Saturday, May 19, 2012

Blackberry Jam Anyone?


The house we are living in sits on a little over two acres of land. I am not sure how much is fenced but there are woods on the sides and on the back.Now that everything is green and blooming I am really enjoying the woods (Other than the ticks which are HORRIBLE here). Anyway on the perimeter of the woods, up in the woods along the trail and along the fence that runs up the side of the yard there are tons of blackberry bushes. I am not sure what I will do with this many balckberries. They are everywhere. So I guess the point of this post is to let everyone know.... I hope you like blackberry jam cause I bet I know what EVERYONE is getting for Christmas LOL.








Shell

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Why Ohio

This morning I was reminded of why I wanted to move to Ohio. This is a picture I took on my way to work today. How pretty is that? I knew that once the leave were on the trees it would be amazing.  I am looking forward to making that drive.









Here is another shot from further down the road. I promise that as soon as I get a chance  I will take some pictures while standing still and you will be able to actually see how pretty it is.





Shell


Monday, May 7, 2012

The Flinch

You would think that after 4 years I would remember.....

or that after 4 years he would forget.


Unfortunately neither has happened.


Four years ago we went to a friends house and picked up a dog. They said they thought he was about a year old but they weren't sure. They had no way of  knowing really. He had been dumped out at their house. Like some one's trash. They raised hunting dogs and as the old saying goes "that dog don't hunt" so they had no reason to keep him.

He had been abused that much I know. It took us a year before he stopped running from us and hiding when we went out in the yard. The abuser was a man. I know that too because he still runs from Dan until he kneels down on his level and stays still. After about two years he didn't hide anymore but kinda kept his distance unless you called him to come. He wanted to be where we were but was so leery.

Eventually, over time he warmed up to us. The kids especially. I guess he feels safe around them. He is a happy dog now. He runs as fast as short little beagle legs will take him. He doesn't stay in the fenced yard. He has learned to wiggle his way out and he spends most of his time on our deck. I try to sit out there with him for a bit each morning. He is pretty good company.

But this morning I forgot. I forgot that when you reach towards him you have to move slow. I forgot that he had ever had a reason to fear people. He didn't forget. He flinched and he ran. Then I had to sweet talk him in to coming back and everything was fine again. Except I have been thinking about it all day. Thinking about how no matter how we treat him now we can't undo the damage. We can give him a good home but we can't make him forget that people can be the real animals sometimes.



Shell