I am not a pet person.
It's not that I don't like animals. I do, just not in my house.
Our experience with pets hasn't been all that great either.
Let's see. . .
When we first got married, Leo and I had Oscar, an older beagle that was Leo's. He fell through the barn floor. Then we got Dino, another beagle and a gift from his brother Ben. He ran off one night.
Once,Leo gave me birds: two little finches. They were cute enough, but so incredibly noisy and they would make this "bee...beee.beee" sound all the time. He took the finches back, and returned with a canary. She was a lovely bright yellow color, but she was even chirpier than the finches. And louder, especially first thing in the morning. I didn't think it was fair to keep her cage covered all the time to give her the illusion of night, and she got returned too.
We had a couple of ducks (or were they geese?) for a while, but they weren't very friendly and they ate all the green beans in the garden. At present, of course, we have the chickens. . . we'll see how that goes.
I brought home a puppy once and Leo made me take it back the same day. Something about too much stress with two toddlers and a puppy. Then, years later, he brings home a miniature horse (Her name is Merrylegs). Go figure.
Once we moved here to Level Acres Lane, we acquired Rex, part collie and part bassett hound. He was three years old when we got him and lived to the age of 17. He was a good dog and was really our only "good" dog experience. Rex was friendly most of the time except when he got his annual buzz haircut in the summer. Hey, I never said I was good with clippers. Poor dog; he always looked so embarrassed when I got done with the haircut.
We also had Molly (Aaron's beagle pup) and Ty (a one year old boxer that needed a home). They both met their end on the road. Telling Aaron about Molly was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, and not something I never want to do again.
Rico was our next dog. Part Westie, part beagle, he had wiry hair and a scruffy look about him. He was a funny little dog and liked to play with the neighbor's boxer. He got backed over by a truck and needed to go to the vet for repair. He actually coded on the operating table and got his heart massaged. After surviving all that, he just disappeared two winter's ago. We never found out what happened to him.
Adrienne had two sheep, Nellie and Emma, for a couple of years. They were friendly and actually were a part of local live Nativities at Christmas. The problem with sheep is that they eat everything green that grows, including my gardens. They would actually strip the lilacs and rose bushes bare up as high as they could reach.
Martha is my cat, a nice gray mama cat. I tried her as a house cat, but it just didn't work out. Too much attitude. Mine and hers. She is now a barn cat along with Kurt, Tigger, Sneakers, and her new litter of five (free to a good home). They like to congregate outside the front door or in the flower beds. Grrr.
Along the way we have also had a turtle named Olive, two anole lizards, miscellaneous tadpoles, tropical fish, and beta fish, and hamsters. Oh, and rabbits. We won't mention what happened to Zippers. Poor Zippers.
I am not a pet person. I like playing with other people's pets; I just haven't found the right match for me. Maybe there should be a pet/person matchmaker. I don't know what I'd end up with.
Who knows? We haven't tried a potbelly pig yet.
Love,
Dianne
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