When you have bronchitis but need to keep working, you set up a guest room as a satellite office. If you’re lucky, you have a foster dog named Thomas to assist you. Here, he’s creating a zen-like atmosphere in the workplace. Thomas should probably get a bonus.
Tag: Houndstooth
Sunflowers and Scarlett
A couple of new gifts to Houndstooth Hall.
Sunflower print (“they became one”) from David and Geri, and Rhett and Scarlett cross-stitch (“after all…tomorrow is another day”) from Marika. Thank you for making Hall life more beautiful and fun!
Recently, at the Hall, part three
This guy had a birthday. Since it fell on transport day, we had cupcakes there so some of our rescue group’s amazing volunteers and staff could celebrate with him. And because he’s the compassionate person he is, he asked for only one thing for his birthday: donations to the group’s Crowdrise campaign to raise funds to restructure and reopen the Jack C. Alexander clinic after much needed repairs and modifications.
If you’re so inclined, you can still show your love for Timothy J. Lambert and the movement to get Houston’s million homeless dogs and cats off the streets, out of the city pound, and into homes in other states where they’re desperately wanted. You can click [link redacted because fundraiser has ended] to donate or learn more.
Recently, at the Hall, part two
The last two of our foster dogs I shared here were Shannon and Richie. They were adopted immediately upon their arrival in Colorado, and their rescue then asked for their brother Aiden. We picked him up from BARC and fostered him until he traveled, and he is about the sweetest boy ever, with excellent manners, and was a great playmate to all the Houndstooth hounds, falling on the scale somewhere between Shannon’s shyness and Richie’s more boisterous nature. Like his siblings, Aiden was adopted as soon as he arrived in Colorado.
Our next foster was Noah. He’s a little bigger than the dogs we usually bring home, and he is AMAZING. I think this may be the first time all of us fell hard for a dog. He proved himself so trustworthy as a houseguest that we didn’t even crate him at night, letting him have the run of the Hall, though he didn’t object to a crate at all. He loved our dogs, Debby’s dogs, and Tim’s dogs. It was challenging not to be a foster failure and beg to keep him. However, without our rescue’s Colorado (and Wisconsin, Toronto, and Minnesota) partners, over 14,000 of Houston’s homeless dogs and cats would be dead. Their rescuers work hard to find them homes, and we agree to let them go to them. Like the others, Noah was adopted quickly upon his arrival in Denver.
I decided maybe we should stop fostering dogs I wished we could keep. Since I’m not really a scruffy or foofie dog person, I thought a Pomeranian mix might be a safer bet: small enough for our dogs to enjoy but not the kind of dog I’m usually drawn to. Ha, Universe! Enter Mitzi. If there exists a perfect dog, Mitzi is it. She is probably the best-behaved, best-natured, easiest dog we’ve fostered since Betsy way back in 2014 at The Compound. She loved every dog and every person, had immaculate manners, barked only twice the entire time she was with us–once because she was excited at mealtime and once to get some petting–and it was just as hard to say goodbye to her as to any of the fantastic dogs we’ve fostered. Pom lovers are nodding their heads knowingly, I’m sure.
And then came Churro. He fit in perfectly with our pack. You can’t see the dark stripe down his back in this photo, but it makes him as cute as can be, along with those ears. You probably do notice his cherry eyes–the red in the inside corners. These are prolapsed third eyelids, and his Colorado rescue will get the easy surgery to fix them. Churro left this past transport day, and I think he may be the one Anime and Delta miss most. He was a lot like a bratty brother, always poking at them and making them play, and they loved him. He kept me laughing the entire time he was here–a wiggling, happy boy who could also curl up with Tom and be the perfect lapdog. Even Lynne’s dog Paco didn’t mind having Churro next to him, and Paco pretty much dislikes any dog who gets on the recliner with Tom.
As hard as it is to say goodbye to the funny, loving, frisky dogs in our care, we know they’re going to great homes. And it makes Houndstooth Hall available to the next one who needs a soft place to land before traveling to a forever family. As with any rescue dog, we get so much more from them than we can ever give. Happy lives, sweet foster kids. You all deserve the loving, lucky families who adopt you.
Recently, at the Hall, part one
Changes to the home office have given me much needed workspace, an amazing chair, and prettier desks.
Photo Friday, No. 498
Current Photo Friday theme: Dusk
…the hissing of summer lawns…
Photo Friday, No. 493
Current Photo Friday theme: Blossom
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ETA: It only took me 493 tries to have a photo chosen as “Noteworthy” by visitor vote on the Photo Friday site. That pretty much rocks since there are so many great photos on there every week. Thank you, visitors who voted!
This chair is just right
Good thing when Lynne moved to a house with a smaller living room, she gave us her late husband Craig’s big recliner. It clearly has enough room for Tom, Anime, Delta, and our foster dog George.
George came to us by way of our friend Lisa K’s friend Anita. George was a little stray who jumped in Anita’s truck, obviously having decided the mean streets of Houston were no good for him. She loves him to pieces but knows her home is not the right fit for him, so he became a BARC dog who was then taken into our rescue’s transport program. We’re lucky to have him with us for another week until he leaves for Colorado. George loves everybody, gets along with every other dog at Houndstooth Hall, and is Pollock’s mini-me.
One thing I haven’t talked about is Lynne’s move. She was really tired of her long commute to and from work every day, and since her son and his family have moved out of the area, she decided to house shop closer to her company. We are so lucky that her new home is a block from us! We share dinners at both houses, get to play cards more often, and she and Debby both have green thumbs and have all kinds of gardening schemes for Houndstooth Hall and Lynne’s new house (which I haven’t named but if Lynne doesn’t, I’m sure the right name will come to me soon). Photos to come!
The Day the Three Little Pigs Visited Olivia at Christmas
Photo Friday, No. 480
Current Photo Friday theme: Winter Colors
Happy New Year from Houston