Thursday, October 21, 2010

It's a Pup's Life

I have been traveling, virtually, to Kazakhstan, on traipses around Edinburgh, and camping adventures in the Australian outback, all of which make my feet itch. Edinburgh, in particular, makes me long to live somewhere so similar to where I grew up, although the weather would probably immobilize me! Meantime, I have not been sitting home, wishing. Those itchy feet took me north recently, to visit Daughter, Lily, a once-upon-a-time blogger, who, sadly, no longer has the time to blog. That's what two small boys will do to you! Seven and a half and six. It's go-go-go from morning 'til night. But, as busy as her boys keep her, Lily, who always had canine friends growing up, recently adopted a puppy!

The trouble with being an absentee grandma is that you don't know your grand children as well as you would like to......

I got to see them in all their sports.......Training for the world cup.......................

      
In center field....
#2 Grandson as goalie.......

And as goalie, relaxing while the ball is at the other end!



Laying the groundwork for the NFL.......................


Endlessly riding their bikes up and down and around------Tour de France, watch out!..



 But with puppies? No obstacles. You're here now---let's be friends!



Barely three months old, cute as a button, very calm, very friendly. And as you will see, very chatty! After he exhausted himself playing he'd sit by my chair in the garden. Between snoozes, we chatted. Of course I had to really guard my knitting from him as all that flickering yarn could get a guy very excited! When I wasn't knitting, he had a dozen suggestions for what we could do......

"Oh! You want to tickle under my chin? Here, let me move a little bit to the left, make it easier for you!"

"Perhaps you'd like to play tug-of-war with my squeaky toy? It's loads of fun....c'mon!"


"Say, do you like to dig? I can show you how! I love to dig! Especially right here, near these herbs....the soil is especially cool and muddy...."

"I can share my sticks with you if you'd like...They're lots of fun to chew on!"

"Come with me! Let's run around back and dive into the jungle [Lily's vegetable garden!] There are the prettiest round, red peppers in there. I'll pull one off and you pull one off [just grab it in your teeth and yank!] Then we can lie down in the grass and chew their deliciousness for at least half an hour. I do it every day. One drawback is that you get all these seeds in your poop, but Lily picks it up with her handy dandy pooper scooper;  she doesn't seem to mind! I think they're all past being good for canning or freezing anyway..."

He twitches his ears and glances furtively around, then whispers  "There's a lovely carpet in the living room. It's my favourite place to piddle. Lily gets very bent out of shape when you piddle on this carpet, so you have to be super sneaky. As soon as you feel the urge, don't wait. Scamper in there [make sure she doesn't see you] and do the deed. For some reason she thinks I should enjoy piddling in the grass. But between you and me, the grass can't even begin to compete as a primo piddling spot!"

"I absolutely love going for walks! I wish they wouldn't put that red, leash thingy on me though! It sort of cramps my style. For instance, every morning I get to walk my boys to school. You wouldn't believe how many other dogs we see along the way. I know they'd make great buddies, since they live in the neighbourhood, but that dang leash pulls me up short every time I try to dash across the road to say hello and indulge in a little mutual sniffing. It's enough to make a fellow feel downright downhearted! But, on a positive note, there are all kinds of pee-mail messages to sniff, at trees and bushes on my side of the road, so I guess I should be content with that. 


"I really wish I could go to school with my boys.They have this rule about no dogs on the playground. I don't feel that should apply to me. I'm just a wee pup. Don't they know that wee pups need to bond with their boys? It makes me sad that they spend so much time at school! But oh, the joy! At three o'clock, I get to walk them home again! And Buck, the neighbour dog, sometimes walks with us. Buck is only a few months older than me but lots bigger. He's a black lab, very big, and sleek and he likes to play just as much as I do, except that one of his paws could squash me.  Buck is my hero! Sometimes I hear him playing on the other side of the fence and I wish so much I could go and join him! He's a bit stingy with his toys when I do get over there. But I don't mind. It's enough for me to be on the same side of the fence with him for a while!"


# 1 Grandson




.
Marty Moose, # 1 Grand-dog. It was a lovely visit. The weather produced some Indian summer days, especially for me; I got re-aquainted with my grandsons; introduced to Marty-Moose, so called because of very large paws---we all know what that means, right? He might soon be as large as his hero, Buck! Lily and I drooled over yarn and she produced some of her stash so I could knit! Will show off my scarf when I finish it.....Regulars here will know to keep breathing in the meantime! And now, I'm back in my own nest, having satisfied the wander-itch without having to travel all the way to Australia. It's lovely to go, but being at heart a homebody, even nicer to come home again!

Note: And as easy as Blogger  makes it, having gotten into this "caption" mode, I have no earthly idea how to get out!


23 comments:

Jenni said...

My folks call our cats the "grand-kits;" they are well aware that the only grandchildren I'll ever give them are of the four-legged variety! Love the new puppy:)

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

I'll be seeing Grandson next week and will , like you , have a lot of catching up to do .But I'll enjoy every minute , just as you obviously did .
Meanwhile many thanks for "pee-mail" . It is , of course , now firmly lodged in my brain and will come out in conversation when I least expect/need it .

Thimbleanna said...

You're hysterical! Mutual sniffing and pee-mail -- I can just see you snickering at your computer when you came up with those gems. It sounds like you had a wonderful time -- the little goalie with the shirt over his head is exactly how the game SHOULD be played LOL!

Relatively Retiring said...

How lovely - you've really caught the spirit of the grandsons and the puppy. Hope you enjoyed peeing on the nice soft carpet?

Wanderlust Scarlett said...

*SO CUTE!!!!*

Loved visiting your family and grand-dog with you, thanks for the tour!

...I'll meet you in Edinburgh. LOVED Edinburgh. Will be going back soon, but not soon enough.

;D

XO
Scarlett & Viaggiatore

The Lass said...

Once again, your writing makes me giggle. Love the new grand-dog ;)

persiflage said...

It has been fun catching up with all your posts, daughter, grandsons, dogs and quilts, and pool pumps.
Like you, I do not see enough of my family and grandchildren, but those visits are so precious (if rather exhausting).

StitchinByTheLake said...

There's nothing like spending time with our children and grandchildren - unless it's coming home. :) Cute, cute puppy! Oh and grandkids too..but puppies....blessings, marlene

secret agent woman said...

Glad you got some time in with the kiddos.

patty said...

loved the pee mail comment, i'll have to remember that one! nothing better than grandkids and dogs, get to spoil them both and then send them home, all the fun and none of the responsilbility.

molly said...

Glad you all liked the "pee-mail!" I cannot take the credit though....Picked it up from Lily!

Stomper Girl said...

I'm like you, I do all my sight-seeing via my internet friends, luckily a few of them go to really lovely places and blog about these places delightfully well.

Anonymous said...

Wow! That was a long caption! :) Nice to see you are enjoying being grandma to both grand kids and grand dog.

Meggie said...

Lovely photos of those boys and the Marty Moose!

heartinsanfrancisco said...

I love the pictures (beautiful children!!!) and the doggy comments. You really do understand dogs - I'm sure that's exactly what Marty-Moose was telling you. So glad you bonded and knitted and spent time with Lily. Such a happy,sunshine-filled post! And I do hope you were very sneaky, as he advised, when peeing on the nice carpet.

Pauline said...

Such a wonderful post - and you speak and understand dog so well! I know what visiting the grandkids can do to your heart :) Welcome back.

J Cosmo Newbery said...

Seriously cute. And knows it, by the looks of him.

Friko said...

You spent ages posting on the pup and not nearly as much time on the boys. Now, that is something I would do and I get told off about it.
In fact, when I called my dog "a good boy" in front of son and grandsons,they were quite pitiless!

Lily said...

Mom, please tell me you didn't pee on the carpet.

riseoutofme said...

Life is full of little disappointments. Sigh.

Unknown said...

Welcome home Molly!
And what beautiful grandsons you have! Can I call them beautiful even though they are boys??
Thanks for the puppy-laughs.

Kacey said...

Hi Molly....I've been over looking at you site and reading recipes and checking out the quilts. Lots of lovely things here...thanks. I've been in Florida for almost three weeks and I thought of you when we flew past Brookville, but the roommate was really anxious to complete the trip. I brought a ton of fabric and am living in a friend's 4 bedroom, 2 baths and pool on bisecting canals. I'm hoping to get some sewing done while here, but the computer grabs my attention and I hate to mess up this wonderful house with my threads and scraps. I will be back to visit, but am not listed as Florida, but as The United States....since I am using a Virgin-Mobile WiFi card in Cape Coral. It is nice to have time to blog again.

Pam said...

Molly, you have now broken your own record of time-between-posts. You can start again.

Of course, you may be too busy eating outside in the sunshine while we poor Scots trudge through the snowdrifts...