Tag Archives: bananas

Bananas for Bananas!

Posted on July 20, 2011 | 8 comments

Good morning everyone!

Tyra

My sweet and gentle Tyra called me a name yesterday.  It was the kind of look she usually reserves for those times when, after three days of rain, we are forced to throw her out into a downpour whether she likes it or not so she can take care of essentials.  My crime? 

I failed to share a banana with her. 

Unlike humans, dogs have a limited sense of taste, but one of the flavors they can taste is sweet.  Apparently, a banana hits Tyra’s taste buds in just the right way, because I have never met a dog that is as crazy for them as she is. 

In spite of the slight dulling of some senses that comes as dogs age, (Tyra is 10 now), she still is super-sensitive to bananas.  For example, I will be asleep in one room, with the door closed and Tyra and Mandy asleep with me. Mark, in the other room, will tip-toe into the kitchen, grab a lone banana from the fruit bowl and tip-toe back to the den to get ready to eat it.  Before he even begins to peel it,  Tyra is awake, prancing by my bedside, and sending Mandy up on the bed to walk on my hair to wake me up so that Tyra can go claim her share.  (Darwin is a non-factor because he usually sleeps in the den anyhow.)

Whenever Tyra is about to get a piece of banana, she does a little tap/river dance as the banana piece is broken off and handed to her.  Therefore the maximum entertainment value in providing Tyra with a piece of banana is obtained when you give it to her while she is standing on the wooden floor. 

The Rule of Three

Darwin and Mandy are not as wild about bananas, but they do expect the Rule of Three (one for Tyra, one for Mandy, one for Darwin) to be followed, so normally in our family when someone wants a banana, they have to get two – one for themselves, and one to share with the dogs.  Kayla, never having known anything else, finds that to be quite normal, but Mark and I are still bemused by it.  My mother, when she visits, loves to buy bananas simply to have some to give to Tyra.

Fortunately, Tyra doesn’t hold a grudge, so shortly after I finished the banana she forgave me.  However, a trip to the store will soon be in order, as we are now down to three bananas, and I’m not sure if she’ll be willing to forgive me a second time!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

8 Comments

Posted in dogs, Pets, working mom

Tagged , , , , , , ,

The Accidental Haircut, Rain, Bananas and Light Bulbs

Posted on March 1, 2011 | 2 comments

  • Mark’s New Look

As mentioned yesterday, Mark also has a new look, quite by accident.  Right before bedtime Sunday night, he decided to trim his hair just a little bit over his ears.  Unfortunately, at the same time, Darwin popped onto the bathroom sink with his paws to see what was going on, and bumped Mark’s elbow just enough to cause the clippers to take a free swipe at about a quarter size spot on the front side of his head, completely shaving off all of the hair on that one spot.  Mark then made the mistake of asking for my help.  In spite of my best efforts (please note that there is a reason God steered me away from a career in cosmetology), by the time I had spent ten minutes on it, it looked like we were headed for a complete hair shave.  The three dogs, who have been shaved with clippers of their own before, all sat in front of the bathroom door looking greatly concerned.  Right before we hit the point where all of the hair on his head would have had to be shaved off, Mark remembered that we had some additional razor guards.  He went and found them, and then was able to blend the hair that was left on the top of his head into the part that was shaved so that he now has what looks like a very close crew cut on the top of the head.  The three dogs finally left their post in front of the bathroom door when the clippers stopped making noise, with a sigh of relief as they realized that the clipping was going to stop with Mark.

  • Rain and Bananas

Rain and bananas are two topics that tend not to go together – unless you have an Australian Shepherd mix named Tyra.  She has two idiosyncracies.  The first is her attitude towards water in general, and rain in particular. 

Tyra does not do water.  Period. Sincerely.  The first day we got Tyra from the humane society, back in 2004, we put her in the spare bathtub to give her a bath, and apparently managed to traumatize her for life.  To this day, she refuses to come into the bathroom if someone is in the bathtub, or within reach of a bathtub full of water.  This general attitude towards water is folded into a more specific attitude toward rain.  Tyra does not like to go outside when it rains – unless a human is willing to put on a raincoat and walk out there with her.  In our old city, I managed to walk her through Hurricane Dennis by doing just that.  I was the only person dumb enough to walk outside at the time, but the dog was desperate, and I was fond of the carpet.  We’re not sure how she does it, but even when we have the dogs outside and an unexpected gully washer comes up, though the other two dogs will be soaked to the skin, Tyra remains bone dry.  We have wondered if she makes the other two sit on top of her or something!

Last night, a front moved through, and right about the time we got home, the bottom fell out, which meant I had to force Tyra out in the rain, which brings us to the other idiosyncracy, bananas.  She moped a little bit all evening, until Mark decided to have a couple of bananas for dessert.  Tyra loves bananas.  You can have her on the other end of the house, with three doors shut between her and the kitchen, and the minute someone picks up a banana, she just knows and begins begging her way to the spot where the bananas are.  She has a little tap dance she does once she knows the bananas are on their way.  So, today, her forced sojourn into the rain this evening was assuaged just a little bit by the banana she got to have.  (Mark gave her one all to herself, since the other two dogs happened to be outside at the time.)  She then sat on the couch for another thirty minutes thumping her tail and looking at Mark in hopes that other bananas would be forthcoming.

  • Light Bulbs

We have very interesting light bulbs in the den of our house.  They are spotlight bulbs, and for whatever reason, they tend to go out at least in pairs, if not in triplets, about every three months.  We finally got tired of it, and bought a large supply of light bulbs that are supposed to last for at least two years.  We replaced the last one today.  (The time before when it went out with two others, Mark was able to tighten it and get it to come back on, while the other two were really dead.)  If any of them go out before 2013, I am going to be very disappointed!

2 Comments

Posted in Just stuff...

Tagged , , , ,