Sassy Sunday 6/24/12

Sassy

 Hello Everyone.  Happy Sassy Sunday!  I've been out to the garden recently to see if any of my favorite snack foods were ready for the picking.  And guess what we found.  Tomatoes!  Little ones, but they were really good.  I had to share with the family.  And with Chili.  But I got to eat mine right there at the garden fence.  (Barb put a fence around the garden to keep out the deer, rabbits, and Sassys that might want to eat the veggies.)

Almost Ready

Ready!

I love the garden.  I got to eat some peas the other day too.  And soon we'll have some cucumbers.  I've got a great gig here.
I don't remember much about my puppyhood.  I know that I was living with a real nice family in Birmingham, AL.  They got me because they were told I was a Chihuahua mix and the dad in the family had allergies but was able to tolerate the other Chihuahua mix in the house.  (Barb says if there is any Chihuahua in me, I must have eaten one.  But that's beside the point).

Anyway, it only lasted a few months and they knew they'd have to find me a new home.  The dad was just miserable with allergies to me.  The family was sad but they sent me to live with the dad's secretary.  I liked her, but her dog didn't like me.  So that didn't last long.  An older couple living nearby offered to take me in.  But they didn't realize how much work a puppy can be and I was just too much for them.  I'm not sure how much time I actually spent in any of these homes.  It's all a blur.  But I was only 9 months old when I went to live with the older couple.

When they realized they couldn't keep me, they let the original family know. (the allergy dad)  They were very worried for me.  Especially the little girl in the family.  So the mom talked to one of her employees.  He and his family were about to move to Illinois to start a new job.  They only had a month left in Alabama.  Would they consider giving this little dog a new home?  Would Ginger, their 1.5 year old dog, let a new puppy into the house?  They were willing to give me a try. 

I went with the older lady to a grocery store parking lot to meet my new family.  They had 3 boys and a beautiful reddish-gold dog named Ginger.  Everyone got out of the car to meet me.  They loved me right away and I got into that car with them.  I remember being confused but I felt safe and happy with them.  They didn't get too mad at me when I had an accident (or two, or three) on the carpet.  They were very busy trying to get packed up to leave, but they were kind and loving to me and I felt a part of the family in no time.

They were also in the process of getting another pet to take to Illinois.  Our cat, Spooky, had been a stray in the neighborhood.  But that's another story.  :)

Anyway, I moved with the family to Illinois and I have been a part of this happy home since then.  Gosh, it's been about 6 years!  That would make me about 7 years old.  I got a birthday card in the mail recently from the vet's office.  Barb thought it was funny since she doesn't really know when my birthday is.  She just guessed based on the fact I was about 9 months old when I came to live with them.  It's starting to show in my face a little.  I've got a few more gray hairs around my eyes and mouth.  But all in all, I think I look good. :)  Next time Barb gets a good picture of my face, I'll post it for you.

Well, the story continues but that's about enough for now.  Thanks for stopping by!  I'm gonna hook up with the blog hop that you can find over at Life with Dogs.  Link up and play along if you like!

Sassy

Sassy Sunday - 6/10/12

Hello, Everyone!  Happy Sassy Sunday. :)

It's gonna be a quiet day here, at least for a few hours.  My boys went to the Cardinals baseball game so Barb is here with just us girls.  (Spooky the cat is here too.  He's a boy but we don't count him. heehee)  She's got work to do on the computer so I have to get this done so she can have it.  She's working on her lecture for Tuesday.  She's teaching a class in Human Sexuality and Reproduction this summer.  I don't know anything about that.  For one, I'm not human.  (Shhhh!  Don't tell Barb) Second, I'm spayed.  I'm sure I'd make super adorable puppies, but it's actually a really good thing I'm spayed.  Lemme 'splain.

Barb has been telling me about something no dog should have to hear about.  It's our animal control facility and how so many dogs (and cats too) go in and never make it out again.  In 2010, according to public record (State of Illinois Department of Agriculture), 4,130 pets went into the Madison County Animal Control.  Only 1,037 left alive.  That's almost 75% of the animals going in left the building in a garbage bag.

So, we've started a petition and letter writing campaign.  These are the things we are asking for:
1. Open Madison County AC for public adoptions.  Right now, you cannot adopt from there.  If your dog or cat is there, you can claim them.  A very few rescue groups can come in and try to get any adoptable pets out.  But otherwise, they will be euthanized.
2. Remove the many restrictions on state licensed rescues and shelters so more can pull animals.  Right now only a few are able to get animals.
3. Remove the "death only" for owner surrenders.  Did you know that at many animal control facilities, if you surrender your pet they will not be adopted out?  They will be killed immediately because no one is looking for them.  Even if they are a highly adoptable pet.
4. Remove the "death at the end of the hold time" if space allows.  Right now, any pet that has been in the facility for 5 days will be put down, even if they are the only one there.
5. Only count business days.  Now they only have 5 days, including weekends and holidays.  What if a family loses a pet while they are out of town over a holiday weekend?  They can't go on Monday because it's a holiday.  They show up on Tuesday when the AC opens to find out it's too late.  All animals are put down Tuesday morning before opening. 

Barb believes these are not only plausible changes, they are no-brainers.  She's planning to attend a meeting tomorrow of the Safety Committee that oversees animal control.  She'll be there with representatives of our favorite animal rescue (Hope Rescues).  There is a Facebook page and a link to the petition.  If any of your two-legged family members would like to sign the petition, tell them to do it!  Anyone can sign, not just residents of Madison County Illinois.  Some people as far away as the UK have signed it already.
Here's the link to the Facebook page.  Here's the link to the petition.  Tell them Sassy sent you!

On a happier note, we saw a cute little bird gathering up dog hair from the deck to use in building his/her nest this morning.  Check it out.

If you look closely, you'll notice that the bird mainly has Ginger's hair.  She sheds something crazy!  Chili and I both shed too, but our hair is nice and short. :)
Speaking of Chili, Barb got a picture of her just as she finished sniffing some flowers on the deck.  Barb wasn't quite quick enough to get her actually smelling the flower, but it's a good picture anyway.

 And here are a couple of other photos from the deck yesterday.  It was a nice day.

 Even though it's Sunday, we are linking up with the Saturday Pet Blog Hop.  Check out all the great pet blogs out there!!
See you soon,
Sassy

The Big (Hen) House

Well, the girls have moved to the hen house.  They seem happy in their new digs.  Instead of having a concrete dog run they have a pen outside under the pine trees.  As soon as their feet touched the soft dirt they were scratching and making all kinds of chicken noises.  It was great!

New digs for the chickens

Girls outside enjoying their new yard

I'm thinking this hen may actually be a rooster. :)

Look at her compared to the one above! (They don't just give those college degrees away, ya know!)

Inside they have nesting boxes, their food and water, and a couple of roosting places.  Look at all that nice clean bedding! 

 Chili likes to come with me to check on chickens. Ginger usually comes too.  Sassy likes the chickens ok, but she's more of a "go out to do my business then lay on the couch" kind of dog.  What is it, I wonder, that makes chicken poop taste so good?  Well, you'll have to ask Ginger.  She snags every opportunity to clean up after those birds.  Silly girl.  No wonder I had to worm her this spring!

We've got some lovely sunflowers blooming.  And in the garden we have tomatoes and cucumbers already.  And a butternut squash. :)

The radishes are all gone.  We had a ton of them left over after Sassy and Chili had their fill so we wanted to find a recipe that called for lots of radishes.  My DH found one that was just divine.  It is called simply Red Radish Soup.  But it should be called "The Best Cream of Radish Soup Ever."
Here's a picture.

If you'd like to try it, go here.
It's even good the next day served as a chilled soup!


That's what's going on in the lives of Sassy, Ginger, Chili and Me.  Thanks for stopping by!


Barb