I made a new dog friend yesterday; it wasn’t hard. Nellie, a young French Bulldog owned by our friend Julz Irons, is a businesswoman, spiritualist, belly dancer, and well-known cook and chef. She hears ghosts, gets rid of them, and talks to the dead.

Julz is fun; being her friend is like jumping on Deno’s Wonder Wheel at Coney Island in Brooklyn; you keep spinning and spinning until you’re dizzy.

She told me she always wanted a dog she could dress up like the daughter she never had (she has two sons), and French Bulldogs, bred to sit in the laps of European Royalty and the favorite Hollywood Star dog, was the correct ticket.

Nelly’s clothes are piling up.

She and I communicated immediately, and she ended up happy and snoring with delight in my arms as I scratched her belly with one hand and held her with the other. I think she went to sleep in about five seconds, I sang a song to her for good measure.

Julz, who invented the gluten-free Vermont Spaetzle  Company with her husband, Martin, is Maria’s excellent belly dancing teacher and friend.

She is madly in love with her new dog and takes her everywhere.

I did give her some advice when she started her blog; she loves it and shares her life authentically and unpredictably. She also writes a great deal about food and shares her recipes.

I enjoy reading it. Julz is a truth-teller, take it or leave it. She’s a Jersey girl and inspired me to tell trolls to” blow it out of their ass” when they write nasty messages. That’s what she does. I like it, and it works! Don’t mess with Jersey Girls.

Julz was delivering her food to restaurants in the area today and said she wanted to stop and say hello to Maria on the way back home.

We met at the Argyle Brewing Company on Main Street in Cambridge; she wanted to introduce Nelly. Julz has a new blog; I am her unofficial blog mentor, mostly in name only.

She generally only seeks advice she is certain she will like.

Julz and I have different ideas about dogs, especially when it comes to seeing them as children. But this is a sweet and happy dog, and Julz is a smitten and pleased dog owner. It’s hard to squawk about that.

She got the dog she needed, which is precisely what she wanted.

They will have a sweet time together. French Bulldogs are very popular in America now.

They can be bred naturally, but it’s very dangerous for them; their bodies are not built for breeding; they are bred medically and popular among movie stars.  

They are smart, affectionate, and bred for cuddling on sofas and thrones, not for the outdoors.

It was fun meeting Nelly; we hit it off right away. She reminded me of Bud a little. Zinnia is the dog I need at the moment; Nelly is the dog Julz needs. It’s great for the heart and soul when it happens.

Nelly and I are pals.

(Photo By Maria Wulf)