Dogs – Page 8 – Gardens For Goldens

Our Adventure

“When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.” ~ A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Two years ago next month, the Homeward Bound Memorial Gardeners put on their “big boots” to rescue an acre of weeds and bring forth a garden. And what an adventure it has been!

Today, while Peggy and Steve began dividing the iris,

Ina, Sarah and I installed the entry beds.

We got to reminiscing about how far we have come in just the last year.

California Garden last September…

and now:

Herb and St. Francis Gardens last fall…

and now:

What a difference a year makes.

Returning a tool to the garage, I caught a glimpse of Lilly piling into a car and heading to her forever home.

She’s one of our special needs dogs who has been waiting a while for just the right family. My heart skipped a beat and I was reminded of what this labor of love is for. Happy new life, Lilly…off to new adventures! We will miss you, beautiful girl.

Wordless Wednesday: Cherished Guests

Apollo

Hannah

Riley

Renji

Netti

Susie

Sarge

Grey Skies

Saturday, the skies turned dark, thunder clapped, and we were treated to a brief downpour – unseasonable for us this time of year. The garden is loving it.

With the cooler temperatures and extra drink, everything burst forth in bloom.

The light was different and the colors more subdued – but beautiful bathed in warm grey.

Love the sound of these wind chimes in the rustling trees. My idea of church.

I’m really pleased with how these drifts have developed.

Inspired by something I saw in Fine Gardening magazine, and purchased as 3″ plants from Digging Dog Nursery, they have grown to full size in one season and now provide a bridge from Ina’s Cottage and California gardens to Maria’s Herb and St. Francis beds.

I was very pleased to meet this gentleman as well.

His name is Renji and he is a total charmer. Wish he were mine! I suspect he’ll be scooped up quickly.

I heard a story on the radio today. Jerry Saltz, an art critic for New York magazine was talking about Jackson Pollock, the painter. When he made his first famous drip painting, he supposedly turned to his wife and asked: Is this a painting?

That’s how I feel about these. ‘Are these photographs?’ Or simply disasters?

I dunno. Something made me save them from the ‘delete’ folder. Maybe someday, my disasters will be as sought after as Pollocks’ drips. A girl can dream.

The sun will be back tomorrow…and you know where you’ll find me.

Our Joy

The garden served up its usual beauty this weekend. Fall is beginning its advance and the flowers and their friends are grateful for the more moderate temperatures and cool nights.

Their appreciation is clearly on display.

But the most beautiful moments of the weekend did not involve flowers. First, new bricks were installed in the Memorial pathway.

I donated this one for one of my very first blogger friends, Deborah at Romancing the Bee and her beloved companion recently departed – the Noble Bayard.

The garden hosted the usual parade of pups. Hank took up residence on Steve’s lap –

Fozzie Bear, who just recently arrived, made his first trip to the garden –

beautiful Sting relaxed in the shade, exhausted from playing in the sprinklers –

while Lilly practiced her table manners.

In between, two great tales unfolded. First, Sydney – a special needs Golden who has pretty significant separation anxiety, found her perfect match in a family that did not see that as a special need at all.

She went home with her new beautiful brother, Gunner.

The two of them will have perpetual human company serving by day as greeters in their family’s store – Material Goods in (get this) – Carmel. Yup. Carmel By The Sea. I was hoping that they would adopt me as well, but some dogs just have all the luck! You can visit them there.

And that was just the start.

The story is told in full on the Homeward Bound blog (click here to read), but I’ll summarize here. A wonderful family with three beautiful children – adopted themselves – with incredibly giving hearts. On Thursday, they met Ollie, one our longer term guests.

Deaf, with skin issues, and a golden heart – he had been passed over too many times. On Sunday, they met Mariposa. A tiny, malnourished and scared little girl who had not been treated well in her first year on earth.

Two extraordinary dogs with special needs – who have found a very special home – with a beautiful family and a new brother named Sailor.

People ask about the often bittersweet work of rescue: “how can you do it”? With weekends like this, how can you not?

The joy is ours.

Time to Appreciate

There’s one major drawback to an all-volunteer organization: when you want to have a Volunteer Appreciation Picnic, everyone has to work harder so we can appreciate ourselves.

The annual event was held Sunday at Homeward Bound, which meant days of primping, weeding, cooking, and fussing to make the rescue look perfect and create a Thanksgiving-worthy feast. It was also the official Memorial Garden Dedication,

and the garden was dressed for the occasion.

Gina and Sarah did the flower arranging (with Hank’s help);

a bouquet for each table from each bed of the garden (some out-of-season Tulip and Iris representatives did sneak their way in).

The pups played nicely in the large park under the watchful eye of Pack Leader Laurie and a few other volunteers while their humans enjoyed a feast and some music.

In the garden, some critters were doing a little feasting of their own. These red and black beetles on the milkweed multiplied ten-fold while I was on vacation so they were dispensed with,

and Maria angered the wasps by spraying their very large nest at exactly the wrong time of day. They sought refuge at the base of St. Francis’ skirt, climbing over their poor comrades’ fallen bodies.

The lizard and crawdad were allowed to stay, however – much to Lilly’s delight!

Despite unseasonably warm temps, it was a wonderful day and a great way to show our appreciation for each other. Canines and humans alike.

Today is a Gift

“The flower that you hold in your hands was born today and already it is as old as you are.” ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwi

I don’t know where the summer went; the time passed so quickly. We leave soon for our annual Labor Day camping trip – a week on the ocean and river where the salmon run. It seems like summer arrived just yesterday and it’s gone in the blink of an eye – or the life of a flower.

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.”~ A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

We paid our dues early this year. Having survived two straight weeks of 110 degrees in June, we have been treated to much milder temps all through August. The garden is showing its gratitude now.

And so are the pups. This is Lukey.

Handsome Shane.

Sweet blind boy Brutus.

And hug-a-boo Mickey.

With a light breeze blowing, our golden oldies were treated to a group play date in the large park. So many beautiful sugar faces.

Little beasties, meanwhile, were having their own party in the Butterfly Garden.

Ocean camping is heaven, but its hard to compete with this bliss.

“For there you have been and there you will long to return.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

A Few Words on Wednesday

Need a smile? I try not to make you all work too hard, but for the dog lovers among us, may I suggest you take a little journey across the blogosphere to the official Homeward Bound blog? Check it out here…I think you’ll enjoy. 🙂

Wordless Wednesday: Gone to the Dogs

Wordless Wednesday: Yum

Garden Ballet

Monarch Butterflies are doing dances all through the butterfly bed in the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden. We have created a haven for them with Butterfly Bush, Milkweed, Lantana, Verbena and a host of others.

As long as they stay still, I can pretty much capture them.

In flight – not so much.

I was able to capture the dance of this rare specimen, however. Quite the ballet – don’t you think?

Take a bow, Dee Dee! Such a cutie.

Healing hearts

“The human heart has a way of making itself large again even after it’s been broken into a million pieces.” ― Robert James Waller, The Bridges of Madison County

There is no right or wrong way to heal from loss.
Some people need time and retreat. Others find comfort among others.
Sometimes, the best thing for heartache is to open your heart to another.

Human loss and canine loss may not be the same thing, but canines have a way of healing a human heart. And when the canine is also in need of healing – the bond is more special still.

Fancy came to Homeward Bound from another rescue because the cancer inside her was malignant and they knew we could and would help at Homeward Bound. It was removed, but it will return. When? We don’t know. And to Chuck, it doesn’t matter.

Some flowers are perennial –

they come back season after season.

Others, have but one season –

and some – just one day.

Their beauty fills us equally – maybe even more so when we know our time with them is short.

A flower no more knows how long it has to bloom that we do. Ignorance is bliss. But humans who purposefully open their hearts to animals knowing their seasons are short have a special place on this earth and beyond.

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” ~ Thomas Campbell

Chuck says that Fancy will be treated like a queen. A queen doing an angel’s work here on earth.

Purple: Royalty in the Garden

The color purple is associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, and power.

Purple also represents meanings of wealth, extravagance, creativity, wisdom, dignity, grandeur, devotion, peace, pride, mystery, independence, and magic.

The color purple is a rare occurring color in nature and as a result is often seen as having sacred meaning.

Purple, unlike violet, is not one of the colors of the visible spectrum. It is called a non-spectral color. It exists in culture and art, but not, in the same way that violet does, in optics. It is a combination of two primary colors. Purple combines the calm stability of blue and the fierce energy of red.

Because the purple color is created by combining a strong warm with a strong cool color, the color retains both warm and cool properties.

On one hand, the color purple can boost imagination and creativity, on the other, too much purple can cause moodiness.

Purple is said to be associated with spirituality, the sacred, higher self, passion, third eye, fulfillment, and vitality.

It is said to uplift spirits, calm the mind and nerves, create feelings of spirituality, increase sensitivity, and encourage imagination and creativity.

The color purple and its lighter lavender shades introduce romance to nature; think lavender, orchid, lilac, and violet flowers. Lavender suggests uniqueness, while purple invokes mystery.

Purple is considered a cool color in landscape design. Its appearance has a calming effect in a garden.

Purple plants visually recede in a garden, helping to make a small space feel larger.

Purple was one of the first colors used in prehistoric art. The artists of Pech Merle cave other Neolithic sites in France used sticks of manganese and hematite powder to draw and paint animals and the outlines of their own hands on the walls of their caves.

Its complimentary color is yellow.