Whew, what a weekend!

We made it home from Virginia around midnight Friday night. On Thursday night we stayed with my buddy Jane and found out that she has much the same problem as I do about saying NO to more animals. She has five of the cutest little ankle biters! Fiona and Nicholas were the only ones that wanted to sit still long enough for me to take pictures. Isn't Fiona just adorable???



Our short trip to Virginia was enough to remind us why we moved to West Virginia. Neither of us could wait to get out of the city! But at least we got to see some old friends and make a couple of new four-legged ones.


Saturday morning I was off and running to go get another 160 bales of hay while Glenn went to work. There were no mishaps this time and the hay made it safely into the barn. I spent the rest of the day fetching water from town for the horse troughs and catching up on the gardening. It's amazing how much harvesting needs to be done after only two days of absence! Three tomatoes, a gazillion more beans (another five pints canned), cherry tomatoes, pineapple tomatillos, hot peppers, and enough cucumbers to can nine quarts of Bread & Butter pickles last night (with more cucumbers left over for canning dills tonight!).



Sunday was house cleaning day (not that it needed it, really...) and it was also the day that we decided to get another dog. Glenn has been talking for awhile about getting another Jack Russell, or a dog small enough that he could take along as a riding buddy while he's working. I had been talking to Jamie over at the pound and she said she had a seven year old Rat Terrier for adoption. He'd been given up by his previous owner when he lost his house and had to move to an apartment. So we went to the pound to take a look and Glenn fell in love immediately. How could he not, just look at those ears! Jamie had a bit of trouble trying to get him out of the kennel for us because he was raising a fuss and trying to nip at her. This should have been our first clue that something wasn't quite right with this dog.




After picking him up at the pound we took him out to lunch at The Jug, a local dive down on the river with picnic tables and the best philly cheese steak sub in the area. He thought the steak and cheese sub was also the best and let me know by begging for more. And more. We finally said goodbye to the food and headed into town to get little doggie supplies. I just couldn't imagine him trying to eat the big dog food we have and we were also out of shampoo. The little guy stunk! The whole ride in, he rode on Glenn's lap while I drove. He was happy and content and seemed excited to be out of the kennel. When we got to the pet store he rode in the shopping cart like a pro and everyone made a lot of fuss over how cute he was. On the way home, I drove again so that he and Glenn could continue to bond. Glenn wanted to name him Rocky.

We brought him home and Rocky fell instantly in love with Heidi. Zeus and Cody just performed the obligatory butt sniff, then went off to do their own thing. Brie gave him a lot of dirty looks and threatened to bite off those ears if he crossed her. Jilly Bean hated him from the first glance and clawed his nose when he got too close. He screeched and ran into the corner to hide. He barked and tried to nip at us when we'd come close to see if he was ok. After a few minutes Glenn was able to pet him and pick him up again.

Saying good morning to Brie today.

Last night Rocky slept with me. He followed me everywhere and wouldn't let me out of his sight. Why me? He was supposed to be Glenn's dog. No no no, you have to bond with the big smelly male human, not me! So this morning as Glenn was off to work I handed Rocky over and said here, he's all yours. Go have a good day of male bonding.

Glenn called me around 9:30 to tell me how Rocky was curled up on his lap licking his fingers and generally just enjoying the ride. Great! At 10 I got another call. He had stopped to let Rocky out to pee and when he reached for the little guy to pick him up and put him back in the truck, Rocky tried to bite him. Glenn did manage to get his hands on him and put him in the truck, but now has multiple puncture wounds on his hands from being bitten so many times. Rocky then proceeded to pee and poop all over the truck! Glenn decided to let him be for a bit to see if he'd calm down. The windows were up to within a few inches of the top and there didn't seem to be any danger of him getting out. Glenn turned his back for a minute... and little Rocky was gone!

Glenn called for Rocky and looked everywhere. He was in a small neighborhood at the time and he knocked on as many doors as he could. He gave our number to the three homeowners that opened the door and they all said they'd keep an eye out for him and call if they saw him. I also called Jamie and let her know as well and she's going to call the local ACO for that area. I just hope the little guy turns up safe and sound