Siggy’s Blurbs

My one pup (he is at least two now) “Atilla” is a “funny” dog.  When he wants attention or thinks he is not getting enough, he locks himself in either the bathroom or our office.  And waits until we get him.  We usually hear the door quietly close.

Sometimes when he is in the office with us he will close the door behind us to make sure no other animal will come in to compete for his attention.  We have four dogs and eight cats.  At least this is our guess.  You never know for sure what is in a dog’s mind.

Tags: a dog's mind, animals, Atilla, bathroom, cat, close the door, dog, get attention, our office
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Coco is my other pup.  I call her that despite the fact she turned two in the past July.  She is the second pup we kept when our retriever had her litter of seven.  She is a long haired black female dog.  Coco loves what we call “crunchies”–crackers, chips anything like that.  If she hears you munching away she immediately “plops” herself right in front of you hoping you relent and share some of your snacks with her.

She is a very gentle self assured affectionate dog.  There are some others things about her:  when she looks at me cockeyed with her absolutely adorable fluffy ears I just want to “melt”.  To say she has captured my heart is an understatement.  If we had not named her mother “Sweetie” already she would have probably gotten that name.  That pretty much sums her up.

Tags: affectionate, capture my heart, chips, Coco, crackers, dog, gentle, golden retriever, July, puppy, self assured, share your snacks, Sweetie
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The grass is not greener elsewhere.  It is so tempting to believe that but it is not.  Sometimes paradise is right in front of you.  This year I discovered a large raspberry patch within an hundred yards on the street I live on the edge of some woods.

This was to be the second year I was going to pick raspberries in a patch I discovered last year on my property.  And then I discovered this patch.  I did not know who the owners were.  The berries were wild.  I picked enough at the new patch for at least two pies.

It amazed me I never noticed that patch before.  It was ten feet in from the road and I happened to notice it when my dog was sniffing around there.  What else am I missing right under my feet?

I was going home from church and took the long way because the land was wilder and I never knew what wildlife I would see from this road.

I was not disappointed this time:  I flushed a dozen wild turkey hens.  I do see wild turkey around here but I had never seen so many at one time.  I was thrilled to say the least.

I never know for sure what discovery I will make next time.  We have thousands of books between us and there is an universe in each of them so I have no need to travel too far to explore the next universes.

And that does not even include universe after universe in my music– thousands of LP’s, cassettes and CD’s.

I never run out of things to explore.  I do not have to go to far but don’t get me wrong I do enjoy traveling once in a while.  I just don’t feel I have to.

Tags: animals, books, cassette, CD, church, discovery, dog, explore, grass is not greener, LP, music, nature, paradise, raspberry patch, raspberry pie, right under my feet, travel, wild berries, wild turkey hen, wildlife, woods
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One of my new pups (she was two in July) has a new name “Wiggly”.  My daughter says you can not rename a pet but I did.  Her original name was “Coco” but I renamed her “Wiggly” because it was descriptive of her:  when she sees you, she wiggles in delight all over.

Her whole body is in motion and her black tail sweeps back and forth.  She will “attack” you and slobber all over you when she meets you.  She is female and completely black except for a splash of white under her throat.

She is a funny dog.  She likes her privacy and sometimes will spend most of her day outside.  Inside, she often goes off by herself and lays down on our bed.

She is a long haired dog with adorable fluffy ears.  She is very affectionate and can be quite insistent when she wants to go out.  “Wiggly” describes her to a tee and she is now responding to that name.

Tags: affectionate, Coco, daughter, delight, dog, pup, Wiggly
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The best discoveries are always when you least expect them.  Today I was walking my dog and I picked something off the middle of the road.  It was a two inch diameter bird nest.  It had to have been built by a ruby-throat hummingbird:  it was so small.  Somehow it fell off the tree.  I had never seen such a small nest before.

Later on in the day, I was driving home after making my daily trek to the post office and a turkey hen and her nine babies passed in front of me to my amazement.  I stopped my car, mouth open, and let the baby turkeys pass.

I do not even know what turkey babies are called.  What was even more interesting to me was at least half of the babies were a different size:  she must have hatched half of her brood at a different time.  I had never seen baby wild turkeys before in my life.  You never know when the next discovery will come.  It is all serendipity.

Tags: baby wild turkey, bird nest, discovery, dog, post office, ruby-throated hummingbird, serendipity, turkey hen
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I made several discoveries the last two weeks.  I accidentally discovered a large patch of wild raspberries on a large tract of land adjacent to our property.  My dog was sniffing around and I turned my head and there it was in plain view from the road.

I was not the only person picking berries there but I did not feel too guilty picking raspberries there.  It was not on my land but the neighbor opposite the patch did not own the land.  There was evidence there was someone else picking berries.  There were plenty to go around.

The patch was less than an hundred yards away.  I never noticed it before.  Last year I came across a large patch of raspberries on my property.  I had lived there for four years and did not notice or know it was there:  it was in the far right corner of my property–an area I usually do not frequent.

My wife had made already two raspberry pies.  I was taking them for granted.  If she makes another this time we will freeze it so we can eat it long after the raspberry season is over and maybe appreciate it more.

Today I spotted a large five inch box turtle sunning himself on the concrete in back of our house.  I left it alone.  I usually see one or two a year.  I wondered how old this turtle was.  I had no idea but I imagine it saw a few summers:  it was at least five inches long.

The discovery of the turtle made my day.  I kept checking on it and was hoping I could show it to my wife when she got up.  It was just another discovery that made life interesting.

Tags: box turtle, discovery, dog, picking berries, raspberry pie, wife, wild raspberries
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Everything is by grace.  The first dog I ever raised from a pup, “Daisy”, who died over two years ago, I missed terribly.  She was one stubborn dog and the first one that I trained.  And I trained her when she was an adult.

Her training started when I got tired of replacing broken windows in our front door.  “Daisy” would go crazy every time I left my house.  She would jump at me repeatedly and bark uncontrollably.  When she startled me once and I slammed my front door a little too hard cracking the window again, I decided despite her age it was time to do something about it.

Every time she barked at me when I was leaving the house, I would put my hands around her snout  and keep them there for a short time.  When I released my hands, if she then barked I did nothing but if she did not bark I praised her.  I repeated this technique countless times.  Finally at some point I realized I broke her of the habit of barking at me frantically every time I left the house.  All I had to do was “Shush” her and she would immediately quiet down.

My wife was  amazed that that when she slept on our bed she would go to the furthest most corner and curl up.  She had no idea how many countless times I had pushed her away from me.

Daisy would never take her eyes off of me when I was in the same room.  She was my dog and when she died I missed her terribly.  I never thought another dog would come along like her.

Well, one did, finally to my surprise:  “Atilla The Hun” or “Tilla” for short.  Unlike “Daisy” he was very eager to please.  He was just very undisciplined.  I never had a dog that would want so many belly rubs.  I, almost, never denied him.  It was hilarious.  He would turn over every time I went to bring him in the house.  The turning point with him was when I started giving him walks.

I knew he had become my “Dog” when just about every night he would join me in the bedroom and usually curl up at the base of my bed.  He is not “Daisy” by any means but I realized God had sent me another dog.  Everything is by grace.

Tags: bark, belly-rub, Daisy, dog, dog training, dog walking, eager to please, everything-is-by-grace, God, grace, jump, my dog, puppy, Tilla, undisciplined
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No matter which way I go I hit an hill.  One way I encounter a steep incline, the other way I get a steady climb.  It is .8 mile around my block.  I walk “Tilla” one of my dogs.  He never refuses a walk.

I never forgot the time I was camping with my friend Chuck two summers ago.  There was a trail nearby (about a third of a mile) which led to the fishing pier on the lake.  Two summers ago I walked up it (it is all uphill) and in the heat and exertion I threw up three times.  It was not pleasant.

This summer I was determined to get into better shape and recapture my wind.  I never liked exercise for exercise sake.  Most people don’t.

I still get a little winded when I go up the hills.  This time I keep going.  I am thrilled my wind is returning and “Tilla” always comes running when he hears the jangling of the metal leash.

I also started shooting hoops by myself.  I have always enjoyed basketball.  I was not foolhardy enough to challenge any of the teenagers one on one.  It is amazing how a little exercise done regularly can change your conditioning.

Tags: basketball, camping, Chuck, climb, conditioning, dog, dog leash, dog walking, exercise, exertion, fishing pier, friend, get in shape, heat, hill, incline, lake, my wind, shoot hoops, summer, teenagers, threw up, Tilla, trail, uphill, winded
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It is never too late to start gardening:  I am sixty-one and trying to find activities I enjoy and that in the process will keep me in shape.  I am gradually doing more gardening.  My wife can not physically do as much any more.

I love flowers and raising tomatoes.  Growing up we had a small but wonderful garden.  I always loved viewing other peoples gardens and observing the fruits of their labor.

I was really out of shape.  The first thing I did was get a personal trainer:  his rates are really cheap and “Tilla” as we call him never refuses a walk.  It is amazing to me what a little exercise can do.  I am also playing basketball in the park.  I am taking my time about getting my wind back.

In my youth I played a lot of basketball and tennis and ping pong which I loved.  I found out it was getting increasingly hard to find activities I enjoyed.  Finally I started walking my dog.  It is .8 miles around my block.  I also started mowing my lawn again (I usually hired someone to do that).  All of a sudden my sleep became solid.

Gardening is just another activity I enjoy.  The more exercise I can do the better.  I have always hated exercise for exercise sake but believed in finding activities I enjoyed and in the process got into shape.  Gardening is another activity I have just taken up.

I absolutely loved the many flowers my wife has planted on our property.  And I also love eating vine-ripened tomatoes.  Thus my incentive to garden.  It is never too late to start a new activity even at my age.  So gardening is the latest activity I have started.

Tags: basketball, dog, dog walking, exercise, flowers, gardening, keep in shape, lawn mowing, personal trainer, ping pong, sleep, sleep solid, tennis, Tilla, vine ripened tomatoes
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Tilla

Tags: dog, personal trainer, Tilla
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