Shadow at Thanksgiving

The house is quiet now with Mom gone a month ago and Shadow and I are alone here. I no longer latch his crate, he is free to wander all he wants now.

Today is Thanksgiving and I will still prepare the traditional feast just a much smaller version. During the preparation process, Shadow dogged my feet, hoping to trip me and have me spill whatever I was working on to the floor. But I am wise to him and don't fall; instead, I drop a morsel to the floor every now and again. His tail was twitching when I was roasting the chestnuts for the stuffing. After they had cooled enough to peel, I'd drop a piece to him and he liked that. I accidentally dropped a sliver of onion but one sniff told him there was no joy in that.

When the turkey legs and wings were roasting, Shadow paced back and forth in front of the oven as if he was on guard duty. That meat was NOT going to escape past his nose, no sireeee! He didn't show much interest as I baked the pies. If there had been a pumpkin one, he might have been interested, but I went for a rhubarb pie and an apple/mincemeat one this year. He doesn't seem to care for the sweet things. He did taste a piece of pie crust but only sniffed and nibbled at it out of politeness (He'll sniff at everything I offer, but only takes what he wants.

I sat him at the table for the picture but he wanted to jump down and go to his bowl. He had white meat, stuffing and a small amount of mashed potatoes mixed into his dry food. I poured a 1.4 cup of gravy over the concoction and stirred it for him. When I put it on his "Dinner Table" he went at it with glee. I like to see Shadow eating happily; I am thankful for many small things this Thanksgiving Day.

The Fire Pit

I have always loved sitting around a camp fire. And there is no finer sight than to see your dog sitting at the hearth with a fire burning. Florida is not big on fire places in homes although every now and again you do get to see one.

While picking up some paint at a local discount store, I saw a fire pit. It wasn't very expensive or large. We have a small concrete patio where the barbeque lives with little else there. Since the evenings have turned cooler, I figured the fire pit might be a welcome addition.

I wondered how the dog would react to the fire pit with a fire in it. The first evening I tried, he spent most of his time running and sniffing a new part of the yard. He didn't pay much attention at all. He did come over and lie down for a few minutes, but the fire wasn't much of a draw.

The second evening I built a fire was cooler than the first attempt. The warmth of the fire was a draw and he came over and stayed nearby for a while. The firewood was from a grapefruit tree that had died in the freeze last winter and had been standing for a season. The wood was dry and didn't give off much smoke. I had put the fire pit on a block pedestal so the light and heat was raised up. It was at a comfortable height for both of us.