Welcome to this week’s edition of Follow-Up Friday, the post where I highlight reader’s comments, answer questions and generally just wrap up my week.

Once Upon A Time

Thank you all for the nice comments and birthday wishes for Sampson. He started his day with a bit longer walk, and then in the afternoon, I loaded him into the car and drove him to the woods, so he could enjoy one of his favorite places. It turned out to be not so much walking and a LOT of sniffing, but he enjoyed himself.

For dinner that night, he got steak. 🙂 You know your dog is spoiled when the Peeps are eating hotdogs and the dogs are eating steaks.

All in all, I think he had a great day.

You Make Me Laugh – July 31, 2016

Sue said, “We got the hot and humid weather, too, with the heat index 100 and above.”

Ugh, if there’s anything worse than heat, it’s adding the humidity to it. It seems I can’t walk anytime of the day without sweating. 

Jan K said, “We’ve had some hot and humid weather, but most days haven’t been oppressive. We haven’t had to even get out the A/C units yet, fans alone have been enough so far.”

Oh Jan, that’s great! We were so spoiled last year, I rarely had to use the air conditioning during the day.  So far this year, it’s been brutal.

Cupcake said, “The Dyson fan in Mom’s room makes my ears twitch. She has to aim it away from me, otherwise I shoot her the skunk eye.”

Bah ha ha. When I ride in Hubby’s jeep with the top off, my head pulses when we stop.

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom said, “It’s been “gawd-awful” around here since the beginning of July, though we did have a few days’ break before it came back. Thankfully we have central air, so it’s not quite as expensive as window units. But every time I take the girls outside – especially these last few days – it feels like I’m stepping into a sauna. Ugh! Callie used to squeeze herself between the tea cart and the vents and hog the cool air when the fan was running.”

UGH, that scratches South Carolina off my list of retirement places. 😉 Central air does sound heavenly though.

Jan said, “We’ve been in triple digits but with low humidity and cool mornings and evenings to get all our “business” done.”

Heat is one thing. Humidity is another, but when you combine the two, it’s absolutely hideous. I’m jealous, if I could only get California weather on the east coast. 😉

Alexa88 said, “it’s been brutal here the whole month of july. we’re all suffering from cabin fever as even the nite’s are hot an humid. in addition to central a.c. we have ceiling fans. i’m dreaming of a white Christmas lol.

Ceiling fans and central air are nice and so is a white Christmas. 🙂 I’m dreaming with you!

Rebekah said, “My dogs and I are all Freon-dependent.”

LOL we are too!

Monika and Sam said, “Still hot in the 303 but in the good news column, only 53 days to the official start of autumn.”

Oh dear dog, I hope we have an early autumn this year. 🙂

Jen Gabbard said, “It always makes me laugh when Laika & I come in from outside and she plops herself right over the entire vent.”

She’s a very smart girl!

Around the Yard

Meagan Maher said, “You are lucky you don’t live in Australia. Here we have the most poisonous snakes and spiders.I live about a kilometer from a Marina and the other day there was a 4 meter great white shark swimming around.”

NO THANK YOU! I don’t like spiders or snakes! And sharks, fugeddaboutit.

Sue said, “Lots and lots of wildlife here: coyotes, bobcats, possums, raccoons, armadillos, ground hogs, squirrels, rabbits, voles, snakes, turtles, toads, frogs, and even a bear once! Hmm, I bet a bear sighting would vanquish your writer’s block!”

I did see a bear!! Not too long ago either. It was the coolest thing, but I didn’t think to grab the cell phone and get a selfie picture. 

Emma said, “That little guy is adorable! I would probably hunt him and get in trouble, but Mom would want to make him a house pet!”

I was afraid Delilah would hunt him, but I’m with mom, I could see me trying to make him a yard pet. Not in the house though.

Taryn said, “Possums are always around, they just don’t tend to make their presence known. We have them and also raccoons who I rarely spot either. Fox, deer, thousands of squirrels and bunnies, an occasional wild turkey, and recently a young black bear I wasn’t lucky enough to see.”

Mostly we see deer, and squirrels around here. I’m sorry you missed the bear, my sighting excited me to no end.

Mary Hone said, “Today, we have birds and bunnies outside. Last night I heard an owl.”

Isn’t it cool when you see things you don’t normally see? But don’t forget, you see WILD HORSES and Bison and those goat things with the long horns. (I have also heard an owl in our neighborhood and I saw one in the woods once too!)

Two French Bulldogs said, “Oh my dawg! Mom rescued one of those things once.”

When you say ‘rescued’, does that mean she kept it?

Jan K said, “If I get writer’s block I’ll usually just scroll through photos and try to find something that gives me at least a little bit to say, and if it’s not much, there’s still a cute photo to share.”

Sometimes I have something in my drafts, and other times I do what you suggested. There is no sense in pushing myself into something.

Jen Gabbard said, “As for writer’s block I like reading blogs in other niches. Whether it’s a gardening, parenting or science blog – something about reading stuff outside my “norm” gets ideas going. Lately I’ve been looking at funny dog memes a lot as well – those seem to spark some great ideas.”

That is a great idea Jen! Thank you for sharing it!

Seven Ways to Pissed Off – Throwback Thursday

Callie, Shadow and Ducky’s Mom said, “I DO remember this post! I remember all those idiotic signs pissing you off. But better to be pissed off than pissed on, though. (Unless you’re kinky.) 😝”

Comment of the week right there!

Jan K said, “I can see why it riled you up, they did go kind of overboard with the signs, and with so many other things going on at that park picking on the dogs alone doesn’t seem right. But the idea to have the poop station there is a good one. Did they ever put one at the other entrance you were talking about though?”

It was a little OVERKILL. No, they did not put one at the other entrance. Apparently the James Family pay $150 per year to sponsor that poop station. The man that lives next to the park (not the James) volunteers to empty it, and put the trash bin out on garbage days. For them to put another station in the park, they would want someone to sponsor and someone to be responsible for emptying it. 

Sue said, “FTR, Sue’s comment might be my favorite blog comment ever: “But better to be pissed off than pissed on, though. (Unless you’re kinky.) 😝” ”

I’m with you there sister!

All Things Collie said, “What pisses me off…we live near the beach. And on more than one occasion the dogs have discovered fried chicken bones either on the road or on the sidewalks! We all know the danger of cooked chicken bones. Why people have to toss them out car windows is a mystery to me.”

I don’t understand that either and it would piss me off also. They throw food stuff up in the woods too. Once I pulled a pepperoni in the package out of Delilah’s mouth. And don’t get me started on the glass. They are not content just to drink up there and leave the bottles, no, they have to smash them on the rocks.

Monika and Sam said, “I can only guess the James family is not on your Christmas card list. 😈”

Actually, at first I was so pissed. I thought Who the fuck are theses James people and WHY are they picking on dog people. But once the signs came down, (really, that was TOO much) I’ve learned to appreciate the station. There have been days when I’ve run out of bags, or forgot to grab one, and it has saved my skin. Not to mention not having to haul that stinky bag back home.

Emma said, “We are all for poop stations, but we also don’t think any signs really will change the behavior of those who choose not to scoop, sadly. More trash cans would be more effective most likely.”

Exactly Emma. Either they will scoop or they won’t, but signs and poop stations won’t make a difference. Honestly I’ve gone into the park and ten feet from station is a big pile of dog poop. I mean, how lazy and inconsiderate can you be?

That’s it for me folks, have a wonderful weekend!