Enjoying the great outdoors

 

Moonrise on September 4th.  I am enjoying deck time with the doggo while the weather is mild.  There is something that grounds one and offers up peace in the natural setting.

Friday night I had some wakefulness and upset digestive tract, so was moving slow Saturday morning.  Ember had to wait until about 9 a.m. for the walk she usually gets between 7 and 8.  She was a little grumpy before we went.  But she also got a lot more stimulation because of the foot traffic around garage sales once we did get out and about.  As for me, I was grateful for the rise in temperatures from 46 to 52 in that wait time!

Kid sis Alicia and I had a coffee date, and that came off well, playing sister catch-up at a nearby coffee shop while Ember snoozed in her crate for puppy nap #1.  After that, Ember and I enjoyed a pretty quiet Saturday.  I know I needed it, and I think she did, too.  Part of the day she was snoozing on the couch, head on my lap.

Friday with her horse ball.  Somehow, she managed to get both it and herself onto that chair!  Mom pulled out the "big toys" and sprinkled both giant Easter Eggs and the horse ball in the back yard.

Sunday morning deck play with smaller toys.  

Sunday afternoon we had a play date with Carl at the big dog park.  It was all FGC's idea of something fun to do.  The dogs were both ecstatic.  The humans were pretty chill, too.  It was a gorgeous day.

Doesn't the angle of the light just shout "Autumn"?  I love this time of year!  Oh, yeah, I'm repeating myself.

Lots of running around in big open spaces, and a ball to chase, too.  What could be better?  Ember would chase around with other dogs for brief periods but always found her way to Carl.  FGC had brought one of Carl's favorite balls to toss and chase, so both dogs got LOTS of exercise.

Ember got a snout full of something; I'm thinking the water... and had some sneezing fits.  These continued on beyond the park visit.  Mom is monitoring even Monday morning.  

A new toy is pretty awesome, but it doesn't rise to the "another live dog" level!

Monday morning, we had a few sneezes before the morning walk but managed the first mile on leash without sneezing.  Then we had a little episode as we turned the corner and took a treat.  There was at least one bright red leaf in that yard, fallen from something "maple".  We got past that and made it safely home, where we jumped into the car inside the garage and went through the drive-thru at Scooter's.  The hu-mom had experienced her first taste of a pumpkin spice latte on Saturday with her sister, and yowza!  So she wanted another one.

We got up to the window, and the worker smiled and said, "our system just went down, so this one's on us"... so nice way to start a Monday, huh?  Free coffee treat for mom, and dog biscuit for Ember!

I made up for it on Wednesday, paying for the car behind me.  It feels good to "make someone's day"!

While Ember was in day care on Tuesday, I again baked banana bread.  What else does one do when the bananas ripen so fast, eh?

Enjoy your autumn when it arrives.  Ours is going to be put on hold for a week of "the remainder of Summer" that appears to be headed our way.

Life is good!  Keep on Sparking.

Leftovers for Monday

 

Monday I had leftovers from the cookout for lunch.  Nums!

Ember wished Mom could turn off the rain, but Mom does not control the weather!  This is the rain gauge Monday morning, last emptied before this stretch of 3 days.

The rain gauge Monday evening from when I emptied it above until "last call" about 7:00 p.m.  In short, we've had some moisture going on here!

Next prediction of rain possibilities Wednesday.  As of Thursday, the drought map being published shows we are finally back to normal!

Of course, all the moisture makes the ground soft, so when the motorized minibikes came racing through Sunday night and one of them lost a bit of control, he tore up my lawn!  A muddy mess.  And he just rode off into the sunset!

Tuesday was indeed drier.  Ember headed off to day care and had a really good day there.  I had my workout with the trainer, and did housework, including laundry.

I was later than usual picking Ember up from day care, and her group was out playing when I arrived.  I said to let her finish her play time, so I got a very tired and happy pup to bring home.

I adjusted pickup time on Thursday to allow for her to get the extra playtime.  I'm thinking this might become a regular thing.

I built "x-pen #2" in the family room as the extra panels had arrived.  Note the mostly destroyed leather couch has had a couple of replacement cushions added, and some fabric draped, although it's still pretty trashed.  Three partially chewed end tables are fenced off, as are the couch, the router, and the fireplace.

Ember showed curiosity about the new space, and I took her inside on leash, briefly, for her first visit in there.  Then I shut the gate and turned off the lights.  We'll go in again at various times, and it is my hope that it might become a training space.

I do purchase "destroy" toys, as well as allowing her to chew on certain "empties" (TP rolls, paper towel rolls, boxes of various kinds).  Some days she's a wonderful shredding machine, other days, she's fine just licking the leftover yogurt out of the little tub and leaving the tub intact.

Thursday I was supposed to have the whole house electrician check but they rescheduled me, and I felt relieved.  I spent the day cleaning and taking it easy.  

Friday continued the cool and pleasant morning streak.  The sunrise pinked up both east and western skies.

Ember had an outstanding leash walk including:

• walking on the other side of the street parallel to another dog she knows (Bella) for a couple of blocks leading up to Bella's home.
• Calmly coming with mom across the street to allow a little dog to do his business in his own front yard.  
• Staying calm and walking on past a human walking in the street and a barking dog in his fence on the other side.  (Competing distractions).

• Staying calm and getting past three, count 'em, three garage sales, including one where a man was carrying his purchase to his truck right across our path.  She did pause to beg for pets and got a little excited after he obliged, but she didn't jump at his bungee cords!

•  Last, but not least, she walked along the same side of the street where a garbage truck (big and noisy) was picking up other people's trash, and she didn't lunge at the garbage worker who was picking up and putting down the cans/bins.  Yes, mom used up several treats along the way, but we "walked on", did not need to sit and wait.
• She got an extra half a block detour as reward / calm down time after the encounter with the garbage truck.

The day is starting off well. Hoping for a good weekend ahead!

Life is good.  Spark on!

Labor Day weekend - the end of Summer

Socially speaking, this weekend is the end of the Summer season.  Even though school started a couple of weeks ago, this is the "end of the Summer" blast.

Ember came along, and she and Carl wore each other out. FGC played video games while DIL's dad watched the Husker women win their volleyball match.

The dogs stayed out in the back yard the whole time.  Except for the couple of times they broke inside, then got sent right back out.  They definitely stayed out while people were eating!  Grillmaster made sure of that.

Highlight of the day was when FGC came back into the kitchen and told Ember to stay and to sit... and she did!

A really sweet mom - daughter hug!  

DIL's mom brought cookies that she made especially because FGC had been asked to name his favorite kind, and he said simply, "Yellow cookies with yellow frosting" (Yellow is his favorite color).  I didn't get any photos of them, but they were very good!  Everything that lady makes is outstanding, and desserts in general are her specialty.

I brought the classic Greek salad, undressed.

DIL contributed salsa and fresh produce from her carefully tended garden.  I got to bring extras home, including the season's "gold"... homegrown tomatoes!

Mythical Son was the grill master.  He had brought the grill up onto the deck because of predicted rain but we got really lucky with the forecast changing and rain start being put off, then put off again, and again.  In the end, we did not get rained on at all!

The dogs strategically stayed near the grill while playing but did not crowd the grill master.  Carl shared his toys like a good boy.

Everything was yummy, and I got some good chill time on the deck with my son after the meal.  The VB game was over and FGC, DIL, and her mom were playing a video game inside.  The dogs were happy.  The people were happy.  It was a good day.

As it got close to Ember's supper time, I snuck her out the gate and she hopped up into the car just like after day care, and we had a smooth ride home.  She had her supper, and we chilled together on the couch until time for her after supper nap before "last call".

The dynamic canine duo, keeping the deck safe from squirrels and flies.

Hope your Labor (or Labour) Day observance was as good.  

Life is Good!

Spark on!

Another week

 

Remember the shrikes?  Apparently, they are still in the neighborhood, although no longer nesting in my siding!  A young one was sitting atop my fence, and an adult "watcher" was nearby, in fact a couple of them, as I went out to take photos.  

It may be a fresh new week for me and for Ember, but it's a whole fresh new year for the foster grand kiddo.  He turned seven on Saturday, and my son and DIL threw him a big bash.  His "nice auntie" drove his brother and sister all the way from her home in Iowa just for the occasion.  I got to meet her for the first time, and found out a few things I didn't know, like that she grew up in Maine.  Since I worked in Des Moines for a year or so, we do have some landmarks in common.

The party was held at a gaming venue, meaning bowling, laser tag, miniature golf, cornhole kinds of gaming, not the casino kind!  Very kid friendly.  

The decor in the calm before the storm of boys coming back from round 1 of laser tag.  It got noisy shortly later, and as usual I'm restraining myself from photos that might identify kids in the system.

The kid got a couple of "biggish" gifts that challenge my grandmother's sense of appropriate:  a hoverboard, and a drone complete with camera.  Videos from taking both of these out to a park on Sunday were shared with the family group chat and that calmed my qualms.  Clearly adult supervision was being exercised.  Kid was wearing his bike helmet and kneeling on the hoverboard, not standing and being reckless.  And the drone... well let's just say his video game skills contributed to that being a safe endeavor.

A really sweet bedtime after the party exchange was reported where kiddo claimed my son was the "richest person".  DIL pointed out there were lots of people richer than him.  To which my son said (surprising and pleasing his mother), "That depends on what you mean by rich."  Which is absolutely true!

Sunday morning dawned cool and a little drizzly.  Ember and I played a few rounds of fetch and got around our 1.2-mile walking loop before I made my own breakfast.  I stayed home with her, not even going out to do any errands, partly to make up for having left her crated for the birthday party time on Saturday.  

Monday, we got a lovely cool day, too.  Ember and I had a nice walk in the morning.  I got the grocery shopping done.

Tuesday was Ember's Day care day, and my first workout back with the trainer since "the incident".  By now, my forearm looks pretty well healed.  

I ran the vacuum and played with a fresh new X-pen that arrived last week.  

I'm continuing that "looking ahead to Winter" work.  After putting this much together, I found another X-pen on sale and ordered it.  Whenever it gets here, I'll keep on keeping on.  The end goal is to be able to open up the family room and keep the furniture protected while Ember unlearns her chewing ways.

Wednesday morning, good longish walk (1.3 miles) in the cool air.  We encountered a few other folks walking their dogs, alerted on people walking or jogging, but we are making progress at "continuing to walk in the presence of such distractions".  I had got her trained to quietly stay in place, show me a pretty polite sit, and wait our turn, mainly with lures.  She expects the treats.

We took a second walk at noonish.  Mid-afternoon I flipped to the news and that was like a punch in the stomach.  Another school shooting, in the church next to a school in Minneapolis.  I could not help seeing visions of my sister in law's classes when she taught in a local Catholic school.  They would go to mass in the church next to the school.  Innocents.  And I thought about my FGC, who has experienced trauma in his own little life, and wondering how my son and DIL might have to deal with him hearing this news (kids hear things, whether we intend them to or not), and possibly be triggered.  Dear Lord, help all those in similar situations to get through and to once again feel safe.

Thursday Ember had day care and her mom kind of collapsed in a heap.  This is becoming a pattern for Thursdays.

Friday morning the RunKeeper app was going NUTS with phone notifications, so I turned it off during our leash walk.  We walked a few different blocks, too, but in the end it was a good walk, I'm estimating 1.3 miles to maybe 1.5, depending on how far we took those "detours".

We played fetch and tug in the back yard and enjoyed the not as blisteringly hot day.  We are experiencing a short spell of cooler weather.  Yet to be determined if this is an early autumn arrival, or a "false fall".  I'd heard of "Indian Summer" which is warm weather following the first freeze, but "false fall" is a new concept to me.  Not that I've not seen a cool week in August some years that lulls us into thinking Summer is over when it's not, but I'd never heard it named this way.

Looking ahead to the weekend, there is a family cookout planned for Sunday, and Ember is invited, too.  So maybe having a "down" Thursday was a way to store up energy for that event.

Life is good.  Keep on Sparking!

Stitches out

 

Coffee with my bestie.  Sunday morning, after our walk.

Monday morning dawned with rain and rumbles.  Ember was a good girl and did her business outside between showers.  We got about a half mile walk in between two showers, and then a second half mile after puppy nap #1.

It's going to be a busy week:

Tuesday was the normal "day care for Ember / housecleaning for mom".  No trainer workout until after the stitches come out.  My decision, based on doctor's advice not to "add weight" to exercises right away.

Tuesday evening was flag football practice for FGC.  DIL or son post relevant videos and photo to the family group.  They played two rounds of "capture the flag" / "last man standing" at the end of practice.  FGC, being taller and having a longer arm span than the others on his team, won both rounds.  Coach was trying to talk to the smaller kids about how they have to work together to get the bigger kids "out".  So far, it hasn't quite clicked for them, but I predict it will before the season is over.

Wednesday was stitches out day.  Ember went on a lovely, well-behaved, loose leash walk with me about 10 minutes after sunrise.  Then when we got home, she was full of herself and in need of zoomies.  I had to put the oatmeal back in the cupboard and the milk pan into the fridge while I tossed "destroy" stuff for her.  An empty milk carton elicited the big zoomies.  Finally, she settled down and I fixed my breakfast.  After I washed the pan, she put herself into her crate for puppy nap #1.

The stitches were removed and replaced with some steri-strips and a big Band-Aid.  One day of this, then says the doc, I should be good.  The photo is from Tuesday night, shower time. 

Wednesday afternoon, the lawn guys came to set down fertilizer and broadleaf weed killer.  I was not aware they were coming, so when they turned on the outside faucet and it screamed, I thought I had turned on the wrong burner under my lunch, and the teakettle was screaming.  The sliding glass door to the deck was partly open because... dog, right?  Fenced yard, right?

But the lawn guy had left the gate open before he started the water running, and while I was shuffling around the kitchen trying to figure out the sound... Ember set out the back door to investigate.  The sound stops, and it dawns on me what it was, so I go look out the front (where that faucet is) and what do I see?  Ember!  On the front steps.  Outside the fence!

Yikes, right?  I open the door, "There you are!"  I called her name, stepping back and holding the door open.  She bounded up the stairs and into the house, expecting her name-call treat.  Ya think she got it?  Darn tootin' she did!  Mommy was so happy and pleased with the speed of her recall!

Thursday The Prisoner had his vet exam.  I was brushing him on Monday morning on the counter across from Ember's crate.  Ember was a good girl and didn't lose her puppy manners over me paying this kind of attention to the kitty.  OK, maybe she barked a couple of times.  The kitty was for the most part OK with the attention... he likes getting the undercoat brushed out and the burrs removed.  The two of them are pretty polite to one another, even though The Prisoner maintains his right to avoid the pup, and I carefully make sure he has his safe space.  But at this point in their relationship, Ember respects my asking her to wait while I enter the sanctum to feed the cat. 

At Thursday's vet visit, they found one flea in his groomed fur, alive.  Yikes.  Vet asked what preventative I use for him.  Advantage.  She says it is becoming less effective over time, as fleas develop resistance to some of the popular OTC flea treatments.  She switched us to prescription Bravecto, which she said is every 3 months treatment.  I looked it up online, and it says "2-month supply" for one dose!  I shall have to clarify before the end of October.  That also explains the confusion... she had been telling me the dose she put on him was good to the end of October, but three months would take us to Thanksgiving.  I'm betting she was right about October, and wrong about 3 months.

Friday morning Ember had another well-behaved leash walk, earlier than some mornings.  Between 6:30 and 7 a.m. you see all sorts of "the neighborhood waking up" activity, from people taking advantage of the cooler temperatures for their own walks, to dog-walkers getting in a pre-work walk, to folks watering their yard plantings, to the usual commuters backing out of their garages and headed to work. 

That pretty much wraps the week here.  We're supposed to have a slightly cooler weekend, and I look forward to that!

Life is good.  Keep on Sparking!   

Summer draws to a close?

 If you count the beginning of the school year as the end of Summer, that is.  Air conditioning makes it possible to start school while the weather still says it's Summer, for sure.  But the sun-time is definitely diminishing.  Those of us with pets that go out and get walked notice the daylight regardless of the high and low temperatures.

Thursday morning:  raining.  Ember burrows into her blankie and gnaws on a bone.  She looks like one of those scrap dealers on Tatooine in Star Wars.  Jawas?

It was another day care day for Ember.  I cleaned house, took recycles to the center, and baked a loaf of banana bread.  

FGC played in his first flag football game Thursday evening.  He made the first flag capture, and the final touchdown of the game.  Son posted photos and a video of the touchdown run.  Think he's popping his daddy vest buttons?  Yeah, me, too.

FGC has survived the first two days of school.  Here's hoping for a good year in first grade!

Friday morning, Ember managed to find the a two-day-old burrito that was on the grass beside the street.  On Wednesday I had managed to get her past it without her sniffing at it, but not so on Friday!  She... ate... the... whole... thing!  There was no sense trying to pull her off it or give her cues like "leave it" or "poison" because I could tell she was in no state to pay attention to them.  I just stood there, holding the other end of the leash until she was done and willing to walk on.

She went down for her morning nap early after we got home.  Full belly, exercise done, business taken care of.  Meanwhile, the surprise lily is almost back to vertical.

The surprise lily carried on!  I shall caption this one "resilience".  A few blooms expired, but lifting its head!

What's this?  The start at an attempt to have a "training corner" in the lowest level of the house.  Right now, it's just a stall pad and a rectangle of astroturf, airing out and flattening out.  Ember has been down there a couple of time to check on it.  I had put it down and arranged it while she was in day care on Thursday.  Now my strategy is to just ignore it and get her to do the same, until it becomes "white noise" before I try to do any playing or training on it.

I am trying to "think ahead" to the Winter, after the incident with the thunderstorms.  I still have the family room completely blocked off with X-pen and baby gate.  It has become the graveyard for partially or fully destroyed furniture.

I have ordered new cushions for the couch in there and am thinking about how I might rehabilitate it, eventually.

Saturday morning events of note:

On our morning walk, we encountered (without my notice, but definitely with Ember's) the remains of two baby squirrels.  She sniffed them but she did not pick them up, try to eviscerate them, nor roll on them!  Yay!

We are almost to the end of my antibiotics... 24 hours' worth left.  Ember has two days' worth left on Ember's.  I am following doctor's orders to air the healing wound out a little bit each day, and watching as the scar starts to shape up.  Morning walk on Saturday, it was nearly 80*F, so I did not wear long sleeves.  I figured the sniffing and walking would provide enough distraction that Ember would not fixate on the bandage.  I was right.

The weatherman was right, too.  It got good and hot later in the day.  It got up to 95F, for those of you who can play "can you top this" (I know some of you can)!  I missed the FGC's soccer game as Ember was up and active during the time of the game.  But I did let her nap in the crate while I put in an appearance at the financial outfits "Night at the Ballpark".  I made it through one inning before deciding it would be good to get home.

Once home, I let Ember out for her last call and I snapped one last shot of the surprise lily, as was dying now.  I do love the week or two when this one pops up and progresses through its bloom cycle.

Life is good.  Spark on!

Healing and rebounding

 

Surprise lily, before the storms.

And after the storms.

We shall see if it stands up again, or just continues to bloom horizontally on the patio surface.

Monday morning Ember and I took a long walk that included:

1) Munching on strawberries in somebody's front yard.  No clue if they dropped the groceries or what, but irresistible to Ember.

2) Picking up a Titlist glove from the street (yes, she once again started dragging me toward this prize).  Observing there was no traffic I let her pick it up, then asked her to give it to me for a "thank you" treat, and she did.  I tucked it into my pocket then after we got she was safely inside at home, I returned it to approximately where she picked it up.

3) Trying to jump up on my next door neighbor as he was trying to leave for work.  He was wearing a tie and an ID badge, huge lures for this pup.  Sigh.  I barely got her away with brute strength and a couple of good treats.

I am worried that she's getting too many treats on her walks, based on such incidents.  On the other hand, she must be feeling better from her skin infection, she's certainly full of energy!  On the third hand, not having had a Carl adventure this past weekend and dealing with the two storms may have fed into a bad case of cabin fever!

Misadventures continued at home.  I turned my back to wipe down the shelf in the fridge after breaking out a new milk jug.  There was about a half measuring cup full of milk on the counter, waiting for me to finish filling it from the new half gallon.  Ms. Counter surfer grabbed the half full measuring cup and raced to her x-pen, spewing milk all over the counter, the kitchen floor, and polishing off whatever was left in the cup in her x-pen.  I cleaned that all up, prepared my breakfast and ate it.  Went on poo patrol in the back yard.

When she went down for puppy nap #1, I went back to urgent care, where they changed my dressing.  Doctor pronounced that it looked good, that I would heal well, and sent me home with instructions to drop in again on Wednesday for another dressing change, and then beyond that we can drop to Band-Aids, most likely.

Oh, and if I were to go workout with the trainer on Tuesday, don't add weights to that arm!  I ended up cancelling the trainer, that way I can commit to specific times for foster grandma duty.

By the time I got home, rain had started and was predicted to go on for two hours or more.  It did, and so did indoor misadventures.  Ember tried to go after the couch cushion that started all this, including the bite on Saturday.  I was smarter about my responses this time, though. I broke out some new toys, and when the rain stopped got her outside for some fetch games.  I fenced off the couch. She has now lost her couch privileges for a while.  When she went down for puppy nap #2, I put the couch back together again.  

The surprise lily is rebounding, day by day.

Tuesday was day care day for Ember.  I signed her up for Tuesdays and Thursdays through the end of September.

After I dropped her off at day care, I worked on laundry, vacuumed the x-pen and dust mopped the tile floors.  I headed over to son & DIL's house for my grandma time.  The other set of grandparents stayed and we had a calm afternoon with FGC showing me how his video game worked, showing off his aquarium and we found a snail!  Then two more snail babies.  They must have come in on the plants.  

We ended my portion of the visit with a game of four square (OK 3-square) on the deck with the two grandmas and FGC.  Then I made my exit, picked up Ember and came home.

Wednesday morning, first day of public schools, Ember and I went on a neighborhood walk a few minutes earlier than normal.  We encountered (on the other side of the street) a dad taking "first day of school" photos of his daughters.  For the most part, Ember was good, but she chose to drop and roll on what looked like it might have been a discarded banana peel in the middle of the street.  She does have her ways of elevating her mom's heart rate!  But we got past that, and make it safely home.

After I had my breakfast and Ember went down for her first puppy nap of the day, I took myself back to Urgent Care for a check up and dressing change. 

The doctor pronounced that it was healing well.  I have graduated to a giant Band-Aid protecting the stitches now, four days after the incident.  I'm on my own until the 20th when the stitches will need to be removed.

I have laid in a good supply of yogurt, which of course is a favorite of mine, to replenish the good bacteria. 

My son called me on his way home from work to get "the whole story" of the dog bite.  I laid it all out there, pretty much as I did in the last blog.  So now everybody is up to speed.

Life goes on.  Life is good.  Spark on!