Spring and Gardens and My Desire to STRANGLE the Neighborhood Cats!!!

Two weeks ago I got my raised garden beds all ready for seeds to be sown.  I tilled the soil, pulled the weeds out, added compost, raked it all even, planned the layout of where everything would grow, and put obelisks in the center of the beds for the pole beans to grow up.  Then I patiently waited a couple of days for the weather to co-operate and proceeded to plant my vegetable garden.   I put in two varieties of sweet corn, two varieties of peas, pickling and salad cucumbers, purple pole beans, blue lake pole beans, lima beans, carrots, onions, lettuce, turnip greens, cantaloupe, watermelon, eggplant, zucchini squash, yellow crookneck squash, white scallop squash, and tomatoes.  All started from seed.  It's a rather ambitious garden.  

The following day I went out to water my seeds.  Seeds don't grow without water.  As I walked toward my garden I was HORRIFIED -- the *$#%^@(*&^!!! neighborhood cats had been using it as a litter box!!!    Normally I don't harbor negative feelings toward cats.  BUT I am NOT going to allow my garden to be used as a shitter!  I have been battling those stupid cats for the past two weeks: turning the garden hose on them, throwing sticks at them, and letting the dogs chase them off (normally the dogs are not allowed to chase cats).  Two of the beds finally have enough veggies coming up that the cats no longer venture near them.  Now I only have to keep them away from the bed that contains the squash.  I am sooooooo FRUSTRATED!

Good news is that everything I planted has come up and it looks like I'll be up to my ears in veggies this summer.  

Well... he TRIED!!!

Last night, as I watched thoughts of tormenting the cat enter Maks' head, I admonished him to, "be NICE to the kitty cat.". He was shaking from the amount of control it took, but Maks managed to very carefully and thoroughly cover Jack's face in puppy kisses. Relief spread across his face as I told him what a good boy he was for being so gentle and nice to the cat. Being nice to the cat is exhausting. So it makes sense that Maks would want to flop down for a bit and relax after that ordeal. He stepped away from the cat, turned around, and proceeded to sit ON the cat. OOPS!!!

It seemed like a good idea at the time...

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful - a perfect fall day, all sunny and warm, such a great day that it screamed for an outing to the park with the furry ones.  One of Lilly's favorite parks is Barfield-Crescent in Murfreesboro, so that was our destination yesterday afternoon.  Maks had never been to the park before, so this was his very first trip.  It probably seems strange that he's nine months old and only now going to the park for the first time, especially when I take Lilly all the time.  But, Maks hasn't been up for a park trip until now.  He just hasn't had the stamina (he is still a puppy after all) to keep up with Lilly and I for more than a two mile walk through our neighborhood.  Which means that he definitely could not manage the four mile up & down hill off road hikes that Lilly and I head out on.  With the day being absolutely perfect, I decided that he could probably manage the shorter easier loop at the park that is just about 2 1/2 miles long.  So, into the car we all got and off to the park we went. 


Driving into the park, I noticed signs saying there was a Halloween event and saw some bounce houses over by the softball fields.  I really didn't think much of it since we were headed to the other side of the park.  I probably should have paid a bit more attention.  We parked the car and headed up the trail.  All was going great, Lilly was overjoyed to be out hiking again and Maks was having a great time sniffing everything in sight.  Until... we came around a corner and met a GIANT turtle sitting on the side of the road reading a book.  Miss Social Butterfly (Lilly) got all excited and went over to inspect the person and costume and had a grand time making a new friend.  Maks hid between my knees and refused to walk past the turtle.  Just when Lilly and I had managed to convince him that it was safe to continue on the trail... a GIANT frog came walking up the path toward us.  Lilly busied herself making yet another friend, while Maks did his best to become invisible by hiding behind me.  Maks finally decided he'd trust me enough to follow Lilly and I further down the trail and we didn't run into any more characters for over a mile.  Unfortunately, on the last half of our hike all characters were in place and poor Maks was repeatedly spooked.  First it was the fairies with flapping wings, then the lights across the trail that were off until he went to step over them and someone plugged them in just at that moment, then the trombone and tuba playing lobsters, the singing raccoon, the bubble machine, and the fog machine.  At each of these Miss Lilly Ann stopped to make new friends and socialize while Maks hid behind me yet again and refused to move past the scary monster.  Lilly was quite fascinated with the singing raccoon and even got a tummy rub at that spot - it was the only place where Maks even attempted to be social, he let the raccoon talk to him and got close enough for the raccoon to pat him once on the head.  I was quite glad to be done with that portion of the trail and decided to head back to the car a different way to avoid more characters.  If you haven't figured it out by now, we walked through a children's Halloween hay ride exhibit (thus the toddler - not Maks - friendly characters).

The trail I chose to take back to the car is a gravel service road that goes past the frisbee golf section of the park.  OOPS!!!  I had unwittingly chosen the Haunted Halloween trail for teenagers and grown-ups.  Again Lilly was fascinated by the characters - gory, bloody, moaning corpses and all.  Maks however was less than appreciative.  I was afraid I was going to have to carry him past all of them.  Evidently moaning corpses are a lot scarier than trombone playing lobsters!  We finally managed to get off the service road and onto the frisbee golf course where thankfully there were no more scary characters and Maks was able to relax and enjoy the rest of our walk to the car.  Lilly, on the other hand, had so much fun making friends with all of the characters that she wanted to head back to the haunted hay ride and visit some more.  I told her we had tormented Maks enough and judging by how fast he was trotting AWAY from the goblins I was pretty sure we weren't going to be able to convince him to turn around.

I wonder if Maks will ever want to go to the park again?

Sponsoring a Compassion Child

Yesterday I sponsored a child through Compassion International.  It's $32 per month.  I don't have an extra $32 a month.  But, Rose and her family don't have $32 period.  So, I've told God that I'll trust Him to help me find the money while still paying my bills.  Because Rose needs that money a whole lot more than I do.  She lives in Borel, Haiti with her mom and will turn 5 years old on July 27th.  She is in pre-school and her mom tries to make ends meet by farming.  Rose had been waiting for a sponsor for over 6 months.  It was so hard to choose.  There are so many little ones that need and deserve sponsors.  I wish I could sponsor them all.  But, for now, I will help this one and pray that she grows up to help others.

Maks

Puppy kisses are wonderful!!!  That is, if they're being given to a giggling 3 year old.  As for me, as much as I love that Maks adores me, I wish he'd cut back on the amount of puppy kisses I get.  If I hold still at all while he's around, my fingers/toes/elbow... SOMETHING is going to get licked.  His favorite is when he manages to catch me with a big ol' smooch right on the kisser... YUCK!!!!!!! He's getting so big! It's getting harder to shove him away.  He uses this to his full advantage, climbing on top of me and pinning me down to get in as many wet slobbery kisses as possible before he gets shoved away.  Although I end up with most of his kisses, I'm certainly not the one who appreciates them the least - that designation would go to Jack the Cat.  Poor Jack.  Being pinned down and licked by a squirmy bouncy puppy is most definitely not his idea of a good time.  Lately I've caught Jack giving Maks looks that say, "DIE!  DIE ALREADY!!!"  To which Maks responds by giving him a big wet slobbery kiss across his face.  To Jack's dismay, everyone who sees Maks thinks he's CUTE, and he does some of the most adorable things...

Like the other night when I was filling the dishwasher & had the bottom rack pushed in and only the top rack out - I looked down to see Maks (all 35 pounds of him) standing with all four feet on top of the dishwasher door and his head inside the dishwasher licking the dishes clean. 

Or when he follows me from room to room, waiting for me to stay put long enough so he can lie down by my feet and snooze.

When he sits in the kitchen staring at the refrigerator willing it to open so that he can get to the watermelon.

And last week I woke up certain that somehow the garbage disposal had gotten turned on... it was Maks snoring away on the bed beside me.

He loves everyone and everything.  Life is met with ENTHUSIASM!!!  He's HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY about everything.  It's impossible for him to just wag his tail - his entire butt wags right along with it.  We laugh and call him "Tigger" 'cause he bounces everywhere and half the time doesn't even notice the chaos and destruction he leaves behind (such as the squashed kitty cat that used to be sleeping until it was pounced upon - on accident, of course).  With Maks everything is just one big happy bouncy accident - just like the day we found him.