people and their dogs

I really have a problem with irresponsible dog owners, and they all seem to be drawn to my house. Tonight, I was finally sucking up all the leaves on the sidewalk when a grandma, her granddaughter, and the granddaughter's little puppy came by. Ignoring the powerful, loud mulcher that could suck that little dog right in, they came right up to the fence to let their puppy meet Vegas. At that point, it was still cute. Then, they allowed their pup, Rocko, to squeeze its way through our gate into the yard. Not so cute. Enter Maureen, who caught the puppy and led it back to its 5-year-old owner. She then proceeded to walk it over to my struggling dogwood bush and let it stand on top of it. Nice.

Unable to yell at the little kid or the grandma, I kindly asked the dog to move. As if that was going to work.

"Hey puppy. Off the bush, puppy," I pleaded. The puppy just jumped around on the wilted leaves a bit more.

I kept my mouth shut. How can you chastise a granny? Especially a granny that lives in the ambulance house (i.e. the house the ambulance visits on occasion late at night). Grrr. As soon as they made their way back across the street, I coaxed the shrub back to life with a pitcher of Miracle Gro-laced water.

it's war

My pansies have died. One day, they were perky and colorful; the next, it looked like someone had attacked them with Roundup. The culprit was easy to determine. Hidden amongst the trampled, limp stems were peanut shells and crushed peanuts. Squirrels! Gotcha. Wednesday, I looked out to see two squirrels frolicking around the dead plants. Furious, I rushed out, grabbed rocks, and started throwing. They stared at me from the boulevard; my little league girl's arm was apparently not frightening them. Yesterday, I hunted online for the quickest, least humane way possible to "do what needed to be done", as Tony Soprano might say. I was shocked to come across this website: http://www.thesquirrelloversclub.com/. I guess it takes all kinds, but seriously, people. Squirrels are not the same as puppies or teddy bears.