Son John $pencer talked about Sadie’s liking water. When he and Rose would hike near streams and waterfalls, Sadie was always eager to get wet. We found that she liked the run-off from a neighbor’s French drain. I would not have wanted to splash through that cold water barefooted.
It was amusing to watch the dog run through the stream. She would go two or three steps and dip her head to take a sip of water, without breaking her stride.
As we neared home, I took a shot of John and Sadie with neighbor Joyce’s tree. Those leaves turned orange and began to fall almost immediately. There is never enough time to get tired of fall foliage.
Perhaps Sadie saw it first, but I became aware of a cricket hopping across the bedroom carpet. I like crickets. I like singing crickets, but not at night in my bedroom. I picked up a small paper cup I keep on the computer desk for catching unwanted critters. As I moved toward the cricket, Sadie jumped off the recliner and lunged toward it. I couldn’t have said Jiminy Cricket before she had it in her mouth. Maybe it tickled her tongue, because she spit it out. In a split second it leaped out of sight. Sadie sniffed all around but couldn’t locate it. An hour later I saw the cricket again, and Sadie beat me to it a second time. When she let it out of her mouth, I swooped in with the cup. A political flyer was within reach, and I slipped that under the cup. Apologizing to Sadie all the while, I opened the door to the deck and flung the cricket into the night. She looked longingly into the darkness. More than likely, the cricket fell to the ground, since there is no floor on the deck at the moment.
I decided to take Sadie for a walk late in the afternoon, hoping to add another mile to my total. Walking, even at my pace, would be good for this high-energy dog. It might have been a humdrum outing, but I heard running footsteps behind me, and there was Logan (10)! He asked if he could go with me as he pulled on his jacket. Sadie was very excited to see her two-legged playmate. In an instant she rushed at him, jumping for joy. After passing two leashed dogs at the top of our street, she began to play roughly with Logan. I don’t like her jumping on him like that. As I held her tightly, she backed out of her collar! When I fumbled getting it back on, Logan clicked the collar easily. Sadie escaped again. I am so relieved she didn’t run away. Who knew an afternoon stroll would turn into a wrestling match? Thankfully, Sadie calmed down, and we walked to the stop sign without further trouble.
The sunlight was fading quickly as we headed home. Logan agreed to hold Sadie and pose, because he knows I love taking photos of him. You can see the golden light of a fall afternoon surrounding boy and dog. We got home as dusk deepened, when it would have been dangerous to walk on the road.
Yesterday was son John $pencer’s birthday. I used several of the photographs from his first birthday 40 years ago in a blog post, but I didn’t use the one showing him with his birthday cake. I liked the-deer-in-the-headlights pose.
John $pencer on his first birthday
He agreed to a non-flash photo this time around, and his smile was my reward. I was amused to find he still has only one candle on his cake. He was fun at one, but his stories have improved dramatically.
The cake was put together with things I had in the house. The layers were devil’s food cake, chocolate moose tracks ice cream, and whipped topping. M & M’s were sprinkled on top, and we had just-made hot fudge sauce to ladle over it. The sauce would have made cardboard taste good.
Here I am again after a wonderful visit with my folks. It was so good to have people to share son John $ with, to have help in the kitchen, buffers for the war zones between the girls, and to catch up on all the news that somehow never gets written.
The only disaster during their stay was a visit we had from the Lutheran pastor who has refused to give Lisa communion. She had taken a class and was regularly taking communion at our home church. The pastor said he will consider giving her a blessing at communion time as he does for infants. [This was a blessing, after all. We didn’t go back to the Lutheran church, preferring to go to English churches for the rest of our time there.]
I was summoned for a conference with the head mistress about Kate. I don’t know why being called in makes me feel I’m to be reprimanded, but I was glad when it was over. Miss Kinman suggested we either get a tutor for her or put her in a lower form. I was shocked to find that poor Kate had been struggling with 4th grade work as if she’d skipped a grade. We had made it clear that she was with children a year younger during our first interview, and the woman then told us she would be in 2nd form. I thought Kate was with the right age group and that Lisa was with those a year younger than herself. Turned out Miss Kinman always likes to keep youngsters in the correct age group, but now understands why we wanted the other arrangement to begin with. Kate talks happily about school now and seems to be doing well. She is getting her preps done by 5:30 or 6 every night.
Mother had her hair done at the hairdresser’s where I get my hair cut. She told us that she could hardly understand the first girl who washed her hair, kept asking her to repeat things, and explained that she had a hard time understanding different accents. The girl said, “You’ll really have difficulty with the owner who comes from Germany.” The owner started work on her, and Mother found she could understand every word the first time!
Someone asked what a common is, and Lisa popped up with the answer. She said it was an open place and anyone who is common can go there.
One morning my father woke earlier than I did and busied himself making biscuits for breakfast. That’s the first time I’ve ever come into a pre-opened kitchen – every drawer and cabinet was open because he was searching for the ingredients. The biscuits were delicious!
Last weekend we went to Dover, saw the hovercraft, had glimpses of the huge castle there, and drove on to Deal to go through the coastal artillery fort built by Henry VIII. I enjoyed that scalloped castle, though it is stark and not a beautiful dwelling as some are. We also drove through Canterbury, though not too close to the cathedral.
Family at Deal Castle
We also drove through the Knole property where everyone enjoyed the semi-tame deer. We went on to Leeds Castle, the most lovely castle we’ve seen so far. Someone commented that it is a fairy-tale place. Parts of it are ancient, parts just old, but gorgeously furnished.
Leeds Castle, front and back
It was quite cool while my folks were here, and one evening they and I became chilled while sitting talking. I did the quickest thing I could think of and got us each a blanket. John came to the door, stopped short, said we looked like furniture with dust sheets, and offered to turn on the heat. It’s funny that I never considered heating the whole house. I was too well-trained in survival techniques from winters in Stony Brook.
One day while the girls were in school we drove to a large estate where the gardens are open to the public. The four large lakes are lovely, just like landscapes painted by English artists.
One of the lakes at Sheffield Park, with the stately home in the background
We kept on the move and realized it was terribly windy when we got back to the car to eat a picnic lunch. My folks did the sensible thing and climbed in the car, but I kept $ in the stroller to feed him. We would have had wall to wall cottage cheese if I’d turned him loose in the car. His hair was standing straight up, and he’d squint up his eyes to see the food coming toward him. That baby never ate so slowly! He finally finished, and I started changing him which I couldn’t do on top of peanut butter sandwiches in the back seat. The wind was whistling around the corners of the car, but I battled on. Had to hold $ with one hand, the dry diapers in place with another, and felt it might be easier to manipulate the pins with my teeth. At this point a real gust picked up the stroller and started hurtling it down a hill. A wild hook with the foot missed, and on it sailed. Somehow I finally got it all together, much to the amusement of a couple calmly eating their lunch in another car. Nice to know I provided mealtime entertainment.
One day I was working in the kitchen while $ thumped around, and I was unaware he had climbed the stairs and headed straight for the shower room. I found him happily chewing on the drain strainer and sitting in the wettest puddle. He lived up to part of his nickname – Sopper. I wonder how many times he’s done that, and I thought the wetness was from another source.
Kate left her hairbrush within someone’s reach, and the whole upstairs got the brush-off. Stirred up the dirt so effectively that I was able to fill the carpet sweeper quickly.
The afternoon my folks left, John $ didn’t sleep well. I think he was cold. I climbed in my snug sack and held a nap in my lap. He slept for an hour before it was time to get the girls from school.
My dad playing with $. $ used the night table to climb up on the bed in the guest room.
We celebrated $’s first birthday by letting him chew on a pretty birthday card or so, opening presents, and eating cake. He loved his new dog, disdained the new harness, and smacked his lips over the cake. Thank you all for his gifts, cards and birthday wishes. I don’t think he is any the wiser after this milestone, but hopefully we have pictures to show him in later years.
Today the girls were invited to dinner and a long walk with the family across the road. They were having two cousins from boarding school also.
Tomorrow John’s aunt and uncle arrive, and we’re looking forward to their visit.
Happy Birthdays to Bill, Bob, and Kathie. Also to everyone else I missed!
[Written by John to fill in the gap while I spent time with my parents.]
Just a quick note to let you know that all is well over here. Anne has been busy with her folks. We have enjoyed visiting with them.
Last weekend we did a considerable amount of traveling. On Saturday we went to Dover, Deal and Canterbury. On Sunday, after going to St. Mary’s, we went to Leeds Castle.
From a distance, we watched the hovercraft come and go from Dover. [There was no tunnel under the English Channel back them.]
Here is a side view of Leeds Castle.
Leeds Castle
Lisa seems to be doing very well in school – doing double duty on French and also taking Latin. Kate is not doing quite as well in adjusting. She is now in Form I, with kids more her own age level – but she constantly talks of tummy aches. So, we will have to watch her and give her extra help.
Fall fell last night – temp about 45 degrees at night and 55 degrees by day. Just had a tremendous storm with winds up to 86 mph, but today promises to be nice.
Sadie has been training me quietly and effectively. I used to put pillow shams and a bolster on the recliner at night, but no more. That is Sadie’s favorite place in the bedroom. When she tried to get on the pillow-filled chair, either she fell back on the floor, or the pillows scattered. This morning, she had her arm possessively on the armrest. Would you argue with a dog over recliner rights?
You woke me up!
One of Sadie’s favorite activities is playing with her blanket. Son John $pencer throws the blanket over her head, and she charges at him and bites at his hands. Usually the dog lasts longer than the human. I learned NOT to play that game, because I didn’t get my hands and arms out of the way quickly enough.
I was standing near Sadie when she wanted to play. She took the blanket in her mouth and shook it, depositing it at my feet. She looked at me and said with her eyes that it was my turn. I didn’t move. She nudged it with her nose until it covered her eyes, and then she began to lick my toes. Ugh! She won, but I don’t think she played by the rules.
My name is Suki, my human is a writer, and this is about my world. The world according to Suki The Cat. My humans smell funny, look weird, and I can't understand a thing they say, but they feed me, so hey, what are you gonna do?
Mehrling Muse 