She’s Young and With It

This week has been full of highs and lows. I guess that the week comes out a wash, considering that the lows, even though more numerous than the highs, were balanced by some really good highs.

Namely, the Alleged-Drug-Dealers-Who-Neglected-Their-Puppy moved out! Yes, they moved out and it totally made this otherwise dreary week. Fingers crossed that the new neighbors are reasonably normal and if they have pets, they feed them and give them shelter, and if they have children, they teach them how to respect other people’s property… oh, no drug dealing would be nice too.

Unfortunately, this move came after I reported them yet again for animal cruelty. Their poor dog was looking really thin again. Clint saw a cruelty investigator vehicle at their house on Thursday but he did not have time to talk to them. Then that evening, I saw a friend or relative pull up behind the fence and put the puppy in their car. Then the people moved out.

Sadly, this means the fate of the puppy is unknown. At least I tried?

Sherman, aka “Sherm the Worm,” is still in need of a permanent home. We have had a few inquiries, but so far none have panned out. He and Callie dog have been getting into some scary squabbles, mainly over food but a little over toys. They got into it the other night and Wembley cat stepped in and broke up their fight. Wembley is one tough cat, I tell you.

Sherm the Worm gets neutered on Tuesday. We hope it takes him down a notch or two. He is somehow stronger than Callie the pit bull, yet he is mellow at the same time. Mellow? Stubborn? I am not sure which. We are having a hard time finding a deterrent (noise, water) to redirect bad behaviors. Nothing bothers him. His one bad behavior – jumping up on stuff. We are having a tough time teaching “off.” Making him drag his leash and tugging him off of furniture has been harder than it would seem due to that whole strong but mellow/stubborn thing. He just kind of settles himself in no matter how hard you try to tug him off.

Sherman added to the stress of the week because he is not totally house trained. We kept “running home” (hello, one hour total both ways) at lunch to let him out. I invested in puppy pads this weekend. I think he is kind of getting the house training thing since there have only been a handful of accidents, but the puppy pads will be a nice back up measure.

On top of that, Callie dog was sick on Monday. I came home at lunch to a giant mess. I actually stayed home from work the rest of the afternoon to make sure she could go outside when needed.

Another high of the week is that I finally received my invitation to join Ravelry! I have enjoyed playing around, adding books and projects, although it reminds me that I do not knit nearly enough. I need to make more time for crafting. These animals keep me pretty busy.

Speaking of knitting, my crafty group meets today. Yay! Another good thing.

Now, I need to go print some cards. It is time to stock up for the holiday insanity. Chickens, squirrels, corn, penguins, praying mantises… here I come!

Hey, you know Sherman, the adorable dog below? He still needs a home. His appointment for neutering is October 2nd and he will be free to go to a new home about a week after that.

Sherman has been fun, but it is a little bit too much having three dogs and three cats, especially with two special needs cats. While he is a very loving and gentle dog, he still has a few true dog traits (namely, jumping up) and needs a family that is not already full of animals and busy lives.

He has had his shots and he sits very patiently for baths and brushes. He is learning sit and down and we are working on leash walking. He loves other dogs and is pretty good with cats, although he may bark at them.

If you or anyone you know may be interested in him, please contact us. We do require that he not live the entirety of his life outdoors. He needs to be an indoor/outdoor dog.

More photos here.

Yup.

Monday evening, a neighbor and I saw a dog running around a street over. By the time I got back home from checking the mail and told Clint, we could not see him from our house anymore. I realize that this sounds apathetic, but we did not go looking for this one because we just cannot save every dog. The next day, there was some chatter on our neighborhood listserv about the stray doggie wandering around the ‘hood.

That evening I was outside pulling weeds and another neighbor told me he was down the street. So, of course, I went down there. Long story short, we took the dog in. We visited the vet yesterday and they think he is a pyranese mix, possibly with some saint bernard or some beagle. He is approximately one year old and weighs 57 lbs. Everyone who meets him instantly loves him because he is the most mellow, sweet, loving dog. I cannot fathom how anyone could abandon this guy. We notified Town Lake and put a found ad on craigslist. So far, no one has stepped forward as the owner.

He warmed our hearts by being terrified of concrete floors and cats.

This is both embarassing and amusing. I was not even stereotypically shushing in a library. I was at a rock show and fed up with the chatter coming from two girls behind us. Yo La Tengo was loud, really really loud at the start of their set. Then they played three or four softer songs in a row and these girls were yackity yackity yackity right behind us during the quieter songs. I have a real pet peeve with people talking non-stop during shows. I mean, come on, at least be considerate enough to take it to the back of the room rather than the middle of the crowd. I go to rock shows to see and hear the band, not other people.

So, Clint and I were both annoyed by the chatter and I had given them a few direct dirty looks but they were not getting the hint. Then Yo La Tengo started playing “Mr. Tough” and I could not take it anymore so I turned around and gave the universal librarian shushing motion. The girls were so busy yacking that they did not acknowledge me so I continued to bend over closer to them (apparently I was much taller than them?) until they finally looked at me quizzically. I gave the full on hand motion shush to reiterate my point.

Then I turned around and danced to “Mr. Tough.”

While the rest of Austin has been attending the Austin City Limits festival this weekend, I have been busying myself with plant nurseries, gardening and landscaping activities. Festival life is not the life for me. Seriously, have you seen the crowds? I must be old because the idea of sitting outside in 90+ degree heat with thousands of people sweating and drinking beer while music bleeds from one side of the park to the other does not appeal to me at all.

Apparently I am not too much of a homebody because tomorrow we will be seeing Yo La Tengo at The Parish, which in my opinion will be much better than seeing them today amongst thousands of sweaty, drunk people in the Texas afternoon heat. We also have tickets to see Joanna Newsom play with the Austin Symphony Orchestra next month. Do you think Bill Callahan will open? Finally, The Lucksmiths are playing at Emo’s next month. Ew, Emo’s! Yes, but it is the Emo’s Lounge, which should be better than the usual Emo’s. We have never seen The Lucksmiths live, so yay! I am pretty excited about their new double CD too.

Back to the gardening and landscaping… Our lawn has been looking kind of crappy so we bought some compost tea yesterday and sprayed it all over the lawn. This is step one in the grand lawn plan to be executed over the next month or two. Eventually we hope to minimize the amount of turf that we have, but until we can get all of our plant beds laid out, I would like the grass that we have to look good.

We also purchased a pomegranate tree because they look pretty cool with all the fruits on them and well, because we need more trees. This tree will be planted in the front yard, where we also have a mexican plum tree. Front yards are for fruit trees! I am headed outside now to add some ornamental grasses and a butterfly vine to the landscape.