We reseeded the backyard and it did not take. Like, at all. And to top it all off, the redbud tree died this year. The backyard is such a disaster that I am too ashamed to even post any pictures of it. However we have had a revolving door of foster dogs for the past few years and so our backyard has always been mainly the dog urinal. It got me thinking about all the dogs that we have been a part of our life over these last few years . . .
- Keith Richards – We picked out his name. Keith Richards had fleas. How much fun was that to tell everyone. I will admit I said that a lot and it made me laugh every time.
- Buster – Oh Buster. Buster had/has a thing for men. As in, he likes to suddenly bite men, especially on the back jean pocket.
- Bangle – Such a sweetie. Like a lot of street strays, she was a little on the clingy/needy side. But you can’t blame her, who knows what she went through trying to stay alive out on the mean streets of St. Louis. She’s pictured below with our fur babies Sophie and Shenigan and on the right with her forever mom.
- Gladys – she came from a puppy mill situation in southwestern Missouri. Since so many dogs came in at one time, we also got to pick her name. She was named after Gladys Knight and the Pips. Due to all the breeding, her pips were on the large side for her little body, poor thing. She also had a semi-cherry eye. Gladys was a little on the diva side and didn’t like to be photographed without advance notice, so I don’t have too many good images of her.
- Galen – the one that got away! We were so close to adding Galen to our forever family. Galen was so feral (“born wild” as in born in East St. Louis and never handled by people). Galen lived on a dog bed in our kitchen for a month before ever venturing into any other room. I could go on and on about Galen. Now he lives nearby in Clifton Heights and is named Floyd, after Pink Floyd. That was part of how we knew he had found the right forever home.
- Madge – We only had her for a week. I just saw on the website that she’s back. . . . http://strayrescue.org/adopt/madge
- Alice – Also a sweet feral, Alice liked to steal things and hide them in her dog bed. I went to move the dog beds around one day to sweep and found two pairs of my flip flops and a bra. I’m not sure what she was planning to do with those . . .
- Caesar – AKA Alien because when he came to us, he didn’t look like a dog. We set up a little dog den for Caesar in the office because for the first few weeks all he wanted to do was sleep and eat. He also wanted some affection and I would rub him with a dry washcloth because I wasn’t sure how else to touch his poor crusty skin.
Here is the Alien (below) now — is that the same dog?? It sure is and I think he’s pretty happy now. I heard from his forever family that they adopted another dog for him to hang out with. He’s living the good life in St. Charles.
9. McBride – this one probably did the most damage to the yard! McBride was super sweet but so full of energy that he channeled into tunneling to China in the backyard. When I saw him after a few months with his forever family, McBride (Mack) was so glossy, fat and well trained that I almost couldn’t believe it was the same dog. His forever family are long-distance runners – a perfect fit for a dog with so much energy.
10. Thomas – Thomas was a pillow murderer. He also murdered one of the $100 dog beds we splurged on for the monkeys. Now they still fight over the remaining “fancy” dog bed and if Shenanigan doesn’t win it, he ends up in our bed. Thanks Thomas.
11. Bianca – poor thing was abused by children and in return wanted to murder all of them, not that I blame her. Sophie also has a thing for children, especially young girls and their noses.
Because of her neck injury, Bianca’s head always tilted a little so she will forever bear a strong resemblance to the RCA dog.
12. Cameron – the one that comes back! Cameron is an older gent who lives nearby with his lady, Maggie. He’s pictured below with our dog and Cameron’s girlfriend, Sophie. Sophie even got a Valentine’s Day card from Cameron! We go visit Cameron occasionally and he has come back to stay with us a few times when Maggie had to have hip surgery and subsequent recovery time.
13. Lucky number 13 – Little Dee. So named (by us) because she was a little Demon. Her whip like tail had a cut on the end and she spurted blood over the bottom 48” of everything in our house. I’m still finding blood spots to this day.
Little Dee took a lot out of us and the monkeys (aka Sophia and Shenanigan, our dogs), who are getting older. Because #12 Cameron still requires some of our time, we have taken a little break from fostering for a while. I could probably be convinced to take on another sweet feral like our friend Galen though . . . . I love, love, love being a part of the Stray Rescue organization. Randy Grim is an angel on earth and that isn’t a strong enough description of all the good he has done for so many animals.
The bullet planter! In white! Heaven. Preferably this heaven would also be vintage although you can also buy them new from Design Within Reach. I’m going to have to start saving my pennies now for Zappa to have his happy home. 
Living Analog 