I wanted to call her "Phoebe".  But "Ratdog" was the name my husband gave her, named for a band that included Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead.  When I first came home and saw the little black head peeking over the deck, I thought she was a chihuahua.  Her ears were massive in proportion to her head.

For now she was just "the puppy".  She was about six months old, we later found out.  Someone had dumped her somewhere, along the road, along the highway, in the driveway, who knows?  She had made it to the house and it seemed like she thought she'd found home.

I already had a dog, my Blue Heeler/Rottweiller mix, my Lucy.  Lucy had cancer, she'd had two surgeries but it was back again, and I wasn't going to put her through any more.  She was dying slowly, getting more and more tired, and the puppy didn't sit well with her.  My husband said "No more dogs!".

I called the local humane society.  They said they had a waiting list, and I told them we would go ahead and hang onto her until they found space.  I fed the pup, and kept an emotional distance.  But, one day, my husband called me out in the yard and said "Watch this!".  He had one of Lucy's old tennis balls and was throwing it for the puppy, who scampered after it and pranced back to him with it.  I guess I knew then that she was going to be ours.

She basically house trained herself, only squatting once in the house to pee.  I grabbed her and ran outside yelling "Noooo!", and she never did it again.  Except for the time we took her to visit friends and she decided to pee on their couch.  Her biggest fault was a love of chewing holes in my clothes, and only my clothes, but she grew out of that fairly quickly (if not inexpensively). 

She made friends with the neighbor's big, black Newfoundland and horse mix, Buddy.  They loved to go wading in the little wet-weather creek between our places.  She traveled with us when we went on the road to do telecommunications work, inadvertently scaring hotel maids throughout Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

She enjoyed her final nap in the sun this afternoon.  She was 16 years old.  If she'd made it to March, she would have been 17.  She'd had some problems a couple of months ago, and prednisone and Tramadol had given her a little more time, but she stopped eating yesterday and started to make little cries and I knew it was time.  I carried Ratdog to the vet who's been her doctor ever since she came to us, and she helped Rat over the Bridge.

RIP, Ratdog.  You were the best girl in the whole world.  We'll see you on the other side, sweetie.

Atomic Landscaping and Garden Decor

This 1963 book from Better Homes and Gardens has page after page of pictures and illustrations to help you plan your mid-century modern landscaping. 

What a difference a few decades make.  I was a teenager in the seventies, and landscaping and decor from the fifties and sixties was "old-fashioned" to me.

Now I appreciate the clean lines and functionality of mid-century modern.   Or maybe it just reminds me of my youth?  If you've got a mid-century castle you're restoring, this is available at my store http://birdsongbooks.ecrater.com/p/14991048/1963-landscape-planning-book-mid-century

Prairie Schooler Cross Stitch - Up on the Housetop

Birdsong Books doesn't just carry books, and I wanted to share a cute pre-loved cross-stitch chart that would be perfect for so many Christmas projects. It's from The Prairie Schooler, circa 1989, called "Up On The Housetop".
There are five charts, two for Santa's sleigh (one large and one small) and three for cheerful little houses.
Christmas is only two hundred and twenty days away, after all. If you'd like to keep track, here's a handy little link: http://www.xmasclock.com/ Get stitching! :))

"Up On The Housetop" is available in my eCrater store at

http://birdsongbooks.ecrater.com/p/11331431/prairie-schooler-up-on-the-housetop-cross

I listed a cookbook today that really has me wondering at its story. It's a 1943 Wartime Edition of the American Woman's Cookbook, the "Victory Binding" issue. These were published by the Culinary Arts Institute and Ruth Berolzheimer was the editor.

Now, my cookbooks are obviously used. I like to have the book right there on the counter when I'm making a recipe, and you can tell because I'm not a very neat cook. I blame my mother, I remember her Rumford and Watkins cookbooks being lovingly used and battered until the covers needed to be held on with rubber bands.

But this cookbook is darn near pristine. There is some rubbing along the extremities, and a few spots on the covers, and the pages are age-browned. But there is not a mark on this book. Not a spill, not a dog-eared page, not even a name written proudly inside.

It makes me wonder. Was there a tragedy behind this cookbook? Was it purchased in anticipation of a wedding that never happened because of World War II? Did the sadness of that loss make the once-happy owner unable to bear the sight of this lovely book, and was it banished to the depths of a trunk in the attic? Or am I being overly romantic and dramatic, and was the former owner just a very, very neat cook?

Have you been to the Discworld?

I don't remember exactly when I discovered Terry Pratchett. As a big fan of Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's books, I was overjoyed to find another series with that peculiar British humor that I craved, having shared a love of Monty Python with my father.

I believe Mort was the first Discworld book I read and, to this day, Death is my favorite character (isn't he everyone's, though?) and Reaper Man my favorite novel.

The Colour of Magic was the first book in the Discworld series and, to be completely honest, it was not one of my favorites when I first read it many years ago. Rincewind, the skinny, cowardly wizard whose main concern is his own skin, just didn't appeal to me much. Where was the "hero" of the novel, the warrior or wizard who fights with swords and sorcery, for whom honor is more important than their next breath?

Ah, I was younger then. Now, with more experience and a lot more years on me, I have come to truly appreciate Rincewind, his strong sense of self-preservation, and his ability to scream for mercy in nineteen languages, and just scream in another forty-four.

Rincewind the Wizzard is an omnibus from the Science Fiction Book Club that contains the Discworld novels The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Sourcery, and Eric, the first 4 Rincewind books. I have a nice copy available in my store at Birdsong Books.

Popular Lithuanian Recipes Cookbook

This cookbook was compiled by Josephine J. Dauzvardis. She was an honorary consul from 1971 to 1986 representing the Consulate General of Lithuania in Chicago, a post she took over when her husband passed away. Because of her knowledge of her country's customs and recipes, she was popularly known as the Lithuanian Lore Lady.

She compiled and edited the recipes in this cookbook which was first printed in 1955. It was the first attempt to compile and publish in English a more extensive collection of recipes which were popular among Lithuanians. Some are typically Lithuanian, dating back to ancient times; others have been adopted from neighboring nations and adapted to the Lithuanian palate.

Included are over 150 recipes from beverages such as Honey Liqueur, vegetables such as Potato Mushroom Roll, soups like Beer Soup, to cakes such as Birch Log and other scrumptious pastries.

I have a copy of this wonderful cookbook in Good condition in my store if you've been looking. The link is here: Popular Lithuanian Recipes