Getting on the groom

 

We got our groom on... well, at least Mom & the pup.  Kitty isn't quite into grooming season yet (Summer, when he sheds!)

Wednesday we just had a quiet "mommy and me" day.  Thursday while Ember was off at day care, I arranged to get Dexter's oil changed.  

Friday my son's first wife came over and met Ember.  Ember behaved so well, I was proud of her.  We even showed off the parlor trick of "ItsYerChoice" game with cheese.  Caught up on ex-DIL's family news, her career happenings, etc., and was able to give her life encouragement.  She looks wonderful, by the way, and I'm so glad that both of them landed on their feet post-divorce.

I have not mentioned her visit to either my son or my current DIL.  They have their hands full enough with foster kiddo and all the drama surrounding that entire situation.

Saturday afternoon early, we took both Ember and Carl (plus foster-grand kid) to the big dog run.  We took the dogs up to the agility section first.  Foster grand-kiddo crawled through the tunnel playing tag with another human kid.  This got quite a few of the dogs present VERY interested.  Ember got partway into it but backed out when she encounter humans.

This photo, from the rear, with no ability to recognize anybody, is apparently OK to put up here.  It's son, foster grand-kiddo, and me, headed for the exit, dogs bounding in the distance.

We did another little "practice ride" with the new seat protector flopped up to separate kiddo from doggo.

The outing wore me out.  Wore Ember out, too, but she wanted more mommy company once we were again "home alone".  I indulged her and went back downstairs to her bark.  I felt the need to unwind a bit, too.  Not that we did anything exciting with that extra time.  Just napped on the couch together until she was ready to transfer herself to the crate.  Bonding time.

Groomed on Tuesday, muddy on Saturday.  Life of a pampered dog, a happy dog, a tired dog.

Sunday morning I'm visiting the world of insomnia, having awakened between 2 and 3.  Gave up and got up about 3, and luxuriated with a warm shower.

Life is good.

Spark on!

Training never ends

Let me be clear:  I am teetotal.  So why is there a Busch beer can I'm snapping a photo of?  I can hear you guessing "Ember" and "litter".  You are right.  On Sunday morning's walk, this hu-mom made a misjudgment about which distraction to avoid, and I got dragged to the curb so she could collect this mostly empty beer can!

Visions floated in my head of "how much dregs in the bottom will make my dog tipsy?"  As is, she carried it all the way back to our own yard. I wasn't going to fight her for it three blocks from home, where she picked it up.  When she's carrying a prize, it sort of inoculates her against other distractions, too, so there is a benefit to choosing one's battles.

I got it away from her, snapped its photo (you can see that her teeth are still effective can punch tools), and put it in the recycle bin.  Sigh.  I wish people didn't litter.  I wish I had seen it ahead of time and got her across the street before she spotted it.  I wish her training were stronger on this issue.  As they say, "Train the dog in front of you", as opposed to the dog you wish/dream you had.

Ember let me have some human time while she napped in her crate for an hour or so on Sunday.  Then she napped on the couch, after a round of retrieves off the back deck.

Work continues on Ember's latest branch project.  

On Monday she went to an extra day in daycare, so the carpenter bee treatment could begin.

Monday late afternoon and into the evening, we got rain!  Ember went out in it for her "last call" and I took the video of the streaming runoff.  Ember stuck close to the house, to be under the eaves.  Fortunately, the catch basin runoff solution does allow for the drainage to happen overnight, and at least the puddles did not remain into Tuesday.

Tuesday is trainer day for me, daycare for Ember, and we each did our own regular Tuesday thing.  It also happened to be the day I had scheduled for Ember's groom.  I went and got my own haircut, to match.

I picked up my soft-furred, nice-smelling, bandana'd pup at the usual time, and we came home to the lawn mowers (Tuesday is their regular day, too).

Ember stories without photos:  First, Monday morning, she counter surfed a pint tub of blueberries!  You may remember that I spilled such a tub last week, fumbling as I got it out of the fridge.  This time, it was closed.  Ember did not break it open, just carried it in her "soft retriever mouth" around the house until I convinced her it was "not for puppy, Mommy's" and traded her for a treat.  The blueberries were unharmed, and could easily be rinsed and used, and I was just impressed by how gently she carried that tub!

The second is from Tuesday morning drop off at day care.  I mentioned as we walked in that she would get to see Tony today.  Tony is her groomer.  The daycare worker took the leash, but Ember laid down politely looking toward the grooming wing of the building.  Again, reflecting on it, I was impressed.  I at first thought another dog must be coming in that door, but not so!  I revised my theory to her anticipating seeing Tony!

Dogs are smart critters.  

Sad news, my older sister's kitty Ginger had to go across the rainbow bridge on Tuesday.  This photo from six years ago, when Ginger could not resist shredding my running hat's pompom.  I was visiting and had just put my coat and hat on the couch.  Sis and I laughed, and we took a "shame on you" photo of kitty and damage.

Our pets are so much a part of our lives, especially as we become empty nesters.  They are a reason to get up and someone to talk with as our days progress.

Life is good.  Cherish it and keep Sparking!

The plus side of blustery days

 

My bad toss landed this toy on the roof.  Like the week after the gusty wind gave back the heavier rope toy.  I can't take me anywhere!

Anyway, Thursday the 15th was a blustery day, and when I got Ember home from daycare, here it was, on the patio!

Ember was very happy to see it again and it became our evening fetch toy.  And chew toy, too.

Meanwhile, in human "things" category, I figured out a "nice" place to hang the "reusable paper towel" that came as a Mother's Day gift.  I hung it high on the refrigerator door.  Pretty, right?  It's supposed to replace 17 rolls of paper towels.  You can see this one coming, right?

It became an immediate attraction to the puppy.  She jumped up and pulled it down.  Took her an eyeblink to steal that poor little paper thing, and less than a couple of minutes to shred it.

On the plus side, the resultant mess was easier to clean up than if she had actually got hold of 17 rolls of paper towels!

The daycare worker and I did manage to get Ember to sit on the scale at the end of Thursday.  83.6 pounds.  Still not sure what optimal weight for her will end up being, but she has a waist.  Her ribs still have some padding; she does not look emaciated by any stretch.  

Friday was blustery as well.  On our Saturday morning walk, Ember selected another wind fallen branch to bring home and turn into her next chew toy.

We took a second walk to make up for cutting the first one short.

And I played a bit more with the video of retrieves Saturday morning, too.  By doing this I learned I never shut up, I narrate to my dog constantly!

Redirecting to find the ball for retrieve.

A distinct pause to look at the woodpecker hole.

Life's good.  Keep Sparking!

Pain in the neck.

I'm not sure exactly when it started feeling better, but sometime toward the end of last week, my stiff neck seemed to be better.  I'm grateful.  However, the anecdotal "pain in the neck" of getting the woodpecker damage repaired continued.  And has been added to by a pain in the neck whose name is "Carpenter Bees".

I am once again all messed up on my days of the week.  Last Saturday felt like a Sunday.  So I had two Sundays this weekend.  "The kids" took their two mothers out for Mother's Day the day before.  This was so foster grandchild could come along, since he was supposed to be visiting his birth-dad on Mother's Day itself.

This of course meant that Miss Ember had to be crated for about 3 hours while I went off for human partying.  Sunday morning, she was in a destructive mood, as three photographs will illustrate.  

1.  She surfed a piece of junk mail off the counter and tore it to shreds. 

 

2.  She started to de-stuff her comfort carrot, which had been pretty resilient up until now.  

3. She stole an empty poop bag while I was policing the yard.  She shredded it.

I opted out of both a last-minute miniature golf invitation for Sunday morning and the Sunday afternoon soccer match.  I missed foster grandchild scoring 6 of his teams 7 goals at that event!  DIL caught one of them on video and sent that around to the family.  There's a part of me that really wishes I had more social energy, but I was worn out. I put my feet up and napped on the couch.  Ember was happy to let me do so as the temperature headed up to 90F.

We did go on a nice long walk Sunday morning.  Ember got attention from a couple of young men.  She adores young men.  One of them has a couple dogs of his own.  The other is more of a cat person.  But he seems to tolerate my Ember.

On Monday morning, yikes, the fifth reschedule of the woodpecker work landed as a text message.  I had already booked Ember for Monday daycare to allow for this.  Ember discovered the woodpecker, finally, at 6:20 Saturday morning.  Sorry, neighbors.  She saw it, dropped the ball mid-fetch, and barked at the woodpecker hole.

They sent "the new guy" to have a look at it.  He didn't get here until 2 p.m.  He asked what kind of woodpecker and mentioned it's illegal to move or disturb the nests of some species!  Yikes.  I don't know what kind of woodpecker, I said, but I didn't think we were dealing with an endangered species!

Well!  That led to Google searching and trying to capture a photo (very hard, these birdies don't seem to want to have their photo taken).

I am guessing these are Northern Flickers, based on online photos.  None of my photos of them came out clear enough to identify, but I have had closer looks as they flew over.  They are clearly a mated pair, and clearly, the handyman service rescheduled me beyond the point where they have built a nest in my siding!

So, that means I can't get this fixed until nesting season is over, which isn't until July or August!  Sigh.  Meantime, I hear them fluttering in my walls.  

I called them back Tuesday morning and they will call me after the 4th of July.

Meanwhile, The Prisoner was quite happy to have the dog gone two days in a row.  He even hopped up on my lap to purr for a while, before fleeing to his happy hunting grounds outside.

Wednesday I broke down and called the pest control service about the Carpenter Bees.  These bees do not sting, but they hover and look you in the eye.  They also drill holes in your siding!

On Thursday, the Carpenter Bee specialist came and took a look at the "stack" of sandbox, playhouse, balcony and found where the bees have been drilling.  It's going to cost $$$ to get the specialized treatment for these pests.

The gent did a "four points" inspection of the house and also discovered evidence of mice and silverfish in the attic level, but the carpenter bees are the current priority.  We can talk about attic solutions after that gets taken care of.  He got me on their calendar for next Monday!

That fix will be more in the $$,$$$ range, but will involve both pest control AND insulation.  He gave me his card to call once the carpenter bee situation is under control and I'm budgetarily ready to deal with the attic issues.  July?  August?

Such fun, living in the natural world!

Life is good.  Keep on sparking!

Onward...

Monday morning, about 9 a.m. pinned to the couch by Ember's sleeping head.  I ended up apologizing to her because I needed to go upstairs and take a shower.  I needed to do that because she was already whimpering when I got up, so I had deferred the shower to get up and let her outside.

Well, that was about 5:15 a.m.  The underground sprinklers were not done running yet.  I loved watching her explore them in her own back yard and not freaking out.  I swear, every bit of progress in her maturing and training makes me more in love with my dog.  I cherish the puppy pictures from "1 year ago" that are popping up in my FB memories, but I'm so relieved those days are behind us!

 Link to Ember practicing her retrieve with a sand-filled hunting dummy.

I apologize in advance for the shifting orientation on the video above.  I had the camera propped, then I picked it up to capture the retrieve, and it saved the whole thing in portrait mode.  Consider it part of my videographer education.

Ember, chilling on the deck, Sunday afternoon, May 4th.

Tuesday I got to my trainer appointment.  Yay!  Ember got to her day care.

Wednesday Ember and I went around 1.3 miles in the morning, and we joined Frank for the puppy parade at 4:30 p.m.  Ember entered the crate for her "until last call" time without my prompting.

She continues to gnaw on the branch that she originally brought home on the 23rd of March.  Longest lasting toy!

The woodpecker damage repairs have now been rescheduled four, count 'em, four times!  Current appointment is for May 12th, next Monday!

The day care days have floated around because of this.

Meantime, Scott is still nursing his shoulder, so he took the week off.  I have continued to do "dummy fetch" games with Ember.  She weighed in at 87 pounds Friday morning at day care.  I do not know what her optimal weight would be, but she's been sort of maintaining in the mid-80's for three weeks now, so I'm thinking this is what her current diet supports.  I am down to the last can of wet food in the pantry, and in between the last can and this one, I put in a couple days where both meals were kibble.  But I have increased the treats a bit, too.  Conditioning continues!

I found myself on a Friday that felt like a Monday, deciding to tackle loading Brenda Starr Trek into the back hatch of Dexter.  It was a challenge, but I managed.

Brenda (the bike I rode in my first triathlon) is now on her way to a new life with hopefully someone who needs and will love her as I did, by way of The Bike Kitchen that takes in used bikes and donates them to children in need.

I felt kind of emotional, letting her go.  I haven't ridden in probably over five years, though, so it's time to let the bikes go on to another life.

Which I anticipate will be good.  Because Life is Good.  Spark on!

Too busy, too tired, too peopled out?

 

Since Easter, I have barely been keeping my nose above water.  

I have been trying to keep Ember exercised, and the photo is her response to a 1.2-mile walk.

I have resorted to naps on the couch, and recently, I have a shoulder and neck complaining about that.

The woodpecker repair work is out a way, having now been rescheduled three times.  Now on the handyman's schedule for May 8th. 

I survived hosting the kids' second Wedding Anniversary, with our alternate date landing on Prom night for at least one of the high schools in town.  This super cute couple were sitting across from us, and DIL volunteered to snap their photo together, at the prompting of her mom.  Clearly sweethearts, with the young man and young lady all dolled up for the occasion.

My nostalgia from my brother's running days has continued, and on Saturday the 26th (said Prom night), I put on his Boston Marathon jacket from 2018.  Today (Star Wars Day, May the 4th be with you) is our own local Marathon day.  

The annual Mayor's run (1 mile, not timed) was Saturday the 3rd.  The family ended up skipping it, due to a bug felling first DIL, then my son.  DIL reports improvement Sunday.  Foster grandchild is hoping to have everyone OK for his soccer ⚽ game Sunday afternoon.

DIL and her mom are plotting a family outing for Mother's Day.  The day before so as not to interfere with Foster grand-kiddo's supervised visit with his biological dad.

Meanwhile, small things get ticked off:  car stickers for the next year of registration are on.  The estimated taxes got mailed off.  My general election (city/county) ballot got dropped off.  Both pets got their monthly dose of pest prevention (flea, tick, heartworm, etc.).  The important things get done, the energy limit is reached and the piles of "unmade decisions" (as Kevin used to call clutter) grow.  Blogs do not get updated.

My son sat for his licensure exam on Wednesday this week.  The unofficial result was that he passed, don't know how long before it becomes "official".

Meantime, hope you're all doing better than "just keeping the nose above water".

Life is good.  Keep Sparking!

  

Chilling on the couch with mom!