Morning Check List

Awake (barely) √
Let out dogs √
Feed cats, clean litter boxes √
Exercise √
Breakfast √
Check email √
Check Facebook √
Check message board √
Surf net √

Okay, it looks like my morning routine is done. Now onto the fun stuff, making bed, getting bath, getting gas, doing recycling, taking the redeemable cans to the redemption center. Yep, they still have that in this state. I know, I was surprised too. I remember collecting bottles when I was a kid and cashing them in at the local general store and then spending the money on penny candy. Now I donate the money to the shelter next door to the redemption center. It's not much, but every little bit helps.

I try to stay away from the shelter itself because every time I go there, I always end up looking at the dogs and puppies and there's usually one that I want to take home, but four is our limit. Last time I was there, there was a female yellow lab I wanted to bring home, but I knew I couldn't and it broke my heart. I pray she found a good forever home.


Here's something funny. Do you remember what Snoopy sounded like when he started howling? This morning the dogs were all barking at a car that had gone up the road and was long gone. Anyway, Max started howling and he sounded just like Snoopy. It was too cute. He's so funny.

Sitting here typing this isn't getting the things done that I need to get done. so this is going to be a short post. I will end it for now. Hope you all have a great Monday.

Saturday Ramblings

Well I did it, I finally captured Patches and got her into the vet for her shots yesterday. She was NOT a happy camper. She's not one who likes to be handled much. She will show you affection on her terms, but try to pick her up and she wants out of there fast! She still has some feral cat in her which is what actually makes her a great mouser.

I noticed this morning that I have a nice battle scar on my left boob from her. Thankfully it didn't break the skin, but that's probably only because I had a hoodie on over my shirt and my jean jacket over that, even though it wasn't buttoned. None of our cats are declawed because I think it's cruel to put them through it and with four dogs also, even though I don't think they would hurt them, it's better for the cats to be able to defend themselves, just in case.

At least that is done for another year. Next week starts the pups. First will be Jake and Rolli, who also need their nails trimmed. I should have done that a couple months ago, but for some reason, kept putting it off. I know, I should have done it sooner and I do feel guilty, but this way I can kill two birds with one stone, maybe three. They also need more Frontline Plus, so maybe I'll get some more of that too, depending on if I can find it on line for less.

I need to clean the van out first. How so much junk accumulates in it is beyond me. I know that some of the stuff is Dave's who likes to use my van when we go shopping in Des Moines. Actually mine is more comfortable than his is. That's one thing about Fords, they do make comfortable cars. His isn't really any cleaner, but I think he likes driving in mine so that he can kid me about how messy it is. He used mine instead of his this morning to take David to work.

Speaking of which, yesterday when we were almost home after I picked him up from work, David and I spotted ten puppies walking in the road, following an older puppy. The older one looked to be part lab and the younger ten looked like they might be part border collies. They looked to live at the house across the road from where they were from the evidence in the yard, but I was so afraid that they would be hit by a car, especially since a car just passed me going in the opposite direction on said road minutes before.

There was a truck parked in the driveway, so I knocked on the doors for quite some time and no one answered. I prayed last night that they were okay and that they were let in at night, especially since we had thunderstorms last night. It really ticked me off though seeing them all in the road like that. They were cute little things too. I think I may go back and offer to take them to the shelter for them if they don't want them. I'd hate to see something happen to any of them because of the person's or persons' disregard for them. I can only hope that they had the mother spade after she had them unless they're still nursing. In that case, I hope they do after the puppies aren't anymore.

Not much else going on around here, but I like it that way. I like that we're not listening at sirens going  down the street every few minutes or loud neighbors. It's nice and peaceful living out here. Yes, it does have its disadvantages, but for me, there are far more advantages to it. I also think it funny that we had to move here to finally get azaleas to grow and bloom. We tried when we lived in Virginia, but for some reason they all died. As you can see from the picture, this bush seems to be doing fine. These ones are also hardy down to -40 degrees. Pretty cool, huh?

The other one we planted started to bloom earlier but got hit by the freeze we had. Hopefully that won't happen next year. I checked my lilacs, but it looks like they might have gotten hit as well. They were all full of blooms too. I'll check later to see if maybe they still might bloom. Speaking of which, they have ones at Lowes that rebloom. I have another, but it's still a little guy because I ordered it in the mail. I can't wait until that one gets big enough to bloom.

Well, that's about it for now. Have a great day everyone and I leave you with a picture of what I consider to be what peace and tranquility looks a little like.

Our sunset the other night.

The Adventures of Giving Jake and Rolli Baths

I have been putting it off for a few days now, but it had to be done.

First thing first, their shampoo, check, plenty of bath towels, check. Actually I could have used another one of those. I didn't think we had anymore clean ones because there were several that were dirty from wiping all four of them off after coming in the house. It was raining yesterday and this morning, so it was muddy outside. I did find another one after I put all the dirty ones in the washer.

Now okay, I decide that it's time, I've been putting this off for long enough, time to quit procrastinating. So, since Jake was laying behind the one chair and Rolli was following me into the bedroom, I decided that she would go first. I figured that she wanted to be first in everything else and she is the alpha female, so by golly, she had the right to go first.

She followed me into the bedroom and as soon as she figured out what was going on, she tried to high tail it out of there, but I managed to get her into the bathroom and shut the door. Ha, ha, she was trapped! Next I started the water in the tub, not a lot and not too hot, just right. Well, being the stubborn little pup that she is, she wasn't having any of it and sat her butt down and wouldn't move.

Now, if you had seen pictures of Rolli, you'll know that she's more round than skinny. I picked her up, surprisingly without too much trouble and plopped her down in the tub. She was NOT a happy girl. She would sit her butt down in the tub at every opportunity she got. It seemed like hours before I was done and I still don't think I got her as clean as I wanted. She was really not cooperating, so I gave her a good rinse and lifted her up out of the tub, trying to get a towel over her before she shook herself. She looked like a little black puffball after I finished drying her. She went running out of there like someone had caught her tail on fire.  She's got another surprise coming on Monday that she's not going to be all too happy about either. I think I'll take Jake too. He can use a nail trim.

Speaking of Jake, it was his turn. Now Jake is my mama's boy. He will follow me to the end of the earth and back, except into the bathroom when he knows that Rolli got a bath. He put two and two together and did not like the results, but he was at my mercy.

I had to close the door behind me in the bathroom with him just like I did with Rolli, but when it came to lifting him up to put him in the tub, I thought I would definitely pull my back out. He is not a light dog anymore. Anyway, I got him in the tub without too much of a hassle considering he's bigger than Rolli and our bathroom is small, real small.

Once he was in the tub though, he was fine. A little scared, but at least he cooperated. Okay, I lied, he didn't but he wasn't as bad as Rolli. At one point he was standing there and his butt was under the running water and he just stood there enjoying it. Then he laid down in the tub. He even switched sides so that I could get his full tummy and both sides. I don't think he minded the warm water being poured over him. When I lifted him out of the tub, he stood nicely so that I could dry him off and looked like an even bigger puffball than Rolli. His fur spirals when it's damp, so it really makes him look funny, but cute. At least now, I can say that he's clean. You can get an idea in this picture of what his fur looks like after his bath.

He was not too happy with me either.

 

He reminds me of a sheep before it's been sheared.

I haven't put either of their collars on them yet, but I will when they're dry. Now I'm the one who needs the bath. Angel and Max will get one another day. Max doesn't seem to mind, does he?

Let's Talk Late Night Talk Shows

Actually there are only two that I sometimes catch and they are David Letterman and Jay Leno.

The main reason I usually don't watch them is that I try to be asleep by then, but lately that hasn't been happening. We also usually watch the local news at night on the same station that Jay Leno is on, but we only watch his monologue. I don't like the local news, or rather a couple people on the station that David Letterman is on, so we very seldom watch him, but there were times that we have.

Okay, all that being said, I have made some observations over the years about the shows. I like David Letterman's band better, but I don't like David Letterman that much. Have you ever noticed that he laughs at his own jokes? I always found that annoying. It's like he's trying to get the audience to laugh more. As far as the jokes themselves, they tend to be more political. I could be wrong, because like I said before, I don't watch him that much.

Now let's talk about Jay Leno. Have you ever noticed that Leno repeats his punch line several times after he's told the joke? It doesn't make the joke any funnier and hate to say, he hasn't been all that funny since he's been back. Jay, if they didn't get it the first time, they're not going to get it after you repeat the punchline several times. When a joke fails, he'll also sometimes try to explain it to make it sound funnier. Again, if the joke wasn't funny when you first told it, it won't be funny after you try to explain it. It just makes you look desperate.

Leno also seems to cater more to the younger crowds and if you notice in his audiences, that's what you'll see. Also, it frightens me when he lets the audience run up to get close to him and shake his hand and such. Do they check people at the door by chance? I hope so. And what about germs?

His Jaywalking segments are more pathetic than funny. They're pathetic because each week they show how much our education system has failed to teach our kids. Once they get into college, a lot of them are lost and some shouldn't be there in the first place. I have seen elementary education majors not able to answer simple questions of which they should know the answers. How sad. If I were their parents, I wouldn't be proud, I would be angry. I also wouldn't want someone like that teaching my kids. Hopefully the kids are smart enough not to tell their parents that they were on the show and their parents don't tune into it themselves.

As for Leno's band, I'm sure it must be the acoustics, but hate to say, at the opening of the show it sounds like each member is just playing random stuff and it sounds really annoying and just plain loud. This band though is a giant improvement over the last.

What I really don't like about Leno is that he signed on for 15 years and when that time was up, he balked and made life miserable for those involved until he finally got the Tonight Show back. I'm glad that Conan O 'Brien is doing great and that he got an outstanding compensation package when he was forced off the show so that Leno could come back. I'm sure he now feels that he's better off where he is instead of being on a sinking ship.

I miss Johnny Carson.

He Blamed the Poor Dogs

Have you ever been in bed with someone and you couldn't sleep because they were snoring or making weird sounds in their sleep? That was Dave last night.

I know that I probably snore too and thankfully he doesn't wake me up, but last night he was making some weird noises between snoring, so I finally told him that he was snoring. I tried kicking him in the leg first, but that didn't work.

Okay, the dogs do snore, especially Jake and Angel, but last night they weren't at that particular moment. They were actually pretty quiet. Neither Rolli or Max were making a sound.

Okay, so all of that was happening and I couldn't get to sleep and I was pretty dang tired. So I finally told him that he was snoring and what did he say, "No I'm not."

Here's how the conversation went.
Me: "Dave, you're snoring."
Him: "No I'm not."
Me: "Well it's not me."
Him: "It must be one of the dogs."
Me: "No, it's not one of the dogs."

This isn't the first time he's said that he wasn't snoring when he was, but last night the end result was that  he finally rolled over and quit snoring and I was able to fall asleep. All was right in our little world once again.

Just Watch The Bouncing Ball

Ever have a black dog that when you let him/her outside at night to do their business, you can't see where they are when it's time for them to come in? Add to that the fact that they are going deaf so they don't come when you call them because they can't hear you.

This was Rolli until now.

Luckily for us, our back yard was fenced in awhile ago, so she can't go far, but trying to find her in the dark was something else. We don't have a flood light back there which we should, so the light from the back door only goes so far and it gets really dark in some areas, especially in the far corner.

Enter a collar that lights up.

Yep, you read right, a collar that lights up. I ordered it from www.drsfostersmith.com and it came yesterday. Sometimes I get some really good deals there. Anyway, they have a collar that lights up and the best thing is that when it's not in use, you can turn it off. You can also make it blink, but we left it fully lit when we tried it on Rolli last night. No, it's not one of those glow in the dark kind, this one has LED lights inside of the collar which is red that makes it extra bright when it's on. We just slid it over Rolli's regular collar before she went out and took it off when she came back in.

It was so funny watching her bouncing around the yard and only seeing the lighted collar. It was like watching one of those bouncing balls on a children's show on TV going across the bottom of your screen. It was too cute. It was nice being able to see where she was so that we could bring her in too. That saved a lot of time instead of trying to search for her or having to find a flashlight in the house and having her move whenever you shined the light in her direction. Yes, she will do that on occasion. We have one of the kind with a magnet hanging on the refrigerator, but now we don't have to worry because Rolli will be lit up like a little round Christmas tree. :)

Max, the Ducky and Rabbits

Dave and Max were playing fetch the ducky here in the house this morning and Max wore his little butt out chasing the thing. For the record, this is his second ducky. The first one saw an untimely demise at the hands, or should I say mouths of both he and Angel.

Max has been in a really good mood these last few days, definitely being over his skittishness. The weather has also been nice, which means as far as he's concerned, it's great for rabbit hunting or just playing out in the yard, which in his case means digging or aggravating Rolli who likes to lay out on the patio.

We have a fence around the back yard and just outside of the fence on the north side is an old tree trunk. Can't remember what kind of tree it was, might have been a walnut, but anyway, this old tree trunk is hollow at the bottom and apparently a rabbit pair, do they stay in pairs, dug a den under the roots for the babies. I've yet to go back there, but Dave told me this. Makes sense because Max always makes a beeline run for that area every time he's let out. I don't know if he caught any of the babies who may have wandered through the fence. That's the reason I haven't gone back there.

Well I ventured back there and saw no babies either dead or alive, so hopefully they decided to go on the other side of the old trunk, away from the dogs; Angel and Rolli like going back there too and Rolli also likes catching baby rabbits.

 The old tree trunk where the rabbits live.

Rolli was outside and went back far enough to see what I was up to.

This morning Dave was throwing Max's duck toy here in the house and Max would fetch it. He wouldn't bring it back to Dave though, so Dave would have to do some fetching of his own. He and Angel have Dave trained well that way. Every night whenever Dave has to go into the office, when he gets home, there is Angel waiting in her chair with a toy, or she's waiting at the door with a toy, or she runs to their toy box and gets a toy and then runs to her chair and waits for Dave. She knows that Dave will come over and take the toy from her and throw it down the hallway for her to fetch.

Rolli and Jake have never really liked to play fetch. They'd rather be spectators.

It's Another Manic Monday

Not really, except for the pups barking at the guy who owns the property south of us, but that's normal. Sometimes I think they don't know what they're barking at and bark just to hear themselves barking. When we come home after going somewhere, they do what we call "tag barking." They actually take turns barking. Usually it's only Jake and Rolli who do it, but it's still funny to hear.

Hope you all had a nice Easter. Ours was nice. The weather was beautiful, a little cool, but sunny. Kenneth and Elicia drove up from Kansas City. I always love seeing them. I wish they lived closer, but it could be worse. I wish they would spend the night though instead of driving back when it's getting late. Instead of spending the night, we bought a sofa bed just for that reason, but they always insist on driving back. It's at least a two and a half hour drive, but they still insist.

Kenneth is stubborn that way. I can say he gets it from his dad, but I'd be lying because he gets it from both of us, but probably me more. Lord knows I can be very stubborn when it comes to things. I definitely live up to my birth sign that way, being as stubborn as a bull. Dave knows that and most of the time, he's the one to compromise about things and lets me do what I want to do. But he can have his stubborn moments too and I know better than to try to sway him. Yes, Scorpios can be just as stubborn. You don't want to make them angry either or they will sting you. Kenneth is that way too. He's also a Scorpio like his dad.

I have to take Oreo and Patches to the vet for their shots this afternoon. They're a lot easier to take to the vet than the pups, that's for sure. Peanut and Pumpkin go next Monday. After that I need to take the pups to get their nails trimmed and then they start with their shots.

I'm the official "take the pets to the vet" person in the house. I usually schedule them for days when David has off so that he can go with me, especially when we take the dogs. They behave themselves though. Rolli is the funny one. She loves going in the car so much so that she gets all excited about going and willingly jumps in the van and even can't wait to go inside the building when we get there, but once we're inside, she wants to leave. It's like, "Okay, we came, now let's go home." Jake will pace awhile and then lay down. Angel will sniff people coming in the door and even stand at the door and bark at people going by. She'll even let people pet her, something she doesn't let strangers do here at home.

Max is the anxious one, but he'll walk up to people and always get petted and told how sweet he is. He also gets a pill before he goes because of his anxiety. One time it was time to leave and he had been getting petted and talked to by a girl waiting to get her pup because it had surgery. When I said, "Okay Max, it's time to go home," he walked back over to the girl, maybe to say goodbye or get more attention, but then I told him, "No, this way," and out the door he went and waited to be let in the van. On the way home he fell asleep on the back seat, which he always does. I guess he gets anxious because he's afraid that he's going to be dumped again, but when we get back in the van to go home, he clams down because he knows that's not going to happen again. No way would I do that and it really angers me when people do it. I've even taken strays to the shelter because we are at our limit as far as pets, but I wanted them to have a chance at getting a forever home rather than being killed by a car or coyote. Raccoons will also kill cats, especially if they're competing for food.

Anyway, I best get a move on. It's a little after noon, but it also takes 40 minutes to get there, plus I have to get Oreo and Patches into their carriers first, something they both hate. So I will sign off for now.

Have a great day and remember that when things look hopeless and you feel like you have no one to talk to, there is someone who will listen. I know that from personal experience. Till next time, take care.

And later: A little turn of events here. I ended up taking Peanut and Patches to the vet and not Oreo and Patches who decided after hearing David put the carriers together, to hide under our bed, which is impossible to get them out from under since it's a waterbed frame. So, barring anymore unseen circumstances such as what happened today, their turn is next Monday, same time, same place.

Happy Easter

He Has Risen

May you have a Blessed, Safe, and Happy Easter

To all of our Jewish Friends

 May you have a Safe and Happy Passover

Mother Nature is Playing an April Fools Joke on Us

By making us think this could very well be summer rather than ten days into spring. We were up to 84 earlier, don't know what it is presently. Some areas here in Iowa even reached the 90s.

Dave is/was, just walked in the door, outside cutting the grass for the first time this year. I saw a lot of people doing that when I took David to work this morning. I'm sure it's like that in a lot of places. I know the ponies are loving all the fresh grass to eat and the birds are loving the fact that the ponies are shedding their winter coats so that they have some nice strong stuff, have you ever felt a horse's hair, it's pretty thick and not real soft, to use in their nest building.

I need to take the dogs out tomorrow to brush them down so that the birds will have some nice soft fur to use too, especially Rolli's and Angel's little gremlins. I gave them their flea and tick treatments last week, so they're protected from those. I just remembered that I forget to put the little sticker on the calender to remind me when their next one is due.

Last month went down as being the warmest March on record. It's going to be interesting to see what happens this month as far as temperatures go, but April snowstorms are not unheard of. Our first year here we got 13 inches of snow in April. That New Year's day I was taking down Christmas lights in short sleeves. That 4th of July was sunny, but chilly, not hot like you would suspect.

I don't know if it's caused by global warming or if it's just a natural cycle of the earth, I'll let the experts argue that, but it just goes to show that like the old saying goes, "If you don't like the weather, just wait awhile and it will change." I'm sure that will happen here before too long. It wouldn't be the first time either.