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!