The Continuing Tales of Thibodeaux

February is waining ,

and even though the actual days

of celebration have past

we celebrate these wonderful people of

February all year long!!!
Bill Hall
Happy Birthday Bill!



Sean Biddle
Many happy returns , Sean!!

and we will always
remember Mam-maw,
Minnie Robertson.
***
The continuing tales of Thibodeaux...


The seventeenth of February
Thibby turned eleven months old..
and has been a part of our family for the last
nine months...

When Thibodeaux first came home with
us he was a little baby of
around 13 pounds,
with about 52 pounds of
personality...

Over time he has continued to grow..
not only in size and personality
but also in our hearts!

All Great Pyrenees are extremely intelligent
and have been over the multitude of centuries
that they have befriended man and tended
their flocks...
whether those flocks be sheep, goats, llama's...
or the families they live with..
Thibodeaux has many breed traits
that he shares with his sister
Chloe as he does with other Pyr's.
To name a very few..
The Pyr pat,
(A tap ,with their big paw to draw your attention..
which with age "becomes" a gentle tap)
barking as he exits the door,
(to warn any predators that he is on the job
and they need not come around)
Not running to you immediately when you call out his name..
(they will think things through first, and make a decision
as to if that is actually what they should do...)
and many, many more..
and yet
Thibodeaux has also developed
his own
very large personality.
Thibby keeps us grinning,if not out & out laughing..
he is still a puppy
and still thinks of himself
as a
"lap puppy"
With great regularity he still visits my lap,
to sit a short spell and be petted...
upon occasion he has been known to push his
luck with older sister ,Chloe, just a bit to far
,for an older woman's nerves,
so that when she jumps up "fussing"
he has bound straight into his "Mama's" lap
(with the speed and agility to out shine any toy poodle
or miniature wiggler I have ever known!)
He is a very loving boy!
The other day I happened to have the camera in hand
when he decided it was time to sit with Daddy..

***

***Last week our Thibodeaux

spent the night with our new found vet...

(whom I might add I dearly love..they work with the

Great Pyrenees Rescue here

and not only have treated Pyrs before but
also have a love and understanding of them..)

back to the story,

Thibby went for....... "tutoring"

and when he came home he seemed to have learned

more than he had planned...

Bless his heart..

it itched and he did not want to leave it alone..

so now he is having to wear the

"Collar"

or lampshade as we call it...

with another follow up visit this coming week

to see if we might rid ourselves of this headdress...

Due to enduring such atrocities,

and to help as a distraction, he and Chloe now have "Kongs"..
which regularly get filled with "cookies"
and peanut-butter...
Thibby LOVES his Kong!!
he has gone and brought it back ,
dropping it at my feet for more..

sooo...
maybe having to wear a lamp shade is not..
all bad..

Snow for Chloe and Thibodeaux

So far this winter

everyone,

and I do mean everyone,

has had an uncanny amount of snowfall,

that is except for

Greenville and it's surrounding area's...

It would snow inches to feet anywhere else

and we would get rain...

I had come to the conclusion that this

area should hence forth be known as the

"Mud Capitol of the World"!

Miss Chloe being the "Princess" she is

will go out and come back with

only

the very pads of her "tiny" feet dirty..

only to walk them across the

entrance rug,

placed there just for that type of thing..

ON THE OTHER HAND

Thibodeaux...

well, let's put it this way..

he is all

little boy!!!

on a wet and muddy day

he seems to see the back yard

with it's one water hole and one muddy spot

as an exciting amusement park

filled with fun and adventure...

he will run laps around the yard,

making sure to pass through the

water hole with each lap,

thoroughly soaking his under carriage..

then to the muddy "spot"

(a place about twice his length in diameter)

to stand and "Scratch off"

causing mud to fly..

clinging to his back legs and to his belly...

I am not all together sure which he considers more fun..

the mud or the clean up before he can

get to far in the the door...

let me add here that

at this juncture in time at least

my boy has NOT

decided to lay down in the mud and

"waller"!

Ahhh,

then last Friday afternoon

we saw the first few

snow flakes..

I did not hold my breath..

deep down I knew it would not last

and the yard again

would be transformed into a muddy

theme park..

But, lo and behold!!

what should happen?

Four,

yes count 'em,

four wonderful inches

of pure frozen clean white snow!

It was Thibodeaux's first real snow fall !

It accumulated

covering not only the red mud

but also the whole yard,

the neighborhood,

the streets and the whole town...

this snow stretched to

Charleston and they even got

right at an inch in

Savannah!

Chloe and Thibby loved it!!!

And so did I!

***

***

Saturday morning yard inspection...

Here comes the sun...

As the warm beds across the neighborhood

gave up their slumbering children

to dress in layers of warmth

topped off with knitted boggins,

Not only did snowmen start appearing

across the neighborhood

but

entire snow families ,

along with

snow forts with snowballs stacked in

hurried piles beside them..

The air was filled,

not with the usual sound of the rhythmic bouncing

of the basketballs

however,

with the "Splat!!"

of a hurled snowball,

fired at ones best buddy!

Each thrown snowball

followed with joyous laughter

and

boastful promises of the next ones flight path

and estimated landing pattern.

playing opossum...

now, that's a big snowball

a look out the front door

The "Princess" looks out the back door

"Snow in the South is wonderful.

It has a kind of magic & mystery that it has nowhere else.

And the reason for this is that it

comes to people in the south not as the grim,

unyielding tenant of Winter's keep,

but as a strange and wild visitor from the secret north."

Thomas Wolf

***

And now so Miss Bo-Bo

won't feel neglected and forgotten..

a slide ...

She is closing in on eighteen years

and for as long as anyone can truly remember

that tail has been following her around

and upon occasions going so far as to

taunt and aggravate her...

which inevitably leads to..

"The Great Chase"

also known as

"Catch Me if You Can."

She usually catches it ...

for a moment or two

then it

always slips her clutches..

only to continue it's close game of follow the leader..

p.s. Does anyone know where they might sell mud flaps for...puppies?

Melting Snow with Warm Memories of Tybee

In the past few weeks

old man winter has blown

his frigid breath across the

southern part of the United States.

Not an unheard of occurrence..

yet , with this ferocity

a rarity...

snow and ice have continued to

blanket

the neighborhoods,highways and byways

of the

southern and northeastern states..

with the first storm came the

excitement of

snow cream, snowmen and school cancellations...

however,as time passed the local

weathermen seem to not only

give fore warnings of the next upcoming blizzard...

but also reminders to their

viewing public that they are after all

just the messenger...!

Our children in the southern state of Virginia,

like the rest,

with the first snow had a very big time...

They would call and giggle,

tell of fun adventures and fun in the snow...

in the days that followed

digging out and getting over icee roads

seemed to wear down their glee...

So far this season Charlottesville

has received fifty-five inches..

(Yes, Virginia, you are a southern state!)

Carrie found herself a foot

as the snow and ice trapped her vehicle ..

and covered the roads...

off she trudged through and over the snow to work..

now, add more snow and ice..

five hours of shoveling yesterday and what happened?

stuck in the mud...

not to fear a tow truck man was near..

Felice drove through blizzards

so as to make it to work...

yes, now the grumbling is well underway...

the children are no longer thrilled by their winter wonderland..

***

Michael is always such a happy boy!!!

He loves to play and giggle..

with their first snow

he had plans for

hours of uninterrupted winter fun glee!

a BIG snowman

was going to be built..

so big

he said it would eat pizza!

again this year the snow was not

quite wet enough

and the annual "snow turtle"

made his debut.

Joseph pitches in and helps with the construction

early training

Bill starts to dig out.

With the next storm even Michael's

excitement seemed to wane..

after five minutes

playing in the snow he told his mommy

he wanted to go in

and when asked if he wanted to play outside again
he let them know..

he wanted to go fishing...

...

When it warms up,little buddy, when it warms up.
mmmmm..

warmth , sunshine, and fishing..

these thoughts steered my mind toward

our time in

Savannah..

Where all winter was flip-flop season

with fishing

off the tidal river basin docks

and off the pier at

Tybee.

February 2008

I love pelicans!

dolphins swam by several times

that day

but alas, my older cameras response time

was not fast enough.

***

Warm weather ,sun and Tybee

In August

the girls made a quick trip to

Savannah

(sometimes you just have to gather up and check on the old folks)
which included

a couple of impromptu visits to the beach...

an impromptu dip

Mike and our girls

**

Headed to Tybee from Savannah

I wonder if that feighter is headed toward NH?

In November

Mary came to Savannah for a visit

**

fishing from the pier

are you feeling warm yet?

ahhh..

a pelican!

Bill and Felice came to Savannah

for Christmas..

what did we do on Christmas eve day?

went fishing!

(feeding the birds...birdman?)

Look at that baby grin!

She had the BIG catch of the day!

and who should fly over?

why..Santa Claus ...who else?

and then a beautiful sunset...

I hope where ever you are..

if the bitter cold is knocking

at your door...

and

if snow and ice are beginning

to make you grumpy...
that this short walk

down my memory lane

has helped kindle the spark

of your own memories ...

be it

lifting your face to the warmth of the sun

or the ocean foam sliding

over your toes

helping bury them in the warm sand...

whatever it might be

I hope this has helped you remember

and made you happy!