The Art of Melanie Eberhardt

Category: House Dweller

Aunt Mel’s animals who share the house

  • Unsupervised and Bored – Whatz a Dog to do?

    Lucky has lived at Aunt Mel’s farm for many years. When she leaves to run errands, Lucky stays behind and guards the farm, ok, he guards the bed.

    Lucky one of Aunt Mel's Animals

    Whenever Aunt Mel puts on her shoes, Lucky runs to the bed and lays down. He knows his duty is to secure the home and he chooses to do so from the comfort of a bed and cushy pillows and warm blankets. Usually one or two of the cats join him. They are his leutenants. So as Aunt Mel leaves the house, she peers into the bedroom and everyone is at their post. Lucky wags his tail. Confident in his abilities to take care of things, Aunt Mel leaves, softly closing the front door behind her.

    But recently, Lucky has asserted a bit of a passive aggresive streak. As soon as the front door latch clicks closed, he tears up the blankets on the bed, tosses the pillows to the floor, brings his bones, stinking socks from the laundry, muddy barn boots and places them on the bed. Exhausted from all this work, he takes a short nap, then wakes to re-arrange his display followed by another nap. This pattern repeats until Aunt Mel returns to find Lucky proudly sitting in the middle of the bed, happy for her return, tail wagging amidst the mess.

    Aunt Mel loves Lucky anyway.

    Lucky one of Aunt Mel's Animals

  • STOP THIEF!

    frank one

    We all put things down and forget where we left them. But its been happening a lot lately. Pens, plastic spoons and money are among the many items that keep disappearing. Way too many things to blame it solely on bad memory. There’s only one explanation – there’s a thief at Aunt Mel’s Farm!
    Last summer someone broke into Aunt Mel’s garage and stole her toolbox and gas powered weed whacker. Aunt Mel put a heavy chain on the driveway gate and that seemed to keep the thieves out, at least until a few weeks ago. Now someone is stealing items inside Aunt Mel’s house! They don’t leave any trail. Things simply keep disappearing. Who is sneaking into the house? Where is all the stuff?
    The doors and windows are always locked so the culprit must be a resident – its an inside job! One of Aunt Mel’s sweet animals is a miscreant, a troublemaker, a prankster and they must be identified. Aunt Mel lined up all the suspects for interrogation. When in the middle of the questioning, a clue!

    frank two

    frank three
    frank four
    frank final

  • Barney’s Sweet Demeanor

    Many cats have shown up at Aunt Mel’s farm. If they hang out for a few weeks, Aunt Mel takes them to the vet for vaccinations and to be neutered. Barney showed up one day and immediately took up residence.

    Big and fuzzy, he marched into the barn with his tail straight up in the air and took charge. Barney followed Aunt Mel everywhere and when she sat down, he immediately jumped in her lap. He would curl up and purr with his big thick fuzzy tail curled around him like a hug.

    Barney was a wonderful cat, very large but he was well behaved. Sadly Aunt Mel learned that he was sick. Being a former wild cat roaming the fields and woods, Barney grew up with no one to care for him and no one to ensure he had the vaccinations that would protect him from infections. Barney had feline leukemia.

    The vet asked if Aunt Mel wanted to put Barney to sleep. But she did not. The other cats were all vaccinated and safe from becoming sick and Barney was an otherwise healthy and happy cat. So Barney lived his short life at Aunt Mel’s farm. He visited with the horses, sat in Lyndon’s nest of straw and hunted mice and birds. Barney was a lovely cat who deserved a longer life than he was afforded. RIP sweet Barney.

  • The Obsessive Dog and the Pink Plastic Disk

    Lucky is Aunt Mel’s farm dog. He helps with chores, supervising feeding the horses and pig. He barks an alarm when the coyotes are in the pasture or when the morning doves are sitting on the electric lines. He is very helpful except when he is distracted by his one nemesis. The Frisbee.

    More than anything in the world, Lucky loves to play with his Frisbee (always hot pink). He runs in front of Aunt Mel and strategically drops it in her pathway. Positioned so she must either step around it or on it. Rather than do either, Aunt Mel obliges Lucky, and picks it up and throws it. Again and again and again.

    Let's play frisbee!
    Let’s play frisbee!

    I'll chase it down
    I’ll chase it down

    Catch it in mid flight
    Catch it in mid flight

    Return it by shoving with my nose
    Return it by shoving with my nose

    Just so you can throw it again
    Just so you can throw it again

    Lucky loves to chase it. He loves to jump in the air and catch it. Then he drops it to the ground so he can growl at it and push it with his nose. When he reaches the driveway, he places it upright and gives it a good nose push. With a little air underneath, the frizbee floats across the drive making a loud scraping noise. Lucky chases it and puts his front feet on the suspended Frisbee, pushing it further along with his back legs. Not unlike someone riding a skateboard. Somehow around all his frenetic chasing, after a few short minutes, the Frisbee is dropped or pushed back to Aunt Mel’s feet. And once again, she picks it up and gives it a yet another toss.

  • FRANK!!!

    Frank moved in about a month ago. He’s a naughty kitten.





  • Frank Moves In and Takes Over Aunt Mel’s Farm

    Aunt Mel needs another cat like she needs another hole in her head – but there is a new cat, actually a kitten. His name is Frank.

    Coming home late one night, Aunt Mel saw his eyes reflecting in her headlights. He was barely off the road in the tall grass. Aunt Mel stopped to make certain he wasn’t hurt. Instead of running off like most animals would do, he stood up and marched right up to Aunt Mel. Crap.
    So Frank came home with Aunt Mel and settled in immediately. He’s all white with green eyes and he does not lack confidence. He spends much of his day trying to reach through the bars to eat Miss Peep. He tackles Aunt Mel if she steps over him without acknowledging his presence. Frank is precocious.
    The first morning in his new home, Frank was napping on the wood-burning stove. Aunt Mel was across the room enjoying her morning coffee. Suddenly there was a noise and Aunt Mel only had time to turn her head to see Frank flying toward her like he was shot from a gun. He leaped right into her coffee cup, spilling everything.


    Having a young kitten in the house with many elderly pets has certainly livened up things. Surely there will be many more posts about Frank and his misadventures.

  • Alex and Aunt Mel Go to Work

    Alex was Aunt Mel’s first dog. He was incredibly smart and understood hundreds of words. For many years, Aunt Mel worked at a design studio and Alex was allowed to accompany her to work every day.

    Early in the morning, Alex and Aunt Mel would get in the pick up and start their 2-hour drive to downtown Atlanta. Alex would sit in the passenger seat gazing out the window. Sometime he got sleepy and would lay with his head on Aunt Mel’s lap until they reached the office.
    At the office, Alex would follow Aunt Mel around the office and to every meeting. When working at her desk, he would crawl under the desk and nap. Everyone enjoyed Alex’s company and he certainly enjoyed all the attention.
    Alex was given several duties in the office. He would carry things from desk to desk in a basket, like a delivery service. Sometimes Aunt Mel had to meet clients away from the office. Alex would patiently wait at the front door until she returned.

    Alex’s award for being a good co-worker was a set of his very own business cards! Good Boy Alex!

  • Law and Order is the Rule for Officer B

    Beatrice, or B-Kitty, was one of Ed’s kittens. B was born in Aunt Mel’s bathroom closet. From birth she was the leader, the boss, the keeper of the peace. Aunt Mel called her Officer B. If someone misbeheaved, B would run over and pop them to get them back in line. She was fearless and didn’t hesitate to reprimand the other cats or dogs. She would run up to anyone misbehaving and stare into their eyes, her tail straight in the air, whipping back and forth angrily until they backed down. Cause she was not going to back down – ever.

    B was beautiful. A silver tabby with green eyes. She followed Aunt Mel overseeing any yard work. When Aunt Mel called, she came immediately. B was a great hunter. She seldom caught birds but focused on lizards and frogs. She liked to pull off the lizard tails and eat the frog legs, then leave the bodies for Aunt Mel to clean up.

    Sometimes her fearlessness worked against her. Aunt Mel came home from work one day. When she opened the front door, B ran past her and bolted under the bed yowling. Aunt Mel had to pull her from under the bed with both hands. Her tail was broken in two. A quick trip to the emergency clinic and the vet had only one question. Do you want a long tail or a short tail? B’s tail had to be amputated. We opted for as long as possible. So B ended up with a tail about 4 inches long. But she still whipped it around and when she stared at the other cats with her tail whipping back and forth, they backed down immediately. There is no way of knowing how B’s tall was broken, but Aunt Mel suspects that one of the horses stepped on it.

    When B got older, she had an eye injury. Overnight her eye turned white and she couldn’t see. It didn’t seem to hurt her, she simply couldn’t see. Aunt Mel’s vet suggested removing the eye but surgery didn’t seem necessary. So Aunt Mel declined. A few months later, the eye began to clear and just before B died, her eye had completely recovered.

    It was difficult to watch B grown old. She was still bold and fearless but she also became a little senile. She loved to sit on the roof of the house, but once up there, she couldn’t remember how to climb back down the tree. She meowed a lot, calling out to the other cats if she couldn’t see them.

    B was a very special cat. Brave and beautiful like her mother.

  • Lucky Flunks School

    When Lucky moved in with Aunt Mel and he was quite a handful. He simply didn’t want to listen to any rules or commands. He just wanted to play and eat and bark at the horses. But dogs that live on a farm with large animals have to learn commands and rules to avoid being hurt. Aunt Mel decided Lucky needed an education. She enrolled him into an obedience class.

    The first class didn’t start well. Lucky snapped and barked at all the other puppies. No one wanted to be near him. He leaned at the end of his leash and pulled to get away from Aunt Mel. Once class started, the teacher showed us how to teach our puppies to sit. Lucky didn’t get it.

    Happy Lucky
    Happy Lucky

    Getting a little concerned a big dog is approaching
    Getting a little concerned a big dog is approaching

    Confidence gone so I'll growl and look fierce
    Confidence gone so I’ll growl and look fierce

    During the second class, Aunt Mel and Lucky made little progress while the other puppies learned to lie down, stay and come. During the third class, Aunt Mel told Lucky to sit and he finally sat but only for a few seconds. This, however, was their crowning achievement because the fourth class focused on walking on a leash without pulling. Lucky did not oblige. Obedience class ended without a diploma for Lucky.

    Aunt Mel wasn’t sure if she could manage this little puppy with a mind of his own. But she decided to give it a little more time. Eventually Lucky and Aunt Mel learned to talk to one another in their own way that works. Lucky knows about 10 words – “leave it, here, water, supper, where’s your Frisbee and car ride” The only command retained from obedience class now yields an immediate result. Sit Lucky Sit! Good Boy!

  • One Lucky, “LUCKY” Dog!

    One cold October morning, Aunt Mel heard a little dog barking while she was feeding the horses. She looked around and spied a little brown dog staring at her from the rental house next door. The dog barked for a while but no one came out of the house to check on it.

    During the next few days, the little dog barked when Aunt Mel was working in the yard. Aunt Mel started to wonder if anyone was still living in the house? Surely they wouldn’t move and leave their dog behind?

    A few more days passed, it was clear the house was empty. It had been over a week, cold and rainy. The little dog still barked at Aunt Mel. Aunt Mel got in her truck and drove over to the house.

    The people were long gone and had trashed the house; removing screens, breaking the porch rails, toys and household garbage was left strewn across the yard. Aunt Mel tiptoed to the back of the house and found the little dog.

    The people had constructed a 3 x 3’ cage out of chicken wire and broken bits of wood. It had no roof, and inside, no shelter. There was no bowl for water or food, just the little brown dog fearfully scrunched in the far corner. He was shaking and very thin.

    Aunt Mel broke the door and the little dog bolted into her arms. She drove straight to the vet’s office.

    The vet determined that the dog was about 6 months old. He was malnourished and only weighed 8 lbs. He should have weighed three times that. The puppy was carefully examined and found healthy except for the obvious neglect. He was given necessary shots and a bag of good puppy food. When paying the vet for their services, they asked “what’s the puppy’s name?”

    Aunt Mel answered without hesitation, “Lucky!”

    Lucky had a new home at Aunt Mel’s farm. In a few months, he had grown to a normal weight for his age. For a dog raised outside with little human contact or training, he immediately took to living inside and sleeping in bed with Aunt Mel.

    He is still fearful of children and strangers. But once he meets you, you are a friend for life. He never forgets someone he meets. It is remarkable that someone left him in a cage without food or water. Luck was certainly on Lucky’s side when Aunt Mel rescued him from the horrible, little cage.