Graceland and tornadoes

If you are an active puppy rescue, you should not also advertise yourself as someone fun and available for hanging out.  I was very silly lately and invited an old friend from Boca Raton Florida, who is currently teaching in the Caymans, to come to lovely Chattanooga Tn. and spend her only Easter Break with me, Mrs. Fun Fun.  I promised dancing, canoeing, caving, hiking, walking, eating and drinking.  There are several problems here. For one, This week I had 40 Dogs again. Mommies with puppies, random dogs and a few to pick up.  I live my life one day and one moment at a time, but I can usually schedule fun into the mix, or so I thought.  So this poor woman, with whom I have had so much fun:  first U2 and Smash Mouth concert, First trip to South Beach, First trip to ladies night in Fort Lauderdale, First Rum Cake, First EVER and only time to see VIOLENT FEMMES and get my dress signed by Gold Finger, while simultaneously being told my friend and I looked like hookers, thank you very much.  First time in Paris, First time in London (for Live8 no less) and on and on, so come to Chattanooga Tn, it will be the best time ever, ooooooh, except that we also have to take care of some dogs.

So we attempted a few things, and got some good shopping done at local charities, and ate and drank our fare share of things, but there was always the rush home to feed and walk dogs, feed and pet mommies and puppies and, of course, the inevitable, clean up all the pee and poop.  I swear this poor woman waded through sooooooooooooooo much pee and poop that she propably could have had DNA testing on her shoes to prove that she was indeed a dog.  But each time we went into the mommy rooms she melted with ooooh, look at how cute this puppy is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So it was with an embarassment and trepidation that I mentioned to her the trip to Nashville.  The local puppy rescue was lucky enough to connect with the huge New York rescue that will take up to 20 dogs from our rescue every month.  I was trying to work this into an adventure, a vacation, a trip of a life time, so she suggested that we tour some studios in Nashville, but I couldn't quite figure out what to look for on the internet, but I did find GRACELAND which IS in Tennessee, so must be driveable from Nashville.  Well, it is. But first you have to drive with 18 dogs TO Nashville. Oh, but 4 were rejected because they had heartworm, so now we need a babysitter in Memphis, which is actually far away, BUT we found one at the humane society that it turns out we were going to anyway to pick up 6 rescue puppies.
Oh, did I mention that the storm of the century was on its way?
Well, it was. So we parked the dogs in the cat trailer on the property of the West Memphis Humane Society and went to Real Memphis to drink on Beale Street.  We had a free hotel night at the Comfort Inn in Downtown Memphis. 
More to follow, off to watch Dr. Who.

lazy person prepares for guests

Fun fun fun.  I am having another out of town guest this week.  More people have come to visit me here in the school than ever did near the beach in Boca Raton, Florida.  Ridiculous.  Anyway, an old friend of mine is coming from the Cayman's for a week. There is a lot of fun things to do here and I am very excited to have someone to share it with, if only for a little while.
Tragically, I have an abundant amount of dogs. Domestic dogs 4 Mommy with 9 -5 day old puppies, mommy with 8 -3 week old puppies. 12 misc puppies and adult dogs in the living room for a total of 34. Yesterday I drove half way to Nashville to a place called Manchester Tn which is where they hold the annual Bonnaroo festival, though there are no signs indicating such. You know, Atlanta says Home of the 1996 Summer Olympics.  Manchester should certainly indicate that they host half a million stoner kids/adults every year and make most of their law enforcement receipts from it.
So anyway, ran out of time to get the school out of its normal filth in preparation for Emma's arrival. I did manage to mop the living room and dining room as well as dust the few pieces of furniture remaining in said area.  I have several rooms that have dried, crusty poop that I definitely will get to in just a minute. Then there was the hallway, which at night, the dogs feel is truly the great outdoors, and as such needs to be peed and pooped  in with vigor! The hallway, therefore, definitely had to be bleached and mopped after a thorough sweeping.  I was planning on doing that when I got back from the final walk through at the Chattanooga house and not looking forward to it.  The dogs just follow me around and put the place back to its intended nature whenever I get done doing any kind of cleaning. And so it was that I was gleeful when one of the girls staying here called to find out when I was going to be home because they had a little mess they were cleaning up and didn't want me to be upset.
When we first moved into the school we decided that we would have some scrap metal crackhead remove all the commercial air conditioners and fill the holes with lovely European/South American style skylights that open to help vent out the hot air.  Well, those things are super expensive, and after paying the plumber so much money for so little work, we were out of our budget last year, so we have made seriously homemade skylights which don't seal quite right and let quite a bit of rain in through the gaps.  The girls thought they had the gap issue fixed last week and the skylight (really a door lying flat) held up very well, but with the 3 inches in one night type of rain we had some leaks, not as bad as before. So they were up on the roof as they usually are and wanted to check out how well the Great Stuff and the Wet R Dri held up. They did have to move a tarp off the area that was there just in case.
The tarp WAS filled with quite a bit of water and Channing did suggest they bail it out before they move the tarp, but Stephanie thought just heaving it up would work. And so it did in a way.  The gallons of water that were in the tarp found all of the leaks they were looking for, AND soaked the entire length of the hallway (60 feet).
When I got home all we had to do was use the shop vac and suck up all the water, sweep around and wait for the area to dry! It actually took less time thana proper mopping would have.
I am off to the Airport in Atlanta where my friend, in case I haven't mentioned it before, is due to land in the middle of rush hour! She thinks that's why the ticket was so cheap.

EXCITING NEWS

Our dear adorable, sweet, sweet Ralph (pronounced Rolf) got adopted today.  Tears of joy and sadness.  He was an Australian Shepherd/Hound mix.  So sweet, kind, intelligent, loving and companionable.  A very nice lady took him to be a companion while her mean, insensitive children abandon her for their own lives! harumph!
We talked for almost an hour even after I told them we were waiving the adoption fee.  She really took her time to make an important decision, and she has our numbers so she can call us if it doesn't work out, but he was really working her with the kisses and rubbing and love.  I think they will all be so happy. This dog and many of his friends are already 6 months old or more and can't hold a candle to the adorable puppies who pee all over the place and keep you up all night. so we have resorted to cut throat tactics of yelling... "Free puppies in the back!" Really. There are five more to go.

This week, again, really, I am decreasing the amount of food the dogs get and I am not making the yummy chicken and rice they love so much.  I am hoping that a couple of them might get down to the 22 pound level so that we can send them to the mega rescue up north.  The trip was supposed to be today, but one of the transport legs couldn't make it.  I think the dogs will eventually end up in New York, but I am sketchy on that, and now I am in the throws of Allergy season and want to cut my head off so I don't even care if it is in New York or New Zealand. I will take the dogs up on the 25th just past Nashville and my friend visiting from the Caymans will get to go with me.  I wonder what we will visit when we get there? maybe we will stay overnight and sightsee?  Emma, tell me what you think, I will check out hotels.

Many of the older puppies can hop onto my lap and help with typing. Isn't that great?

Daily Dog count 38 But Lena goes to hang out with her daddy tomorrow after spending a little over a month in our Open Kennel.  It's embarassing to take money from these people, but it all goes towards puppy food!
Also I have been able to sell over $50 worth of books on Amazon.  The money goes directly into an account that I use to pay for dog food, so that has been great.  I am getting a new donation of books soon.
phone is ringing.

Max has a home!

Max is a goofy hound mix.  From what we have seen come through Petco he is a mix of blue tick and black and tan. The people who came in with his much older twin brother swear they are amazingly wonderful dogs.  I have to take their word for it.  Max came to me two months ago after his foster mom was sure we had Parvo in our homes and she couldn't risk contaminating her cats and dogs with it. We did not have parvo at that time, but did manage to get it later.  He was a GOOFY puppy with mismanaged paws and silly head throws.  He got along well with all the other dogs, and wasn't too silly to be able to stay here with us. 
He is a smart dog! so smart that when Saturdays rolled around he knew that it was adoption day and he prefered to run away quickly and smartly from the car that would take him away from his comfy cozy home.  This went on week after week and Max grew older and taller. 
I took my vacation to Florida and he went back to his old foster mom who was assured nothing could happen to her puppy dog.  A week passed and when I called to check in on the foster puppies, he was back with one of the crazy dog ladies.  When I got back from Boca, he came back home with me.  He was older and more assured by this time, and his testicles had dropped, making him about 6 months old.  I was able to take him to Petco two weekends in a row where he sat tethered to a trash can right at the entrance, garnering many pets and looks of adoration, but no adoptive parents.
A young man, recently returned from Military duty and currently working in the nuclear field like my husband and all the other young men in my family. He called one of the crazy dog ladies who called me and we talked. He was going to be in Chattanooga for one day only. He was interested in Max and wanted to be able to meet him that coming Friday.  The week passed and I hadn't heard from him.  Finally today I called him in the middle of one of the worst Spring storms in recent memory. Yes, he was on his way but...... Luckily the signal cut as he was coming through some mountains.  He called back when he said he was and agreed to meet me at Petsmart around 7:15.

I believe it was love at first sight for both of them. 

Max behaved unbelievably well. I can't tell you how thrilled I was with his demeanor and behaviour! He was the perfect dog.  Many people at Petsmart stopped to admire him and pet him.  After living with 20 to 40 dogs at a time he was used to the chaos of many dogs and people around him.  I am going to get him fixed this week and treat whatever skin problem he was developing. His new dad will be able to pick him up in  about 8 days when he is done with his present job. They will have a new home with a fenced in back yard and many trips to the local dog parks.  Yea!

Another good day in doggie land.

Pasta with Wilted Greens

Here's another entry for the Food Stamps Challenge Adapted from The $7 A Meal Cookbook by Linda Larsen
Total cost about $2

Pasta and Wilted Spinach
6 slices Turkey Bacon ($.69 per pound 22 slices per pound = $.18
1/2 onion (used free wild onions from the yard)
1 pound spaghetti or any pasta (BOGO $1.39 plus $1.00 off coupon so $.20 per pound)
3 eggs beaten ( $.12 each so $.36)
1/4 C heavy cream (1.79 per cup) so $.45
1/2 C Parmesan (divided) This is about $.50 when using the Costco purchase
1/2 tsp Garlic salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs white vinegar
1 Tbs apple cider Vinegar
4 Cups chopped baby greens from the garden (free.  I got bored in January and during a warm day I took 2 year old seed packages that I bought for $.75 at the Ace Hardware at the end of the growing season when we first got here and then stored in the freezer, and strew them in the ground wherever there was a bare space.  I used these for plants last year but still had some left over.  Greens growing EVERYWHERE is the result.
Bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta. And cook according to directions while doing all the other stuff
chop and cook the bacon--if using the turkey bacon you will have to add some oil
add the onion to the almost cooked bacon and cook til almost soft.
I Added all the vinegars, sugar, and seasonings to the cooked onions and bacon and brought to a boil.  I added the chopped baby greens and stirred around a bit to cook and wilt, then shut off the heat, but left the mixture on the burner to further cook down the greens which take a little longer to cook than spinach.

Beat the eggs, cream and 1/4 C parmesan cheese in a small bowl
When the pasta is done, strain  and place in the bowl you are going to use to serve it in and it toss with this stuff for 2 minutes.
Add the greens to this and stir. top with the rest of the parmesan cheese, or put that on the table for people to add what they like.
The verdict was yummy and this made enough for 6 - 8 servings.

3 week old puppies and their mommy

OOOH!!!!! I love new puppies, they are so sweet.  I love the noise they make as they suckle from their mommy!  I have this batch in a clean room that has never had puppies, so there is no parvo, so that is good, they will be safe.  There are 8 of them. The mommy was dropped off at a local shelter while she was pregnant and she gave birth just one day later there at the shelter! They were so cute that they weren't put down immediately, but instead cared for by the staff at the shelter.  The puppies were in the cat room in a sweet little blue swimming pool swathed in many many blankets.  The staff at the shelter are so wonderful! They don't want to have to kill the puppies and they find rescues whenever they can.  My house is risky because we recently had parvo, and I haven't secured all the rooms just yet.

Here is a sweet photo of the mommy and puppies.

Well, the mommy doesn't look as cute as she really is in this photo. Also, they are living in a room that incorporates the "observation" rooms that used to exist here at the school when it was the "Center for Exceptional Children"  These rooms locked from the outside, were lined with shag carpet and padding, had observation windows and overhead lighting to observe the ill behaved children that couldn't behave in a regular classroom.

gotta run

Puppy adoption day at Petco

Every Saturday and Sunday I  load up the dogs that I have and take them the 25 miles to civilization (The Mall) where they sit in cages (EXpens- short for exercise pens) for about 5 hours looking as cute as can be with the hope of adoption.  The puppies I have at this moment are all about 6 months old and are, therefore, by common standards, unadoptable.  People want cute cuddly puppies that lope about and pee all over the floor, and who can blame them?

A few months ago I had 42 puppies in various locations throughout the school.

These were in front of a small space heater in what used to be the girls shower room.

Anyway, eventually, the dogs contracted a horrible stomach virus that mimicked Parvo, and then eventually 6 came down with Parvo and 3 died.  When this hit I had to get rid of as many dogs that had not yet been affected as possible.  I was left with 12. 3 died.  My rescue foster home was put into quarantine and no dogs could leave.  We did manage to have some enter by closing off the old lawn mower shed that we were using as a goat pen.

So the dogs that remained got bigger and bigger. Some, by some miracle, got adopted as soon as I came off of quarantine, but 7 remain and they are all 6 months old or so.

I went on vacation, came home cleaned up the gym with bleach and am working on resealing the cement, but I just found out last night that I must first scrape off the asphalt cement that was holding the tiles down.  Now that they have soaked in bleach water for so many days for so many hours the cement is soft enough to scrape off. So I only have to do that 6,000 times to get the adhesive off of each square that did hold a tile.  soooooooooooooooooooooooo
in the meantime I can only foster dogs that are over 4 months old.

Today I took my foster puppies to Petco, but none of them got adopted, and I was able to bring home 3 more.  Two came directly from the Walker County Humane Society. They are terrier mixes. One came from another foster who is getting ready to sell her house.

In addition to these puppies last night I was able to bring home a mom and 8   2 week old puppies.  They are in one of the rooms we had prepared for rental that was never used. So that is a safe room, and the puppies are protected from Parvo because they draw their immunity from the mother's milk.

Total Dog Count: 18 foster 4 domestic 1 day care= 23 dogs

The weather is warm and beautiful with no rain forecasted for 3 days.  The dogs are enjoying the fresh air and sunshine and the freedom of the 5 acres they roam during the day.  At night they sleep in the living room and pee in the hallway when they can't figure out how to get out of the OPEN door.  Mop water and bleach before anyone else wakes up.

Next Sunday I drive north of Nashville to deliver 15 dogs to a large rescue from the New York area, but I just found out that none of mine will be able to go because they all weigh more than 20 pounds.  I guess they will be at my home for quite a while.  A positive note is that a guy called from South Carolina about Max, the goofy hound puppy and he will meet me in Chattanooga on Friday to see if they are a good fit for eachother.  Let's hope that works out.
You can see max at http://apawandaprayer.com/