where you see one mouse, there are at least six more.
She's out there snuffling again.
Sadly, we have plenty of peanut butter.
More dumpster funerals to follow.
We went to the beach! Roxy was under impressed with the ocean, but she made some new friends within feet of the truck.
I don't know how they know, but dogs know who does or does not like dogs.
I had just enough juice in my camera to snap this one and three others.
Sigh.
I even charged it the night before.
No matter, we got a new camera battery and the problem is now solved.
Randy had an "accident" disposable camera in the glove box, so I still managed to get some great photos.
Now all I have to do is finish the pics left and get them printed.
We stopped here briefly to check out the dates, times, etc. that we could return to visit.
We did not want to have to leave Roxy alone in the truck long enough to truly enjoy the experience. This was her first long distance car trip.
Sort of a trial run and fun day for her.
Our next stop was here...
We weren't there at night, so I didn't really see this view of it.
However, we will when we return to visit the Sea Lion Caves later this spring.
We'll do an over night trip then.
This is all around a town called Florence, where we visited their "Old Town".
Typical coastal touristy stuff.
We got salt water taffy and looked through the shops for some little thing to take home.
I have a serious problem with gift shops... called exaggerated pricing.
I simply could not spend that kind of money.
So I bought an artist's print of the Heceta Light House on a card for seventy-five cents.
I did see one thing that I truly wanted.
Very cool!
Encased in glass, a jelly fish paper weight.
But not for $350!!!!
I'll visit the coast aquarium and sit and watch the living jellies for hours, pay for the motel, gas and diner for that.
Sheesh.
I'm not a good tourist.
:-)
Other than that, we have been busy with life in general.
Nothing fancy or fascinating.
Contentment.
Tomorrow I will tell you about that.
But this is enough for today.
It is my extreme pleasure to introduce you to our newest family member.
Roxy!
Last Friday we went to the store and bought a new bed for her and some toys. But we didn't actually meet her until the next afternoon when we had our appointment at www.LuvaBullRescue.org.
The kennels are up in a beautiful forest area.
There the dogs are divided according to their needs in clean enclosures of good size. They have a wonderful walk/running paths that wind through the woods around them for exercise needs. I was very impressed with how well the dogs were kept, and how dedicated the staff was to keeping their temporary homes happy. Though sadly enough, some of the dogs cannot be adopted out because of serious abuse issues that keep them from being able to blend back into normal life. There at least, they get affection, care and they live as happily as they can.
We did not know what to expect when we arrived. There were a lot of cars. People here and there. We were met by our contact, L, who led us to her office. Inside was Roxy who was so excited that she could not stop wiggling and sniffing us both. We went to her enclosure for a visit, then afterward we were allowed to take her for a walk on the forest trail.
This is one strong girl! I think if I was to strap on roller skates, that she could easily haul me behind at a good clip.
I first saw Roxy last summer when we began looking for a dog.
She had just been rescued with her puppies and there was a lot of excitement over watching the the puppies grow. At that time, Roxy had been living under an empty house in Los Angeles. Her owner had lost his home and could not find a place that would let him have a pregnant pit.
He left her behind with the intention of finding a place for her, but it did not work out that way. She went to the pound, then another shelter before being brought all the way up here to live!
That's when LuvaBull put her and the pups on their web page and I began to watch them. The tiny pups grew and one by one found nice homes. But Roxy was left behind.
I showed her to Randy a few weeks ago and told him her story.
We decided then to apply to adopt her.
We took our leash along on our visit just in case... not truly expecting to get to take her home yet. LuvaBull is very careful about who they allow to take a dog. You have to give references, vet records, etc.
So we were just being hopeful.
:-)
As it turned out, they were very happy with how well Roxy responded to us. They let us bring her home.
I felt very bad for L when she said good-bye to Roxy.
You could tell that it was hard to see her go.
But L is glad that they finally found a home for Roxy and she emails me daily to see how she is doing. We invited her to come and visit tomorrow.
As for Roxy...
She shivered on the ride to her new home. We have a truck with a king cab and she wormed her way up on top of the arm rest that divides our seats. The closer we got to home, the more of Roxy was in my lap.
First her nose, then her head, then a paw... until she was half in and half out of the back.
She did great that first day home. There was so much to sniff and things to explore. She darted back and forth between us.
She had some trouble with the dog doors. She must have been trained to sit at the door when she wanted out. So she would go to the dog doors and sit, but not try to go through them.
A nice BBQ rib bone eventually enticed her to try.
Now she is in and out like a pro.
When it was time for bed, she looked at the new bed and smelled it.
Naturally it smelled new, not like Roxy or anything familiar.
She did not want to sit in it let alone lay down. So we tossed in the tee shirt that Randy had been wearing and that did the trick.
Roxy circled it and lay down.
There were a couple of sad little whines from her area when we shut the door to our room. Roxy's bed is in the kitchen/dining room. A nice indoor, warm space with a night light. If needed, she could go out the dog door to the shop and from there to the yard. We have an automatic light out back that would come on for her if she did.
I did worry that she might have an accident being in a strange new place.
The next morning she greeted me with happy wuffs and wiggles.
No accidents. She visited with me while I had my morning coffee, then began to use her dog doors to run in, then out and back again.
She has been home 2 and a half days now and we have found our rhythm. I rise earliest, so she and I have our coffee time, walk and play.
When Randy comes out, the happy dance begins again and she follows him for awhile until he's as boring as I was and I become interesting again. That is how it goes.
Roxy was worth the wait.
The last couple of days we have had some clouds, but almost NO RAIN!
I like rain. It keeps us green up here.
But its been such cold rain that it is hard to enjoy.
The past two days we had sunshine and clouds.
Boy did that feel good.
Meanwhile, as I grumble about the cold rains, I see so many other people on the news in terrible weather situations.
Up in Dumb Potter's Hell, my family has had a lot of snow.
Here we rain mostly.
So what's up with all of you?
As for me... well, my holiday job ended and I am once more back to looking for longer lasting work. Sigh.
I was listening to the radio. Some employment guru was spouting advice...
He determined that 80% of on line applications were worth nothing in terms of actually getting a job.
I wonder how long it has been since he last looked for work.
The choice is not in the hands of the job seeker.
I have applied all over the place here, and will continue to do so.
But finding a potential employer who is willing to give you a paper application is like looking for money on the sidewalk.
Any well known business or even a large local business has an online application... or worse yet, one of those little application computers sitting out in front of everyone walking past, where you sit and type in all your personal info, etc.
No one wants to see your face until they have reviewed your information... and then only if they have an immediate opening.
So I am back to that exercise in frustration.
Else wise, we have been busy doing what I can't even recall. There are always errands to run or things to fix.
We did go to Randy's son's engagement party and that was fun.
They had pulled meat sandwiches... chicken, ham and beef... and the best cold slaw that I have ever eaten. The cold slaw was not all mixed together. You were supposed to put the cabbage on the pulled meat sandwich and then have slaw on the side.
I skipped it on my sandwich. The dressing for it was on the side so that I could control how much went on it. I want the recipe for it!
Anyway, it was fun.
I was a bit tired though when we went. We'd kept little N for the night and she wore me out. :-) She got a bit fussy at the party and over excited the next day. I'm sure the sugar in the cakes and all the goodies did not help. She is not a good eater but is always ready for sweets.
You know how little people are. And you know how older relatives are with giving goodies to little people on special occasions.
I sort of pitied her mom when they left.
That was one cranky little girl.
The weather is supposed to clear up this week which will give me a much needed opportunity to return to my war with the weeds.
They have gained a lot of ground of late.
It will be a good time for it too. All the trees and shrubs have died back to leafless winter. I can see where to attack the berries, etc.
I really need to mow our back yard too.
So much to do!
I hope wherever you live that the snow or cold taper back.
I can't tell you how happy it made me to see the sunshine.
Randy was glad... he said I was more like Eore than myself.
He is right. When it gets dreary, my mood goes quiet.
I curl up on the sofa and stay there.
Not good.
One good note... we have located a puppy we would like to adopt.
She's actually 3 years old, pre-trained, spayed, chipped and well behaved.
Her last owner abandoned her when he moved. The rescue folk found her under his house, near starved with a litter of pups.
Her pups have all been fattened up, weaned and placed in homes.
Since then, she has lived at the rescue offices waiting for someone who is not looking for a fat pup.
We hope that is us!
Here is the funny thing... her name is Roxy, which happens to be the name of Randy's dog that died 5 or 6 years ago.
That Roxy was a brindle, this Roxy is all black.
What I like is her sweet face.
I'm crossing my fingers.
Meanwhile, I'll be out in my yard at war with the weeds... and hoping to see signs of spring. Is it too much to ask for a crocus sprout?
The other day I say what I thought might be bulbs sprouting and got all excited. Well, yeah, bulbs of a sort. Its the garlic coming up.
Ha!
Not exactly what I think of when I think of spring.
Have a great day everyone!
When we first got Roxy we put her dog food in a giant Tupperware container with a good sealing lid.
