Lenore is the official Bedlam Farm greeter, she will be on duty tomorrow afternoon to lick people’s legs and get her belly rubbed. Lenore takes her love work very seriously, she never tires and is thrilled to see just about everyone. She sets the tone.
The Bedlam Farm September Open House got underway early, around ll a.m. today when Red and I went to Battenkill Books for our weekly recommending stint. Susan Crosby and her husband Gerry showed up from Virginia, I know her name from my Facebook Page and she is just delightful – smart, funny, warm and a true animal lover. She has five dogs (I met one, Tug, a therapy dog), nine cats, 17 birds. She is also a voracious reader, I turned her onto Louise Perry and her mystery series. She was followed by people from Wisconsin and Maryland also up for the Open House.
We both felt as if we had been friends for a long time, and I guess in the new world of publishing we have.
These are the nicest and most interesting people, they can’t wait to meet Maria and see Red and there are many burgeoning donkey lovers coming, I suspect. It already has a great feeling to it, if we have as much fun at the Open House as we did at the bookstore, tomorrow will be a day to remember. I met several people at the Round House Cafe who have bought Maria’s quilts, potholders, fiber paintings and pillows and are coming to pick them up. Some are looking to see if they want my photos – I’m selling four or five. The donkeys are incredibly affectionate and patient and Red’s sheep work is always a hit. I am getting used to being known as Maria’s husband and Red’s owner. We all have our moment in the sun.
Flo is working hard to get ready for the Open House tomorrow. She is keeping the rocking chair warm and watching the vintage hankies dry before they are made into scarves. Flo is enjoying her retirement as a barn cat, although she has been killing some mice this week. Just to keep her hand in.
Frieda has one of the most interesting lives of any dog I know or have lived with. She was sold by a backyard breeder in the Adirondacks to an auto body shop owner in South Glens Falls,N.Y., as a guard dog, she lived outside in the car lot at night in the fenced-in lot, was locked up in a tiny kennel all day. (She saved a family from a fire, but that is another story.) To train her, the owner banged on the fence and threw rocks at her. When she got pregnant, he took her up the New York State Thruway and tossed her out of the car near Warrensburg in the Adirondacks. I learned these details of her life from the man’s wife some years after he died.
Frieda lived in the woods, in the wild, for some years before she made her way south to Queensbury, N.Y. and began a year-long cat and mouse game with the SPCA, which finally drugged some steak and caught her. Her trials were not over, for nearly a year hundreds of people passed up the chance to adopt her and her time was running out when her fortunes changed. My former girlfriend walked in the door, decided Frieda was adorable (to my knowledge, the only time the word has ever been used in connection with this dog, a Rottweiler-Shepherd mix of great prey drive.) The two fell instantly in love and Freida occupied the next months and years of her life with trying to eat me and otherwise keep me away from Maria. We worked it out, Frieda is busy now at the new farm guarding us, spending her days with Maria in her studio, cuddling with me and Maria and stalking woodchuks and chipmunks – okay, she is a sweetie – and keeping trucks, bicyclists and joggers away from the property. Except for the mail truck and UPS and Fedex, she’s doing well.
At every Open House, I have this custom. I take Frieda for at least one walk through the crowd to visit Maria and she does very well. She does not wish to be petted or cuddled with – somebody always tries – but she is getting used to it, and I make her lie down and talk about training her. It has become a part of Frieda’s work, a part of the Open Houses I look forward to. Frieda’s story will be told fully in my next book, “Second Chance Dog: A Love Story,” which tells the tale of Frieda’s life, my training work with her, and the way in which she helped bring Maria and me together. If you wish to pre-order this book and have it signed by me and Maria, you can order it from Battenkill Books and their special Second Chance Pre-Order page. You can also call the store at 518 677-2515 or e-mail Connie Brooks at [email protected] The book is out November 5, and Frieda and I look forward to meeting some of you tomorrow.
Frieda has won my heart. I like to say she is the only real man in the house.
