Raspberry Ridge Rosita

Rosita and I broke new ground this weekend. We traveled almost 300 miles together in my VW Beetle - she rode shotgun. I can't wait for my friends to send me their pictures from the retreat (hint! hint!). Somehow I managed not to take any. Partly because I knew others were taking pics and they would share.

Thanks to my friends who shared my admiration for Rosita. She fascinates me every day and I love that others are even half as interested in her as I am.

I still don't know who came up with the quip, but it was one of the funniest things I've heard in a long time. (And after a weekend full of hysterical moments, that's remarkable!) I mentioned that I went to the doctor for a skin concern on my back. I didn't want to get into the details of it, especially since that wasn't the point of the story I was telling. Someone inquired further about what was wrong with my back. "Was it a skin cancer screening?" Someone else asked, "Are you growing a tortoise shell?" You know, they say pets and owners start to look alike after awhile!

She Lights Up a Room

Since it was raining this weekend, I let Rosita walk around inside the house for a short time while I was organizing some stuff in my scrapbook room. She was quite the little trouble maker. My fear was, of course, that she was going to pee or poop on the carpet, so I kept a pretty close eye on her. Cricket was feeling comfortable enough around her to lay down on the floor while Rosita was tooling around. Rosita doesn't understand Cricket and is so curious about her. She has no fear. She walked right up to Cricket and almost bit her back paw. Fortunately, Cricket jumped up before Rosita could figure out that fuzzy, white foot is not food. Immeidately on the defensive, Cricket hissed and lifted her front leg as if to bat at Rosita. I yelled at her not to and told her it was okay. I know she was only defending herself, but I can't let her think that it's okay to do that to Rosita. Little Miss Tort's head was tucked in about halfway when I picked her up and moved her away from the cat.

A few minutes later, I see lights going on and off in my scrap room. Rosita thinks everything is food - including the touch lamp. While she is biting at it, I see all three wattages cycling on and off. I was quite amused! :)

Inside Tortoise

The past couple of days when I've sat outside with my pets, Rosita has done something quite unexpected. While Cricket rubs her face and whiskers on the wrought iron table and chair legs, Rosita wanders back in the house. Why in the world would she do this? It's gorgeous outside. She has virtually no limitless grass and weeds to graze. But for some reason, she keeps heading back in. My husband suggested we let her walk around inside for a little bit to see what she does. She didn't get far before she was out of my viewing range, and I had to come and get her.

So, here's my question: is she an inside tortoise?

Reminds me of a line from "My Name is Earl" where they got a pet turtle. The blonde ex-girlfriend said, "If that thing starts beggin' for scraps from the dinner table, it's gonna be an outside turtle." One of those lines that probably isn't all that funny, but it tickled my funny bone enough that I remembered it.