Olive was born on August 1, 2011. That made her Eight years
old at the beginning of this month. I hosted a Tuesday night supper at my place;
the theme was Olive’s birthday. The night went well, though I had intended to
get a video of the group singing “Happy Birthday” around my piano and did not.
I wanted to get a shot of her birthday cake (from one of those doggy bakeries
brought by my friends Sara and Harry); someone cut a slice out for Olive before
I could get my cell phone camera.
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An update on the last posting: The replacement pole for my
tent arrived from LL Bean and fit perfectly. Although I had to pay for the
motel room and a few other things, all turned out well.
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While petting Olive I noticed a strange lump on her back. I
had to take her to the vet anyway for a canine influenza booster shot, and
asked the vet about it. It turned out that Olive had somehow gotten a small
puncture wound that was healing, though the scab had formed over some of her
hair. The vet trimmed around the wound so that Olive has a temporary bald spot.
I was advised to dab a bit of antiseptic gel each day for a week or so, which I
am doing, and all seems to be going well. I will be glad when the hair grows
back and covers the spot again.
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| Just a temporary shaved spot on her back. |
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On August 17 Olive and I drove up to the Berkshire region of
Massachusetts to visit with my friends Kathryn and Mark who have a corgi mix
dog named Archie who gets along splendidly with Olive. We perused an arts and
crafts show in the scenic town of Stockbridge (where the real life “Alice’s
Restaurant” that Arlo Guthrie sang about was). Olive did get into trouble at
one craft booth that had a basket of felt objects that Olive took for tennis
balls. Whatever it was, Olive destroyed it. I never got a look at what it was
supposed to be, but I had to pay $8 for it. Well, no one ever said having a
border collie would be a cakewalk.
After that we stopped at a bakery booth for coffee and a
pastry, where we got into a conversation with an elderly military veteran who
had been a chaplain in Viet Nam. He had moved up from Texas to get away from
the heat there, which seemed ironic as the day in the Berkshires was hot and
humid.
Toward the end of our walk we came to a booth that had, of
all things, a painting of Olive’s great-great-grandmother! She was supposed to
have been quite a shepherdess.
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| Olive's great-great-grandmother? |
OK, we really don’t know that this is Olive’s
great-great-grandmother, but it was such a great painting I had to buy it. Kathryn
insisted on buying it for Olive and I as an early Holiday gift. I conceded, and
am now trying to decide where to put it.
