Happy Bonus's

May, what an incredible month it has been.

For me it started out as any other month.... gettin puppies!!

On the 3rd I took in, from the Humane Society, 9 malnourished

Lab mix pups, only 5 - 6 weeks old.

My job was to fatten them up and get them socialized for adoption.

Well, I guess I should first tell you how I got these pups.

I saw this guy.... Yoshi.

He was sittin in kennel #1. When I walked through the door he just turned and stared up at me with those big brown eyes begging me to take him. Unfortunately, there was already a hold on him. Some rescue had been called and were taking him that afternoon.

I walked past him knowing he was already spoken for but couldn't get my mind off him.

That's when I came upon the litter of skinny pups that had been dropped off during the night. Oh my heart broke. Pups this small and this weak would surely die in the shelter. Parvo could wipe them out in 3 days time.... not to mention they were being fed hard food and could barely eat it.

What did I need 9 puppies for... I had too much work to do finishing the house.... I couldn't take on pups right now.

Then I walked back to that Yorkie. His eyes just bore right into my heart and I KNEW... I just KNEW I had the perfect home for him.

I went to the front desk and struck the deal.

I would take all 9 pups. Fatten and socialize them... get them ready for adoption and return them healthy and Happy, IF I could have the Yorkie.

They made the phone call to the rescue... told a little white lie and I was off with 9 sick puppies and what I would soon find out was a VERY Fast Yorkie.

The Litter Noir, I called them, because there really was no way I would ever tell them apart, especially only having them two weeks.

I started them right away on a high protein diet and lots of it. Extra vitamins and colostrum and some delicious milk formula. They took to my kind of feeding schedule like I was the new mama, which I was. 9 sweet little babies soon became MY little babies and I would sit and hold and coddle them every chance I got.

Three days after the pups arrived, I ended up bringing Griz home (Grizelda).

She was about to taken to be put down by her owner and she was pregnant.

Now, I'm pretty positive or at least would like to think there's no vet out there that would euthanize a perfectly healthy and SUPER SWEET Pregnant cat. The bottom line here was the owner didn't want her and if she were to end up having kittens in a shelter... well that's just the wrong environment for kittens to be born into.

So now she would be living here with me until she and her unborn kittens were old enough and healthy enough to be adopted.

May 9th 2010. My Great Niece Aiyana Katori Lyhn Davis was baptized, by Me, on the shores of the St Marys River. It was a gorgeous day.... blue sky, calm water and lots of supportive family.

This was my first Baptism and I do believe we did Mother Gaia proud.

Along with the Baptism was the transfer of Yoshi (Now Yogi) to my sister Carol and her husband Craig. They recently suffered the loss of their beautiful little Casey (also a Yorkie) and were the sole reason I had 9 poopy puppies at my house. I knew Yogi wasn't Casey, but I knew he was alone in this world and so were they. Put aside the fact that Yogi is perhaps the fastest Yorkie on earth.... as Steve put it..."He's like Toto on steroids". He only escaped once while he was here, but it took 9 neighbors and eventually our jeep to catch him. Super Dog, especially when he's flying past you at some kind of warp factor.

Anyhow, he belongs to them now and I think it's gonna work out ok!!

Sometimes the days blur into one-another, but I remember the day I got Duke. May 11th... it had been raining all morning and was just plain miserable outside. One of those days where you just want comfort food and a big chair to curl up in. Well, I had e-mailed an ad on Craigslist a few days earlier about a 9 month old Yorkie/Beagle mix. Guess who called this dreary morning.

I listened to the same old story I've heard a 100 times.... and told him I could come right then... what was his address. 35 minutes later I pulled up in front of what had to be a crack house with it's boarded up windows and trashed yard. I knocked at the front door... all sorts of dogs started barking inside, then I heard the back door slam. Stepped around the house and was greeted with a surly.... "You here for the dog"?

He told me to wait (In the Rain) and he went back in to get the pup... slamming the door behind him. He brought Duke out, put him down and he immediately curled up in that telltale cowering position that said, Don't beat me, Please. I asked 2 question. His age and which part of Yorkie/Beagle was the father. I scooped him up in my arms and carried him home.

Most people immediately call him Benji, but he answers to Duke and he's a sweet boy. Once he figured out that living here with us meant he wasn't going to be hit or kicked, but hugged and loved, the most awesome personality burst forth. It wasn't long before he reached that oh so jealous stage and just couldn't bear to see me pet another dog without him sitting in my lap.

No aggression at all.... just puppy kisses and we still haven't heard him bark.

Just one week and 3 days into their stay, The Litter Noir were fat and happy puppies.

I made the call to the shelter and they were ready for them.

Nine adorable, chunky little babies, who came to me skin and bones, would now go to be adopted.

Six of them went the very same day I dropped them off. The last three went the next morning.

They'll all be fixed and hopefully when they're bigger and no longer "cute puppies" their owners will still want them and not find some lame ass excuse to dump them. (I really hate people)

Finally a weekend came that allowed us some time to do some work on the house.

The roofers had finished repainting and Bart, our most awesome contractor/restoration specialist would be coming to finish the Copper gutters on Mon. This meant I needed to get the planter at least started out front so we would know how far to take the downspouts off the porch. We had attended Allegra's garden party at Alden Farms Nursery a few weeks before, and bought this awesome stone sculpture. It was going to be our new Dog Bowl out front. It catches water from our dehumidifier and from the earth behind our home.

The dogs love it!!

Monday the 17th arrived with new additions to our chaos. Four Australorps (Australian Black Hens). We're going to raise them for eggs and of course the company!! :-)

Unfortunately, their 2nd night here... one of them disappeared. We still to this day haven't found a single feather. No idea what happened to the little chick. So, we settled for the three that fate would allow us, and we're watching them grow and at the same time learn to trust us.

May 20th, Jake arrived. I got a call the day before from a lady I rescued a dog from last year.

Well she thought it was wise to get her kids another dog, only to discover they were still too immature (along with her) to commit to taking care of a dog. I agreed... obviously, and met her to take ownership of her failed attempt to teach herself and her kids responsibility.

I guess she wasn't so bad, she did have him neutered and he was current on his shots, but giving him up was not teaching her kids a lesson. If she had given him to me with their cell phones and the TV... now THAT would be a lesson.

I begged her to NEVER get another dog and wished her luck with her kids.

I took Jake and Duke to Briggs Adoption Center to see if they might be interested in either dog.

Well, they were interested in both, but needed me to hang onto them until they could make the room ...... No Problem!!

May 22nd, I found a baby grackle out front on the street. He must've fallen from the nest, because he was way too young to be on his own. I put him in a carrier and proceeded to start his daytime feedings every 15 minutes. Have you ever done this... OMG. 15 minutes can go by so fast and little birds can eat SO much food. I still know that often, when birds fall from nests, it's the natural selection process doing it's thing, but I still wanted to try and save this baby.

We named him Heckle, because if he lived, that's what I was gonna train him to do... Heckle the tourons!!

We're all aware that foster work has it's good and bad. As hard as we try to save as many as we can... just as many, if not more, are lost every day. My great sadness this month, came to me on the 24th.

Our neighbor and friend, Barbara passed away. After years and years of pain and surgery after surgery, her frail weakened body gave in. We've lived next door to the Thompsons only 10 short years. This was their 2nd home, so we didn't see them often, but when they were here, I made sure to call and welcome them home. I miss Barbara. I miss her every day. She loved our cats and she loved the puppies and well... I'm pretty sure she loved us too. The last time we saw her and Rick was this past thanksgiving. They were here that week and we had no company, so we called and asked what they were doing for dinner. Barbara thought they might go find a restaurant that was open.

HA.... Steve and I arrived with a 23 lb Turkey and all the side dishes. We even had homemade cranberry sauce. It was so nice spending the evening with them... laughing and talking.

Barbara was so weak, even then, that as soon as dinner was over we had to pack up and let her get to bed. I made a HUGE plate of leftovers for them and we returned home. Barbara called the next day just to say thank you again for such a wonderful night. She said her and Rick had never been treated so nicely and that we had been their 1st Thanksgiving in that house.

There are so many memories we've made in 10 years and all of them wonderful.

A few years ago, I planted two kinds of roses at the top our our steps. This is where our two properties meet.

Barbara loved to see and smell the roses when Rick would walk her out. She would always stop at our garden gate and greet all the different puppies we've had.

I really am gonna miss her.

This Rose bloomed for you Barbara, the day after your pain stopped.

Chaos never stops... it ebbs and it flows.

Beau arrived for the week and joined our menagerie. We're just puppy sittin this one for Jon n Steph while they're vacationing. Beau's an old fella and will pretty much play couch potato this week. To my surprise however, he had different plans and got in some serious puppy play time with the two 9 month olds and Roux. It's funny how even old dogs can't resist puppy play.

Here we have Jake n Moses out front.

Duke Dash Roux n Beau in the back.

May 24th, The Tres Amigos arrived. I stopped at the shelter like I knew I shouldn't have. Five unaltered male Chihuahuas had been surrendered from a hoarding situation. Supposedly there were 9 more coming.... those 9 were female and most likely pregnant. Two of the males were so aggressive I just couldn't agree to take them. Sadly they would be put down. The three I did take were terrified, but not aggressive and would respond to socializing. Now my doggie total is 9. I'm maxed out for adult dogs at this point. Dusty, Marty and Ned have never been on a leash. It took nearly two hours to coach them to walk 10 ft on a leash. Now, just a few days later... they're experts at it and coming around great. They spent yesterday afternoon on the street level, front porch. Steve and I were down there working on windows, so I hooked their leashes to the step, laid them out a cushion and they were perfect. No yapping.. a little growling, but lots of terrific socializing with all the interesting tourons that stopped to chat. I think they'll be fine.

May 27, Duke was accepted at The Briggs Animal Adoption Center. This place is like a resort for dogs. They get socialized, the get vetted and any potential new family gets thoroughly investigated. Duke has won the doggy lottery. Two weeks and 2 days with us and he's gone to get ready for his forever family. Good luck Duke!!

May 28th, Heckle passed away. I knew from his awkward falling and stumbling that he was probably sick, but I tried. It's still sad even though I know how nature works.

Once it touches my hand... it's touched my heart... and it hurts when it leaves me, no matter how it goes.

Grief can remain with us for unbearable lengths of time and other times the gods know our pain is too great, so they give us what I call "Bonus Happy's". We'll hear a story or be part of something that's soul rewarding... that's a Bonus Happy.

Missing Barbara had filled every minute in-between puppies and chores and sleep.

That's when it happened. Mama Griz called out to me from her bed. It was time!!

Here came my Bonus Happy!!

Five beautiful little babies all in just over two hours.

How I wish I could have shared this with Barbara.... then I realised I probably already was. I knew it for sure when I felt the calm peacefulness that descended when Griz fell asleep with her 5 new babies nursing quietly. I just laid there beside them and watched. Thank You Barbara for making sure they were all healthy.

What an exciting day!! I just couldn't get enough of these beautiful little babies. Now to find good homes for them all... ugh!

Later this same day... the phone rang... Low and behold I was getting a return call from a possible adopter for Jake. Sometime around 9 pm, Ryan showed up.

I met him out front with Jake. When Ryan stepped from his car, I was totally expecting Jake to bark at him like he has every person he's met.... NO... Jake runs right for him and starts covering him with puppy kisses. WTH!!! Was this a sign or what!! We talked for awhile and Jake was crazy for this guy. I already knew how Jake was with kids (Loves 'Em), so I knew this guys 6yr old little girl was gonna be in heaven, and Jake as well.

We exchanged all the proper paperwork and they left. I returned to a house that was growing quieter by the puppy..... err minute!

Sunday the 30th, Memorial Day weekend, Jon n Steph returned for Beau and to see the kittens.

They brought us some awesome veggies from the farmers market which we've been devouring.

Now we were back to just our 3 dogs and of course the Tres Amigos, but they're so small it's truly like not having them.

We'll continue working on the two windows out front this afternoon and we'll take the dogs down with us again for more socializing.

This was May.... I can't wait to see what June is gonna bring us and of course I'm always on the lookout for my next Bonus Happy!!

I wish you all a Brilliant Bonus Happy as well!!