Category Archives: Dogs

First Day of the Last Month

Posted on December 1, 2025 by daeja's view

It looks like we might have our first significant snow storm of the season tomorrow. Of course that prediction could easily change, but I rescheduled a long-distance appointment anyway. As always, over the last month or so the geese in … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Autumn, Cooking, Dogs, Food, Holidays, House plants, nature, Perspective, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Winter | Tagged December, End of November, fallen leaves, impending snow, intention, Japanese Maple, medicine card, missing loved ones, move with intention, murmurations, my red tree, northern lights, one flower standing, onward, Papi-Chi, papillon, The Antelope | 1 Comment

Slow Rollout

Posted on October 19, 2025 by daeja's view

So here we are, mid-October, and it’s rolling out in slo-mo. While other areas are getting color, this little corner of the world (at least my world) has been in a bit of a stall. The maple tree in front … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Animal Stories, Autumn, Dogs, Gardening, House plants, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather | Tagged Autumn, autumn color, Color, colors of autumn, dull fall, dying garden, farmers market, fly swatter, Gardening, Halloween, halloween decorations, homecoming parade, houseplants, jerusalem artichokes, my cowboy boots, no kings, Papi-Chi, papillon, paw-paw season, porch skelly, senior dog, spotted lanternflies, sunchokes, sunsets, writing | Leave a comment

The Dulling

Posted on September 2, 2025 by daeja's view

Summer is closing out and the action surrounding The Urban Porch has very much slowed down. There is a tinge of color on the edges of some leaves. A slight shift in the quality of the light. Cooler nights, great … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Animal Stories, Autumn, Cooking, Daeja's Garden, Dogs, Food, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Seasons, senior musings, summer, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Wildlife | Tagged barred owl, black bears, crow tree, dog adoption, dog rescue, dogs, dull foliage, emotional dullness, Fence Dinosaur, katydid, milkweed, milkweed pods, milkweed seeds, monarch, night sounds, no blooms on morning glories, no figs on my fig tree, weird yew berries, zinnias | Leave a comment

Home Invasion

Posted on August 8, 2025 by daeja's view

It was a little over a week ago, time approximately 3:30 am, when I was awakened by the sounds of crashing and muffled yelling coming from somewhere downstairs. Actually, in my ever-increasing deafness, I felt, more than heard, what appeared … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Animal Stories, Are you kidding me?, Coping, Dogs, Hearing Impaired, nature, Perspective, senior musings, summer, Uncategorized, Wildlife | Tagged Bats, bats in the house, Deafness, feeling unsafe, Hearing Impaired, middle of the night, papillon alert, safety, safety preparedness, safety weapon, unwanted visitors, useless broom, weapon | 4 Comments

A Celebration of Fertility

Posted on May 1, 2025 by daeja's view

There was a dead ant floating inside the teapot yesterday morning, the arrival of such yet another sure-fire harbinger of Spring. This particular teapot has a very narrow spout, which makes it rather nice if you make pour-over coffee. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Animal Stories, Birds, Daeja's Garden, Dogs, Gardening, Holidays, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, Spring, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Wildlife, Wow! | Tagged ants, bees, Beltane, Birds, cycles of flowers, flora, Flowers, Gardening, look in your teapot, May Day, my papillon, nature, new blooms, olfactory bliss, open the windows, photography, Spring, the rotting porch, The Urban Porch, turn turn turn | Leave a comment

A Few Days From Now

Posted on March 18, 2025 by daeja's view

A few days from now we will hit the official Spring Equinox. On and around The Urban Porch, things are happening. Rain has been softening the earth to quench and coax emerging growth. Sun-warmed, once again the crocus and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Cooking, Dogs, Fashion, Food, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Seasons, senior musings, Spring, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather | Tagged banes of curly hair, basking in the sun, Cleopatra haircut, crocus, curly hair, curly haircut, Dutch Baby of the week, Fence Dino, first bee, full worm moon eclipse, gray curly hair, janis joplin pants, long curly hair, lunar eclipse, malachite clouds, nature mimics nature, papillon chihuahua, sparkly pants, Spring, tiny daffodils, two springs, wall of chocolate, warm sunny days | Leave a comment

The Road to Uncle Moustache

Posted on January 14, 2025 by daeja's view

It is beyond explanation why I often awake in the dead of the night with odd memories or curious questions about random subjects, some which can send me scrolling through the internet for verification and answers before being able to … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Are you kidding me?, Dogs, Flashback, Food, Perspective, senior musings, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged 1970's jerusalem, 1970's old city, Damascus Gate, existing, falafel stand, Herod's Gate, life, Memories, my hippie youth, old city, strange days, street food, thoughts in the middle of the night, travel, why am i awake? | 5 Comments

Seasonal Snippets

Posted on December 10, 2024 by daeja's view

Earlier in the week it snowed these little tiny snowballs. Not hail, but actual little snowballs. I thought it was pretty cool. Of course as soon as I tried to scoop some up, they immediately began melting in my hands. … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Autumn, Cooking, Dogs, Food, Holidays, House plants, Perspective, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Winter | Tagged almost winter, apple syrup, chocolate chocolate, comings and goings, dead plants, holiday, Holidays, Little Rudi, passages, regenerating scallions, regrowing scallions, scallions, scenes from the urban porch, snow, winter | Leave a comment

Disease

Posted on November 10, 2024 by daeja's view

Disease: “Any harmful deviation from the normal structural or functional state of an organism. A diseased organism commonly exhibits signs or symptoms indicative of its abnormal state.” Dis-ease: “A particular quality, habit, or disposition regarded as adversely affecting a person or group … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Animal Stories, Are you kidding me?, Autumn, Cooking, Coping, Dogs, Food, nature, Perspective, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Vent, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Weird | Tagged be the light, comfort food, cooking as diversion, dis-ease, disease, distractions, eastern wildfires, eating your stress, family divisions, flowers in november, hateful people, hope and sorrow, my papillon, November, political divisions in families, recipes for sanity, rosy dawn, smoke in the sky, solace in nature, sorrow, thank God for dogs, the election, troll, uneasiness, we need rain, wildfires | Leave a comment

Retrograde

Posted on November 4, 2024 by daeja's view

Whenever a string of mishaps and unfortunate events of daily living transpire, inevitably someone I know will say “Mercury must be in retrograde.” Considering the backward-moving appearance of Mercury that occurs a few times a year is merely an optical … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Are you kidding me?, Autumn, Coping, Dogs, Earworm of the day, Friends, Holidays, Perspective, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™ | Tagged a string of mishaps, Autumn blessings, everything is broken, Halloween, homecoming parade, look for the light, mercury, my sick papillon, nostalgia, parade, retrograde, when things go wrong all at once | Leave a comment

Respect

Posted on May 8, 2024 by daeja's view

I’ve been bouncing between doing a little bit of yard work and planting myself in a chair on The Urban Porch during this spate of gorgeous days. The poppy patch, located in a corner of the front yard by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Are you kidding me?, Daeja's Garden, Dogs, Gardening, nature, Perspective, Photography, Rant, Seasons, Spring, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Vent, Views From he Urban Porch ™ | Tagged disrespectful people, flower thief, garden police, neighborhood garden, picking flowers, picking up after dog, poppies, poppy patch, poppy police, signs, stealing flowers, yard signs | Leave a comment

Unbridled Joy

Posted on April 2, 2024 by daeja's view

Last week a friend and I made plans to go out for a short walk. I waffled about taking my dog Rudi with me, as I had errands to run afterwards and having him with me would inhibit completing them … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Stories, Dogs, Flashback, nature, Perspective, Seasons, senior musings, Spring, treasures, treasures, Uncategorized, Weird, Wow! | Tagged April, connections, dog esp, dog joy, dog walks, esp and dogs, Joy, little dogs, love in their eyes, March, off-leash, papillon, Papillon-Chihuahua, psychic connections, psychic connections with pets, pure love, small dog joy, small dogs, telepathic magic, unbound joy, zoomies | 2 Comments

Funny What the Weather Will Do

Posted on January 27, 2024 by daeja's view

January is bouncing all over the place in both weather and emotions these days. Views From the Urban Porch have been varied and unpredictable. One day I’m staring at an atmosphere so vibrantly blue that it conjures up tropical skies … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Cooking, Coping, Dogs, Earworm of the day, Flashback, Food, Friends, grief, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Views From he Urban Porch ™, Weather, Weird, Winter | Tagged Changes, changing weather, diversions, earworm, grief, ice, January, january deaths, mood, most deaths in january, passages, personal history, retail therapy, sky, sky changes, snow, snowmelt, weather changes, youth | Leave a comment

First Snow

Posted on January 7, 2024 by daeja's view

January has brought our first real snowstorm. It is so fresh and lovely. The Japanese maple leaves on My Red Tree had never quite let go this past autumn. Now they are heavily laden with fluffy clumps, soon to drop … Continue reading →

Posted in Dogs, nature, Perspective, Photography, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized, Weather, Winter | Tagged cozy, first snow, first week of january, haiku, January, Japanese Maple, little dog problems, little dogs, maple syrup snow, Matsuo Basho, my red tree, Piette's House at Montfoucault, Pissarro, snowfall, snowstorm, the white of winter, winter, winter haiku, Winter Solitude | 2 Comments

Summing Up Twenty-three

Posted on December 31, 2023 by daeja's view

Every time it gets to the last days of writing for the year, I visualize a cartoon of myself wiping my brow and saying “Whew! Made it! So here we are again. I’m scrolling back over the posts for this year … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, baking, Birds, Bucket List, Cooking, Coping, Dogs, Earworm of the day, Flashback, Food, Holidays, Perspective, Seasons, senior musings, The Urban Porch, The Urban Porch ™, Uncategorized | Tagged 2023, aging, another year, baking fail, Christmas, dead monsters, earworms, end of the year, Holidays, letting go, New Year, senior musings, senior reflections, summing up, the holiday curse, whew! | Leave a comment

Suspended Animation

Posted on February 26, 2023 by daeja's view

The happenings surrounding the Urban Porch over the last week have been laced with a series of incidents that have been both mildly and somewhat greatly dramatic. A few days ago I was out with the dog for his final … Continue reading →

Posted in Are you kidding me?, Coping, Dogs, Rant, Uncategorized, Vent | Tagged bad tenants, drunk neighbors, evicting terrible tenants, good dogs bad owners, horrible neighbors, neighborhood dirtbags, urban porch, when gentrification is a good thing | Leave a comment

What Tears Are These?

Posted on February 19, 2023 by daeja's view

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,Tears from the depth of some divine despairRise in the heart, and gather to the eyes – Alfred Lord Tennyson When is the last time you cried? And why? Recently – with … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Animal Stories, Dogs, grief, Perspective | Tagged dog rescue sites, old dog adoption, senior dog, special needs dog, tears, transferred grief | 3 Comments

Little Thrills

Posted on December 18, 2022 by daeja's view

A few readers have shared with me that they have been unable to comment on some of my blog posts, that WordPress won’t allow them to register their responses without jumping through a few website hoops. In general I don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking, Coping, Dogs, Food, Holidays, Perspective, Photography, treasures, treasures, Weather, Winter | Tagged crows, gifting, Gumby, hunkering down, laundry lint, little pleasures, no snow, pieces of the past, simple pleasures, winter food | Leave a comment

Ms. Almanac

Posted on November 26, 2022 by daeja's view

The riotous outdoor color show is over. A lacework of sepia and gray branches framing the sky is pretty much what’s left behind, although the grass is still green, for now. I have removed the dead hanging plants from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, baking, Dogs, Holidays, House plants, nature, Uncategorized, Wildlife | Tagged autumn insects, christmas cactus, grandchildren, holiday baking, little dogs, Mema, moving towards winter, the cranberry custard curd, urban wildlife | Leave a comment

Random Goings-on While the Leaves Were Turning

Posted on October 31, 2022 by daeja's view

I vacillate between the excitement of the seasonal splendor and the worries or annoyances regarding larger and smaller events surrounding life these days. The blog postings here tend to go in erratic cycles. I might not post for months and … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Stories, Autumn, Dogs, Perspective, Uncategorized, Wildlife | Tagged autumn ramblings, i burned the granola, local wildlife, my papillon is sick, papillon chihuahua, random thoughts, sick dog | Leave a comment

That Old Beep-Bop Lady

Posted on July 1, 2020 by daeja's view

Down a path in the woods, slipping through an opening in a fence, we would sneak onto the remotely situated 13th hole of a nearby golf course in the early evening, after the golfers had all gone home. Kicking off … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Are you kidding me?, Dogs, kids, Perspective, Rant, Uncategorized | Tagged Childhood, complaining, disrespect, disrespect for neighbors, no more tolerance, not taking any crap, old people, rude dog owners, speaking up, the old lady in the neighborhood | 8 Comments

Fakers

Posted on May 8, 2018 by daeja's view

There are individuals and organizations that sell service animal certification or registration documents online. These documents do not convey any rights under the ADA and the Department of Justice does not recognize them as proof that the dog is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Deafness, Dogs, Hearing Impaired, Rant, Uncategorized, Vent | Tagged assistance dog, emotional support dogs, ESA, fake ESA dogs, fake service animal certification, fake support dogs, hearing dog, service dog | 4 Comments

Rescue

Posted on August 13, 2014 by daeja's view

Some people have issues with The Empty Nest after their children grow up and move away from home. For me this has not been much of a problem. The teenage years of my youngest were so dramatic disruptive emotional intense … Continue reading →

Posted in Aging, Animal Stories, Dogs, Uncategorized | Tagged Chion, dog adoption, empty nest, fearful dog, forever home, mill dog, new dog, Papi-Chi, Papillon-Chihuahua, puppy mill dog, rescue dogs, small dog | 6 Comments

Stealth

Posted on May 2, 2013 by daeja's view

When it came to a choice of animal companions, my family always fell into the “dog people” category. But there hasn’t been a dog in my life for a very long time. There are a number of reasons for that, … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Stories, Dogs, Friends, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged attachments, dog-sitting, dogs, pet adoption, pet rescue, pets | Leave a comment