I know what you are thinking – “what the fuck is wrong with you?!?!?! OF COURSE YOU HELP!”

Prior to yesterday I would have said the exact same thing, and then this happened……

It was a perfect August morning. The sun is shining, slight breeze, temperature mid 20s C (low 70s F for those of you who don’t do metric), it was windows open kind of weather. I was coming down the stairs and heard Matcha and Moo barking. Aggressively. Excessively. Very clear something was in my yard. I look out the kitchen window and see a canine. At first glance I thought it was a coyote, but quickly realized it was just a lost dog.

I ran to my back door, went outside (with my indoor shoes on) and called out to the dog. It comes right to me. Super friendly, very snuggly. So sweet I had a fleeting thought I could keep her, until I saw she had a collar on, with tags. I have her by the collar and walk towards my house so I can read her tag to call her owners. During this time Matcha is at the breakfast nook window, barking, snarling, asserting that this is HIS house and this bitch better scram. He is at the open window, I realize he is about to come out of the window. I let the stray go, head towards the back door to get some space between Matcha (Moo was behind him being just as protective) and the stray and THE FUCKER STARTS PUSHING THE SCREEN OUT! All while still snapping and snarling.

The bottom corner of the screen pops out, his snout is now outside, the next thing I know the whole screen is coming at me. I grab it, pull it towards me, Matcha now has his head and neck up to his shoulders out the window. Fuck me. He is coming out. I shove the screen in the window, using it to push Matcha back, then I grab the window and start closing it. Matcha gets his face out the window. He is barking, has spit running down his face, snapping his jaw at me. A real Cujo re-enactment.

Out of my peripheral vision I see the stray coming up my right side, heading into the window. All that is between her and Matcha is me. Lil ol’ me is going to prevent a dog fight between a 155 lb German Shepherd x and a 70 lb Boxer look a like. FUCK THAT SHIT!

With my right hand I grab the strays collar and keep her an arms length away from the house while trying to shove Matchas head back in the window and getting the window closed. Both are giving their best alpha dog I’m going to rip you apart barking and snarls.

Success…. Window is mostly closed. I wasn’t able to close it all the way because I would have needed both hands to do it and I was not letting the sweet stray that has turned into a fighting dog go. I walk her over to the side of the property so we can both calm down, I go back to trying to read the tag on her collar. I can’t. I do not have my glasses. I glance back at the house debating going in to get my glasses and see that Matcha popped the window open. Like a lot. FUCK! WHAT IF CHEETO GOT OUT!

I panic. What do I do with the stray? Let her go and not my problem? Hope she doesn’t follow me into the house? I have got to get the damn window closed. I see the man door on the back of the garage, PLEASE LET IT BE UNLOCKED. It is. Fucking Don leaving the door unlocked. Battle for a different day. I put the stray in the garage, run in the house, close the window. Get swarmed by Matcha, Moo and Cheeto. Grab my glasses, go through the garage man door to the house, grab a leash and leash the stray. We go out front, tucked away from windows and I call the number on the tag. It is to our local animal shelter.

The stray is named Socks. She lives two doors down from me! Matcha and Socks are fence friends! They stand at their fences every morning and bark at each other. Like they are having a morning catch up.

I walk Socks home, hand her over to the early teens girl that seemed not bothered that I have her dog. I explained the situation to her and went home.

I will ask the question again;

If a stray dog wanders into your yard, and you have two large dogs protecting their home against said stray dog, with all the windows open, do you help it?

Yep. Because if it was my dog that was wandering in another persons yard I would hope they would help.

I did learn:
That it is important to keep the screen door closed.
Breakfast nook windows can only be opened from the top so Matcha or Moo (probably Matcha) doesn’t go through them.
Take my glasses with me.

More convo’s with my mini me!

This time Don and I were at the cottage…..

Yep, we bought for me to drink (I don’t drink) just so Don can have a hat….
The booze? 👎🏻 it will go to Dharma’s for her friends to enjoy.

I spent the day at my local ER (nothing serious, nothing to expand on), Dharma and I had a nice chit-chat…

And this was all within 15 minutes…..

Grab a snack this may take a minute……

Since March I have been back and forth on getting another dog. I had noticed Matcha and Moo have been very low key, melancholy like.
When Macchiato was here, they went outside more, played more, had more zest for life. I thought maybe they needed puppy energy in the house to brighten their day. I mauled this over for quite some time and chatted with some peeps.

May 25 I brought home a cute lil Corgi x Miniature Poodle. I named her Mabel.

Within three days her name was changed to Maple because H thought that is what I was saying when I called her Mabel. Dharma said it was a better name for her because she looks like she is covered in maple syrup and the rest of my pets have odd names. Mabel became Maple.

I realized Maple was very attached to me. She went where I went. Walking tight to my ankle, she quickly learned how to move with me so I didn’t kick her. Cried when she couldn’t see me. Always wanting to be touching me.

I felt fear and panic with how much Maple wanted to be with me. It broke me emotionally.

Maple always looked at me like this ⬆️ like she has heart eyes only for me. She just wants to be with me and snuggle.

As soon as I sat Maple on or near me she would fall asleep within minutes.

Out cold asleep, regardless of where we were or time of day. This picture ⬆️ was taken 20 minutes after we got up because I did not have it in me to deal with puppy energy at 4 am.

Her love for me made me feel sad and guilty. I felt like I was dishonouring the memory of Yeti by loving an animal that loved me as much as he did. Every time I would snuggle / hug / love her I instantly felt like a traitor. Left me with a burning ache in my chest. Tears in my eyes. Every. Damn. Time. I knew I was not the right person for her. I knew I could not love her as much as she loved me.

I listed her for sale. I contacted everyone I could think of to see if they knew anyone who wanted a teeny tiny puppy. It was a bust.

Six weeks with her living with me I had accepted that I would have a dog that I could not love the way she deserved. I had achieved what I was hoping for with Matcha and Moo. Puppy energy put a bit of pep in their step. Cheeto too. He had a playmate that was the same size as him that he could play rough with.

June 29 a tech (Stef) from my vets office called me. She told me that she hadn’t stopped thinking about Maple from when I brought Maple for a check up on June 2, and if I was still looking for a new home for Maple, she wanted her. Stef told me that her eight month old puppy recently passed away, he was very ill right from the time she got him and that her four year old daughter (we will call her L) wanted a puppy she could play with because L is very high energy and a puppy to snuggle / sleep with. L was very sad that she didn’t have this with her puppy because he was so sick for the short time they had him.

July 1 Stef and L came to meet Maple. L was very quick to play with Maple, an hour later Maple left with them to go to her new home. I asked Stef to send me pictures, a lot of pictures so H will see that Maple is with a good family.

Stef also told me that she was going to change Maples name back to Mabel because she loved it so much. 💕 This makes me very happy since that was the name I picked for her.

It breaks my heart that I was not able to love this lil ball of fur without feeling immense sadness. I am happy that she landed with a great family that can love her.

I will never forget the lil pup that made me realize that my heart is closed to loving another pet. She taught me that your heart really doesn’t have an infinite amount of love to give, sometimes a soul pet comes along and fills your heart so much, there is only room for the memory of the love you once shared.

And Christmas in July is just around the corner!!!!

Once upon a time, not so long ago, all of the above would be used to describe me.

I have;
Ten trees, each a different theme.
A Christmas village that requires Don to build a platform for it.
Show stockings to match one of my trees – with faux wrapped presents to match.
Vast collection of snow globes.
Decorative pillows that leave you with nowhere to sit.
Singing and dancing stuffies.
Christmas bedding – but it gets pulled off the bed to sleep. It is just “show” bedding (my mom made it for me).
Art that replaces family photos for the season.
Christmas cards from previous years that I framed. Which I can tell you who they came from without seeing the signature inside.
A (not so) ugly Christmas sweater for everyday in December.

My sister would describe my house at Christmas time “Looks like Santa threw up in here.” She meant it as an insult, I took it as a compliment.

I would be shopping the Boxing Day sales for the start of next years themed tree. I would start buying gifts immediately, I would see the perfect trinket, bob-bit or doo-dad for someone and stash it away. Sometimes I would forget what I bought and it would be a pleasant surprise in October when I took inventory.

I spent 25 + years being a Christmas Nut that starts decorating the day after Remembrance Day, with little to no help (Don will help bring the bins up from storage and take them back down). I loved going to the mall during peak holiday season. Not to shop, but to people watch. To hear the various Christmas carols coming from the stores, watch people hustle and bustle as if it was 5 pm Christmas Eve and the stores were closing and they didn’t have the perfect gift. Watching the kiddos visit the mall Santa and smiling to myself with his exuberant HO-HO-HOs.

In recent years, I go through the motions because it is expected of me. When Yeti died November 25, 2023 my Christmas spirit went with him. If my house hadn’t already been decorated, the trees would have never come out of storage.

Christmas 2024 Don and I took Dharma and her family to Disney so I could avoid all the holiday hub-bub. Yes, you read that right. I took my family to the happiest place on earth to get away from celebrating Christmas. Did it work? Sort of. Made me wish I could afford to do it every year. Not necessarily Disney, just a trip to avoid the Christmas season.

I have six months to hype myself up to be Christmas People. Six months to prepare myself to be physically and mentally exhausted from bringing the 50 + totes from storage and setting it all up, to tear it all done a month later.

Some would ask me “Why do it?” Simple. I have H who loves everything Christmas as I once did. Dharma would tell me “You created the Christmas Monster, you can’t stop now.” And Don would say “You have spent a hell of a lot of money on all this shit, it goes up until H outgrows it.”

I will spend the next six months watching TikTok’s of nostalgic Christmas videos, watch Hallmarks Christmas in July movies while having Cindy Loo-Who in my head singing “Where are you Christmas, why can’t I find you” all so H doesn’t lose her Christmas People vibe, while secretly hoping my vibe returns with the same jolly cheer as a mall Santa’s HO-HO-HO.

🎄🎅🏻🤶🏻🎁