Give a dog a bone

Yesterday Darby and MaeRose had their annual veterinarian's visit - routine shots, and a discussion about teeth getting tartar scaled (they need attention).  The vet suggested that I purchase beef bones, boil them till they are "powdery white" and give them to the dogs as a stop-gap to expensive teeth cleaning.

I went to our local butcher - with real over-the-counter butchers, and meat which is fresh, not packaged,  and asked if they had beef bones, expecting to be told they were scarce, or not available at all.
Instead, off the butcher went to the freezer - returning with a cardboard box filled with humongous
bones - I had no idea they were going to be so big.  He asked what size I wanted.  My baffled look was enough to have him disappear to the back room where he sawed one of the two-foot long, four inch thick bones into seven or eight formidable chunks.

They never actually turned powder white after boiling for hours, but seemed properly tooth-gnawing ready.  This morning I gave each dog one of chunks. (I planned to do some sweaty gardening, and did not want to be interrupted.)  MaeRose began immediately to suck, gnaw, nibble, gnash, savor her bone. 

Darby, on the other hand, went into a frenzy of pacing back and forth, up and down the garden stairs, round and round the flower beds, right and left, over and under.  River rocks, flagstone slabs, potted plants, and bushes made excavation almost impossible.  He plowed out a pile of dirt from an empty pot, and uprooted a kefir lily. And still he kept pacing.  Once he even let me take the bone from his mouth, reluctantly, but with grace.  By this time it was covered with mud from all the aborted digging.  I scraped off as much as I could, and gave it back to him.  Finally, after at least 45 minutes he decided it was time to sample his prize.  And so he began a lengthy munching.

Meantime, MaeRose had cleaned her bone inside and out - turning it into a beautiful white napkin-ring
size trophy.

When I finished in the garden I wangled the bones from each dog, and put them in the freezer (the bones, not the dogs).

This evening Darby explored the entire garden, nose to the ground, looking for any possible remnants from his morning promenade.  No luck. Tomorrow I will let each dog have his/her leftover bone.
And, then I will boil two more.

More than a year later

Technology and I are having a battle. I'm so far behind now that I have decided to just go with the flow. I don't have a texting cell phone, and I barely know what twittering is. I don't think I am the only one who marvels at the elaborate blogs so many create. When do they find the time? Since October 2007 I have become the coordinator of SCBWI Schmooze, and the host of a monthly picture book critique group. I've also created a Face Book page.
My dogs have been featured in two stories in the Pasadena Star News. The first, in September 2008, headline story about Barks and Books at the Hastings Branch of the Pasadena Public Library. The second, March 2009, about a gathering of doodles in a Pasadena Park. Darby is definitely the star of the color photo.

On an amusing and annoying note - I applied as a volunteer tutor for an after-school program at Five Acres. The lengthy process included a TB test, fingerprinting, three recommendations, a lengthy form about driving record, criminal history, etc. Unfortunately, two attempts to capture my fingerprints via computer recognition, failed
Seems that I have worn off the tips of my fingers to such an extent they don't screen via computer. So, a name check began three months ago, and may never be complete. As I reported to a friend, my only dealings with the law were a speeding ticket when I was 17, caught in a speed trap in Kansas, driving with my grandmother and mother.
Two similarly speed-trap caught tickets some 35 years later - one in South Carolina, one in North Carolina. One in Dallas while trying to get out of the way of Hell's Angels lookalikes tailgating me (I was 8 months pregnant) - and one in Pasadena, again trying to move out of the way of a tailgater - forcing me into a Right Turn Only lane. I didn't turn right.

Hmm - a few more than I originally remembered.

I have survived a major robbery, a mugging, two damaging earthquakes.

More later. It's time to bite the bullet and finish my income tax return.