I’m a sucker for memoirs and I obviously love dogs so of course I happily agreed to host a spotlight and guest post for Carmen Leal, author of When Love Wags a Tail. While I didn’t get a chance to read it yet, rest assured that it is definitely on my TBR. While I’m terrible at keeping plants alive myself, I do love seeing them, taking pictures of them, and learning about them, and have a soft spot for native plants being grown in people’s yard. Read below for an idea of how to do that in an interesting way.
About the Book
Title: When Love Wags a Tail
Author: Carmen Leal
Genre: non-fiction
Pub Date: April 23, 2024
Purchase a copy of When Love Wags a Tail on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. You can also add it to your GoodReads reading list.
Blurb
Our four-legged friends have huge hearts. Experience the joy of this collection of true-life stories of humans and the amazing dogs who saved them. Carmen Leal never dreamed tragedy could bring positive change. Suffering a traumatic brain injury after a car wreck, the marketing pro struggled to find her center and reclaim her life. But after finally caving in and adopting a rescue dog, her world changed forever.
Flourishing on her new furry friend’s unconditional love, she turned her talents to supporting canines still facing grim futures. Working tirelessly over the course of four years, she’s helped find homes for over 6,500 dogs and collected endless tales of wonderment and triumph.
Now, she’s here to share the real-life stories of how a deep connection with these incredible animals can bring fulfillment and joy. In this heartwarming compilation, author and storyteller Carmen Leal interweaves her personal journey with those who’ve experienced renewal at the paws of the dogs they adopted. Bringing together over sixty snapshots, Leal connects both dramatic and simply sweet accounts, including her own, while advocating for help and donating a portion of each sale to a foster-to-adoption group.
When Love Wags a Tail is part emotional memoir and part treasure trove of inspirational and humorous journeys. If you like protecting loyal friends who lack a voice, feel-good adventures, and giving back, then you’ll adore Carmen Leal’s touching read.
About the Author
Carmen Leal is a storyteller, Coconut’s mom, and a reluctant gardener. She is the author of multiple books, articles, devotionals, and human-interest stories. Carmen relocated from Hawaii to Oshkosh, yes, there is a story behind the move, and has become an awesome dog mom. Carmen and her husband have become reluctant gardeners and, sadly, they know a crazy amount about Wisconsin weeds. She is the mother of Coconut, the best imperfectly perfect rescue dog in the world.
Carmen didn’t know enough about rescuing dogs; okay, she knew nothing, but despite her complete lack of research or knowledge, she ended up with Coconut, the rescue who was and continues to be perfect for her.
Carmen is an active member of the Oshkosh Southwest Rotary Club, part of her neighborhood association’s leadership team, and is an adjunct professor for Fox Valley Technical College’s award-winning E-Seed Entrepreneurship workshop. When she is not writing and speaking, Carmen reads, cooks, and is a major bargain hunter at consignment and antique shops.
A portion of every book sold is donated to Second Chance North, an area foster-to-adoption group that helps to rescue more dogs. Follow Carmen on Facebook at #rescuemoredogs.
Find Carmen online at:
Her website: https://www.carrmenleal.com
Her publishing company: https://wagawaypublishing.com
Her Facebook page: https://facebook.com/rescuemoredogs
Her Personal Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/carmen.leal.794
Guest Post
When the snow finally melted after we moved to Wisconsin in March of 2017, we discovered we had a flooding problem. We started researching drainage options and learned that our back yard was perfectly suited for a rain garden which stopped the flooding. We applied for and received a grant for our local Rotary’s beautification committee that helped pay for half of the plants. They also helped with the design and even had two volunteers come over and help us plant.
A rain garden is an area that collects rainwater, holds it for a limited amount of time, and filters it before slowly releasing the water into the ground. The shallow, bowl-shaped area collects water runoff from impervious surfaces such as downspouts, sump pumps, paved areas, roofs, driveways, walkways, and lawns.
When a heavy rain comes down too quickly, the water doesn’t have time to soak into the ground and trap it so those native plants can get hydrated as needed. After a heavy rain, the water that doesn’t go into the ground goes into the drains and all of the pesticides, dog poop, motor oil, and other unsavory items go into that drain and eventually need to be filtered out before we drink it.
Last year we had a drought situation and, while all of my neighbors were madly watering trying to keep things alive, we didn’t have to water at all. We saved time and money not spraying that hose throughout the yard once or twice a day all summer long.
Rain gardens, typically a diverse selection of native plants and grasses, will help control erosion and filter pollutants, while providing food and habitat for bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects. Because a rain garden soaks up around thirty percent more water than a lawn, it helps to create a cleaner environment, conserve water, and reduces the chance of basement flooding.
It’s important to choose plants based on your region and hardiness zone and other factors such as the amount of annual rainfall, light exposure, and soil conditions. We were new at this whole gardening thing, so we worked with a native nursery to help choose our plants. We were terrified when they arrived via overnight express and we had to get them into the ground. But it worked out beautifully and now we are giving plants to neighbors and donating others to schools and non-profits who want to start a rain garden.
A rain garden is good for the environment. Like a native forest, rain gardens use heavy rain to recharge the aquifer, support wildlife habitat, and also filter out toxic materials before they can pollute streams. Worried about the rising cost of municipal water or simply want to make the best use of our water? Mother Nature is providing this precipitation for free. No matter how you look at it, a rain garden is a win for your back yard and for the environment.
The Shaggy Shepherd 
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