Monday, June 08, 2009

Hanna Holds Down the Fort

Hanna has this, the 500th post at Urban Oasis all to herself ... what's the occasion you might ask? Well, simply because she has so quickly become a truly indispensable member of our little pack here, due in no small part to her ability to bring a smile and laughter to even the seemingly darkest of days. And I've had a good run of those days the past week or so and Hanna has been right there for me the whole time holding down the fort, so to speak.

Most of last week it was cool, rainy, rainy and very dreary, and adding to which, I came down with another intestinal bug that kept me sidelined most of the week (now fortunately departed!) and feeling downright lousy. Along with my generally "down and bleak" mood, I just wasn't much fun to be around, thus my absence here around these parts....

But exciting things are happening in the garden, and starting tomorrow, I'm vowing to get on top of them and get cracking around here again! Even though the forecast is for another cool and cloudy week, at least the near daily rains we had last week are not currently in the picture, so there will be lots to catch up on ... and we'll maybe even be seeing the appearance of Mr. Stinky in all his glory within the next week, so stay tuned....

So let's focus on these photos of Warrior Princess Hanna on guard out on the front porch on Sunday morning when we had a brief period of sun before the storm clouds moved in. I really like this shot of her in shadow, surveying the situation just outside the porch in the Woodland Garden.

There's something very interesting going on out there ... is it a bunny? A squinny? Only Hanna knows, but no matter what, she's on the case!

Let's take a closer look ... If I could only just jump through this screen, I'm sure I could get to the bottom of this!

You wanted something? I'm kinda busy here, but I'm happy to help out if you need one of my puppy services! That's our little Princess ... always ready to spring into a new situation at a moment's notice....

Oh, and one last thing I should note about Hanna's Sunday afternoon ... she went with us to the grocery store and garden center, and on the way back we stopped at Sonic for a little snack (e.g. late lunch) and I ordered a dish of vanilla ice cream, which I of course had to share with Hanna. As far as we know, this was her first taste of this delicious treat and she absolutely loved it! Every last drop. This was her little reward for being such a good trooper on a humid afternoon, and though it's not something she'll get very often (we hardly ever have ice cream around the house), we do plan on getting her some Frosty Paws cups the next time we go to the store since they are a more dog friendly concoction (though she had no adverse reactions to the dairy in the soft serve). But given this first little taste of ice cream, she was clearly in doggie heaven and wanting more! Do we have a typical kid or what?

18 comments:

olivia said...

Congratulations on 500 posts IVG. Wow, the time flies ... doesn't it. :)

I love that first shot of Hanna in the window, and the look she gives you in the last one is wonderful. I love the way her one ear is up, the other down. She's so expressive!

CONEFLOWER said...

Congratulations on #500! I love the Hanna perspective on the life. I agree with Olivia....so expressive. And those beautiful huge eyes... She doesn't miss a trick I'm sure.

Hope your "bug" is over by now. They can really be a downer.

I know what you mean about doggies and ice cream. I had a German Shepherd once who could clean out a cone in nothing flat and leave the cone untouched.

You're doing a great job, Hannah. Keep up the good work!

Roses and Lilacs said...

Glad to see you back. There must be tons of stuff blooming in your garden. Hope you feel much better and get some photos between rainstorms this week.

My Aggie doesn't let things like window screens stop her, she goes right thru them. I hope Hanna doesn't give that a try.
Marnie

Family Man said...

Hi IVG,

Congrats on number 500! It's funny but I can still remember your very first post. :)

Yep Hanna does look great in those pictures, and the ice cream is really not a surprise to me. It took me awhile to get George to eat them, but once he tried seedless grapes he loved them. Amazing what you can get the kids to eat.

Hope you, Fernymoss and Hanna are doing fine and take care.

FM

Larry Kollar said...

Heh, what dog *doesn't* like people treats?

Ditto what Marnie said… if Hanna gets a mind to, she'll take the plunge!

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Happy 500th! Hanna just keeps getting cuter & cuter. I hope she likes Frosty Paws. My dogs loved it, and that was the only thing that brought out the dominating tendencies of my mutt. She freaked out the Maltese by pinning her to the floor over an empty Frosty Paws cup. I hope you make it back to the sunny side soon.

boran2 said...

Congratulations on number 500, IVG!

Hanna looks great in those photos, and apparently always ready for action. It's good to have such an alert member of the household!

I hope that you're feeling better soon!

Beth said...

Hanna is so darn cute!

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi Olivia,
Thanks for all the encouragement over the past 3 years ... I might never have taken the plunge if it weren't for you and FM. :-)

I really like the one of her in shadow too and really shows off how long she is! Her ears really tell a lot of tales about how she feels at any given time!

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi Coneflower,
You're right, Hanna doesn't miss much of anything, unless she's asleep! Hanna hasn't had a cone yet, but we'll get her over to Snookie's soon (local old time malt shop) for her free puppy cone. It's quite the popular gathering spot for dogs in the summer, since everyone gets a free puppy cone! I'm sure she'll gobble the cone right down... she loves crunchy stuff....

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi Marnie,
Thanks, and I've got to get caught up over at your place... looks like a lot has been going on!

There is a lot blooming and more coming on but with all the rain it's been really hard to get any pics or anything done. Fernymoss did manage to get a couple more rows of corn planted last Sunday in between showers! And more rain on tap for Wed... *sigh*

I think Hanna can restrain herself with screens, but she sure could fly through if she really wanted. But she won't... we're teaching her manners! :-) Isn't Aggie's thing more related to fear of storms though? Hanna doesn't seem to be rattled by storms so far....

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hey FM,
Yikes, I don't even remember that post! And thanks again for the inspiration over the years and being such a faithful reader!

A word about grapes though... did you know that for roughly 2/3 of dogs they are extremely toxic and as few as 5 or 6 eaten can kill them (same goes with raisins)!!

Apparently George is a lucky one who's not affected, but it causes kidney failure in many dogs. See this link for more foods dangerous to dogs: http://www.vetinfo.com/dtoxin.html

No grapes, raisins, onions or avocadoes for Hanna! Glad George does ok though!

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hey FAR,
We were sure she'd love ice cream, just took the right day (hot) for us to give her the first try! And yep, she does like the people treats and right after we got her she raided some leftover holiday cookies we had left unguarded, thus teaching us an early lesson!

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi MMD,
Thanks! Any progress on getting a new pup for your garden? (heh, heh!) Pepa and Rolly loved Frosty Paws too, and that's funny how it transformed your mellow mutt into pro wrestler! We sure could use some sun to get the rest of our plants and seeds in!

I've been by envying the Spring Fling posts but too morose to comment, but it looked like a stellar success! And your post on Trudi's garden was an inspiration!

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hey there B2!
She is always ready for action, that's for sure! And such a little busybody too... she's probably the neighborhood pet gossip columnist! She doesn't miss much!

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi Beth!
Hanna thanks you and sends puppy kisses your way! I think her motto should be: "I steal hearts regularly!" She sure had us at first sight when I found her on Petfinder!

Gail said...

500 posts! That is colossal! It means I have a lot of back reading to do to catch up with all the great events, stories, movie reviews and flowers you've written about! gail

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi Gail,
Don't feel you have to catch up on everything, as I do post labels for most of the stuff I consider somewhat important. But there are some gems in the pre-labels days of earlier things.

There are also the assorted rants and political ravings, so watch out!