Goodbye Odda

 Jo called yesterday morning to tell us that Odda was very sick and if we wanted to say goodbye we should come over.  Of course we had to say goodbye to one our favorite dogs. 

Odda was supposed to be called Bella but no one could stop calling her Odda. (Odda 1 died when she was 16 weeks old of a heart problem.)

Odda May 14 2009

 Hooch, Chance and Odda May 2009

 She liked chewing on my crocs and me!  Eventually we came to an understanding.   She liked me and listened to me without hesitation. 

Then good boy Hooch died.. a tick disease took him within hours in May of 2011.

 

Putz joined the pack in 2012....he was so little! 

Something happened around 2012 ( probably Putz)...Odda began to visit us on a regular basis...we thought it was just to see Chance but it continued after he died.  She would cross the road at her house go into the woods and come down the trails to our house. 

Odda and Chance were good friends. 

Odda was a good friend to us after Chance died.  She came to visit more often...we would sit outside with her until Jo came to get her...sometimes we would take her home.  Sometimes when we were gone to town she would be waiting for us when we got home.  We were her safe place. 

Bernese Mountain dogs are loyal, gentle dogs.  She loved to sit on my foot and get a good scratch.

There was no sitting yesterday...but she did lift her head up for a while...we got to pet her and say our goodbyes.  Goodbye Odda come to visit. 

We will miss our visits.  Our neighbor Jo will miss her girl Odda so very much.  It isn't easy to lose our four legged friends.

 Odda is survived by her little brother Putz or Putzer...who is almost blind...but his hearing and sense of smell is pretty good as he took the crumbs of a treat out of my hand.  He will miss Odda too...as she was the Alpha dog...poor Putz.

Far Side

Projects and Visitors

Projects were varied yesterday.  It was hot outside.  In the morning I woodcarved  and worked on my milk can project.  (It involved water and Dawn dish soap and a trip to the greenhouse for drying.)

My brothers and wives were visitors.  During the day and in the evening.

Fawn in our yard.  My baby brothers bride took this photo.

I cleaned part of the linen closet in the downstairs bath...the shelves with baskets of like types of medications; cold stuff., cough stuff, wound stuff, stuff to make you poop or to stop you from pooping...(that is Far Guys stuff...I prefer cheese or dried apricots), all types of Aspirins PM, all day, low dose etc...I thought I was low on toothpaste....not so much as I found 5 tubes.

After that adventure I worked on some of my stamped cards...coloring with various mediums and using glitter!

After supper I attacked some ants that want to move near the house.   Toward dark Odda came to visit.

She still loves us.

Far Side

Part Time Dog

We have a part time dog, we are her safe place.  She gets nervous when there is shooting in the area…hunting season is open for Partridge/Grouse, Rabbits, Squirrels, Fox, Turkey etc… when we are walking we usually hear some kind of shooting especially on the weekends. 

So Odda gets scared/or gets a wild hair and she comes to visit…she knows the routine…she comes to the window to announce her arrival by wagging her big old fluffy tail on the window.  We call her Mom and then go out and get some “Odda time.”  She is always happy when her Mom comes to get her.

Odda is a Berner..a Bernese Mountain Dog.  They don’t live a long life only 6-8 years so Odda is living on borrowed time…she is nine years old.

She and Chance were good pals…we cannot tell if she looks for him or not.  She is always  happy to see us.  If we are not home she waits for us. We have known her since she was a pup.  Sometimes I think she just misses us and comes for a visit.

Friday Before Christmas

What a weather week…and it ain’t over yet.  Thursday we were at 31F or 0C…remember last Sunday it was –29F or –20C eh?  That is 60 degrees difference.  Today it is supposed to be warmer than 31F…we will see.  This warmer weather allowed me to wash the nose prints off the windows.

Odda came to visit Chance so we had double the nose prints.  She was lonely. She knows where we live and that we will call her Master to come and get her.

We had big fluffy snowflakes on Wednesday.

I had a nice walk outside with the dogs. It was quiet as the snow fell, the birds and squirrels were all hiding. 

We may have rain on Christmas Day and then snow. It may be a blizzard. We will see how it all pans out…pretty strange weather.  I should have my head examined…cause I just wish it would stay about zero to 10 above all winter.  The roads are a mess;  slippery, snow packed, melting, freezing.  It would be okay if you were the only idiot on the road…but there are lots of idiots that want to go faster into the ditches.

We still have 8 inches of snow at the snowstick.  Snow settles. I have more shoveling to do.  It is a part time job.

I have a few odds and ends to pick up in town and then I am done.  I have two packages to deliver and some freshly baked loaves of Pumpkin Bread.  I made some gluten free loaves, they taste ok but they look not so pretty. I had to fight to get them out of the pans!  They are for my Dad and my Aunt…both will undertand that I am not really a baker.  Come to think of it, I have had that problem before and I just used paper muffin cups…well it is too late for that now.  I will have to make a notation on my recipe.  I should have bought 3M stock years ago…with the amount of Post It notes I use.

Jo

Our neighbor Jo has a very artistic flair.  She paints, sews and creates all kind of fun stuff.
This was our Christmas gift.

Can you tell she knows me well?  The designs are wood burned into the wood utensils.

I told her they are too pretty to use.  She said she uses hers all the time. 
This is Odda. OR Odda come to visit.

Odda belongs to Jo but every so often something clicks in this girls brain and she takes off and comes to our house about 3/4 mile away.  It happens most often when Jo is gone, but not all the time…sometimes she is home…there doesn’t seem to be a real rhyme or reason for Odda’s behavior.

She is happy at our house, Chance likes her and they get along quite well.  However…we would rather she stay at home…we are afraid that she might get hit by a car or someone might shoot her thinking she is a bear.  She doesn’t have a mean or vicious bone in her body…but just the pure size of this dog can be intimidating. We have known this dog since she was eight weeks old. (She loves us.)

We have tried paying no attention to her until Jo shows up to fetch her…it doesn’t work.  She is always so happy to see us…we know she is here by the whack, whack, whack sound of her bushy tail hitting the kitchen window.

Hooch, Chance and Odda  May 14, 2009

We wish we knew what we should do or not do…having a dog that runs away from home is not a good thing.  She is about seven years old now…and not likely to change her behavior…so we give her a good amount of loving and answer the phone “Lost and Found.”

Safe place

Odda came a visiting yesterday.  We have been unable to discover what scares her. ..sometimes it is gun shots, sometimes if she knows a butchering is going to happen there on the farm she runs off.  Sometimes I think she just wants to visit. Sometimes it is as if she knows we will call Jo to come and get her and she will get extra attention. We are her safe place.

She and Chance get along just fine. Putz stays at home and doesn’t follow her. She is so happy to see us, her tail wags ninety miles per hour!

Chance and Odda ( Bernese Mountain Dog)

I sat outside with her for awhile, then she came inside to visit.  I decided to take her back home and about that time Steve came to get her.  He was disgusted with her…like all dog owners he wants her to stay home.

The sun was out but the wind was cold.  Our high for the day was 21 F or –6 C eh!

Our Drive on Saturday Night

The wheat in this area is ready to be combined.  There were three combines out in the field.  (Corporate Farming)

In this photo two are working close together.  The third one was off in the distance.  We were glad that the breeze was from the east today…blowing the grain dust away from us.

We finished our drive…didn’t see any deer…I suppose the combine noise kept them in the woods.

Stopped by to visit with Chance’s friends  Odda and Putz.

Putz and Chance played ball and then Putz talked Chance into a game of tag…herding dog games!

Odda just likes to be close to us and enjoys being petted.  Here she is cuddled up as close to Far Guy as she can get!

Steve was out in the field combining peas.  ( Non Corporate Farmer)

The peas will be hog feed.

The weather is about to turn from hot and dry to hot and wet with storms.  So farmers are hustling to bring crops in. 

I didn’t take a photo of the corn field..the non irrigated corn fields are shriveling up and dying…the rain will be too little too late to save the corn.

Chance: My Friends

Hiya it is me Chance!  It snowed again… Far Side is in a foul mood.  I wouldn’t call her on the phone if I had one.  She did venture out with her camera.

This is me and Little Elvis.  We played ball…he was getting tired.  I think he and Miney must sleep all day long at home.  We all piled on the bed at naptime..cause the snow was sliding off the roof in big clumps.  You could hear the snow slide and then a big kerplopp.

Miney looks good with snowflakes!  I love Miney, we have been friends practically since forever..well since she was little and I was one year old.  Her real name is Hermione but my sister is the only one who calls her that…mostly when she is in trouble.

Odda showed up to play.  She must have heard us outside playing ball.  Far Side was playing loudly.

Odda came to the window and made everyone bark.  I like Odda.  Miney and Little Elvis not so much they think she is big and scary. She is kinda big…but don’t tell her that! I went outside and played with Odda until her Mom came.  Odda is visiting lots lately.  We don’t know why…is she lonely…she has Putz and he stays home.  Is she scared or just bored? 

I know the way to Odda’s house but I am not allowed to go there by myself.  The last time I left the yard I got hollered at and Far Side tied me up to a tree by the door.   I don’t like being tied up…or getting hollered at.

I am glad I have good friends like Odda, Putz, Miney and Little Elvis.

The Brown Report

Well it is better than the white report, since we have nothing green it is the brown report.

It is what it is.  April in Minnesota can be anything from near zero to 80.  Back in 1977 it was 80 degrees and we all thought we would die from the heat. I hosted a birthday party for a whole bunch of little girls in sundresses that year.

Trica our oldest daughter is 42 today.  In 1972 there was snow in piles and lots of mud the day we brought her home from the hospital.  

We are dry this year, the little bit of snow we got the other day is long gone…didn’t even make mud.  I am sure the annual spring fires will start any day. 

Spring could arrive any day now.  The Juncos have been visiting and along with them they brought a few Gold Finches and one lonely Purple Finch.  The Finches are scarfing down the Niger Thistle Seed.  Junco’s or Snowbirds are usually ground feeders..  we saw a few in the feeders today, they must have been really hungry!

Odda The Bernese Mountain Dog from down the road visited again yesterday, her arthritis is worse she had a real hard time jumping in the car.  She loves Chance’s homemade pumpkin treats.  She wasn’t real keen on going home…she must like us.

 

Is it a bear or Odda?

Sometimes Odda gives us a bit of a scare…she is big and black and kinda looks like a bear if she is running.  Sometimes she shows up when I am in the kitchen…having a dog her size right outside the window at your eye level can be a tad frightening.   I think she looks inside to see if we are home.

She lives a half mile away.  If something scares her…like a gunshot… she takes off from her home and shows up at our place. 

Odda is a Bernese Mountain Dog or Berner

She has known us from when she was a puppy.  She is gentle and wouldn’t hurt a fly.

Yesterday she was waiting for us when we got back from running errands.  She and Chance played for a bit, she wanted to go INSIDE…no Odda you have to go home girl.  She loads easy in the back of the car.  She knows the routine…usually we give her a treat and water before taking her back home…visiting your “safe place” should always be enjoyable.

Chance: Making new friends

I have a new friend.  His name is Putzer and he lives just down the road.   He is Odda’s new brother. 

He is just a little bit of a dog.

I was patient with him, however I did growl when he bit my tail.

I told you he is just a little bit of a dog.

Odda is having a hard time.  Far Side says Odda’s nose is outta joint but her nose looked fine to me.  One day this week Far Guy thought there was a bear in our yard, turned out it was just Odda running away from home.  We brought her inside and we called her Mom.  Odda was in big trouble. We were just happy that we were home and could be a safe place for her to run away to.

One time when I was little and got confused and ran across the road into the field, Jo and Leah stopped and picked me up.  They saved me then…so it is only right that we watch out for each other when we can.

The little bit of a dog named “Putzer”  is an Australian Shepherd.  Odda is a Bernese Mountain Dog and me..well I am a Border Collie that blogs:)

Chance: Free free at last

Hiya!  It is I, Chance the most handsome blogging Border Collie in Minnesota!

I am free, free at last.  It snowed and all the skunks S.H.O.U.L.D. be in hibernation for the winter.  There are only deer, rabbit and fox tracks out there…along with mine of course!

Getting skunked was the worst.  Far Side can’t get over it and reminds me almost daily to “Leave all the skunks alone.”  She doesn’t care if they are looking for bird seed or wandering through the yard..I am to leave them alone.  Do you know how hard it is for a Border Collie not to herd something?

I am allowed outside by myself now.  I am very good about staying in my yard.  Far Guy and I go for several walks everyday, out of the yard..together.  We keep the wood fires burning down at the shop.  Far Guy takes his phone just in case he falls and breaks a hip or something..and IF I come back by myself like I did yesterday Far Side will take me in her car to go see what the problem is.  ( There was no problem..just a bunch of guys loading up an old tractor and Far Guy was helping.) For awhile it was me and Far Side to the rescue!  I love it when she says “Chance get in the car!”

The deer are now running through my yard.  There must be a whole herd of them.  I bark at them..but I do not chase them.  Far Side calls them “Tick Carriers” and wishes that more of them would have met their demise during hunting season.

I went to see Odda last Sunday..she musta been missing me because she was real happy to see me!

Odda has her own furball…I didn’t chase her either. We had a good visit.  Yesterday I heard that Odda was off to the Doctor for a little surgery..so she cannot have puppies.  Far Side  said “No Puppies..that is sad.”  Oh well..I cannot have puppies either… and she wasn’t real heart broken when she drug me to the Vet for my “little surgery.”  So she should just get over it!

That cats name is either Sophie or Sophia Furball, Odda has two cats and it is hard to remember which one is which:)

September 10, 2011

Jo invited us over for supper last night..it was wonderful..she is a good cook. Roast pork and  potatoes and slices of tomato..and Angel Food cake and raspberries for dessert.  Yummy!!

 

Chance and Odda.  You can see that the trees are starting to turn and the grass has gone dormant.  The dogs only sat still for a minute.

The moon is almost full over a potato field.  The harvest should be starting soon..the weather is most likely too warm, it was 90 degrees today:)