Multi-tasking, River Update

Well, you could call it that. I always wondered why I was good at doing many things at once. Took years to figure it out. The ADD thing. I simply can't sit still long enough to finish one thing. I have to do several at once. God, I wish I were different but I've learned that it is not to be. At least I recognize it now and can work with that knowledge instead of wondering and feeling stressed over something I just can't change.

I have such a short, no, short is not the word for it, lightning quick attention span, I washed two loads of water in the washer this morning, down to the spin cycle. TWO. It's new and requires the water...then the soap......fill a little....THEN the towels or whatever. Well, you can imagine, I've never been able to dry a pan on the stove or cook bread in the broiler and have run the tub over countless times.

A few years ago My Hero told me - "Don't dry the skillets on the stove. I'LL DRY THEM FOR YOU." Guess that about says it.

I'm sitting outside in the cool by the bayou, guarding Dusty from the alligators and working on my wip. Well, actually, checking email etc. first. That storm and cool front came though and it's fifteen degrees cooler than yesterday morning.

I'm learning to listen to the birds and other critters. When I hear the birds go off the deep end, there is usually a snake or alligator pulling up, at the very least a squirrel attacking the nest.

I went to BIG CITY to use the library or book store's high speed internet yesterday and can you believe it - the internet was crashed both places. Doesn't bode well for International security does it? Everything wireless. And the satellites don't deliver in bad weather. BooksAMillion said their internet has been very undependable. So I'm going to run to MISSISSIPPI and use the coffee shop's wireless to upgrade and do my big downloads and a little searching, then back home.

A new pic of the river from the Ms River bridge looking at the tourist center. It got within a foot and a half from last year's record. Look how close it is to the bank. The corp of engineers laid heavy rock all the way down the bank while the river was low because it had cut into the bank so close to that facility. There's very little rock out of the water.





OH! Update:
I just realized I've just sort of ignored the river situation this year even though there was an actual levee break near Monroe an hour away from us.

This is the river along the levee I travel to get crawfish. That is land that is underwater on the river side.
















And they have now placed relief valves along the levee to take pressure off the river so that if it got too bad they would make sacrificial lambs out of us instead of allowing New Orleans to flood. How do ya like them apples! And no one knows if they knew what they were doing when they constructed these pipelines going under the levee to the Mississippi. They may have created a way to let the monster loose inadvertently.













Last night I dreamed that the water was above the house and Dusty and I had climbed up into a tree. He was sitting dutifully - my dog sitting dutifully, you know that was a dream - by my side awaiting rescue. It was a very long night.

Calling the doggy tooth fairy!

This is kind of a Dusty update. Poor baby.









We noticed yesterday when he was smiling, which he does a lot, that he had a few too many teeth.



Look there on the bottom and the top he's got four sets of adult and baby teeth. He's being more careful about chomping down now, because either it hurts or he's conscious of being able to punch four times as many holes in me.

I've never seen so many baby teeth side by side with the adult canines. Have you?






He wants to know if the doggy tooth fairy
will leave fourble the amount of beef flavored bones under his little satin pillow, instead of just one.

Greedy little sucker.

Dusty Updates

I call this his Got Milk pose. Remember his puppy shot? (My favorite Dusty pic.)





He's such a rascal! And we just love him! But his bad temper hasn't disappeared. I bought a clicker last week after I read an article by Shirley Chong.




I had seen an advertisement for the perfectdog system and googled it to find some reviews. A professional trainer replied to someone's post about the collar being used by the system being similar to spikes on the inside. The dogs shown on the infomercial were tooo docile in the after poses. It gave me a bad feeling to see their spirit essentially gone. He mentioned these lessons by Shirley Chong which essentially make use of a clicker to create a training relationship between you and your dog.

Stay tuned for results in the coming weeks. "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."

Is Spring here?

Okay, I love cold weather but I'm sick of the dreary look of everything. The dead looking trees, mud instead of grass, wet cold.


I'm read for Spring. So Sunday we dragged the plants outside and I planned on sitting out by the bayou and writing. I get my best writing done on the lounge chair overlooking the water, listening to the birds and squirrels, watching the alligators float by.


This year they better be careful coming too close cause my little Dusty will be playing around outside and I wouldn't want him to hurt one of them
















Here's a picture of my biggest aloe plant. That thing has grown to overwhelming proportions so many times I've split it and given it away to everybody but here it is again - Huge! And it blooms! Everyone I've talked to says they've never seen one bloom. It puts out this 6 ft tall stem with littel peach and orange colored bells at the end.

Want a piece? Come and get it.

You'll notice Tiger is on the outside of the window and Dusty behind the glass. No more romps on the refuge for him.

Morning Romp

I got up a little later this morning, 6:30, and surprisingly, Dusty was being quiet. But as soon as I tiptoed out of the bedroom the sound of the fan tipped him off to my presence. He began yipping and jumping against the side of the playpen in his usual unrestrained fervor.

I called to him soothingly, "Is Momma's baby awake. Come here, Sweetie." And as usual for the first full minute of momma-loving, he's sweet and gives good puppy kisses. Then things turn to non-momma-loving activities. Peeing, Eating, Playing and Biting.

But this morning, he wasn't too unruly so I decided to get down to his level - quite a task for an adult to get to eye-and-cuddle level with a six inch tall dog - and slip his collar on.

Let me digress a second. As you may know, Dusty has been showing extreme aggression when we try to slip a collar over his head. Yesterday - I hesitate to mention this but here goes - CFM was babysitting and took the little boy outside. Tiger, the maniacal cat has decided she likes playing with Dusty, or else she's trying to get rid of him.

She leads him down the steep hill to the bayou, around the lot, playfully batting and teasing him. She won't even climb a tree unless absolutely necessary and then only to say, Naa Naa Naa NaNa Na, see what I can do!

So CFM followed them around the yard, down the hill, over limbs and never could catch him. He told me on the phone that he'd finally had to resort to extreme measures to catch the boy. He found a lightweight fishing net that he uses to seine bait fish in the bayou and tossed it over Dusty as he made a pass. Sheesh!

He said, "You'd have thought I was killing him. He screamed and whimpered and cried."

Well, duh. No use wasting a lot of words. I simply said, don't do that again.

So this morning I told him I've been getting Dusty used to treats. I used one to get his collar on yesterday and figured he could tempt him with it and get him in the house. After I got his collar on, I tucked a treat into my pocket, took my camera and with just my slippers on, let him outside.

WHAT was I thinking? Tiger was waiting for him. She ignored the food I uncovered for her to lure him into play. It started innocently enough, a romp near the back door, then they Tiger ran down the hill by the boat.Snugging my sweater around me, I hollered at CFM to throw me my sandals. ( I didn't know it was 30 degress outside, the coolness hadn't seeped into the house.)


Then I took off after them. Up and down the hill, over tree branches and dead limbs, through the wet gumbo (louisiana mud) up the hill and over concrete steps and old bricks. Tiger stopped and climbed a tree just out of Dusty's reach and I thought, oh good, I've got him.

The the cat jumped over him and he took off. I was stepping gingerly on the steep hill which was getting steeper and brushier, the closer they got to the Wildlife refuge. Ironic huh? The wild cat taking wild pup into the refuge to lose him.

I was getting desperate to catch him, the leaves and briars were getting thicker, the palmettos slapping my sides as I tried to run after them, yelling toward the house, Hey, and Help, hoping CFM would hear me. Then the maniac twins were entering the refuge about a quarter mile from the house. My sweater got hung on a thorn tree and I began to fear that would not catch my crazy little dog. When the terrain got more difficult for his short legs Tiger sat just out of reach and waited on him to catch up.

I was out of reach and sound of the house, my only hold card - the little treat that was still in my pocket. I pushed branches and palmettos aside and kept telling him to come. Yeah right. Once he actually looked at me and I said, "Dusty, Treat," and held it out.

The cat moved away grabbing his attention. Cat 10, Marley 0.

My hands and feet felt like they were getting frostbitten, my nose was running, and I was getting scared that I wasn't going to catch Dusty in this trashy, rough terrain. I kept thinking, thank God it's not hot, because it's rattlesnake territory.

Finally, the cat perched on the end of a log that Dusty couldn't jump over without extra effort. He turned and I offered the treat. He came over and sniffed, then stole the treat and ran off. Talk about panic! Now I'm screaming at him. Dusty. Dusty, drop it. Uh huh, he understands, drop it, right? But I got lucky.

He always drops it to get a good bite on it so as I came closer, I noticed it was a foot away from him. I reached for it and this time I held it firmly in my hand. "Come here, sweetie," I said aloud, thinking, you crazy little fart, wait til I get my hands on you. As he reached me I grabbed him, holding tight as he wiggled. And started back toward the house, knowing I'd have to be double careful getting there. If I dropped him and he took off again, I wouldn't be catching him this time.

Okay, so why didn't I take his picture as he stood on the other side of the thorn trees, briars, downed limbs and foot deep leaves of the wildlife refuge. The little bugger's eyes gleamed with maniacal intent. The cat sitting nearby, non-chalant, as if this wasn't all her fault.

I was too damn cold.

Never again..

New motherhood

"Mine. It's Mine."


Though I love the little lovable, too smart for his own good or mine puppy, he is playing havoc with my life. Writing-sleeping-housecleaning-interruptus. This boy has taught me the meaning of being a new mother. And at my age. Well, it will be great fodder for a book.

I kept thinking about what Leah told me about being in charge. I'm determined that I will be the boss.

Today, we tried to overcome Dusty's bad behavior to get his collar on him. CFM, big guy that he is, succumbed to Dusty's flailing by letting go and getting bitten. So after he left, Dusty and I had a talk. I managed to get the collar on him but it wasn't tight enough and of course, he ended up in a bind with it locked in his jaws.

Then we had to work through that crisis which seems to have given him some faith in my handling him. Each time he got through the traumatic process he got a treat. Maybe we're building a little respect between us. I hope so. That's one of my goals today. To get a leash on him so I don't have to chase him into the night, down the muddy hill to the bayou, or off into the Wildlife refuge where the night predators can get him.

It gives me nightmares just thinking about it.

Puppy Update

I was reading on Paperback Writer this morning about Lynn Viehl's new superdog, Cole, and realized I hadn't updated you on Dusty's progress.


Well, I went to D.C. for two weeks and missed two weeks of his puppyness. Oh, how I hate that. I came back and he had grown into a minature grown Pom and fiesty is not the word. The little idiot still sleeps through the night but his Aunt Christine spoiled him a little with some Caesar dog food in the octagonal shaped can and now Purina isn't good enough. I think he'd rather starve.

He has quite a temper which comes out when it's time to go outside. I want to get him used to a training leash because we live on the bayou and he's already showing a propensity for tearing down the hill to the bank which this Summer will probalby sport an alligator or two. Tear my heart out! Yes, he's going to get used to playing on a long leash. Not to mention the rattlesnakes and other varmits that can be hazardous to a little dog's health. But the temper doesn't come out except when he wants to play and doesn't get his way. Most of the time he just plays, entertaining himself with the house full of toys which have turned this into BABY ZONE!


CFM said he sometimes wishes he hadn't answered that ad in December. But he also said he missed us a LOT when we were gone for two weeks. Yes, puppies, like babies are tremendously time consuming. I never had a baby so now I can definitely relate to everything I've heard. And my favorite time of day lately has been Dusty's nap time.

Sometimes you see it coming.










And sometimes all you see is the crash...



look at his cute little feet. I swear the thing that grew the most on him were his nose and feet.

I'd also like to say - Congratulations to my friend Leah Braemel for hitting the number one spot three days after her book, Private Property, debued on Samhain.

Its official

Belieeeeve me, it isn't often you see him like this. He's too big for his Daddy's hat but he loves trying to curl up in it.

CFM has been telling me all along that his name was Dusty but I've been trying to come up with something more - oh, I don't know - special. I mean really, you can't look at him and not say Awwww! But he doesn't respond to any of the names but Dusty, so I finally broke down and let these men have their way. Of course he has to have THREE names so Now the search is on for the last two.

Dusty Maximillian? Dusty Sebastian? Dusty Bear? Dusty MacTavish of Boggy Bayou. SHeesh!

Today CFM and I rigged up his playpen. I bought one of those old timey playpens with the rungs 5 inches apart so we had to figure out a way to board up the sides to make him a bigger play area. He loves it. Today he got his foot caught in a glue trap and screamed for me. I had to just apply a steady pressure to get it loose. He did not like it. So I went around the living room blocking off every path available to a four inch pup, hopefully.

I'm trying to make things as easy as possible for CFM when I go out of town for two weeks and he's left with the baby, literally. He didn't realize how much work a puppy would be, just wanted to do something nice for me for Christmas. Poor thing, he will have his hands full.