Garden Looking Good, Not So Dogs

It's Spring, and our garden is flowering and growing nicely. My husband and I had some strawberries pick and eaten within seconds, as we were standing on our back veranda. Delicious! The strawberries are in hanging pots, up higher than the dogs can reach, much higher.

And I looked at our tomato plants which are in a part of our garden the dog's can't get into, unless we let them - the tomatoes are on the verge of turning red, and I'm hoping the warmer weather forecast for the next few days doesn't damage them, but helps with the 'going red' process instead. Time will tell.

Having dogs is lovely, having a garden is lovely, and having a productive garden is a fantastic thing. So a healthy garden is a lovely thing. Unfortunately, the situation with our dogs' health isn't quite so lovely. One of them isn't eating his dinner, another threw up last nights, and the other one, while well enough, is a very old dog with her own issues.

That's the nature of things though, isn't it? It's the cycle of life, born, live, healthy, sick, healed, to dead. Whether it's pets, pests, wild animals, weeds, vegetables, fruit, flowers, people, everything, sickness and health come and go, and at the end is always death. I know I'm getting a bit morbid here, but it's a fact of life, and I can't hide from the truth of it, it's right there in front of me.

I hope the sick dog thing is better again soon, a trip to the vet of Wednesday for the one who's not eating very well is possibly going to happen soon. Another trip to the vet is going to use up more of our money, but that's the role pet owners have to deal with. You look after them as best you can, feeding them, cleaning up after them, loving them, looking after their health.

We've had many dogs in our lives, and we love having them there, they're interesting, funny, and keep us involved with the natural world. Shoosh, don't mention snakes. Because of course, Summer follows Spring, and with summer can come snakes. Our hounds are hounds through and through, and whenever they're outside, they're lookiing for prey ...

I hope snakes stay away from our place this Summer, but if they don't, oh, more vet bills, and the ever present fear of a fatal snake bite ...