Buzz bugs

As always, Decibel can make me see the happy side of life.  These days that is not so much the sunny side, there is just a bit too much of that around.  Still, today promises to stay below 100°F (37.8°C for the rest of the world), now there's a treat.  All we need now is a cool breeze, but I'll settle for a drink...

I had forgotten just how much there was to just ordinary day-to-day living until Decibel came.
She still discovers things for the first time... and I rediscover them with her.  Like cicadas, which are now hatching or whatever they do.  They crawl out of the ground, and can't quite fly yet.  Like butterflies they have to let their exoskeleton harden, and while they do, they buzz, to get their wings inflated and unfolded and dried out, and Decibel heard one and launched herself, pounced in the most graceful arc, landed with her front paws and nose on the spot that had buzzed in the tall grass, and then did the same thing in reverse, shaking her head wildly because the buzz-bug startled her.


Oh how I laughed!

What a face!

She did too - laugh that is, after a bit.  She has that goofy way of bumping into me, wagging her tail, and getting a pat and a hug, that is like snickering with your best friend.  That's after a while, when she is pretty sure that the new thing was harmless, and that she just did a funny thing.

A previous dog, a little Tibetan Terrier bitch who ruled the house, Sassy, loved the buzz bugs, as cicadas are referred to in our family.  She found them easy prey and mighty tasty.  Years later I saw people in Shanghai collect them, and a Chinese friend of ours does so here, and fries them, and what-do-you-know?  They're good!

They really taste a lot like peanuts!  You just can't look at them, because they look like bugs.  He collects them when they haven't hatched out of their wingless form yet, so they aren't truly buzz bugs yet.

When it is too hot for the pond, they go for the creek

Heatwave

While I like it hot and am glad that this summer isn't one of the cool rainy ones we have had for the last three years, we've hit the 100°F and above (about 38°C plus) for days in a row and next week it's more of the same.  Add to that the frequent rains (okay, I really miss the drought), we are talking steamy heat that makes one drip in sweat just walking across the barnyard.  To top it off the winds die down in the afternoon, so the stifling sauna is complete then.
Decibel is always up for a walk, in spite of the temperatures, but she heads ducklings to the water of the creek and then the pond beyond that.  When I go swimming with her, she comes up and uses me as a floatation device.  She wants to be held, and just soak in the cool.  That means I have to stand in the mud, which is a bit yucky, but the little princess doesn't care.  Then we head back into the cool air-conditioned house, where plenty of tiles allow the dogs to keep their bellies chilled.
The horses are soaked with sweat and get hosed down (okay, it is a good thing there is no drought, since we are on a well and would have to restrict water for necessary drinking purposes then) and you can almost hear them sigh with relief.  It might just be the steam coming off them.  Even donkey (donkeys hate water) enjoys a quick spritz and doesn't complain.  Needless to say I can only ride early in the morning or not at all, but that's okay too.  When I do get on Molly, she is perfect.

Molly

After a long time looking, giving up, a few wrong turns and such, I brought home Molly a week ago, and she is a keeper.  Molly is a nice old mare, kind and well mannered and I have been riding again, and happily so.  She got along with the place right away, with Sweet Pea in a few days, and everyone likes donkey; she's no exception.

Here is Molly when we first went to take a look at her:

Bllp, I can tell you human know nothing about horses!

Once she was 'home', I rode her as often as I could and the weather would allow for the first week.  I still have another week of trial period, but I don't think I need that time to decide:  

Molly is staying.  She's my horse.

I can ride her out in the tall grass, through the woods, and I always have a smile doing so.  What could be better than that?

Oh, there is one tiny problem... 

The little princess is a tad upset.  She feels neglected.  How dare her human go and leave her for HOURS in the morning?  Just to play with a smelly horse?  What is going on here?  

So a few tantrums have occurred, Decibel style.

Well, it is just stuffing, and her own toys, and after a walk and some special attention she feels better.  Decibel is a very sweet girl, and her teenage moments are few and far between, so when she does have a fit, it usually just makes me laugh.  A few obedience reminders are generally all it takes to reestablish who is in charge.  Or at least she lets me think I am in charge.  She might be royalty, but she does have a generous streak.  And she is very easily bribed.