Being Practical Doesn’t Make It Easier…

I know when something has to be done… you just need to do it.

But this sweet old girl… she has made it hard for me.

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She has been on the decline for several years now - but I knew a couple months ago when she began to loose weight that we were coming to the end.  She was a beautiful mix of Alaskan Malamute and Sheppard… always a puppy at heart, good natured, but with an independent streak.

These pictures are typical of her… resting on her porch with an easy grin on her face.  She did not like having her picture taken… does it show?  LOL

She was 15… and I’ll be missing her a bunch.

Sirens… and Quilts too!

Sirens… local volunteer fire department sirens.  The fire station is just down the street and around the corner – probably only about a mile away… if that.  So we hear sirens on a regular basis during the day… and usually they are just part of the background noise of daily life.

But at two in the morning those sirens sound like they are in my back yard… right outside our bedroom window - why is that?

At two in the morning those sirens wake the dog… the dog that is afraid of sirens… the dog that hasn’t figured out the difference between the fire department siren and the quarry siren.  She hears a siren and thinks the ground is going to go boom and rumble… she doesn’t understand and doesn’t find it as cool as I do to feel the rumble. 

So at two in the morning I head downstairs to shoo her back into the kitchen because she’s pushed her way through the gate that keeps them contained to the kitchen and laundry room.  It’s not so much that it keeps them in the kitchen/laundry room as it keeps the fur and dirt they track in out of the rest of the house.

Anyhoo… so I put up a second gate - because 2 gates are better than one… at two in the morning… when sirens are whaling… and a silly dog is freaking out… (yeah I’m sympathetic like that – at two in the morning)

And when I return to my bed… the siren sounds again… six tones… six long tones… up and down… and up and down again… emphatically calling the volunteers… and scaring the dog… because the siren is literally right outside our window… or so it seems at two in the morning.

So what was the problem?  Big factory fire… spreading quickly to other buildings in the high winds… lots of toxic smoke… we were evacuated… it was quite the scene getting all that we would need for us and the dogs… not sure if we would have a house when we returned… 

At least that’s what happened in my dream… the fire and evacuation – the sirens were real…

I have no idea what really happened… because there was nothing mentioned during the local morning news… no mention of an accident or fire… nadda, nothing, zip!

OH WELL… today will be a good day anyway!  The AQS Quilt Show is in Lancaster this week!  Lots of quilty friends have come to town and I will be meeting up with them later today!  I’m actually picking one lady up at the airport this afternoon and I’m excited that I actually get to meet her in person as I’ve known her only ‘virtually’ for many years.

Good Friends and Fabulous Quilts… yeah it’s going to be a good week… and sirens at 2 in the morning aren’t going to make me cranky today… well, ok… not too cranky!

My Day...

Here is a snapshot of my day...

Let's look at it...

• start with the brown coffee mug on the left... it's full - it's from yesterday - it was up in my studio next to my sewing machine that still has blocks sitting and waiting for me to return - with the light on... all night.
• my computer with Electric Quilt - I needed to work on something but after starting it I remembered I didn't scan the fabrics last night.
• the green coffee mug - today's coffee empty (well I just refilled it but you can't see that)
• a bag with yarn and a pattern for the sock class I'm taking next week - picked up on Monday - still sitting on the table
• my purse and gloves - because I need to go out in the freezing hiney cold in a little while and get some errands done so that I won't have to go out tomorrow in the more than freezing hiney cold (by the way do you know that my spell check doesn't think hiney is a word - it suggested whiney which I guess would work as well for me today...)
• a list of possible classes to teach at the shop - a couple patterns I'm considering and a quilt mag I'd love to read
• my phone and the business card for a (new to us) local vet - whom I spent an hour and a half with last night - which by my math means I paid $200 an hour... yes for the time and all the tests and an 11 day supply of antibiotics for one of My Girls

And look what The Engineer made me do last night after I got home from the vet... after I ordered and ate pizza at 8:00 PM... when I was ready to go back to what I wanted to do...

The 4 boxes of family pictures that I haven't hadn't unpacked yet... the 4 boxes of pictures I stuck behind the file cabinet... the 4 boxes that were stacked up with other stuff... yeah those 4 boxes - I had to unpack because he needed me to scan some pictures for him.

This is why there are still strips hanging down from my sewing machine and my list of classes isn't complete and I haven't scanned my fabric...

And here's my girl - she's embarrassed about costing me so much money... again!

 

Who was that last night?

We have 2 dogs. 

One I believe is part Texas Junk Yard Dog... she is certainly the protector of her little part of the Universe which unfortunately includes all that she sees and hears - and she hears very well.

'Last Call' in our house usually involves me having to wake the girls up and encourage them to go outside.  It's getting to be a bit more difficult as it has gotten colder... which I understand because I no longer go out with them and just watch from the door.  No sense them wandering around the yard forever afterwards because I'm ready to lock the door and head to bed.

Last night I sent TJYD out and she stopped right outside the dog door... and just stood there.  "Hurry up - get out in the yard" I had called several times while holding the dog door open with my foot... "Hurry Up!" 

Absolutely no response from her... she just stood there and stared out across the driveway towards the school next door.  There had been activity at the school earlier in the evening but everyone was now gone.  But something had her attention.  If she actually saw someone I knew she would be barking... and BARKING... and barking!  But she was just standing... and listening...

Curious as to what had her attention I ventured outside... "Hurry up - get out in the yard" I said again to no avail as she stood and listened.  But then I heard it... actually I heard it as I opened the door but thought it was a noise the door had made.

So I listened... TJYD and I standing and listening intently... it was close... I could tell, it was very close - but I couldn't yet see it.

Whoo, Whoo, Whooo.... Whooooo... Whooooo........

That totally had TJYD confused as she's apparently never heard an Owl... up close and personal like that.  I could tell it was very close.

After just a minute of listening and looking I found it in a branch overhanging the driveway to the school - probably not more than 20 feet above where we stood.

After some research this morning I've decided it was a Great Horned Owl.

It has a 'white collar' under his face... and that is what I could see in the dark last night... as he(she) turned to look at us.  He was just a large dark shape on the branch except for the faint reflection of light off his collar.

I'll have to keep an eye and ear out for him and see if I can get a picture...

So do you have owls near you?

Do you suppose they get grass in their nose?

With the girls (our 2 dogs) being sick recently I've had to pay closer attention to who does what, where, and when.  I know - what fun I have!

After watching closely for a few days... I want to know... do they get blades of grass up their noses when they push their faces into the grass and sniff around? 

Really - wouldn't it tickle and make you snort or something? 

They are feeling better since my last post and I have been able to get a full nights sleep for the past 3 nights too!  This episode with them has made me glad I'm in my Granny age instead of my Mommy age... I'm not cut out for sleep depravation anymore.

Rambling today...

The girls have been sick and The Engineer has been traveling... so that means I get to tend to all their many smelly needs!

I haven't slept 2 full hours in a row for days and days now!  I AM SO TIRED!  They both seem to be having stomach issues so when they whine... I've got to respond - quickly!  I am to the point where I can hear when they roll over in their beds in the middle of the night.

I'd love to just tie them up out back and leave them there... but they'd be noisy about it I'm sure.  Uumm... you do know I'm talking about the dogs right?  LOL

Anyway - one had surgery on her leg a couple weeks ago and after demonstrating her interest in suture removal... she now has quite the sporty collar to wear.  She was rather annoyed that I was taking her picture and refused to smile...  And the collar in this picture is the one I had at home - the vet gave her a new one about 4 inches longer after she removed her stitches while wearing this one.  The stitches were replaced with 14 Bright and Shiny staples - but I don't think she was impressed with the 'bling factor'.  She will be happy when this accessory is history.

Another trip to the vet today to make sure I'm not mistreating them by not feeding them for a day - and I'm not - she actually recommended not feeding them again today.  That will fix them for making me get up a bazillion times over the past couple nights!  They also are on some meds that will help resolve their problems.  I was concerned that this one had a problem related to the surgery... and I was feeling bad holding off on her pain meds which have to be taken with food. 

I'll be glad when this adventure is over.  See that blue bedspread on the floor by her?  There are no less than 4 blankets laying around covering various parts of the carpet in this townhouse... it's much easier to wash them than to clean the carpet. 

And the house... it is so in limbo - even after The Engineer stated to the real estate agents that this would be resolved by Wednesday... uuumm that would be today?  Yeah... Limbo.  I'm just too tired to care right now.  I'll be working on a list of houses to go visit this weekend... Yippee!  (I'm sorry if that didn't come off quite as sarcastic as I had intended - you could read it again and add just the right tone if you'd like.)

The girls are much quieter now - maybe that means they'll sleep through the night - and that would mean me too!

No Dog Left Behind...

We have two dogs... Kbetsy an Alaskan Malamute/Shepard mix and a small black Lab mix named Tooter.

They have both been living with Tom since we had the floors refinished earlier this summer. They love it there - he gives them treats, lets them sleep on the furniture, and takes them for a walk every day after dinner.

They come up here on the weekends with Tom when he comes up to work and happily go back with him. A couple weeks ago when I went down to Maryland I brought the dogs back here with me because Tom was traveling to St. Louis the next week. He came home on the weekend (last weekend) but did not take the dogs because he had several late meetings and an out-of-town meeting last week so I kept the dogs again.

Both dogs were a bit depressed that 'dad' left without them last Sunday. Have ya ever seen dogs moping around? For crying out loud... they are pathetic - especially Toot who is quite the whiner and spoiled by Tom.

On Tuesday I had to take them for a ride when we had the folks coming to look at the house again - we ended up spending 2 hours gone from the house running errands. It was a nice cold day so they were perfectly happy sitting in the car. That is - until we got home. Kbetsy jumps right out of the car and heads for the house. Toot - gets up on the back seat... looks around and gives me a 'nope we ain't there yet' look and lays back down on the floor behind the drivers seat - her riding position in every car. I have to go around to the drivers side - open the back door - put a leash on her and pull her out of the car!

She has not been happy all week - very clingy and whiney. She drove me nuts following me around everywhere I went in the house this week.

She was very happy when Tom showed up again this Friday - me too because that meant she would be following him around instead of me!

This Sunday morning Tom was getting the vehicles switched over - the car goes with whoever has the dogs - the other drives the truck. He let Toot get into the car... Kbetsy was on the porch but wasn't to be left out of the action and started barking for me to take her outside too.

There they were... it was 9:30AM - they were both in the car - and they WERE NOT GETTING OUT FOR ANYTHING! I tried a couple times before I left for work - but neither of them would get up.

Tom didn't leave until about 2:oo PM and he couldn't get them out of the car to go potty before he left. So he stopped at the first rest stop on the turnpike so that they could go. It wasn't the house - they knew they were on a road trip!

Goofy dogs... they were bound and determined to not get left here again.