The first time Ms. SpoolTeacher met Little (Old, Senior) Red-Haired Girl, she was just a puppy of about 6 months. She had taken a trip from California to Arizona to visit her sister. This time, she was sharing a ride with her boyfriend, who was continuing on to New Mexico to visit his sister and would come back a week later for them to make the return trip home together.

Ms. SpoolTeacher had a roommate in her big (mansion to her) home in CA; so she left Stevie Weevie at home in good, loving hands. Here roommate was a life-long friend and animal lover extraordinaire, so she felt comfortable doing so.

The trip to AZ took several hours. As they pulled up to the gate in front of Ms. SpoolTeacher’s sister’s house, out ran a herd of doggies. Trailing among them to the rear was the cutest little red-haired puppy she’d ever seen. It was love at first sight. What struck her was how the little red-haired girl’s ears flapped as she darted to the gate. It looked as if she would go airborne at any time. “ar, ar, ar, ar, ar!….ar, ar, ar, ar, ar!” There was a string of about 5 of them. One of which, by then a senior, her sister had had for many years, Princess. Princess had gone to live with Mr. Pits for a time, several years actually because Mr. Pitts loved her so very much. But Mr.Pitts, in his retirement, decided he had to go to Hawaii and didn’t want to put Princess through the plane ordeal and quarantine at her advanced age, so Ms. ST’s sister acquired her back. Ms. SpoolTeacher loved princess with her old tattered nose and missing teeth. Her little growling rumble when she parsed her lips just so, was so very cute. “Awr, awr!” Still part of the pack. Princess had a lot of funny smells but it didn’t matter. She was adored.

So, while Ms. SpoolTeacher was there, she paid a lot of attention to this little red-haired girl whom her sister had named Faith. Faith had little Christmas tree-shaped teeth that she liked to show and if you put your hand anywhere near her such as to pet her….”ar, ar, ar, grrr, arr, grr!” For some reason, Faith liked Ms. SpoolTeacher too and wanted to crawl down into the covers where she slept; but if Ms. ST even dared try to reach down to pet her…”arr, grr!” Out came the Christmas tree-shaped teeth.

Ms. ST noticed Faith sneaking morsels of kibble from the dog food dish and scurrying off to a hiding place to eat it. Back to the dish for one at a time, stealthily, and then back away to eat it. She was skinny, then, but she was just a growing puppy. Later she would be a food hound, as if she couldn’t get enough. Little piggy.

Ms. ST spent a week loving her sister and her sister’s menagerie and then the boyfriend appeared at the gate to pick her up. By that time, Ms. ST had implored her sister to let her have Faith, “I’ve fallen in love with this little dog, Sis. Can I please take her from you?” Her sister said yes, that she had not liked her so much anyway. So they decided that it must have been meant to be for Faith to go to California. The next issue though was to convince Boyfriend to let her take the dog in his truck. He didn’t mind, but no sooner did they get on the road than Faith threw up all over the floor boards. I guess she hadn’t experienced motion like that before. She never did it again, but was never a restful traveler.

Fast forward…Faith turned into Gingersnap, into Mudgie, into Bungee, into Little Red-Haired Girl and has been a light of love in Ms. SpoolTeacher’s life for about 12 years now. Stevie Weevie and LRHG lived with Ms. ST in her big house for a couple more years and then they all went up to Northern CA for a month on a venture to develop a property that didn’t pan. They, and two cats, lived in a two room tent and the back of her truck for the duration and then headed back down to So. CA again to try to pick up where she had left off. She couldn’t make herself content, so decided to join her sissy in AZ to start a new life.

They (several fur people and Ms. SpoolTeacher) bought a little house and started anew. Stevie Weevie went to heaven about 3 years ago. Ms. SpoolTeacher’s sissy followed just a year ago and now Ms. SpoolTeacher has another of her sissy’s doggies, Gertis The Mertis Turtle. They all get along just fine.

Little Red-Haired Girl has gotten quite old and has trouble getting around as well as when she came raring out to the gate all those many long years ago. Stevie, LRHG and Ms. ST used to all trapse around the neighborhood on daily walks. They went quite far. First Stevie started stopping mid way and it wasn’t unusual to see Ms. SpoolTeacher lugging a 36 lb. Queensland Heeler/Beagle in her arms the rest of the way home. Soon, she realized they would have to keep the strolls to a minimum. Sometimes they just went to the park to sniff the grounds for other dogs.

Then, not long ago, LRHG started favoring certain legs and eventually would be quite lame by the time they got home. Ms. SpoolTeacher stopped their walks and just took them to the Park now and then; but Gertie was still frisky and it started grating on Ms. ST that they were all missing something.

No sooner did she think about getting something for Little Red-Haired Girl to ride around the neighborhood on, then did she go to her local thrift store and find this contraption for two measly dollars. $2!! However, the handle clasp broke right away and she put it back together with spit and wire. It isn’t holding well and she will have to rig it up another way somehow. It is the perfect thing for them all to get out with and smell the roses (and a little dog poo too for The Girls).

Freedom run at the park…

“Come on you guys, hurry up, this is where the good stuff is!”

Gertis The Mertis Turtle is a reluctant free person dog. She looked up at Ms. SpoolTeacher for permission to venture off. What a good girl. She’s a great walker. Just strides along, peacefully, happily.

So after they get home, Ms. SpoolTeacher checks their garden, plucks something for dinner and then does some more sewing.

All is well with the garden. Things are growing good….tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupe, beans, squash, cilantro, chard, beets, peppers, zinnias, marigolds and bees.

Happy hour at The Bee Trough Bar.

These beets were the first of the season and were steamed for 15 minutes to so tender they didn’t need their skins removed…num, num! The tops will be sauted tonight with some other chard greens.

These two little aprons were made for a friend to give as a gift to two little girls.

“All is well, all is well with my soul.”

Little Red-Haired Girl sleeps outside sometimes on hot hot nights. She’s got clover to sleep in too, but she chooses the dirt. Grounding herself, must be. She comes in eventually, she doesn’t like to be very far from her pack for very long.

Gertis The Mertis Turtle, “Come on, let’s go for a walk.”

We’ll catch ya on the flip side.