Garden of the Dogs

I've been devoting pretty much every spare moment for the past week or two to working in my gardens or working on some project related thereto. I haven't been hiking, but I have been spending a lot of time outdoors with the dogs. Some of them find it more entertaining than others. There's not a lot to show for it all at this point, but that's the nature of gardening. You plan, you plant, you hope, you dream. 

It's unreal how much time I can spend out there, constantly doing little things that no one but me will probably ever see or appreciate. What's really incredible is how much joy it brings me. It's Sunday evening and I'm completely exhausted but feel satisfied with how things are coming along this year. I may be about halfway done with the planting. Or maybe not. Anyway, here are some pictures of the way things are shaping up.

Elvis

This part is now fully planted. 

Candace

The horse chestnut tree in the front yard is now in bloom.

Gardening has severely cut into our walking time.

That's Odie drinking from one of the fountains. 

All the fountains and ponds are operational.

This one seems to be the favorite drinking spot, 

I have re-fill it daily. (Ford)

Mercy is a classic shepherd.

She tried helping me by pulling out plants as I was putting them in.

Ford was chewing on a piece of wood or something and

 Elvis was sitting nearby awaiting his turn. (I took it away from them both.)

This is a new 4' round raised bed with a container in the center of it that I brought back from Kentucky. I probably planted too many flowers in it, but I've never planted this before and it's right in the center of things. I want it to really jump with color.

I have to leave Norman and Bailey in Daneland while I'm working outdoors because I can't keep an eye on them. To make it up, I took them out for a run in the pasture on their own.

Lowe's had this red mulch on sale for $2 per bag this spring. 

Candace loves being outside.

I bought these uprights on Facebook marketplace last weekend. I've been working on them all week and finally got them put up today, to form an entrance to the fountain garden. I got the square concrete planters at Lowe's and put clematis in them to climb up the iron work. 

After I finished my planting on Sunday, I took Della to the Green Dogs yard sale. She loved all the attention and love she received, and she enjoyed her first ever pup cup, thanks to Jamie.

We saw Elliot there too!

Della seemed satisfied with the outing.

Odie got neutered

Odie got neutered today, now it's time to work on getting him adopted. Here's the write up and some of the pictures I'm sending to Green Dogs for his posting.

Odin (Odie) is a Great Dane, about one year old, current on vaccines, and just recently neutered. Odie is house trained and crate trained. He doesn't mind going in his crate at night and he doesn't destroy his bed or chew on anything around the house. Odie lived with a small child in his original home and he's living with multiple dogs in his foster home. His house manners seems fine, but I do crate him at night and when I'm away. Odin is a rather serious name, but this dog is more of a goofy, playful dog, more like the dog Odie in the Garfield cartoons. He's young and hasn't had a lot of life experiences yet and he is scared in new situations unless he's with someone he knows and trusts. He is a big "leaner" so you should be prepared to support the leaning weight of a Great Dane. Odie loves to be close to his person as much as possible. He's a very personable and affectionate dog and he has a lot of love to give. He's probably about 100 pounds right now and he's not yet full grown. 

Plays well with others.

Dogs and dirt

Dogs are the best antidepressant, even if a dog is the reason you're depressed. For me, being surrounded by multiple dogs helps ease the loss of one. I've said before I don't know how people cope with the loss of a dog if they only had one. I am lucky to have nine others around here to help me process Maya's death in a somewhat healthy manner. 

The walk yesterday helped a lot, and the sunshine the past two days has helped as well. Today I added gardening to my canine therapy. I went out and bought plants and began planting the container gardens. Dogs and dirt. They go together like, well, like dogs and dirt. It's not always pretty, but for me, always therapeutic. 

Coming back from my first plant buying run today, I realized something about Maya that I sort of knew but didn't really appreciate. She would always wait for me to return, looking out the upstairs bedroom or the kitchen door. She knew the sound of my van and would react before anyone else, alerting them so that I was always met by a cacophony of barking voices before I even got to the house. Today I came home and everyone was quietly napping. It made the realize that the raucous greeting I always received was really all due to Maya. It was kind of sad, but it also made me appreciate her even more. 

Mercy, Odin, and Norman

 Norman, Odie, and Paisley

Mercy, Odie, and Bailey

Norman has really enjoyed running with the other fosters.

Norman and Odie. That's a whole lotta dog.

Paisley and Ford, with a tennis ball in his mouth.

Odie, Norman, Elvis, and Mercy

An overhead shot of one of my containers. 

There will be many more garden pictures in days to come.

Candace and Mercy

Candace wasn't out in the pasture because I thought there was a bit too much dog for her, but this evening she and Ford were out in the yard together and they played! I had never seen Candace actually engage in play with another dog. She sought Ford out for it.

Undoubtedly one of the prettiest pictures I've ever taken.

Beautiful shepherd (Mercy) in a field is buttercups.

Odie

Della

Bailey, our antelope

Odin, Ford, and Mercy

The new grass is getting tall and it's finally dry.

 I really hope my guy can get it cut this weekend.

Odie

Bailey, mid-pounce

Spring is a good time to be a dog around here.