It has been over 90®F with dew points near 70®F..translation Swampy & Sticky!  Walking my guys out for bio breaks makes them pant!  So I got the thinking, what’s it like on their level?  I’m sure the neighbors think I’m nuts – I got down on all fours with my guys.  (Note that this could be a BAD idea for behavior issues.)

I thought it would be cooler because heat rises, haha.  The ground was hot and the black top was a river of heat.  I don’t want my feet touching that! OUCH.  The light colored sidewalk reflects light and heat very effectively. 

My next thought was, a dog’s body temperature is hotter than mine (human average is 98.6F while dogs average 102F) and they have fur on them.  They get hotter faster than I do and they are closer to some hot areas and they don’t sweat they pant.  If I had to pant as much as I was sweating it would have been even less glamorous that it was already.  What would I do if I were a dog?

Thinking like a human again I pulled out my husband Frog Tog.  This is a cool, haha, item.  He uses this for mowing about 12 acres on Swampy days.  Wet it, apply to skin and it transfers heat away from the skin.  I was surprised that the guys were not damp from sitting/ laying on it.  Gonzo still prefers the dog beds and blankets this time of year…but the Pups must have enjoyed the tog.  They came in from outside and returned to it time and time again.
 

We use cool pads, ice cubed water dishes and treats, pools, air conditioning and fans in the kennel to keep everyone cool.  I’ve been known to freeze cooler packs and hang them from fans for transporting dogs in car crates.   Maybe this tog is a new item for the kennel.  I’ll have to check into the material and toxic effects.  Hummmm 

   

Once the decision was made to “buy the farm”, we settled in fixed up, repaired and bush hogged.   Our days were powered by coffee, pizza and a true crazy love of the place…   My folks back home call farms by a nickname, Possum Holler, Clodfelder Place on 252, Mom’s place on Cherry Street.  My personal favorite is capture in a photo of my Grandpa (in his youth) pictured under an arch that named the place HOME.   

We needed a name to call our place…it had a sign holder for the front yard where the previous folks named the farm and kennel.  For 40 years our place bore the name Tedjoy, the first names of the owners.   It didn’t seem right to keep that name. 

We pounded our personal 8 years of married life history to come up with Doves Wings …based on an old song about peace and love.  Doves Wings perfect – we had lot of Mourning Doves here; peace and love are good.  We worked out a sign and everything.  Then we used the name to purchase our first Bobcat…Well, NO ONE got it! The bill of sale said Devils Wings and was crossed out to read Double Wings.  Back to thinking….

Given our family roots and the blessing of knowing all of our 4 Great Grandma’s  and Jokes that the house isn’t a farm house ....”Rachann and Tim done gone an bought an old time big house.”  We honored the past.

Mariah-Belle Manor grounds looks like the Family Farms we knew on both sides of our families.  Great Grandma Belle Goad had a unique way a getting rid of unwanted animal on lookers and vermin.  She’d let them get close and real curious, then turn slow and spit railroad twist tobacco juice straight into one eye of the pest…”No more trouble outa that un.” she’d say.  After all, Belle grew up and started her family on Tobacco farms in Kentucky and everyone knew it wasn’t lady-like to smoke or snuff tobacco. 

Mariah-Belle is a take off of my Great Grandma’s name Belle Mariah Goad and the Native American stories about dragonflies bringing a season of change (Dragonflies are everywhere here. I hope each season they move faster than the doves.).  Mariah means Wind and Belle means beautiful we conjured Seasonal Winds of Beautiful Change = Mariah-Belle Manor.

There is was our link to home and family in our Winds of Change.

There was a time when folks at my corporate job thought I was nuts...well for lots of reasons...but mostly because I had two different lives. One life was working in R&D or QC and one life was managing after Mariah-Belle Manor Farm & Kennel. There were lots of early mornings and late nights in those days. One of my co-workers staying with us couldn't believe she was clipping dog nails at 5am.

Things have changed since I left corporate.....but the ability to maintain more than one thought pattern at a time has not. In kids it's called Focus Disorder, in adults it's multitasking, in Mom's a MUST. I would just be board.

I know that we can't change those we love but we can sure train them. Here's Fiona and Fozzy's version of more than one thought at a time.

"oh yeah sit still for Mom, on a hot day after haircuts is she NUTS (yes already established)....it's 90F....I do have less hair-is that a breeze...OH YEAH SIT FOR MOM..the grass I could eat it, I could roll in it …oh less hair (new haircut) I could feel rolling in the grass... OH YEAH SIT FOR MOM...there's no treats here, why am I sitting for mom....she loves me...she made me stand for a haircut...I could roll in the grass and feel it...OH YEAH SIT FOR MOM... hey what's happening at the Green house? I love the smell of all Snell's plants....Hey Mom OK...No more SIT FOR MOM! YEAH FOR BELLY RUBS IN THE GRASS WE DID REALY GOOD!”

We'll several folks have visited Mariah-Belle Manor for various reasons dogs, porch talk, creek wadding, and electronical via the WTTR radio show.  During conversation with staff or me someone asks how to you acomplish everything...Here's the secret SHHHH

20oz of Strong Coffee and lots of strong stubborn