“Who’s a Good Girl?”

Posted on September 7, 2019 by TJ

Fridays have evolved into our errand running day–the day when we go shopping, or pick berries at a u-pick farm, or whatever task takes us from home.

We stopped first at TSC (or Tractor Supply Co., for those who aren’t familiar with the abbreviation) to get another bag of starter feed for the chicks. By the time they finish this second bag, I think they will be old enough to mix with the other chickens and eat the community feed. I had been thinking that I would keep the chicks separate from the other flock for only another week or two, but I read that they shouldn’t be mixed until they have all their feathers and are roughly the same size as the older chickens.

Our second stop was at Meijers or, as our GPS mispronounces it, “meejers.” We had a short shopping list of items we needed. We bought Hannah Joy a bone because she is so well-behaved when we take her for drives. Actually, we bought it for her just because. I gave it to her as soon as we returned to the Xterra. She was so excited that I had trouble getting it unwrapped for her. When I finished unwrapping the bone, she took it happily and began gnawing at it.

I thought the bone would keep her busy while we made one last brief stop at Goodwill to buy EJ a pair of pants for work. It didn’t keep her busy enough. When we returned to the car, we discovered that Hannah had pooped on the back seat. We didn’t scold her because this is the first time she has “gone” where she shouldn’t have. I had taken her outside earlier in the morning, but I don’t think she went poop. Usually, I walk her around a little before we take her for a drive, but it was raining hard enough that all three of us were only interested in running to the Xterra before we got soaked. By the time we reached Goodwill, it was then early afternoon and obviously, she couldn’t hold it anymore.

When we got home, I got Hannah out of the vehicle, walked her around a little, and took her in the house while EJ took care of Hannah’s indiscretion and unloaded the groceries. He usually unloads the groceries while I put them away. That’s when we discovered that while we were in Goodwill, Hannah had gotten into the back and eaten almost a whole loaf of dark rye bread that EJ had bought as a special treat for himself. She had left only four pieces, and one of those had teeth marks in it and had to be tossed.

Hannah was not a particularly “good girl” yesterday and didn’t really deserve her bone but, oh, she loves it! She frequently gnaws at it and even took it to bed with her last night to sleep with instead of one of her balls.

Hannah loves all the toys we give to her. It’s gratifying to see such thankful delight. I had to chuckle last night because she was a bit restless after we went to bed. “What’s the matter?” I asked. “Does your tummy hurt because you ate a loaf of bread?” She didn’t act as if she was in pain. Although she was whimpering, she was also wagging her tail. It went “thump, thump” on the bed, making it difficult for me to fall asleep. Finally, she jumped off the bed. I turned on the light to see if I needed to take her outside but I found her gazing intently under the nightstand. I went to the kitchen to grab a flashlight, wondering how I would handle the situation if there was a mouse under there. In the bedroom, I got on my hands and knees and shone the light under the stand while Hannah stood anxiously beside me. I saw nothing, nothing, nothing….until suddenly the light shone on one of Hannah’s orange balls. Apparently, she couldn’t sleep knowing her ball was out of reach. I used a cane to get the ball out. Hannah was beside herself with happiness. She took both bone and ball to bed with her and slept peacefully for the rest of the night.

After Hannah and I went to bed, EJ went out to the garage. He has been working hard at getting it organized. He has been making a lot of good progress.

EJ cut my hair a couple days ago. He usually cuts his own hair and does a really good job at it. He started cutting my hair a year or two ago to save money. We are trying to pay off our credit cards and are cutting costs where we can. EJ actually does quite well with my hair, but he was a bit concerned this time because I told him that I wanted to go back to having “bangs” (which I think is called “fringe” in the UK). He was afraid of messing it up. but I told him that I was confident he would do a good job, but even if he totally messed up my haircut, I’d simply wear a hat in public until it grew back. So EJ cut my hair, giving me bangs, and I am pleased with it.

Hannah Joy was very interested in the hair-cutting session. She watched us intently and sometimes stood up on the stool that I was standing on so EJ didn’t have to bend down. At times, she got between EJ and me. I’m not sure whether she was trying to protect me from a bad hair-cut or was simply interested. At one point, she stood up at the bathroom counter, looked in the mirror, saw herself, and started growling. It all made me laugh.

Hannah wants to participate in everything we do. She is impossible to overlook or ignore–not that we want to. She brings us a lot of joy. She really is a “good girl.”