herding tallulah and other general animal issues

1. Herding Tallulah

Tallulah is just at the age Annabelle was when I started to stay home with her and write this blog. And thank goodness for this blog, else I would think Tallulah is a mad demon from hell. Now I know that her behavior is completely normal. Or that I have two mad demon from hell children.

We were at Barnes and Nobles today. And T was "squirming and a'worming" as Annabelle and I like to say. I put her down and she proceeded to take books off the shelves. Another customer saw us and said something like "Oh Lord" and walked away. WALKED AWAY. But I could care less because we were in book heaven--that is until Annabelle realized that they didn't have Peasant Pig and the Terrible Dragon and got huffy and I had enough of saying "no Tallulah" and putting books back on the wrong shelves. So we went downstairs to pay and that's when she started to run off. I tried to catch her and she would just run in the other direction. Now, I figured Mr. Barnes wouldn't mind if the children's books were a tad askew, but he'd probably be real put upon if the mole skin journals and book marks by the cash wrap were rearranged. So I continued chasing her and was wondering where in the hell the back up cashiers were, when Annabelle started to chase her too. "Annabelle you go that way and I'll come this way and head her off at the pass." Like two cowgirls herding a stray. Worked though.

But because I write this blog as a sort of scrap book for myself, I remembered the time Annabelle took all the clothes off the shelves at the baby gap, which, coincidentally, is where we went after Barnes and Nobles.

2. From Strays to give-aways

Annabelle: "remember that beautiful garden we planted last year by the deck."

Me: yeah.

Annabelle: Remember how the dog dug it up? Why did she do that?

Me: well, that's where she has always liked to dig once the weather gets hot. Every year, I think she won't, but she always does.

Annabelle: we should give her away or something like that to some other people who want her and maybe get a cat or some chickens or a duck or a pup, but a small pup that doesn't like to dig. Cats don't dig.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We don't say stupid or idiot around Annabelle, but she realizes that the dog is both! And it was 75 degrees today in Houston. Five more degrees and the dog will begin her annual dig which causes there to be dirt by the back door from the day it hits 80 until the day it doesn't, which is roughly 10 months out of the year, giving us just 2 months to put some pansies and fennel and a rose bush in and watch the fennel get eaten up by swallowtail caterpillars!!

And Tallulah is scared of the dog! But, there has been a rash of burglaries in the 'hood lately and they don't seem to go to houses with dogs, so she will remain with us until the suspects are apprehended.

I am currently on the lookout for a black, late model toyota camry.