Puppy breath

You forget how a little puppy has what I call "puppy breath" as you get older. My Lucy, a bit of a Heinz 57 dog managed to get pregnant. She gave birth during the Ice Storm of 2009 the end of January. What? She couldn't pick another day to go into labor?? I know she couldn't help it but we had lost all power, as well as the entire western part of Kentucky. Freezing temps = freezing me! So we had a very long week. Lucy's dog house was located under a big bush that helped to provide her shade during the summer. It was covered in ice so heavy that the branches hung down surrounding her house. She and the pups were okay. I think it helped to create a barrier between her and the high winds that immediately followed the ice. Enough already! All in all, we ended up with four puppies. I am still trying to locate homes for all of them. I have one taker so far and some "maybes". They are so cute and fat!! I picked up the one that I lovingly call "fatty". That's because he is! He just licked my chin when he got near my face. And then I smelled his little puppy breath. I had forgotten about puppies and how wonderful they are! They all come to greet me when I leave for work each morning. I am constantly looking to see where all the paws and tails are so I don't step on one. I'm attaching a picture to share. When you're having a bad day, puppies can be the best medicine EVER!!!

A true sign of SPRING

Nothing excites me more than the prospect that Spring is around the corner! I begin to get the winter Blahs as soon as fall draws to an end. I question why my ancestors decided to settle in Kentucky. I do enjoy the beautiful colors that fall brings and I'm inspired to paint fall scenes as a result. But I am definitely a warm weather girl! I enjoy a good snow but then I am done with winter as a whole. I begin to anxiously await the delivery of the new seed catalogs so I can order beautiful flowers for the Spring plant. I pour through each page and imagine how my flower garden will look! We have had our share of bad weather this winter. Having survived the Winter Ice Storm of 2009, I am more than ready to say "Adios" to cold weather and a big "Hello" to Spring and all it's beauty. Today when I ran out to grab the mail it was raining and changing over to sleet. The sky was gray and gloomy with no sign of clearing anywhere in sight. As I passed my porch, there it was! The sign I had been looking and waiting for! The sign that Spring was not only coming soon but officially here at last! My daffodils had bloomed!! Big beautiful bright yellow blossoms unmindful of the gray day or the sleet. A promise that soon, very soon, winter would pass and be but a memory!