Rusty Filling in for Mom

Hello and greetings from me, Rusty, the head of Homeland Security for the state of….well, for this household. Mom is feeling a bit under the weather today so she asked me to do a blog post for her. (Ok, you’re right, she has no idea I’m doing this.) Typing on a computer with paws is no easy feat, let me tell you!

I have to say I am looking pretty dapper in my handkerchief, don’t you think? So as I was saying, I’m in charge of all the security here and I must say I do an amazing job. All visitors to the property must first pass my inspection or I sound the red alert. Mom says I sound the alert before I know what’s there, but she doesn’t have my keen sense of hearing. I don’t want you to think we security folks don’t have a soft side too and this brings me to my post today. I had a rather rough day…it all started when Mom found my friend, Piggy, and decided that piggy was very dirty and stinky. (I thought he smelled lovely.)

“Ewww! It’s time we wash this toy, Rusty!”, she said. Toy?? That is my dear friend and…where are you taking him??! 😦

And just like that poor Piggy was getting scrubbed.

Do you know how hard it is to be without your best friend?! I did my best to keep a close eye on the proceedings and offer Piggy some moral support.

Finally the washing was done and I thought I would soon have my friend back when Mom said Piggy also needed surgery.

SURGERY??? Oh, my word, this is getting serious! I was at least allowed in the operating room, I’m thankful to say.

I was able to offer a few licks and words of encouragement. I am so proud of Piggy for the way he went through the entire surgery and never cried at all. I will confess to a few whimpers myself, but it’s always harder on the one waiting, isn’t it?

The surgery was successful, but then Piggy had to go to the recovery room for a while. Piggy reported that the sunshine was lovely, but it was very hard for me to let him rest without me. (Yes, if you really must know, I got myself banned from the recovery room…)

After many, many hours…ok, maybe not many, but it was a looooong time…Piggy was released from the hospital! I was so relieved to be back with my buddy! He did smell a bit weird, but I gave him some licks and I’m sure he will be back in good smelling order soon.

So as you can see, even we brave security guys, who aren’t afraid of anything, have soft hearts for those we love.

Wait, what was that?! Sound the alarm! ARRROOOOO! Hold on there…was that thunder? Gotta run folks! There’s a place under the desk in the back bedroom that needs me to check it out urgently….

Who is Hiding in Our Garage?

We found a surprise visitor hanging out in our garage yesterday! It was not a person. I will give you a few hints and see if you can guess what it is. It’s an animal…it has 4 legs and a tail…it’s dark green and it doesn’t make much noise but it did hiss at us when my husband, Grandpa Rick, picked it up. They move very slowly…can you guess what it is? Do you need another clue? It carries its house with it. Now I’m sure you guessed it right! Look at the picture below to see who surprised us…

A turtle!! Did you guess a turtle? It pulled it’s head and legs inside it’s shell. We think it’s a painted turtle but I actually don’t know much about turtles. The biggest mystery is how did it get inside our garage? Hmm…the garage doors are usually closed unless we need to bring the tractor out. Maybe it snuck in when Grandpa Rick mowed the grass.

Since it couldn’t survive if it stayed inside our garage, Grandpa Rick picked it up using his heavy gloves. Turtles can carry a germ called salmonella so we need to be careful about washing our hands after touching them. Also, we didn’t know if the turtle might try to bite him, so it seemed the best idea to wear gloves while moving it. We found a nice spot of grass away from where it might get stepped on or run over and set it down.

I think it was glad to be back in the grass instead of on the hard cement, but it was still rather scared of us. We must look pretty big to it! It tried to hide down inside the grass but you can still see most of it. Notice it’s one back foot and its cute little tail!

We went away and left it alone so it could move onto it’s next destination. This morning it was gone. So long, turtle friend! It was nice to meet you! We hope you have a good and happy life free in nature! 🙂

A Surprise Green Visitor!

Today I was walking across the yard with our dog, Rusty, when he stopped suddenly and started sniffing something. Then he jerked back and growled a little. When I got closer to where he was, I was surprised to see that we had an unexpected visitor in our yard! Can you guess what it was?

He carries his house with him wherever he goes. He’s dark green on the outside…has 4 legs and a tail. He’s hiding but I bet you can tell what he is by looking at his house. It’s a…..

TURTLE!! I bet you guessed that right, didn’t you? Let’s take a little closer peek at him…

Well, hello, Mr. Turtle! (Or maybe it’s Mrs.?) In this next picture you can see what size he was compared to the size of my foot.

Peek-a-boo! 😉

As long as we were close to him, he stayed all tucked safely inside his shell. But when we walked away he moved on across the yard. It brought some excitement to our day! Thanks for visiting us, Mr. Turtle! 🙂