Animals

The Harper Chronicles: Harper or Sassy

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Hi Everyone! It’s been a looong time, but I’m back! Since I’m older, Mom doesn’t always know what to write about me, and she doesn’t take quite as many photos of me as she used to.

For today’s post Mom wanted me to share about some of the waggish things I do since I’ve exhibited such behaviors twice this past Monday. 😀

There’s one lady in the neighborhood that Mom talks to more than any other, and this lady has a little dog. I always want to greet this dog when I see her out in her yard. She always comes to the gate, (her entire yard is fenced in), to greet me. She’s the dog “sitting” in the photo below. Her name is Daisy. The body in the photo is her mom. The other dog was in an earlier post here. Her name is also Daisy.

Anyway, I like to play — A LOT! But the Daisy, who is sitting in the yard above, does NOT, especially not with me. Mom encourages me to just run around by myself and let Daisy alone, but I really want a playmate, so I constantly get in Daisy’s face, trying to spark a playful mood in her. Unfortunately, all I accomplish is antagonizing her, and she nips at me. Then her mom scolds her. Well, this is what happened on Monday, and after I tried several times to get Daisy to play, Mom decided it was time to go home. I was very disappointed.

Later that same day, Mom sat on the loveseat and picked up her Bible to read, and I decided I wanted her to play with me. So, I nipped at her Bible. She told me, “No!” I did it again. Mom told me “No” again and tapped me on my nose with her fingertips. So, I tapped her on the arm with my right front paw! Mom couldn’t believe I did that. She said, “I am scolding you. I am in charge. You are not supposed to tap me back!”

That’s where the “Sassy” in the title of today’s post comes in. Because, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts I talk to Mom–interrupting her when she’s working and butting into conversations between her and Dad are two of the examples of “talking to her” that I’m not supposed to do. So, between this and the examples of my behaviors above, Mom said, “If I would’ve waited until now to name Harper, I may have chosen to name her “Sassy” instead of Harper!”

The people she tells this story to think that’s funny. I do not. :/

The Harper Chronicles: Enjoying Autumn Leaves

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Hello Everyone! Yes, I know, I’m a day late. My posts are supposed to post on Wednesdays, but this is Thursday. All I can say is life is busy and sometimes messy, which doesn’t always allow us to adhere to a strict schedule. Add to that, that my mom was a homeschool mom for a little more than twenty years and always had a flexible schedule, and all I can say is “old habits die hard”.

So, anyway, many of the leaves have fallen in our area, and I love to walk through the crunchy leaves that pile on the ground. Also, as you can see in the photo above, I like to lie in the sun on top of crunchy leaves while mom talks to some of the neighbor ladies.

Here at our house, my family is looking forward to Thanksgiving day, when the family will gather together for a meal and time to catch up on each others’ lives. I, however, will not be part of the celebration with the family because it will not take place in our home. But I will enjoy getting to see my oldest boy for a short while, then having a relaxing evening with the family after all the festivities have ended.

In the meantime, Mom continues living the busy life of an independently published author working on her next book, trying to market the currently published book, and making bookish swag to send along with the books that have been directly ordered, from her, as Christmas gifts. In addition, she continues to take care of those who still live in our house, as well as the household itself, and her aging mother. Sometimes she gets overwhelmed and frustrated by it all. She relies on prayer — hers, and those of others, and some down time and snuggle time with me. She spends time reading a book for about two hours every evening before bed so that she can wind down and go to sleep, and during that time, I lie next to her to keep her company and let her know I love her.

How are you other dogs out there taking care of your humans?

Not sure when the next post will appear nor if it will be written by mom or me, but stay tuned because one of us will post, even if it is sporadically, because we enjoy keeping in touch with all our readers here.

A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure by Angela Bell

/ kellyfbarr / 6 Comments

A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure is the debut novel of Angela Bell, and what a debut it is!

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book, and once I did, I couldn’t wait to read it. While reading it, I found it increasingly difficult to put down. Unfortunately, I only have 2-3 hours each evening to spend reading. However, this past Sunday, I spent about 5 hours reading this book because I enjoyed it so much!

I have to say that Angela Bell is an outstanding author. This book is incredibly well written and is very unique. The characters grab your heart from the start. The troubles they face and the adventures they have keep you turning pages. A couple of the characters are quite quirky, which adds some unexpected twists and extra fun to the story. There are even some animal characters that have very interesting personalities and behaviors that add to the uniqueness and adventure. This novel includes adventure, history, steampunk, characters who face struggles that we can relate to, danger, suspense, and a sweet romance. Who could ask for more?

It’s also quite apparent that Ms. Bell not only enjoys using metaphors, but is a master at using metaphors. Her metaphors paint pictures in the reader’s mind and add to the fun of reading this book.

A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure is also a story about faith, and as I read, I found a need to grab a journal and write down my favorite wise and inspirational quotes from the book:

“What-ifs are not acquainted with what-is, and they spread horrid falsehoods about what-will-be, so why bother entertaining them? I’d sooner invite hope into my home — for even when her predictions miss the mark, she makes for pleasant company and eats far less food.”

“Oh Clara Marie. The Lord never promised that life would be safe. But He did promise to be with us always. Whatever the harrowing journey life may bring, rest assured, you shall never be left to face it alone.”

“Romance and adventure are the idealistic scribblings of Austen and Dumas. Like Elizabeth Bennet and Athos, they are not real. Nor do they exist off the page. To believe otherwise is to suffer disillusionment and heartbreak.”

Elizabeth Bennet’s happily-ever-after might be a work of fiction, but love is real enough. Sometimes it takes idealistic scribblings to remind us of that truth when the whole of our very real, very dark world makes it feel like a lie.”

“You are A maker. Not THE Maker.” Miss Stanton gave his hand a firm squeeze. “Just as Grand would never expect a clock to fix its own windings, God would never expect us to mend our own hearts.”

“Lift your face to the heavens, granddaughter mine! Recall the joyous wonder of dwelling and dreaming beneath a canopy of stars, embracing the peace found in total dependence on Him who spoke their radiance into being. That is my wish for you. That is my prayer.”

“Not all people are treated as palaces, admired by travelers and protected by armed guard. Some of us are treated as a cobbled road, trod upon and soon forgotten. That’s just the way of things.”

“Love is much like a flower, child. You can’t guarantee it’ll grow or endure a bitter winter to bloom again. All you can do is plant what you’re given, tend it faithfully, and rely on the God who cares for the lillies of the field as much as He cares for our hearts.”

A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure has definitely won a spot on my Top Ten Favorite Books of All Time and I will never forget characters, Theodore, Clara, Mrs. S, Grand, and even Mr. Forrester, as well as Fred, Phileas, Honorine, and Todd.

I will be eagerly awaiting what Angela Bell has for her readers next.

The Harper Chronicles: Harper’s New Friend

/ kellyfbarr / 1 Comment

I met a new friend this week. As you can probably tell from my posture in the photo above, I immediately wanted to play with her. To Mom’s surprise, she was not afraid of me and she wanted to play with me too. Mom laughed when she playfully growled at me.

My new friend’s name is Daisy. She is a Cavalier King Charles puppy. Mom was finally able to capture a shot of her cute little face in this photo. After we played for awhile, the lady who owns Daisy decided to walk with us, and Mom thought it was so cute how Daisy followed after me. I like my new friend!

The Harper Chronicles: An Update For Mom, and Squirrels

/ kellyfbarr / 1 Comment

Hi, it’s me again, Harper! Mom and I are happy for cooler temperatures. Mom now takes me out in the backyard once or twice a day, not just to do my potty, but to play and to run! I love to run!

I want to give you an update on Mom. She really has tried to faithfully post five days a week here and she’s accomplished it a couple times. However, it’s more than she can possibly do at this time. She has a lot of responsibilities: she takes Grandma to all her medical appointments because Grandma is alone and has some health issues; she takes care of me, which means feeding me breakfast and dinner, lunchtime treats, and after dinner, she gives me glucosamine treats to keep my joints healthy, and she walks me three to four times a day and I already mentioned our time in the backyard — yes, she goes out with me and plays with me. She takes care of our household, which means doing four or five loads of laundry every week, cooking dinner for two to four people, depending on who is going to be home, and cleaning the house. She also is an author and an editor, so she has to spend most of five days a week working on her current novel, doing what she can to market her book to make sales, and as an editor, she works on editing other author’s upcoming books for them. Therefore, I have to tell you that Mom will let me continue to post here every Wednesday. Other than that, Mom will post what she can, when she can, as far as the other days go.

Now let’s talk about squirrels!

See the squirrel in the photo above? Well, this is the largest yard in our neighborhood and there are always lots of squirrels in that yard. I used to want to chase them all the time, but soon realized I’m always on a leash, so I can’t chase them. So, now I will often stop and watch them. That’s what I did when I saw this guy, but I must have made him nervous because he started to move toward a tree.

The photo above is the same squirrel. Partway to the tree, he got curious and stopped to watch us.

We saw the squirrel in the photo above a day or so later in the same yard. He was enjoying a couple acorns and was startled when he first saw me, and he ran to the foot of the tree. Then he stopped, picked up another acorn and the two of us stared each other down for awhile. These little guys fascinate me. They move so fast I’d really like to know if I could catch one if I wasn’t leashed.