YIKES! Puppies For Lunch!!

You know how I love my two adopted kids Cooper and Jessie!  They have me well trained, which means I sometimes get pretty exasperated with them.  In and out, in and out, twelve or thirteen times a day since Miss Jessie has become an old lady and Cooper is a BOY, meaning he's got to go umpteen times a day.

That being said, I would NEVER put them in any danger.  In fact, I go out of my way to be sure they are always safe, especially in the land of coyotes and bobcats.  You never thought there were carnivore type critters in the desert this close to civilization?  Me either, especially since there are so many houses around.  Although I haven't spotted them this trip, I knew they were there.

This is NOT Miss Jessie, but she did look exactly like his when she was younger.  You can see how the brown has turned to white all around her face.

Try as I might to keep her safe, she has always been in trouble one way or another.  First it was getting stomped by my horse when she jumped up and attacked his nose, then it was when a big rose thorn tore through her flesh as she was chasing a kitty.  Here it was surgery for tumors.

This picture was taken during one of her healed-up periods.  No bandages.  So when it comes to letting them out in my back yard every day in Arizona, I'm always on guard.  I scan the back yard before letting them out EVERY SINGLE TIME. 

EXCEPT ... isn't there always an exception? ... yesterday when I came home, I knew they had to go out immediately.  I ran to the door and opened it without the usual scanning.  As I looked up, not ten feet from my two foot tall block wall was the biggest coyote I've ever seen.

YIKES!!!!  Jessie come .. COME .. COME HERE NOW!!!  They couldn't see the coyote, but he sure could see them.  I was torn between running outside and protecting the kids and grabbing my camera for a shot.  

I finally got the kids (who were looking at me like I was crazy) back inside the house and grabbed my camera just as he turned and sauntered off through the brush.  RATS!!!  I missed probably the best picture EVER, but thankfully my puppies are all good.  He really didn't seem the least bit interested.

When the coyote was out of sight, I tried to usher the puppies back outside, but they declined.  Now they think something is out there to get them.  They would be right.  I'll be a little more vigilant from now on.

I spent the afternoon making peanut butter cookies ... not my usual recipe so there weren't near as many as I require ... and doing that awful chore of cleaning.

Look what I finally accomplished!  Handles on the drawers and cupboards in my bathroom.  How cool is that to be able to open a drawer straight and even.  I didn't pinch my fingers or pull it off the track.  Nancy is a happy camper!!  Only 28 more handles to go in the kitchen.

My plan for today ... well actually I have no plan.  Maybe it's time to clean the RV since I'll be heading back the other direction in a couple of weeks, or maybe it's time to do the dreaded laundry task or better yet ..... it's time to find another quilt project!!