Feel Like Complaining

Last week I wasn't up to posting, just wasn't feeling well and the night before I left Romeo's house, I broke another crown. Popcorn again, but a kernel this time. Damn it anyway!  I was at least able to get a lot of painting done in my last two jobs. I coated the stick with Minwax but it makes the wood so dark, I'm kind of disappointed and won't be doing that again. It's hard to tell but it's just silly little birds and vines. It won't be going outside, I'll just try to find an empty corner to lean it up in. Earlier this week I did 2 drop-ins for Julie. She has one of her old fosters back who I saw in June so he's still kind of young. When she was picking him up, she saw this little girl and took her home too. Santa, the tuxedo was finally adopted again so some calmness has come back to the house. He was turning into a meanie and the already shy one, Amelia rarely comes downstairs because she thinks he's still there. There is always somethi...

After 3 nights at home I headed off to stay with Romeo for 8 nights. The more I stay here, the more I enjoy him. He's a super friendly, comical, boy and the only bad habit he has is barking at the fence when people walk by. They coax him with treats if he comes when called but to me that's just rewarding the barking. I don't do it often because he goes right back out the doggy door and does it again. He walks pretty good if I use just a collar over a harness. I forgot the first walk and he about drug me down the stairs.  This is the 'spice' house, that has a fantastic kitchen and every spice imaginable. They're such a nice couple and have already booked me twice for next year! It's worked out well to only service my regulars and not take on any new clients this year so I'll continue on to next year.

Last weekend I was at Steve's house and with one day at home I'm now at Levon's mansion house. I haven't been here in over a year. He spent a month at a dog behavioral camp to help him with his barking. He would furiously bark at a vehicle going by or even people. He really can't even see out the window but he just knows! When sitting outside he would rush the fence to bark at people; bad enough that it's just not worth going outside.  He now wears a collar that vibrates with a transmitter if he forgets the rules. The owner showed me quickly a few buttons to push but I couldn't get it to work the first day. I finally downloaded the user manual and I think I have it figured out. He usually barks when I'm out of the room and don't have the transmitter with me; figures. The training didn't change his lust for wanting his toys thrown though, but if I can give him a good walk, he will rest for awhile.  They have an alarm system but don't turn it o...

This summer we bought a few more plants to replace dead ones.....again. We had seen some very cool flowers used in an arrangement at the cemetery, and started doing research. I found them to be a variety of Sea Holly. There are many varieties and they are slightly related to Thistle but don't get that big. Both the leaves and bracts are spiny. Tony called around to some nurseries and found one that had two types. Not being able to make up our minds, we bought them both. One is a very bright green and the other is blue, kind of like this.  I noticed on the tag of the blue one, it said propagation prohibited; so of course I had to look it up. This particular flower is patented, which means that I cannot divide an unruly plant like I can with a Day Lilly. I cannot try to plant the seeds or cut a stalk for rooting without the permission of the patent owner. And if I tried to sell any part of the plant, the popo would surely find me! I had no idea that such a thing existed! I wonder how...