The Claire Report

[Elaine]

The Claire Report
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A lot of you know about Lil' Claire, our Tungsten daughter. http://logresfarm.com/Lil'%20Claire.htm

To put it charitably, Lil' Claire is 65 pounds of love wrapped in an annoying package, spreading her special brand of chaos wherever she goes. To give you an idea, what follows is an example of Claire's idea of fun:

It had been one of those days... everything going wrong... last minute catastrophes, running late... but Lil' Claire put me right over the edge. I had just gotten home from lunch and some errands around town and noticed the Classic Touch's ears were starting to wobble. So, I put up them up again, did a fabulous job if I do say so myself. I was especially pleased with how beautifully I’d done the bridge. On a lark I decided to let Lil' Claire play with Classic Touch.... mind you, Classic Touch is a bit bigger than Claire at this point and weighs a few pounds more... but she idolizes Claire.

After a few minutes I hear Classic Touch squeaking "help"... and look out to see Classic Touch flat on the ground with Claire standing on her head. Claire had the bridge of the C.T’s ear tape in her mouth and she was trying to rip it off by pounding Classic Touch’s head up and down on the ground til the ear tape came loose.

"Lil' Claire, put Classic Touch's head down!!!! Now!!!"

Resisting the impulse to pound Lil’ Claire’s butt into the next century, I decided she needed a time out in her crate. As I closed the crate door I felt the sweetest most gentle lick on my hand, as if to say, “Sorry mom, but I just couldn’t help myself.”

[Elaine]

here is a close up of Classic Touch's head, showing Lil' Claire's handywork

[Elaine]

And here is one of my favorite photos of Lil' Claire. When this photo was snapped, Arthur had asked her to move forward... he'd been patiently waiting... she'd been standing there looking around for about 3 minutes. As you can see, Claire's about to reject Arthur's request.

Lil' Claire was "Claire" from day one. Her answer to most our requests is, "Talk to the paw."

[Elaine]

I’ve gotten behind on the Claire Report, but that’s not to say she hasn’t been busy. Here’s a summary: Claire was shown on the Tarheel... and she made it abundantly clear that she thinks showing is beneath her. There is not a fiber of Claire’s being that wants to please ... she seemed to find the whole process insulting to her dignity. So, ex-nay on the dog show thing.

Lately I’ve had a wild hair to build planter boxes... in part as a way to have my annuals and roses safe from the blasted dogs, who all seem to be gardeners at heart. So, with my trusty skill saw, a cordless drill and umpteen boxes of wood screws I’ve been hacking away at a pile of lumber for days now. I’ve managed to build three flower boxes: I have one that is 4’ X 4’ with seats at two ends... and one box that is 2’ X 3’ and a third that is like a giant coffin, 10’ X 2’.

Claire has been right there with me, every step of the way. In the beginning she simply wanted to be part of the building process. She was curious about the saw, wanted her lil nose right in there when the blade was turning.And the drill was equally irresistible. But power tools and dogs aren’t a good mix, so I continually shooed her away.

Frustrated that she couldn’t help, Claire decided to do the next best thing. She picked up my new full box of 2” wood screws and ran off to the pond with them. Naturally the heavy box was askew, screws were flying everywhere in her wake. But the time she got to the pond, the box was empty. I spent the rest of the evening on my hands and knees in the lawn, feeling for wood screws, which I’m sure to find next time we mow.

And, I had to make a special 30 mile round trip into town to buy more wood screws.

Widdo Claire!!!

[tosca]

Just a thought: Magnet?