Showing posts with label corgis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corgis. Show all posts

Saturday, July 25, 2026

E.B. White on Corgis, and my Saturday

Who amongst us has not been touched by E.B. White? I would still find it enjoyable to curl up and read Charlotte's Web, or Stuart Little once again, having read these childhood favorites how many times? White's Elements of Style was my bible in high school; I poured over it looking for answers as to why my English teacher kept awarding me Ds for my papers. (When I met with him out of frustration to inquire as to how I could improve my writing, that &$%^* arrogantly declared that my writing would improve when I became more mature. 😠 But, I digress!)

For those of you perhaps more erudite than me, you probably read White's writings in the New Yorker or Harper's Magazine. 

I recently stumbled on this piece about Corgis, attributed to E.B. White. This made me laugh, as there is so much truth to be found in his reflections on the nature of Corgis. If you own, or have owned, or know someone who owns, or has owned Corgis, you will smile as well! 


In the event the writing is too small, here is the text:

Being the owner of Corgis, to me a book on dog discipline becomes a volume of inspired humor. Every sentence is a riot. Some day, if I ever get a chance, I shall write a book, or warning., on the character and temperament of the Corgi and why he can't be trained and shouldn't be. I would rather train a striped zebra to balance an Indian club than induce a Corgi to heed my slightest command. When I address Fred I never have to raise either my voice or my hopes. He even disobeys me when I instruct him in something he wants to do.
     E.B. WHITE

I began my day as before, getting outside before 7:15 AM. I did nothing huge, just some small yard/building tasks to tidy things up.  We had a delta of sand crossing one area of the driveway from a heavy rainfall last week. I moved the sand back to its area of origin.  A few weeds that had found a toehold in crevices of the driveway were sprayed with Spruce weed killer, a possibly safer alternative to other available sprays. I moved some items from the garage to the RV garage and storage area, and took clean linens and towels back to the RV,  ready for our next trip. 

The Mister brought two bucket loads of mulch over to the front garden.....


Which I spread as best I could.  I have a soaker hose under the mulch.  The plants may be able to hold onto the moisture a bit better now.


After lunch, leftover Shepards pie, and a brief nap (so tired, again...not sure if it is the heat and activity, or something going on) both the Mister and I ran to the local fabric shop to pick up something to make a quick quilted blanket for a friend undergoing dialysis. His wife was saying how cold he gets, as they keep the temperatures low to stem the growth of bacteria. Hopefully I can get this knocked out in a few days and get it on its way. 

We stoped at ALDI and Publix. The ALDI 'surprise product of the day' was a set of 4 large ice cubes. Seriously?? Have you ever?


Maybe this is the thing of the future. 
Remember the reactions when bottled water was first marketed?


But seriously, I will not spend $2.49 for 4 ice cubes, 
no matter how clear and slow melting they are!








Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Ding-Dong

We get a lot of visitors at our door....on our 5+ acres...behind a locked gate!

Many times a day....


Originally we taught the girls to 'touch' a bell hung from the door knob 
to let us know they wanted to go out. 


Kaitlyn is the queen of ringing the bell. 
She is our 'farm dog' and prefers to be out a lot during the day. 
Vickie will occasionally ring it. 

At our previous home we had the bells on the door leading to the lanai.
Once the dogs rang the bell, we could leave the door ajar
as it led to the screened-in pool cage and an opening to the fenced-in dog yard. 
They could come in at will. 

We didn't have that option at our new home. 

Segue....

I have always been fascinated by dogs who learn to touch buttons
to explain what they want or need:


Then I began to think...I have Corgis. They are smart. 
My girls would constantly be telling me they want a treat!
Do I want them to be telling me what they want? 
When they want?

NO! 

But...

What's the best way to have the dogs let me know
when they are ready to come inside?
I didn't want them scratching at the door.
And, if I wasn't in the room near the door, would I hear it?
Could I teach them to bark when they wanted to come in?

Okay...I don't want them to learn to touch buttons...
but what if I used a door bell?

I found a 'doggy door bell' on Amazon for around $30.
Then I found a wireless 'human' door bell for around $10. 
BINGO!

It only took a few days before the girls learned to 'touch' the doorbell pad.
I mounted the bell on the sill of the doors,
one for the front door and another for the back door (with a different "ring"). 


This has worked for us....
and our girls!

Oh, and for one of the guys working on our house!
He was enthralled by what the dogs would do, and if he had his arms full,
he'd touch their bell to let me know he needed help at the door!






Saturday, October 4, 2025

Stalking



It's another beautiful day in the "back four"


It's the perfect sort of day to relax in the cool grass and watch for 
anything that might move.

.


.


.


.


.


Cue: theme from Jaws


dun dun


dun dun


dun dun, dun dun


dun dun

.


.


.


.

there is danger lurking in the grass....



The mister missed the action shot....

but you know it was coming!




 

...and then we went to the ER

I had lunch at Angelo's Italian Restaurant with my "Cooks n Books" book club friends on Thursday. We talked about  People We M...