It's so beautiful here in the morning...

The mist hanging low between the trees. Watching the sun peek through the branches while all the little critters rustle through the leaves searching for worms or nuts on the ground. I had an opossum in the yard last night. During the day there is a gathering of fat red robins that settles in the leaves to look for worms. I counted 9 outside my window, and there are two squirrels - only two.

It appears as though I'm going to have to find another place to move at the end of my month. I've already offended the landlady. On Wednesday, when I took Meg to the vet, I had removed the screens from the windows and cleaned them. I put Spot in the trailer and I closed the two livingroom windows, but I forgot the bedroom window. Meg and I were gone for a little over an hour, and when I got back I found that Spot had jumped out the bedroom window and had been running loose. I caught him and put him on the tether. I usually let the boys go take care of their business at 4:30 am when there is no-one around, otherwise I will walk them on a leash, but yesterday I went out with them off-leash. There was no-one else around, except the landlady. She intercepted me as I was catching Spot to bring him back to the trailer. The conversation quickly turned into a disciplinary lecture.

Me: Hello, how are you?
Her: Good. Do you know that you have to keep your dogs on a leash?
Me: Yes Ma'am.
Her: Well then, why do you think you can do this?
Me: There isn't anyone else around right now, so I didn't think it would hurt anything.
Her: This isn't the first time I've seen them.
Me: I know. Sorry. I'll use the leash from now on.
Her: I have dogs too, and when we go out, they are on a leash.
Me: Yes, ma'am.

Then she said that when others go out to walk their dogs on a leash and mine are running loose that it causes a problem. I understand that perfectly, but mine are never just running loose - except at 4:30 in the morning, and the one time that Spot jumped from the window - but I didn't tell her that.

Her: Next time I see them, I'm going to have you ejected from the park.
Me: Ok. Sorry, sorry. I'll take care of it.

So, I'm duly humbled. Got my ass handed to me pretty good. I have to say she hammered me like a parent. A little humiliation, put me on the spot, asked pointed questions, and then followed up with a threat.
I was a little sulky about it later, but I'm clearly in the wrong. I still think the threat was a little premature, but that's ok.

In my experience, when people threaten you right off the bat, they will find a reason to follow through. I'm not going to specifically give her that reason, but any slip-ups and I might find myself being removed. This time of year is not good because with Mardi Gras coming up, it will be damn hard to find another spot. So I need to either go ahead and find one and get moved, or try to make nice with the landlady, avoiding slip-ups with the dog is a part of it, but Spot has a lot of energy so it's nearly impossible to keep him from bolting when I open the door, and it takes me a few minutes to catch him.
Not only that, but if she is overbooked for the Mardi Gras week, she may be looking for a way to capitalize on that. Keep my rent money but eject me so that she can put someone else in my spot. I don't know for sure if she's thinking that, but the threat was too premature and seemed unnecessary to me. I was being as pleasant and apologetic as I could, but she was clearly working herself into a froth over it. Not to downplay my crime, I know I shouldn't have walked them off leash, but there were no incidents or accidents to justify the threat of eviction. IMO.

Anyway. Whatever happens, I'll just deal with it.
I seem to only go crosswise with landladys. Landlords are easier to deal with. I pick up garbage that is lying around, I keep a clean campsite, and I'm quiet and easy to get along with. I also pay my bills on time. No problems.

You have a great day.
MsAmber