Sleepy time tails

HOW DO YOU GET YOUR ZZZZZZZZZZZZS???


Dappled in shade?

With half the sun?

Off the step?

On a bed?

On your back?

With a friend!

out and upside

Upside down

On the couch

Snug as a bug on the rug!

Snooze on the rug?

All in line?

Gives new meaning to the phrase 'let sleeping dogs lie.' So, how do yoy get your ZZZs?

Coming unstuck

Last night was very interesting. At about two in the morning, I was surprised to see Dad shaking Mom awake. They both walked out to the balcony and made noises that sounded like they were distressed. I walked out to see what all the fuss was about. I saw nothing that I had not seen an hour before. There were the rose bushes looking beautiful as usual, the jasmine smelling as strong as ever and Simba seeming as dumb as usual, stuck in the balustrade (that is not usual, but his stupidity is). The front of his body was in the balcony while his backside was on the ledge beyond. He could not have been too uncomfortable, but he was unable to move. It seemed more like a reason to celebrate than get upset about, which is why I had not alerted them in the first place.This way he could not get into more mischief.

Mom and dad tried to coax him out the tried to pull him back. Dad climbed on to the outer ledge and tried that and eventually they even woke up Sidhant, my human bro. After about 15 minutes, I saw mom walk out with a screw driver and hammer. from where I was lying, it seemed like a great idea to just beat simba's huge head and fill in the air gaps with some dented bones. Mom had other ideas though, and she just chiseled away at the baluster. So here she was at 2 in the morning chipping away at her own home.

I guess persistence pays and he did get out. I do not think he has learnt anything from this. I hope they leave him there the next time... at least till sunrise. After all sleep is precious!


Here is a picture of the balustrade!!

Till Simba gets into more jams,

Elsa.

Simba sighting

People often move out of the way when we are on a walk with him. The maintenance people check to ensure he is safely locked up even before they enter the gates. As for the children, well, they are terrified , if they have never been here before. Once they have met Simba, almost all kids go home and ask for a pet.

Whoever said appearances are deceptive had Simba in mind . A huge German Shepherd of German descent, he has a head that seems almost bear like. On his two paws, he is taller than most grown men. If you ever have him charging toward you, you are unlikely to wait and find out the reason. What most do not know is that he is probably on his way to lick you senseless.

If you see him howling at the gate, you can be sure that he is just inviting you to come in. Only thing is, most people are sceptical about this. His biggest joy is to have friends over. Oh no, I do not mean canine friends. I think he doesn't even know that he is a dog. He loves friends of our sons and loves them all equally. His motto is "the more, the merrier" and heaven is when they choose to play outside with the ball. But he is just as content to be a part of the group discussion or even a board game, and his eyes move from one to another depending on the conversation or the move.

So what kind of a guard dog is he? Well, the kind that guards your soul and teaches you never to judge by appearances!

Start at the beginning

Let us start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start, sang the young Julie Andrews in the very famous ' Sound of music' . Sound advice (bad pun) you might say. Sometimes though, it seems to be difficult to determine where the beginning is.

I have always loved animals. My mom says the first time my father ever rapped me on the knuckles was, when at age three, I picked up a dead puppy. ( It was probably in the land that time forgot) I tried hard to have a pet- picked up some live kittens, some rabbits and so on. But as dog lovers will agree, a dog is ...well, a dog!

My first dog was a black lab named Caeser, who taught me a lot before teaching me the final lesson about dealing and coping with the loss of a loved one, succumbing suddenly at the age of four to some congenital heart problem. Ideally, I should dedicate the blog to him. But he also taught me to live in the present. Elsa and Simba are with us now. Their stories are unique, beginning from how they came to be with us, to the present when their behaviour still has the power to entice, amaze,influence, amuse and pull at our heart strings. Dog lovers do not need to be told all this, but I hope I am able to tell their stories, in a way that does them justice. For today I will just leave pictures of them and let imagination do the rest.

Elsa, the Labrador mix. Simba, the German Shepherd.

To new beginnings!