Buddy!

Buddy!, originally uploaded by freeformkatia.

Here we have Hope, her dog Buddy, and Maja who is trying to feed Buddy her cracker that she got from Hope. I guess what goes around comes around. Buddy didn't eat the cracker.

It was a BEAUTIFUL fall day yesterday. Sun. Hot. Leaves are starting to fall. Mosquitoes were still biting.

Maja's been quite funny this past week with her insistence on playing Ring-around-the-rosy. She'll grab anybody around to dance in a circle with her -- and she always "falls down" early at the Ashes! Ashes! line.

Here's an excerpt from www.rhymes.org.uk about the rhyme:

"The words to the Ring around the rosy children's ring game have their origin in English history . The historical period dates back to the Great Plague of London in 1665 (bubonic plague) or even before when the first outbreak of the Plague hit England in the 1300's. The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (Ring around the rosy). Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet smelling herbs ( or posies) which were carried due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. The term "Ashes Ashes" refers to the cremation of the dead bodies! The death rate was over 60% and the plague was only halted by the Great Fire of London in 1666 which killed the rats which carried the disease which was transmitting via water sources. The English version of "Ring around the rosy" replaces Ashes with (A-tishoo, A-tishoo) as violent sneezing was another symptom of the disease. "