Dog days at home

Remember when I told you that our dog Ginger hated to come inside the house and we had to make her do it to escape the heat? Well, she's quickly come to appreciate air conditioning and now we have to make her go back outside at night! What a change!

Both of the dogs have decided that they love being indoors, and they've mostly been good as gold when they're in here. Unfortunately, Marco the bird is NOT happy with this arrangement because he has to stay in his cage all day (except for a few minutes here and there when I close off the back half of the house where the dogs like to nap) until we put them back out for the night. It's been a real pain, confining him to his cage so much because he screams and screeches with frustration. I don't blame him, either. But we don't dare trust the dogs with him, as they've both been known to catch and kill squirrels in the past. And Marco wouldn't know any better but to fly right up to them with his typical parrot cockiness. This is the main reason the dogs have always lived in the garage, laundry room, and backyard, to ensure Marco's safety....but it's too darn hot for that right now, so we all have to manage the best we can. The dogs are getting terribly spoiled, though.

Speaking of spoiled (and entitled) let me tell you what Ginger did on the 4th of July. I had cooked a special meal to mark the holiday and to have a small break from my diet. We had fried chicken, homemade biscuits, corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, and a baked cherry crumble made with fresh cherries I had spent the afternoon pitting. Well, when it was time to eat dinner we decided to eat in the den in front of the tv so we could watch a movie. We had just put our plates of food down on the coffee table, and Gregg went to the bathroom while I went back to the kitchen for something to drink. When I came back, guess what I saw? Our "good" dog, Miss Ginger, had helped herself to a fried chicken drumstick off Gregg's plate!  I couldn't help but laugh even though it was a very naughty thing to do. As I said, she's our "good" dog, our "smart, well behaved, never does anything wrong" dog....and there she was, a chicken thief! Poor Georgie, who always gets blamed for being a wild child and is always in trouble, wouldn't have dared to do such a thing! Haha.

Marla came to visit the other day and brought baby Carsen. It was their first trip out together without daddy (he was at work). I made George go outside while they were here. He means well, but he's huge (88 pounds) and goofy and excitable and I wasn't comfortable having him around such a small baby. Ginger, on the other hand, is steady and sensible and well behaved, and so I let her stay inside and meet Carsen. She was fascinated with that tiny little human! She sniffed her carefully, wagged, and then sat at Marla's feet and watched the baby closely. Every time Carsen fussed a little Ginger would gently touch her foot or hand with her nose, and her eyes were full of concern. Gregg and I were so surprised at how much Ginger seemed to like her, given that she's never been around babies, and only rarely has been exposed to children at all. It was really sweet!

I feel like I'm spending my whole summer watching over the dogs since they're in the house. George has done one bad thing--he got a paperback novel and chewed it up while I was in the other room one day, and I also caught him with one of my socks in his mouth another time. I'm trying to be vigilant about watching him so that nothing of value gets destroyed, because chewing is his favorite thing to do when he's bored. I feel like I have two kids tying me down these days! Make that three if you count Marco.