Please follow this link to my post for today: Thank you for reading!
Showing posts with label Anna. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anna. Show all posts
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Friday I'm in LOVE!
High Five For Friday! This week has been crazy for us. My mother-in-law has been in the hospital all week. Nothing too serious but severe dehydration and at her age (95!) it had to be treated by professionals. So between twice a day hospital visits, running our two online businesses from home, crocheting my crazy animals, writing my book, blogging and trying to exercise every day (plus the usual cooking and cleaning and walking the dog)...I am welcoming the weekend with open arms. Here is my list:
Five things I love!
- The way my puppy Anna does a huge stretch every time I ask her "Do you want to go for a walk?" She is so cute and the BEST exercise buddy!
2. I love this little Fiat 500 and every time we see one I make my husband snap a picture of me next to it, acting like it's mine.
3. This little guy I just finished! He is a gift for my dear friend back home. The pattern is from www.planetjune.com and she has the best crochet patterns for adorable animals. Check her out!
4. The flowers are blooming here and summer is on it's way! I love that!!
5. And with summer coming....I will soon be eating this again! My all time favorite food combination.
Happy Friday everyone!
Almost time to pack for Florida!
"I'm leaving on a Jet plane"
It's that time again for us. We have been staying here in France caring for my mother-in-law since the beginning of January and come April 2nd we will be flying home for a long visit. In fact, for quite a while. The other siblings in the family, my husband's brother and two sisters, will be coming to take turns looking after their mother and visiting with her. So Dennis and I will be returning to his family in Florida for the month of April, May and a little bit of June! I already have plans to fly up to RI to see my family as well. I am really excited to be home again with everyone. I can't wait to drive our car again! It sounds small but believe me, once you are cut off from being independent you really enjoy the simplicity of getting in your car and just going.
I do worry about Miss Anna when we leave. Sadly, she cannot come home with us because there is no where for her to stay in FL. My step-son-in-law (that is probably not the proper way to write that) is very allergic so Mistress Anna must stay behind, soaking up the sun here in the South of France and keeping Denise and her visitors company. I wonder what Anna's journal entries will be like during the time we are gone?
April 2
Well...they left for the airport today. They seemed sad to leave me but I think they did it on purpose. All this talk about allergies and difficulty with my travel papers. It all sounds suspicious to me! Well, at least I can con everyone here to give me tons of treats and overfeed me while Sarah is gone! I'll be living the high life here in France while they sweat it out in Fl :) HahahahahahaAt least that is what her eyes say when I pull my suitcase down and start selecting things to take with me. Anna sits in the hallway outside our room, head on her paws, with this look of absolute abandonment mixed with a "how could you?" look of betrayal. Its gonna be so hard leaving her!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
The Sunbathing dog
I know, you are tired of reading about people's pets and the funny darling things they do, when you don't think it's all that funny.
But trust me, MY dog Anna is different. She is more human than I am. And I was able to capture a few moments of her doing what she does that makes me laugh and I wanted to share:
Exhibit 1: Every morning, when the sun is out, you can find Anna sunbathing on the front balcony. Just look at her facial expression. B L I S S. I look just like that when I am sitting in the sun. All she needs is an exotic umbrella drink in her paw!
But trust me, MY dog Anna is different. She is more human than I am. And I was able to capture a few moments of her doing what she does that makes me laugh and I wanted to share:
Exhibit 1: Every morning, when the sun is out, you can find Anna sunbathing on the front balcony. Just look at her facial expression. B L I S S. I look just like that when I am sitting in the sun. All she needs is an exotic umbrella drink in her paw!
Exhibit 2:
Here I am proud to say I captured the absolute essence of Anna, when she is around tall grass. Usually Anna can't control herself around even short normal grass. She has to roll in it like a fool. But with this high ornamental grass, she throws caution to the wind and rolls like there is no tomorrow. She usually gets completely lost from my view and tangled by the time she is done.
That's all for now. I'm sure she will do something again soon that will be worthy of note. :)
Friday, January 20, 2012
Little One
Why can't I be more like my dog Anna? She is satisfied with one meal a day and it is always exactly the same. No complaints, no refusal to eat (except when she is on a hunger strike, which is rare) She only drinks water so we never have to make a run to Italy for her when the vodka runs low. All she ever wants to do is exercise, seriously...it is the biggest treat for her. Walking or running makes her happy. She can jump at least 4 feet effortlessly. And I never see her sweat.
Anna is always agreeable to anything. No decision makes her upset, she packs light, never gets cold or hot, requires no special attention or plan. She is spontaneous and always in a good mood. She is very clean, willing to lick your hands, the dinning room floor or any other spot you require. Anna has no problems relaxing, often sprawling in the center of the hallway or any other place you need to walk through, particularly if you are carrying something heavy and//or hot. She has an uncanny way of knowing in advance where would be the most inconvenient place for her to lay and she promptly lays there.
She has no addictive habits like caffeine and never complains that her feet hurt, head hurts, stomach hurts or that she is tired. In fact, she never complains, no matter what. If we leave her home she doesn't throw a fit. If we wake her up early she never grumbles. Even if we were to stay up all night, with the TV on, she would only sit near enough to be pet, leaning against you.
Anna happily chews on her toys, never gum or candy. She never uses all the hot water and dirties several towels. In fact she produces no laundry what so ever. No personal body products are ever consumed by Anna. She never complains about her pillow or mattress, she happily sleeps on the floor! You never have to change her sheets or buy her new furniture and she never whines about the chairs being uncomfortable.
My mother-in-law Denise spends hours each day talking to Anna about everything and nothing. Denise calls Anna "Little One". Hearing Denise chatting away reminds me of something else extremely valuable about Anna. She keeps secrets. I mean, really keeps them. Although there are times her eyes seem to speak volumes, she never divulges even the raciest, juiciest of tales. She is a vault, locked down!
Anna is never a backseat driver. Nothing fazes her. You can miss the turn, stop short, even forget where you are going and she acts as if she doesn't even notice.
Hopefully no one else in the family will ever catch on to how much more valuable Anna is than me, otherwise I may get left out on the balcony.
Anna is always agreeable to anything. No decision makes her upset, she packs light, never gets cold or hot, requires no special attention or plan. She is spontaneous and always in a good mood. She is very clean, willing to lick your hands, the dinning room floor or any other spot you require. Anna has no problems relaxing, often sprawling in the center of the hallway or any other place you need to walk through, particularly if you are carrying something heavy and//or hot. She has an uncanny way of knowing in advance where would be the most inconvenient place for her to lay and she promptly lays there.
She has no addictive habits like caffeine and never complains that her feet hurt, head hurts, stomach hurts or that she is tired. In fact, she never complains, no matter what. If we leave her home she doesn't throw a fit. If we wake her up early she never grumbles. Even if we were to stay up all night, with the TV on, she would only sit near enough to be pet, leaning against you.
Anna happily chews on her toys, never gum or candy. She never uses all the hot water and dirties several towels. In fact she produces no laundry what so ever. No personal body products are ever consumed by Anna. She never complains about her pillow or mattress, she happily sleeps on the floor! You never have to change her sheets or buy her new furniture and she never whines about the chairs being uncomfortable.
My mother-in-law Denise spends hours each day talking to Anna about everything and nothing. Denise calls Anna "Little One". Hearing Denise chatting away reminds me of something else extremely valuable about Anna. She keeps secrets. I mean, really keeps them. Although there are times her eyes seem to speak volumes, she never divulges even the raciest, juiciest of tales. She is a vault, locked down!
Anna is never a backseat driver. Nothing fazes her. You can miss the turn, stop short, even forget where you are going and she acts as if she doesn't even notice.
Hopefully no one else in the family will ever catch on to how much more valuable Anna is than me, otherwise I may get left out on the balcony.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Earl Grey
I walk Anna every morning down our street, across the road and down towards the olive tree garden. Sometimes I deviate and we go down the stairs toward the sea. We have a pattern, a rhythm that we follow every morning. Along our way we meet different people and their dogs, some who ignore us and some who lung and bark at Anna (the dogs lung, the people look the other way for the most part). I assume they are barking at Anna. Maybe its really me.
A few days ago I noticed something different. Several feet down the road, along a property that is edged in shrubbery too high to see over and too thick to see through, a scent that could only be described as Earl Grey tea wafted into my senses. I thought the first time I smelled it that I must be imagining it, since I drink Earl Grey every morning and my nose must just be impatient to get home. But day after day since then I have smelled it. Gently lingering at one spot along the shrubbery and then take a few steps and its gone. Like the perfume of an exotic flower just beyond my gaze. Oddly enough, its winter here and nothing is flowering. The evergreens are all that is left of the foliage and spring has not sprung yet. Strange. I like to think someone is sitting just behind those bushes, at a table set for tea with two china cups and saucers painted in a delicate floral design with pink petals. Cucumber sandwiches cut into squares with no crust, scones and biscuits with soft butter and preserves. The tea is steeping in the matching tea pot complete with cozy and all I need to do is cut through the greenery and sit at my spot. And there are spoons, naturally.
This reminds me of the honeysuckle in North Province RI. I would walk Anna around the neighborhood where we lived and there was one spot, down a side street, where you would be walking and suddenly the sweet smell of honeysuckle would flood over you. I spent so much time looking for the actual plant but I could never locate where the smell was coming from. Like a fool, I would turn this way and that, sniffing the air like a hound trying to find the trail of a fox. A few steps beyond and the cloud would vanish. The invisible honeysuckle cloud. And here we have the invisible Earl Grey tea cloud.
A few days ago I noticed something different. Several feet down the road, along a property that is edged in shrubbery too high to see over and too thick to see through, a scent that could only be described as Earl Grey tea wafted into my senses. I thought the first time I smelled it that I must be imagining it, since I drink Earl Grey every morning and my nose must just be impatient to get home. But day after day since then I have smelled it. Gently lingering at one spot along the shrubbery and then take a few steps and its gone. Like the perfume of an exotic flower just beyond my gaze. Oddly enough, its winter here and nothing is flowering. The evergreens are all that is left of the foliage and spring has not sprung yet. Strange. I like to think someone is sitting just behind those bushes, at a table set for tea with two china cups and saucers painted in a delicate floral design with pink petals. Cucumber sandwiches cut into squares with no crust, scones and biscuits with soft butter and preserves. The tea is steeping in the matching tea pot complete with cozy and all I need to do is cut through the greenery and sit at my spot. And there are spoons, naturally.
This reminds me of the honeysuckle in North Province RI. I would walk Anna around the neighborhood where we lived and there was one spot, down a side street, where you would be walking and suddenly the sweet smell of honeysuckle would flood over you. I spent so much time looking for the actual plant but I could never locate where the smell was coming from. Like a fool, I would turn this way and that, sniffing the air like a hound trying to find the trail of a fox. A few steps beyond and the cloud would vanish. The invisible honeysuckle cloud. And here we have the invisible Earl Grey tea cloud.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Anna
Things are settling into a routine here...pretty much. Anna seems to be adjusting well to her new life in a foreign country. As far as I can tell, she doesn't seemed fazed. Although she misses my family, I can tell. She gets these far off looks and I know she is thinking about my mother and laying in the middle of the floor while Jane tried to walk, clean and cook around her. Funny thing is that I like to lay in the middle of the floor too. I guess Anna gets that from me.
Once I get out of bed in the morning (and this is not at an early hour, keep in mind) Dennis and Denise are already at breakfast and Anna is all "I wanna go out! I gotta go now!!!"..following me closely, bumping into the backs of my knees with her nose...herding me toward the door. So I dress and drag my feet out the door and down the street. We pass the local grocery store with the homeless man sitting out front, who always speaks to us but I have no idea if he is saying "have a lovely morning beautiful lady" or more like "can't you spare a euro? I'm starving to death, you fat American pig"...so I smile at him and keep walking. Past the butcher shop, across the street to a grass patch for Anna to do her deed in. When she is through with that first step we continue on toward the olive tree garden. The street is quiet and we usually pass a few other dogs. One morning a tall and elegantly dressed woman, in dark sunglasses and 5 inch heels was walking what looked like two rats on long long leashes appeared from a driveway. There was a flurry of French and barking from the rats and the woman....Anna stared and I kept going. Anna kept turning around to stare. She turned around so much that she walked into a tree, a car, a garbage can and finally she walked right into me, causing us both to trip and end up in a tangle. Anna likes to turn around and stare while still walking. Not good for me before I've actually woken up.
Sometimes we pass dogs unleashed, which is always an adventure...barking..jumping and lots of disgusted French comments. I can't understand the words but I know what the people are saying. I've said it all myself.
Now as we approach the area where dogs are allowed, just around the edges of the fenced in garden of 500 year old olive trees...I need to pause and add this side bit. Anna and grass. If you know Anna, you know that she cannot be responsible for her actions when she is around grass. The girl is ridiculous. Rolling like a fool in any spot of the green. She is like a grass addict. Well, grass is not too easy to come by here in the South of France. Most places Anna can be have been visited by tons of other dogs and the grass is long gone. But Anna has turned to more exotic flora and fauna. Still in the grass family, don't get me wrong. She has discovered Ornamental Grass. The six foot high kind with those fuzzy brown seed things on top. And she manages to roll into it.. vertically. Like a big tumbleweed. So there I am, on any given morning....speaking in hushed angry tones to my dog as she rolls vertically with abandon into this huge bush of ornamental grass. The grass has been slowly browning and falling over on the ends because its winter here, so after a few moments, Anna is completely invisible and all you could see if you were to walk by is a crazy American woman, talking in angry tones at a quivering bush of six foot tall grass, that she appears to have tied a red leash to. Thanks Anna, for disappearing and leaving me here to look like a fool, a fool shouting at ornamental grass.
Once I get out of bed in the morning (and this is not at an early hour, keep in mind) Dennis and Denise are already at breakfast and Anna is all "I wanna go out! I gotta go now!!!"..following me closely, bumping into the backs of my knees with her nose...herding me toward the door. So I dress and drag my feet out the door and down the street. We pass the local grocery store with the homeless man sitting out front, who always speaks to us but I have no idea if he is saying "have a lovely morning beautiful lady" or more like "can't you spare a euro? I'm starving to death, you fat American pig"...so I smile at him and keep walking. Past the butcher shop, across the street to a grass patch for Anna to do her deed in. When she is through with that first step we continue on toward the olive tree garden. The street is quiet and we usually pass a few other dogs. One morning a tall and elegantly dressed woman, in dark sunglasses and 5 inch heels was walking what looked like two rats on long long leashes appeared from a driveway. There was a flurry of French and barking from the rats and the woman....Anna stared and I kept going. Anna kept turning around to stare. She turned around so much that she walked into a tree, a car, a garbage can and finally she walked right into me, causing us both to trip and end up in a tangle. Anna likes to turn around and stare while still walking. Not good for me before I've actually woken up.
Sometimes we pass dogs unleashed, which is always an adventure...barking..jumping and lots of disgusted French comments. I can't understand the words but I know what the people are saying. I've said it all myself.
Now as we approach the area where dogs are allowed, just around the edges of the fenced in garden of 500 year old olive trees...I need to pause and add this side bit. Anna and grass. If you know Anna, you know that she cannot be responsible for her actions when she is around grass. The girl is ridiculous. Rolling like a fool in any spot of the green. She is like a grass addict. Well, grass is not too easy to come by here in the South of France. Most places Anna can be have been visited by tons of other dogs and the grass is long gone. But Anna has turned to more exotic flora and fauna. Still in the grass family, don't get me wrong. She has discovered Ornamental Grass. The six foot high kind with those fuzzy brown seed things on top. And she manages to roll into it.. vertically. Like a big tumbleweed. So there I am, on any given morning....speaking in hushed angry tones to my dog as she rolls vertically with abandon into this huge bush of ornamental grass. The grass has been slowly browning and falling over on the ends because its winter here, so after a few moments, Anna is completely invisible and all you could see if you were to walk by is a crazy American woman, talking in angry tones at a quivering bush of six foot tall grass, that she appears to have tied a red leash to. Thanks Anna, for disappearing and leaving me here to look like a fool, a fool shouting at ornamental grass.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)