Life in progress

Tag Archives: dogs


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One-Liner Wednesday – The Perfect Toy

My best friend, John, found the perfect toy for Winston, my beagle-bassett cross.

Toy bottles of wine, just like Mommy loves (though Mommy’s wine isn’t a toy … don’t touch Mommy’s wine!!)

With a picture of a Winston-like dog, with Winston’s name

Winston loves his wine!! (And Mommy loves hers too.)

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

#1linerWeds badge by Dan Antion

 


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159. Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right

Tuesday, February 6th, 3:00 2:00pm
Maurice and Stuart

 

(Stuart sits at the window. Maurice takes the seat beside him.)

Maurice: Hey! You’re early for once.

Stuart: Yep. Gotta go buy a new rug before work.

Maurice: Cat peed on it one too many times?

Stuart: Nope. Dog bled all over it.

Maurice: You’ve got a dog now?

Stuart: Not only that. You remember the old lady whose dog I accidentally killed?

Maurice: The one whose next dog ran away, and who’s deathly allergic to cats?

Stuart: That’s right. She’s living with me now too.

Maurice: But … why? And how is she living with you if you’ve got a cat?

Stuart: As for why, she spent so long in the hospital that she missed paying her rent and got kicked out. So I offered to take her in.

Maurice: And the cat?

Stuart: Shaved it.

Maurice: The cat mustn’t have enjoyed that.

Stuart: Nope. It looks like a giant bald squirrel.

Maurice: So what happened to the dog? You said it bled all over your rug.

Stuart: Well yeah. The dog took one look at the cat after we shaved it and thought it was a squirrel. Dog tried to eat the cat, cat scratched the dog.

Maurice: Wow. That must have been one hell of a scratch to make the dog bleed like that.

Stuart: Well, yeah. Because we shaved the dog too.

Maurice: The old lady’s not allergic to dogs though. She had one before.

Stuart: Nope. I am.

Maurice: The two of you are a match made in heaven.

 

Next stop: Wednesday, February 7th, 7:00pm

Click here to learn all about this series, how it works, and where to find your favourite characters.


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#JusJoJan 2018, the 2nd – Boisterous

I’ve never been boisterous. Such activity exhausts me, even watching it. Which doesn’t mean I’m not often on-the-go, but you won’t find me jumping around.

I purposely chose the calmest dog in the litter. This is him being boisterous beside me.

Lack of boisterousness, it seems to me, is taking on a new face in the world. I imagine at one point it meant walking slowly for miles to get to school (uphill both ways, of course), or steadily working on whatever needed to get done. In present times there is no need, often, to leave our homes to get the things we want. More people than in decades are working and learning at home–I was going to say more than in history, but it’s like somehow we’re going back to the same scenario when people were home-taught by their parents and worked the land. Only now we’re stationary, working and learning at home from long distances. Human interaction, like the old days when farmers rarely saw anyone outside their families, is slowly reverting to minimal, but for different reasons and by different means.

Wow. That took a rather un-boisterous philosophical turn, didn’t it? Something to think about.

This post is brought to you by Just Jot it January, and in particular, prompted by the word, “boisterous,” provided by Dan! Thank you so much, my friend! You can find Dan’s JusJoJan post by clicking right here. Please go and say hi! To participate in the prompt, please visit this post, where you’ll find the rules and you can leave your link in the comments.


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#SoCS – Well then

An open prompt gives way for a totally random post, yes? Well then, here we go.

Yesterday I took the dog to the vet, because the day before I discovered he has fleas. It wasn’t just that – he needed his shots, too. That, among other things, took me away from the work I need to do. Editing work, that is.

Today, I decided to give said dog a bath. Ha! He had other ideas. Mostly, he was petrified. I have no idea what made it so easy last time I did it … Could it have been that he was half asleep and sick (he’d thrown up in his crate), and couldn’t care less last time? Maybe. So I have a dog that’s been drugged with flea and tick medication, who hasn’t yet been bathed. My question is have the fleas abandoned ship and are looking for more smells-like-home digs? Coz they ain’t swimmin’ in the sewer.

The kid had been looking forward to giving the pup a bath, so he wasn’t happy either. So we’ve just been hanging out all day, playing computer games and watching TV, with me trying to get a minute here and there to concentrate on my editing work. The dog seems happy.

Winston and Alex

It amazes me that I can get a picture out there to all of you even before the kid and the dog have moved an inch. Well done, technology.

This post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the following link and check out all the other participating blogs, and join in yourself – it’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2017/10/13/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-1417/


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#SoCS – Smell

I have a funny smell in my house right now. I think it’s a bag of garbage that needs to get out to the garage. Maybe I should put it out before it leaves by itself. Yeah, it’s gonna grow legs soon – that’s how ripe it’s getting.

It must really suck to have a sniffer as good as my dog’s. I can throw a dog biscuit out into the back yard and he’ll find it with his nose. He’ll start with a wide circle and go around and around in smaller circles until he finds it. It’s a target.

Winston

He’s definitely a hound.

When I write, I try to include smells. It helps to put a reader into the story when they can relate a smell to a scene. So what would fiction for dogs be like? All smells with the occasional command stuck in that they can relate to?

Other dog, other dog, cat, food, bone, SIT! Pant pant omnomnomnomnom…

Bestseller. New Pork Times.

This (woof!) post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2017/05/26/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-2717/


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Yowling in the Yard – #AtoZChallenge

I always hated it when my neighbours (where ever I lived) let their dogs yap and yowl all day in their back yards. Now I have a dog who does it. Not that I let him do it all day mind you. If he starts barking, I call him to come in. I still worry that I’m disturbing people though.

I would never have got a dog if I wasn’t home all day. Having said that, I’ve had dogs before that I’ve left home alone while I’ve gone to work. I wonder if they were lonely.

My last dog was a Saint Bernard named George. I got him when I was first married to my first husband. He came from the Humane Society and he was very well trained. But, as I found out after I got him, he hated kids. Luckily, we didn’t have any. I wish I could find a picture of him. If I do someday, I’ll scan it and post it.

Other than dogs, I’ve had budgies and fish. My last two budgies died when I bought a new set of Teflon cookware. Had I opened the window–had I known new Teflon kills birds–they might have been with me many more years than they were. The last bunch of fish I owned were guppies. I brought them in a small container with me in the car when I moved. The guy at the pet store told me not to keep them in the small tank for more than a couple of weeks, or they’d die. They lasted in it for two years. Then again, I didn’t buy any new Teflon in that time, either… Maybe I should have kept the birds in water. … Nah.

This silly post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link and see how you, too, can join in the fun! https://lindaghill.com/2017/04/28/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-apr-2917/


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Chide – #AtoZChallenge

I’d have to give myself what for, if I didn’t write my A to Z blog post today.

“Chide” is my thesaurus word for this third day of the A to Z Challenge. It’s a word I know but that I don’t think I’ve ever actually used out loud. When I’m reprimanding someone (usually my kids – who else am I going to chew out?), I’m more likely to use the term “telling off.” But according to my trusty old synonym-finder, “chide” has a bunch of different meanings I’d never put in the same category. It can also mean “blame” and “criticize.”

When I blame someone for something I don’t necessarily scold them, and when I criticize someone it doesn’t mean I berate them. So it seems “chide” is a bit of an all-purpose word for anything we don’t like.

“Admit it. It was you who took my bone,” Winston chided.

Okay. I guess that works.

***

If you’re stopping by my blog for the first time or you haven’t picked it up yet, please check out my A to Z Challenge-inspired novelette “All Good Stories.” It’s a romantic comedy about two best friends who belong together – Xavier knows it, but Jupiter has her eye on another guy: a shady character named Bob.

“Delightful, Light-hearted tale with great twists!” ~ Lori Carleson, 5 stars, Amazon review

“Quirky and charming.” ~ Bobby Underwood, #11 top reviewers on Goodreads – 5 stars

Click the picture to find it on Kindle, or get it on Kobo here: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/all-good-stories


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One-Liner Wednesday – Birthdays

The boy and his puppy both have a birthday this week.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

One is 16, the other turns one today. Happy birthdays, Alex and Winston. 🙂

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Anyone who would like to participate, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do,
you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com


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One-Liner Wednesday – Quite the Impression

It seems the cat has made an impression on the dog.

CAM01447

Do you see it?

CAM01447 cat

How about now?

I noticed the silhouette of the cat’s head on the dog’s side two days ago, while they were having a nap together.

__________________________________________________________________

Good news! The pingbacks were working yesterday. So go ahead and give it a try, but make sure you check a minute or two after you post to make sure your pingback is in the comments.

Anyone who would like to participate, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do,
you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our new, very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

 

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com

#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com


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…on this difficult day

It’s been a rough day, both emotionally and financially. I’m having a hard time concentrating; I wonder if writing it out will help.

I was sitting down to breakfast with my best friend, John, when Winston came in from playing in the back yard, huffing like he was choking on something. He ran around a little and then he tried to lay down but every time he did, he whined like it hurt. After watching this go on for a few minutes I decided to take him to the vet. They checked him out as soon as we arrived. Since his gums were pink and he didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger, they left us waiting for about twenty minutes. By the time the vet came to see him he was filling up with air – his stomach was bloated and getting worse by the minute. They tried to vent his tummy with a nasogastric tube but nothing came out. X-rays showed that his stomach was twisted. They’d have to operate.

So we left him there and a couple of hours later they called with good news; they got the air out while he was anesthetized and thought maybe he didn’t need surgery after all. If all went well, I was to pick him up at 4:30. At 4:25 the vet called. He needed surgery after all. The gas had come back.

Almost three painstaking hours later the vet called me. He’d come out of surgery okay and the repair was done, but they still don’t know why he filled up with gas. Anyway, there are no foreign objects in there and all his inner pathways are now clear. The vet said that they’d keep him overnight but of course there’s no one there to watch him, to see if he fills up again. So the vet is going to take him home with her. Wow, right? Probably close to $2,500 worth of wow. All for a free puppy.

Oh, and I lost one of my silver rings today.

They say bad things come in threes. Hopefully losing my “f”‘s will count for the third.

Please send positive thoughts.

Winston

Winston