Category: Dogs

Animals, Dogs, Friends, History, Learning, Life, Nature, Thinking

Looking For a Rhythm

1972italy

The sun was out for a bit but now we are back to the cold grey skies and rain.  I do see blue sky here and there.  The temperature is supposed to hit 70F (21C) today.  I know I am looking forward to it.  Not a big fan of fall weather in the middle of my summer.  I also need to empty the excess water from the potted plants.  Again.  I’m sure I’ll be mowing this week as well but that I don’t mind.  The joys of having a riding mower. 🙂

The meeting last night was another long one.  But I find it interesting to listen and watch the process of local government.  Chris teases me about how much I’ve picked up since starting with the paper (in a good way).  As a kid my friends and I would go sit in on the court cases then go home and do our own.  We would rotate who was judge, prosecuting attorney and defense attorney.  We really had fun with that.  One year it was most of our summer.

I was able to get some more writing done on my new story yesterday.  So far so good!  I am struggling not to get lost in the details.  Things that I can look up later to clarify or change.  I am just trying to get the story all down first.  I know I will get lost in the research on this one.  lol  Too interesting to let myself just look up this or that.

I can’t seem to stop yawning this morning.  One cup of coffee is not going to help.  Moose keeps looking at me hopefully to see if I am done since I spent so much time on here this morning with the article then this.  So I suppose I had better wrap this up and get them outside to play a bit.  Hopefully the weather does warm up as promised (the furnace has actually gone on a few times since last night).  The kids and I are tired of being stuck inside all day.  I hope you have a great day!  Thanks for reading and stay safe!

 

Animals, Creativity, Dogs, Gardening, Life, Nature, Thinking, Writing

Rainy Day Activities

1972italy

Yesterday turned to rain by the time afternoon arrived.  It’s been raining ever since.  I am glad because we need the rain.  Not necessarily this much but…  Today we will probably end up inside again.  I did get out to take some photos and I threw many toys over the course of the day but it’s not really the same as hanging out.  I do need to empty the excess water from my many jars out there.  The rain is slowly drowning the plants growing in them.

I’m not sure what I will do with myself.  I want to get some more writing done but I got up later enough that I may not have enough quiet time to do so.  And I think I may have stalled myself out again.  If I talk about my writing too much it takes away from the process.  It’s like using a pressure cooker to write.  When you keep lifting the lid to peek in to see how things are cooking you lose pressure and it won’t cook right.  Every time I talk about it I am lifting the lid.  The flip side of that is I can be held accountable because others know that I am writing and will ask about it.  It is very much a catch 22.

I finally got my current issue of Poets and Writers yesterday.  I read that until I fell asleep last night in bed.  The rain is stop and start.  I can’t seem to stop yawning.  It is such a lazy day that when I pause in my typing Moose is still asleep.  Normally he will hear the pause and look to see if that means I am finished.

Tonight I have a long meeting to cover.  So I will have to set an alarm to get up to make sure it gets finished in time.  I try to have the article written so that it is ready when they arrive at 9am.  Wednesday is when they pull the paper together to be sent out to the printers.

I will add some photos from yesterday and put the post live.  Our milkweed is growing soooo well this year!  And we have our first monarch caterpillar.  The milkweed is beginning to open so I am on the look out for the caterpillars.  They are the only ones that eat the milkweed.  It makes them taste bad to that the birds don’t eat them.  Well thanks for reading and stay safe!

Animals, Cooking/Baking, Dogs, Exercise, family, Food, Gardening, Life, Thinking, Writing

Another Beautiful Summer Day

1972italy

The sun was out.  The clouds seem to have rolled back in.  And that is fine with me.  I got started on another story yesterday so after get as much as I could on paper I went and worked in the gardens.  I will probably do the same today.  I need to go get kibble for the girls and canned for Moose.  I will call the vet to see if they sell the canned food there.  I’d rather save the $20 coupon for the bag of kibble when I order it.

I kept the kids busy yesterday so everyone was ready for bed by the time the sun went down.  I have been trying to do some kind of exercise every day.  Yesterday I got Chris to try the hula hoop that I got.  I did it too to show him I wasn’t any better at it than he was.  We both had a good laugh.  I try to do about 15 minutes or so a day with it since I can do it while I watch tv at night.

The marinade I threw together for the steaks I got turned out awesome!  I made a yogurt pie as well.  A very simple recipe that I got from my Grams.  Graham cracker crust, small tub of Cool Whip and two fruit at the bottom yogurts (it has to be the fruit on the bottom stuff… and if they are tiny like the current Yoplait size get three).  Just mix up the yogurt and then mix the yogurt into the the Cool Whip.  Put it all in the crust and refrigerate until firm. Voila!

I am feeling rather restless this morning.  I will probably take atleast Moose with me to the store.  I need to get Essie another frisbee so I won’t do the curbside pick up this time.  I may splurge and get the kids some toys too.  They never last long but they make the kids happy while they do last.  I think I will wrap this up and try to get out the door and back before Chris gets up.  I hope you have a great day!  Thanks for reading and stay safe!

 

Animals, Dogs, Emotions, Life, Thinking

Trying to Avoid Depression

1972italy

Yesterday’s excitement was getting a new vacuum and using it.  It is amazing how much cleaner things feel when you can do that.  I also treated myself to a new journal and notebook as well as replacing my stretched out hair scrunchies.

Yesterday felt good because I did something out of the ordinary.  I changed up the routine.  And I got something we needed for the house.  This morning I sit here and look around feeling the fog of depression start to roll in.  Instead of seeing all that I got accomplished and being happy about it I see what I haven’t done, or it wasn’t done as well as it could’ve been done or I’m not going to be able to get anything done because…

Stella has a small lump on her side that the vet isn’t too concerned with.  Well the other day it broke open.  I cleaned it with peroxide and all seemed well.  It came back yesterday so I pushed the nasty out and did the peroxide again.  It seems to be filling up once again.  Essie broke open a bit of her cancer scar.  I’m not sure how.  I found it when I was petting her last night when my hand came away bloody.  She got some peroxide as well.  Stella as all about it because it wasn’t her.

I’m not sure what to do with myself this morning.  I will add some photos I’ve taken with the new camera.  Thanks for reading and stay safe.

Animals, Books, Dogs, Exercise, family, Food, Life

Exercise and Food

1972italy

We got up late but that was more because I ate something bad for dinner.  Around 10pm my tummy wasn’t happy.  I got to the point I couldn’t sleep around midnight and pretty much tossed and turned (gently to be sure) til almost 3am.  I still feel wrung out this morning.  I am grateful that coffee and water are staying down.

I think I understand another reason I read The Howling so quickly.  There was only on story.  The Terry Pratchett stories always have multiple storylines going on top of the satire.  It can be too much to plow through the whole Watch series in a few days.

I am contemplating (again) starting to run again.  When I lived downstate I ran with my Mom and my best friend over the course of a summer.  It was fun.  I would like to try again.  But I also want to take the dogs (one at a time) but that means I need to get them each a harness.  I would prefer to have the dog there to try said harness on instead of trying to order by measurements.  I think they need harnesses to begin with since it will make things easier all around it I want to start taking them outside of the home for exercise on a regular basis.  But I also need to have things replaced around the home as well.  And get the Jeep fixed (we are getting Chris’s truck in first since he drives more than I do).  So I guess do I spend the money and get good shoes and some harnesses for the kids or wait?

I am trying to do atleast a few exercises a day.  Last night it was way hot for all of us (I still enjoyed it) but I still did some exercises.  And apparently I did enough to still feel it today which is good.  It means I am working the muscles I want.  I think I am going on bout all this exercise stuff because I am really not feeling like doing much of anything after last night.  But we shall see.  I need to wish my neighbor a happy birthday before they leave for the day so I am going to wrap this up.  Thanks for reading!  Stay safe and have a great day!

Animals, Dogs, Emotions, family, Life, Love, Photography, Writing

The Demands of the Pittys

1972italy

Moose seems better.  The vet suggested chicken and rice.  I got enough for him so he could have it for breakfast this morning as well.  He got bad enough yesterday I was contemplating taking him to the ER vet.  He only ate part of his breakfast though.  I told the vet I would call her this morning to tell her how he was doing.  I will do that after I write this.  I also need to tell her that I found a lump on his shoulder that was not there the day before.  Oh and Essie seems to have gotten another piece of stick between her toes.  So I need to get her in to get it removed.

I attended a Zoom meeting last night so I had my article to write this morning.  I need to get both the front and backyards mowed today.  Although I am concerned that things are going to dry out fast if I do.  There is no rain any time soon but both yards are getting shaggy.  I am hoping that the water table is high enough to keep them green since it is obviously enough to keep them growing.

I am still clicking away with the camera.  And I still have not downloaded anything to the laptop.  Sigh.  It shouldn’t be this hard to do.  Apparently this is going to be really short today.  All three kids are demanding I give them love and go out to play.  It is very hard to type around three Pitbulls.  So thanks for reading and stay safe!  Have a great day!

Animals, Cooking/Baking, Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Food, Life, Writing

Feeling Scared

1972italy

This morning’s anxiety is due in part to Moose.  He’s been sick the past two mornings and doesn’t eat breakfast.  He does eat dinner.  This morning he has been very pacey.  This started around 7am.  I finally gave up and came out to the living room with the girls after I let him outside.  He hasn’t laid down and slept since we came out here.  He just stays in a spot for a few minutes then he will get up and wander around to another spot.  I have already called the vet and left a message.  I am very concerned.  There is something wrong.  I just don’t know what.  He comes to me every little bit and stays a few minutes for love then wanders off.  He will do a partial stretch then plop down in the middle of it.  He’s finally drinking some water.  But not very much.  And he has wandered outside.

I just don’t know what to do.  All this seems to be symptomatic of kidney disease.  My concern is that it is progressing way too fast.  I may call the vet’s office back and added a few new issues.  I just don’t know what to do.

The other concern is my writing.  I am stymied mentally.  I seem to get flashes here and there but not very often.  I just do the paper anymore.  Things are all messed up all over due to the COVID-19 so there isn’t much to cover outside of the virtual meetings.  I’m just grateful I can still do that.  Atleast it is writing.

Moose has wandered back in and laid down on the floor (he is usually on the couch but this morning he seems to prefer the floor) in front of me.  I think he actually shut his eyes and let himself fall asleep.  He is my baby.   If anything happens to him…

Oh, the dinner I prepared (Chris did sear the meat then slow grilled it) was a big hit.  It turned out really really good.  I’m going to wrap this up and call the vet again.  Thanks for reading!  Have a great day and stay safe!

Animals, Cooking/Baking, Dogs, family, Food, Life

In a Fine Fettle

1972italy

Things have gotten complicated here.  Last night I managed to break my toe (a heavy mug fell and the rim hit just above the main joint of the big toe that connects it to the left foot… twice as it bounced).  Feels lovely this morning.  But more importantly there is something wrong with Moose.  I have been up since around 6am with him.  He has gotten sick numerous times and won’t eat.  I thought we could go back to bed but he just laid on the floor beside me until him tummy made him get up.  Then back outside he went.  I finally gave up around 7am as he was getting sick a lot.  So here I am.  I don’t know what to do for him.  I will call the vet tomorrow even if he gets better today.  All these things are symptoms of his kidney disease getting worse.

It is still cool out so I will wait to put the plants back out.  I had them out yesterday since it was sunny and warm.  We didn’t get frost last night but it was a near thing.  I’m glad I brought them all in.  I still have seeds that I need to get out.  My concern is that I have planted seeds and seedlings alike and their growth compared to the ones in the containers is stunted.  I can’t help thinking that the ants have something to do with it.  I even put the good dirt down when I am planting in the gardens but every time a few days later a bunch of ant mounds show up all over the area I just planted in.  It’s very frustrating.

Since today is Chris’s day off I will be making another Mexican dish (his choice).  It will be a bit different from the recipe since I couldn’t find the meat they called for and I added a spice or two.  The dish is called carne asada.  I even made my own pico de gallo last night.  (I was going to do it today but I thought it might taste better if it sat a day or so.)  Hopefully it all turns out.  I will let you know tomorrow.  Speaking of which I should get to it.  I have to make the marinade and it has to soak for atleast two hours.  So thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day!  Stay safe!

Aging, Animals, Creativity, Dogs, Life, Movies, Thinking

New Is Not Necessarily Improved

1972italy

Atleast the sun is out.  The nights have been cold.  I guess that can keep the bugs down.  Moose and Stella are beside me vying for my attention.  I type a few words then scratch and love them. Ahhh Stella has just gone outside to lay in the sun.  Moose is behind me on the love seat.

I find myself being drawn back into horror movies.  So many of them are just…. so uninteresting.  I am beyond over with zombie flicks.  It has been years since a good werewolf movie has been made.  The same can be said for vampire movies as well.  Ghosts seem to be doing pretty well though.  And demons.  I watched
Don’t Knock Twice” last night and was pleasantly surprised.  The basic premise is if you knock twice on door of a certain house where and old woman commit suicide she would come and get you.  The usual camp fire story.  But what they did with it made me pull out a notebook and start jotting ideas.  They had believable twists and turns that enhanced the story.  The underlying story is about a rehabed and now successful mom trying to get her teenage daughter that she gave up to the system back.  The whole storyline was well done and very compelling.  The characters are well thought out.  Even minor characters may or may not become more as the story unravels.  It is very well done on all fronts.\

There have been so many horror movies that have been touted as being so fabulous and everyone needs to see them then you watched them and wonder how much money was paid to critics to say that.  People just rehash the same stuff over and over with no originality.  I guess that has been one of my big complaints as I’ve gotten older.  Instead building from ideas and stories and giving them a new spin they think they can remake something and call it good.  For instance a lot of the cartoons when I was growing up (oh let’s pick two off my favorites… Winnie the Pooh and Scooby Doo) get remade.  And remade badly.  They make these iconic characters into some thing they are not.  They completely change them so that they resemble the originals in name only.  Now there have been some well done updates to Scooby Doo (not the cartoon series… those new ones all really suck).  The live action movies I didn’t think I would like but I really do.  And my all time favorite is when the tv series “Supernatural” used it in season 13 I believe.  Soooooo my favorite!  One of the few times something has lived up to all the hype!

I will probably watch some more horror once Chris leaves for work this afternoon.  Although I do need to throw more toys over the course of the day.  I didn’t tire the kids out enough last night so they are restless this morning.  I should probably wrap this up so I can get outside while the sun is out.  Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day!  Stay safe!

Creativity, Dogs, Emotions, family, Gardening, Learning, Life, Nature, Photography

Adding Color

1972italy

Yesterday was a full day wrapped up with the weirdest weather I’ve seen.  I got the weed whip out and took care of the yard, I got a lot of house cleaning done, laundry done  and put away, as well as dishes swapped out.  The kids went to bed tired from all the playing outside.

The weather… yeah it was a weird one last night.  To the south was blue sky and white puffy clouds.  To the north it was dark like it wanted to storm.  Then it would switch places.  It was like it was slowly swirling above us.  The catch was that the skies to the south were moving from the west to the east or counter clockwise.  The skies to the north were moving from west to east or clockwise.  It was very bizarre to watch.  And a bit scary at times as the wind would pick up and whip the trees and such around.  This phenonium lasted a few hours.  I did get a lot of cool cloud photos as well.

All the plants are inside for the time being as it is supposed to get down toward freezing tonight.  Last night wasn’t much warmer.  Hopefully the weekend will hold more summer weather.  Chris is working six days a week still.  Hopefully he can enjoy Sunday.  I don’t know if he’s going to strip the project bike down or not this weekend.  I know more parts have been ordered.  It sounds like he plans to have it ready to ride this summer.  I figured maybe a year or so so pull it all together.  Nay nay!  But I am glad.  It gives him something fun to focus on.

I still have yet to download photos onto the laptop.  Which reminds me that I should download a few for this blog.  I have been clicking away but not doing anything with the results.  I started going through the Dummies Guide for the camera yesterday.  I am making myself read everything even if I already know it to make sure I don’t miss anything. There were a few doo dads on the camera I didn’t know I had let alone what they were that I would’ve missed had I not read everything.

Ok, I will pick out a few pics to share on here and go do something outside.  Thanks for reading!  Stay safe!