We woke up yesterday morning to howling winds, driving rain, thunder and lightning – a spring storm in winter – so rainy day activities were appropriate.

I am not getting out of bed.

When Hu-dad gets up, his first task of the day is letting us out into Sibe Quentin for our morning routines. Frankie took one step out the door, saw the weather, turned around and went back to his crate. He is quite capable of postponing morning “routines” for hours and hours.

Tell me when the storm is gone.

He handled the storm without his ThunderShirt, so hibernating in his crate for a few hours seemed like a good plan. Others, however, were not bothered by a little wind.

There once was a tree.

Typhoon has always been a fan of shredding things. Hu-Dad will often find a pile of paper shards under his desk, all meticulously shredded and stacked in a little pyramid. Out in the yard, leaves and sticks often meet the same fate. Typhoon drug a branch up from the yard and broke it into twigs while the storm raged.

That as close as I come to staying out of trouble.

Ready for the first set of totals in the Valentine’s Hearts for the Herd contest? The first number – and the most important number – is the total raised to date is $452! Thank you so much, kind readers!

And who has raised more? It is one very tight race with Qannik at $170.25 and Natasha at $156.25! And who has received the most Valentines? Not even close. The Frankie fan club has made sure that he has received 44 of the 81 Valentines sent so far.

To participate, mail a Valentine to your favorite member of The Herd at Dog’s Name, PO Box 1835, Maggie Valley, NC 28751. And, if you wish, enclose a check made payable to Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation and we will make sure they get 100% of the donations. Your donations help orphaned animals like Brady:

Brady

Brady is a Retriever mix pup about 7 months old. He is sweet as he can be, and does have a fairly high energy level typical of his breed mix. He’ll be a terrific family companion with folks who take the time he needs for training and exercise.