Category Archives: LIVING WITH MLLE. RENEE
Living and loving a four-footed friend and companion.
MLLE. RENEE CELEBRATES HER FIFTH!
By everyone’s guesstimate, Mlle. Renee was probably born in early May of 2008. So, Renee and I decided that we would celebrate her birthday each year on Mother’s Day. And even though neither Renee or I know who or what her mother is/was, all things considered, that is a rather cool day on which to be born. And Renee really did love her mom. Anyway, today we celebrated! But I’ll let her tell you about that.
I was so excited about my birthday today I just couldn’t sleep. Would you believe it, I’m actually five today, and you know what that means in human years? That’s right, the big three five, which means from now on numbers don’t count for birthdays. The first thing I did was to go in and wake Rob up. He grumbled something about sleeping in, but after I shook the bed a dozen or more times he got up and opened the door so I could go out and run around and check the grounds for intruders like rabbits … and snakes. I hate snakes even more than Rob does. But I’m not afraid to pick them up like he is! I pick them up with my teeth and shake them silly … or until they stop wiggling around. There were no intruders, so I went back in the house and jumped into bed with him. He won’t say anything, but I think he likes when I snuggle next to his legs and warm his legs on chilly mornings like today. After a while the radio started playing music and it was time for Rob to get up and make breakfast. He gave me dry IAMS, and made flaky layer biscuits for himself. I gave him the mean on man stare, and he finally gave in and removed a couple of layers of his biscuit … spread a little butter on them … and put them on top of the IAMS. I really didn’t want the layers of the biscuit, but how else was I going to get the butter. I licked the butter of the biscuit layers, and when I saw him watching me I ate the layers, too. The IAMS can wait until I get hungry later.
After breakfast it was PRESENT TIME. I don’t know why he wraps things up … he knows I’ll only rip the paper up and he’ll bitch about cleaning up the mess on the floor. But the present was too cool to rule! It was a snazzy new, and totally fashionable nylon necklace of red, pink and purple. I ❤ it totally! It goes so well with my hair.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t cover the dent in my neck all the time. That happened when I was just a little pup before I was rescued by HSMO. They picked me up on the street and discovered a tight rope collar had embedded itself into my neck. I was kind of skinny, too. So after the nice ladies gave me something to eat, the doctors waited until I dozed off and while I was sleeping they surgically removed the old rope that was growing into my neck. They wrapped it up with medicine I didn’t like, but when I got well and healthy after a few months they let Rob take me home with him.
You can still see where my neck was hurt, but my new necklace will cover that up most times. So I’ll never take it off!. It has three cool charms on it that jingle-jangle when Rob takes me for walks. One charm is a golden bone engraved with my name. Another says I’ve had all my shots and vaccinations. And the last I’m a natural-born doggie of West Walnut Manor.
And that’s not all! Rob also made me some special treats!
They’re carob chip, peanut butter and oatmeal cookies. Carob is sort of like chocolate, but isn’t. Rob says chocolate is bad for me, but he eats it all the time. So that’s why he made me these special cookies.
Smells good!
Tastes even better!
Even the crumbs are good.
Don’t know why Rob won’t eat any of them.
Oh, well, just more for me!
This has been my best birthday yet!
HIJINKS WITH MLLE. RENEE
Yesterday, I was racing to get all of the lawns mowed before our next week of rain (and possible snow) begins. I was doing pretty good until my stomach started to growl. So I called time out for a bologna sandwich break. Naturally, Mlle. Renee followed close behind when she heard bologna. See, we have a little game we play whenever I make a bologna sandwich. We call it Catch the baloney worm. As you probably know, when you make a bologna sandwich a portion of the sausage meat always remains stuck to the red bologna casing. I always run a paring knife around the inside of the casing and remove the long thin remnant of meat. It does sort of look like a long thin worm.
So Renee sits at the end of the table and waits for me to drop the baloney worm.
Please note that the baloney worm is not sitting on her nose. The camera caught it falling in mid-air. A fraction of a second later, her tongue darted out and caught the baloney just like a lizard. She never misses.
Do you think we have too much time on our hands? Guess my mother would have said, “Stop playing with your food!”
THE LADY IN RED IN BED
Mlle Renee woke me up at 6:30 this morning. She had to go out and … you know. It was just starting to snow and only sticking on the deck and a couple of the colder areas of the grass. She was out and back in a flash and after a quick rub down with her fluffy towel, she decided she’d sleep in a little longer in my bed … just to keep me warm. She’s a very thoughtful companion. So we slept in until 11:30.
There was a lot more snow on the ground when we looked out the door this time, and though it was falling in a thick untoasted corn flake fashion she decided she had to patrol the grounds. When I looked out a couple of minutes later she was frolicking like a puppy or a human five-year old. (Renee won’t be five until Mother’s Day, which would make her going on to 35 in human years. She prefers to stop counting years at that point.) After walking around the house for a while, she decided that my room and my bed was the warmest place for her to warm up.
Playing in snow can be so exhausting … cold and wet, too!
MLLE RENEE AND I
Well, it’s Adoption Anniversary today, and Renee and I have been buddies for four years now. And this is the first picture I ever took of her. That was when we got home from the Humane Society of Missouri. She was nine months old.
To celebrate our anniversary, we shared a slice of toasted Italian bread with butter and marmalade for breakfast. The I immortalized her with an original origami paper sculpture. 
She might look a little sad in the origami because I didn’t toast a second slice of Italian bread. 
But she doesn’t think the origami looks anything like her. I told her you have to use your imagination with origami. She said imagine me another slice of toast.
Then I gave her the anniversary gift that she knew I was hiding in a bag on top of the wardrobe ever since I bought it at the after-Christmas sail at the pet store.
I think she liked it. I both crinkles and squeaks, and she’s been playing with it all day. When she thought I wasn’t looking, she snuck into the house and carried her dragon out into the yard where she proceeded to shake it up like a snake and the throw it up into the air.
When we returned from our afternoon constitutional, I picked it up and carried it back into the house. She came into the house too, and now they’re both taking a nap in the living room.
That’s my girl,
And that’s how we spent our anniversary today.
ROB AND RENEE TAKE A WALK … AGAIN!
Well, the temps reached the 40s this afternoon and Renee and I were able to once again take our (almost) daily constitutional. We had missed a few days when the temps were hovering in the teens.
She gets so excited when I ask her if she wants to go for a walk. You’d think I’d offered her a cat sculpture made out of liver … or in her case bacon and butter. As I put on my shoes and coat, she keeps running from me to the rocking chair where he walking leash hangs to the front door back to me, the chair, the door … repeatedly.
Because we had missed a couple of days of walks, she picked up speed a couple of times so that I had to trot. She thinks it’s her job to keep me in shape.
In addition to her usual stops to visit with friends and checking to smell who else had walked on her path, she discovered …
An elf habitat, or should that be hobbitat?
I checked it out and told her it was either a squirrel or chipmunk hole. And she asked me if I had ever seen a chipmunk in the neighborhood. Since I have never seen a chipmunk in my life outside of a Disney cartoon I was forced to agree that it was an elf hole.
Even though it has to be elves who enjoy eating nuts and acorns.
Other than that, our walk was nice but totally uneventful.
HOME ALONE ON A SUNDAY WITH MLLE. RENEE AND A COLD
Considering the weather we’ve been having, it’s really not hard to be under the weather. And Mlle. Renee hasn’t learned how to say, “Aww, poor Robbie, does he have a tolb in his noeb and a fever in his head?”
So I get no sympathy at all around here. Well, that’s not true, because she did let me sleep in until ten this morning. And we also had a nap this afternoon on the sofa. But she couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to go outside and play with her. To humor her I did put on my coat to walk around the grounds and leave some seed for our winged friends. I also noticed that during our recent January thaw a number a plants thought it was spring and began sprouting. Stupid plants if they would have listened to the weather wizards they would have know that we’re headed for a near zero night and first part of the week.
Somehow I really don’t think those sunflower seed shells are going to do much to protect those little sprouts. So after leaving some seed for the birds (and Mr. Squiggly the squirrel), I convince Renee to go inside where it was warm.
Now, I sometimes have a problem with proverbs and old wives’ tales. Probably because I don’t have an old wife to nag me to death by reciting them all the time. So I really didn’t know if it is “Feed a cold, and starve a fever.” or “Starve a cold, and feed a fever.” But since I had both along with this horrific craving for baked goods, I went inside to mess up my recently cleaned oven by baking something.
My first craving was for some fresh whole wheat bread to go with the jar of strawberry jam in the fridge.
So I whipped up this crusty cob loaf of bread.
Then I had a craving for something chocolate …
So I whipped up some deep dark double chocolate muffin dough which I spread in shallow pan and topped with dollops of dark chocolate cream cheese and flaked coconut before baking. It baked up into a rich, chocolate confection that resembled a super moist brownie that was to die for.
Then I just heated a can of vegetable beef barley soup for dinner. You have to eat some veggies.
So now I have enough muffins, brownies and whole wheat bread to last for two weeks. Mlle. Renee just reminded me she can’t eat chocolate, and why didn’t I use carob. Poor dog, she doesn’t know the medicinal qualities of real chocolate.
A SPRING WALK WITH MLLE. RENEE
I know it’s still winter, but the temps were in the 60′s yesterday when Renee took me for my walk. And here’s what we saw …
I got a little laugh out of that billboard … mainly because DIY always results in OMG whenever anyone in my family attempts a seemingly simple home improvement. I guess that makes it an inherited trait and/or handicap.
And also because it was such a nice day and we took an extra long walk, Renee and I saw five examples of the results of our summer draught.
I posted a picture of this old farmhouse a couple of years ago. This time one of the tall old trees that stood next to the house has just fallen over at ground level. The roots had all decayed. We saw three more trees at various location that had done the same thing. We also saw this tree that is starting to pull out of the ground.
I checked the trees in my yard when we got home and they all seem firmly grounded.
HIGH ENERGY REFLECTIONS IN A RAIN PUDDLE
We also had to walk around this big puddle of Thursday’s all-day rainfall on one of the side streets on our way home. Renee does not walk in rain puddles.
We skipped our walk today. Though the weather was nice early this morning, we have had very strong winds. Also the temp has been dropping a degree or two every quarter-hour, and it’s getting rather frosty out. It’s supposed to hit the low 20s by midnight with freezing rain turning into sleet and ultimately snow.
Think I’ll make a pot of soup or chili for dinner.
NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH MLLE. RENEE
What’s a poor dog to do on the last day of the year when the snow is falling and blowing around and getting the poor puppy paws wet and cold?
Well, she has to stay inside and play. Which can be a real problem when you can’t find the right toy that you want to play with. So, you just haul them out of the toy box and scatter them all around the living room floor. Proving that dogs and kids are all the same sometimes.
Happy New Year to all!
From Rob and Renee
MAKING TRACKS WITH MLLE. RENEE!
Today was the kind of day where you just wanted to snuggle up with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate. Unfortunately Mlle. Renee cannot have hot chocolate and while she has on occasion been seen promoting a good book that deals with canine issues she supports …
She really cannot read.
And also, she doesn’t think I should be reading when I could be taking her for a walk … even though it was dull, dreary, damp and damn cold out!
But she is persistent!
And who can say no to those pleading eyes?
So, I bundled up like Ralphie’s little brother Randy … 
I went outside to brave the November chill!
Today, Renee decided to explore the tracks left by others.
CATS!
DOGGIES!
HUMANS!
AND REALLY DUMB HUMANS
WHO DON’T HAVE ENOUGH SENSE TO AVOID WALKING ON WET CEMENT!
And with that display of how dumb some two leggers can be, Renee decided to go home where it was warm inside.
Snow flurries due tonight, and that book is really sounding like the way to go!
Note … Ralphie’s brother Randy’s photo is from my favorite Christmas movie of all time – A CHRISTMAS STORY.
BE VERY, VERY WARY …
Of invaders in your apple baskets!
Mlle. Renee has been on red alert the last several days for invaders, terrorists, and things that might go bump in the apple basket that sits on the kitchen table. Every time she comes in the house from playing outside, she scours the entire kitchen from top to bottom with emphasis to the apple basket that resides in the middle of the kitchen table.
Now, Mlle. Renee does not particularly like apples. Wouldn’t touch one unless you wrapped it in bacon! So why is she so protective of the apples that reside on the table. I like to think that she’s just looking out for my welfare, but I think she’s just checking to see if any of the apples have disappeared. She knows that if an apple has been used, I might have made apple toast. While she doesn’t like apples, she does have a strong attachment to whole wheat bread that has been buttered, covered with sliced apples sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and baked in the oven to near apple pie taste perfection. She also knows I always give her the last bite of mine when I eat a slice.
So be sure to check your apples for intruders.
... a somewhat unknown or perhaps imaginary actor, writer, director, producer, photographer, friend, brother, uncle and all round good fellow that you really should get to know because he lives with that most glamorous fourpaw Mademoiselle Renee. (Mlle. Renee for short)
