It just is not easy to get a dog!

Two Sundays ago I was wondering if there was any way I could afford one of those new fangled compost bins. Now that I live in town a wire cylinder filled with all the "stuff" from the bunny hutches, the chicken coop, the duck and goose beds and my kitchen seems like the wrong choice. (besides lawn clippings, leaves, and whatever else could go in as long as it was vegan) It wasn't that they smelled bad, at least not until it was time to turn the pile once every two weeks, It is more that my garden is now so small. There is no abundance of maple leaves to deal with, no animal litter, and the lawn is so much smaller then it once was. Things being what they are, I was sure that we could not afford one of the new style compost bins.

I did not even pray about this, but the same day I wondered about them, Jason told me that the people at Sarvay had two they wanted to get rid of. Jason was sure that I would take them. Wow, thanks Jason! Even more, thanks God! You keep reminding me in so many ways that I am always on your heart. By the way, see the sun glowing on the grass (it was covered with snow this morning)

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Psalm 16:7-11

Trying to adopt a dog. Sure, we have some specific needs. We want the first dog that we bring home after five + years without a one of our own to be, 1. small and 2. young. We did not think it would be so tough. Small dogs seem to go fast. It is hard to not get excited about one that I am looking at on the Internet only to find out that it has been adopted while exchanging e-mails with the agency that has it. I think it would be VERY easy to find a dog if we could handle the needs of a larger dog.

We started looking the day before the raid on the puppy mill in Gold Bar (followed by the raid on the owners mother in Skagit County and friend in Snohomish). Just shy of 600 small dogs were taken from them and are currently overwhelming the system. Eighty percent of those dogs were pregnant. Some have already had puppies. It is expected that there will be close to 10,000 dogs for Snohomish and Skagit counties to care for. None of them are available to adopt because they are part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Ray and I went to the animal shelter on Monday to look for a small dog to adopt and to donate money for the puppy mill dog's care. It was unbelievable. We were part of a convoy of at least 20 cars going to the shelter. Some people just wanted to look, others wanted one of the dogs, still others were bringing things they thought the shelter could use, or like us, were dropping off money. God bless those people! Chris and I went to the NOAH shelter where Everett said all their adoptable animals were sent while they try to deal with the puppy mill dogs. No small dogs. But some of the puppy mill dogs were also at NOAH. There were signs on the glass to be kind, these dogs (most were toy poodles and Chihuahuas) had not known any human kindness beyond what they were experiencing from people cooing to them through the glass. Who does that to one of God's creatures?