18 posts tagged “darcy”

We've spent the last few days moving.  It took three trips in the 26 foot U-Haul truck to bring it all down to the new house.  I was bound and determined to be out of Winfield before 2009.  We did it with only a minute or two to spare.  We brought 2009 in going down the highway with the last of our possessions firmly tied down in the back of the U-Haul.

Now to unbox and put away.  ~sigh~  This is a job that I've been planning for five years.  I'm going through every box and every knick knack.  If I can't find it a home, it is going in a garage sale and if it doesn't sell during that, then it is going to GoodWill or Salvation Army.  I'm even going to go through all of my Christmas decorations and clear out those that aren't used any more.  This is going to take many days/weeks to do.  I keep thinking that if I spend just an hour a day or maybe even just a box a day that I will make some headway.  But first I have to unpack the essentials and get a new life going here in T-Town.

OC is not happy.  I brought her down yesterday morning.  She spent the whole trip sitting in her crate meowing and mewing her unhappiness at being boxed up.  I set the crate down in her new backyard, opened it up and she walked out, sniffed a time or two and then walked back into the crate and curled up in a ball.  She didn't come back out all day.  Last night, I fed her and spent a few minutes petting her and such trying to get her more accustomed to the new place.  This morning she didn't show up for breakfast and she hasn't come when I called.

Darcy on the other hand is in doggie heaven.  She loves being able to go out into the back yard and being able to just run around w/o a chain in her way.  Baron keeps getting fussed at because he goes into the back yard and proceeds to bark at the dogs in the other yards.  Chris has said that he would rather be the neighbor that gets mad about other dogs than be the neighbor that everyone is mad at because his dog is barking.

Okay.  Rest time is over.  Time to go find a box and unpack it.

Happy 2009!!

She's terrified of thunder and lightning.  Jordan can not make her go outside in the mornings after a bad thunderstorm.  She will not budge and refuses him...I have to come along, take her by the collar, and physically force her out the door.  Jordan says if it storms at night she lays on the bed as close to him as possible and keeps turning her head from window to window waiting for the next flash of lightning.  If the storm happens during the day time she is attached to me like velcro or she is hiding under my desk and shaking/shivering in fear.  Thunder makes her whine as well as the lightning driving her to distraction.  This morning it wasn't raining, but it was thundering; Jordan had managed to get her outside, but when I went to check on her she was plastered up against the door---shaking and cowering---even though it wasn't raining.

How do I help her overcome this fear?  Poor dog.

OC is better!  Look!!  I got a shot of her showing her trust in Darcy for the first time since she was attacked.

 

Here is the bush that the nut job bus driver ran over on Thursday and a shot of the sign Chris designed and put out by the bush for the bus driver and the kids to see on Friday.  Passive aggresive much?

 

 

As I was laying in bed sound asleep as a body should be at around 2:15 in the morning.  I was suddenly awakened by a woman screaming outside my house.  I jumped out of bed, snatched my glasses and was running towards the front door as the sounds I was hearing finally registered as my cat screeching and growling at something that was obviously attacking her.  When I snatched the front door open and ran out onto the porch two decent sized dogs ran off.  I hollered at them to leave my cat alone and was just about to walk barefoot into the yard to find OC, when a third yet smaller dog ran off.  Just when I thought my heart was going to burst from fear for my kitty, she took off like a white streak towards the back of the house. 

I tried to find her but I was barefoot, it was dark, and she was scared.  So, we all went back to bed.

When I put Baron out this morning he was practically immediately attacked by the same two bigger 'dogs'.  But being a Dachsund means that he thinks he is bigger than he is; so he held his ground, raised his hackles and proceeded to run them off as far as the chain would let him.  So, I chased them off.  I'm sure the kids on Jordan's bus are now scared of me....stomping through the grass in my slippers, my hair still up in a towel, yelling and screaming at those 'dogs'.  The dogs didn't run far so, I brought Baron in and put Darcy out.  Darcy is bigger and half German Shephard.  I figured just her size would keep the dogs away.  But, nope, they came running up to her to 'attack' her.  This is when I realized that these 'dogs' are half-grown puppies.  Okay.  Fine.  They probably can't hurt Darcy as she is twice thier size---but they could put a serious hurt on Baron or OC. 

Chris and I figure these dog/pups are new to the area as a new house was built just across the highway and I believe the people moved in over the weekend.  These two dog/pups are going to grow and be mean---they look like they have some Chow or some PitBull or something else mean and viscous in their blood.  Maybe they are just Curs (is that a specific breed or is that another way of saying 'mutt'?).  Anyway.  They need to leave my cat and my dogs alone.

I haven't seen or heard from OC since she was attacked.  I've looked and called, Chris has looked, called, and even whistled.  But no OC.  Poor scared and possibly hurt kitty cat.  ~sigh~

Edited to add:
She showed up!  She looks pretty terrible, no outward scratches, bite marks or blood and we gave her a pretty good all over, pat down/squeeze.  Since she didn't do anything but keep purring and being limp we are assuming that she was just good and scared---maybe a little mauled but w/o injuries.  She's definitely not acting her normal 'pet me pet me pet ME!' self.  She was just laying on the ground all limp and sick looking.  I took one of her winter blankets that I had already put up for the year and put it on the corner of the porch and wrapped her up in it.  She didn't even wriggle a little to get more comfortable....she just kept her eyes closed and her putt motor running.  She's filthy, with grass, sticks, a touch of blood (but not from her) and it looks like she's been rolled in some ashes.  I'm hoping she will feel safe enough to take a good long warm snooze and then clean herself up.  I'm even thinking of giving her one of those small cans of tuna I have in the cabinet.

Here's a pic of her that I just took.

 

Update #2:
So, shortly after I took this picture I went outside to check on her and she was not in her little nest.  She remained hidden for the better part of the day.  Darcy alerted me to her presence about thirty minutes ago.  I immediately got the can of tuna, opened it up and put it on a plate.  I took the plate of tuna out to the shed where OC was hiding out.  She didn't acknowledge my approach until I was less than two feet from her.  She smelled the tuna and then jerked her head like the tuna was nauseating to her.  I made Chris come outside to check her out.  Again, no acknowledgement of our approach until we touched her.  Chris picked her up and proceeded to give her another once over.  She has not cleaned herself or tried to put herself in any kind of order.  We decided that, even though I am very allergic, we would bring her in the house and put her in Darcy's crate so she could sleep in comfort, safety, and warmth.  This is where she is right now, she didn't really move after Chris put her down, but pretty much stayed right where he laid her.  The plate of tuna is in the crate with her.  I don't know what else to do.  She has no obvious injuries, we can pet, pat, poke, and gently squeeze and the only response we get is more and louder purring.  Chris thinks she just got a real good scare and spent most of the night awake and scared----she just needs to recover from her scare and her exhaustion.  I hope so.

Update #3:
She has been resting comfortably in Darcy's crate for about four hours now.  She's rolled over, and stretched a tiny bit a time or two.  She totally refused the tuna, I tossed it.  I gave her a sip of milk which she lapped up about half.  Then a few minutes ago I saw her yawn.  She's missing her bottom right 'fang'.  It's gone.  As far as I can tell the whole thing is gone as there is a gaping hole into her gum line.  ~sigh~  I don't know what to do.  Can she survive outside while missing one of her major protector teeth?

We had a good day yesterday.  Chris was home after being gone for almost a week in New York City.  My in-laws finally brought Jordan home after being with them for 10 days during Spring Break.  He had a good time with them as they 'did' Florida.  First stop was Tampa and Busch Gardens, then Miami and the Florida Keys where some para-sailing and sail boating was done.  Then it was time for the Kennedy Space Center, driving on the beach, and Daytona.  There was more, but I don't remember what all and where all they went/did.

I told them if they brought Jordan home on Sunday that I'd feed them Easter Dinner.  So, I got to make a holiday dinner and it turned out pretty decent.  I tried to make scalloped potatoes; but as it was my first try, they didn't turn out wonderfully.  Everything else turned out really good and we don't have many left-overs.

Jordan, being an only child, doesn't have competition when it comes to hunting eggs.  We've tried year after year to make it fun for him, but I'm always disappointed by his apparent lack of enthusiasm to find eggs.  This year I tried something different.  I put money in the eggs and told him if he didn't find them he couldn't have the money.  12 eggs and $25.  He found the first four or five w/o much trouble, but then he started acting like his normal silly self which was getting on my nerves.  I told his Dad that he could help look for the eggs and he could keep any money he found.  Well...Chris found two of the remaining eggs and Jordan found the rest.  Having some competition made the 'game' that much more fun.  I'm still undecided on whether or not to hide them next year.  He'll be 13 by then---maybe too old.

 

 

 

At the end of the day I was exhausted as I didn't sleep well while Chris was gone and I'd stayed up until 1AM on Saturday night.  I collapsed on the couch to watch Mississippi State play Memphis in the second round of the Road to the Final Four.  This shot of Darcy is a glimpse of what I got to see instead of the game.  I was in bed by 8:00 and slept until the alarm went off this morning at 6:00.

It was a great day.

The weather in Alabama in February is unpredictable at best.

We had snow:

 

 

I know....some of you are laughing, but this is a big deal here in Alabama.

 

 

 

 

Following the snow we have some of our Spring flowers in bloom:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jordan watches for the bus every morning.  Some mornings he gets help from Darcy:

 

 OC (Outside Cat) was interested in the camera while I was out taking pictures of the flowers.

 

We had company from India on Friday night.  I showed her how to bake cookies: she did a batch all by herself.

 

That was pretty much my February.  Nothing overly exciting.  I do, however, need to write up a post about what we saw while we were in Rome and Pompeii in January.

But I have no idea if it got submitted to the guys at I Has a Hotdog

 *and all of it's not showing up...the bottom is supposed to have "Gimme moar" on it.*

It has been a long time since I've mentioned Darcy.  She is full grown now, just needs to fill out some more.  We got her spayed back when she was six months old.  She's finally house broken---but you have to try to decipher her stare:  do you want water?  do you want to go outside?  do you want to play?  and she'll just stare at you until you hit the right one.  Sometimes she wants two things so she'll just keep staring at you.

She now spends the night in Jordan's room with him.  He loves it.  Sometimes she sleeps on the bed with him and sometimes it is on the floor.  I think it depends on how chilly it is in the room.  In a few more months she will be on the floor all the time, probably laying on top of the ac vent.

We have to put her in her crate when we leave for the office on Tuesdays.  This is for her safety as well as Baron's.  Darcy will annoy Baron until Baron is extemely cranky and will bite at her.  They fight over chew bones, but not toys.  It is like having siblings around; but these can not be reasoned with.

She sheds...omg....she sheds!  a Lot.  We've invested in a Furminator.  I just wish I could get Jordan to use it more often.

 

and she loves yogurt...when I get a container of yogurt out of the fridge nothing will make her leave my side until she's had the opportunity to lick the container clean.

 

Darcy loves to play with OC.
OC loves the attention she gets from Darcy.
Darcy begs to go out and see what OC is up to.
OC will stand outside the back door and meow until I let Darcy out.
Sometimes OC regrets her interspecies friendship.  When she gets tired of Darcy she just walks away.  Sometimes it is completely out of sight, but mostly she walks just out of Darcy range of reach and will just lay there and flick her tail as if to say: "Try and get me now---you lowly dawg." 

Below she lays claim to the top of the garbage can and Darcy is voicing her opinion.