Carl's Birthday party

 

That's my co-mum-in-law, Carl's "other" grandma, along with Carl and Ember, at the dog park, celebrating Carl's sixth (can you believe it) birthday!

Donna and I just tried to avoid getting bowled over by flying canines who were having the time of their lives.

Foster grandchild ran on ahead to climb a tree, then followed the dogs to the water (but not into it, thank goodness).  He then wanted to go build his "dog restaurant" in another section of the park.  The mythical son picked up a big fallen branch to help build the restaurant, using it as a walking stick, and we began the trudge.

There's not much a dog loves better than a good game of chase.  Carl's leading the charge.  

Unless it's a swimming chase, that is.  In this case, it was Ember taking the lead.

When the visit to the park ended, the planned test ride with FGC went very well.  First, DIL got FGC's permission to take the ride.  Then I gave him a brief training session on how to play ItsYerChoice (one of Susan Garrett's Recallers games).  We loaded Ember into the backseat with me beside her, then swapped out the human and buckled the youngster in.

The mythical son crammed himself into the front seat beside me to essentially give FGC security (FGC has never ridden with me before, much less alone and with a dog). We drove to my house, a very short mile.  Once there DIL, son, FGC and my co-Mum-in-law had the 50-cent tour, since FGC had never been to my house before.  

We started in the back yard.  FGC made a beeline for the playhouse over the sandbox and climbed the ladder, poked his head out the window, and ventured onto its little balcony.  No photos, of course, because of foster system rules, but he was so cute in that playhouse.  Last time it had a kid in it was during the weekend of my brother's memorial service, when my great niece came down with her grandma from North Dakota.

Then we went inside. FGC was attracted to Ember's X-Pen, and shut himself into it.  Ember was still out on leash.  He proclaimed that he felt nice and safe in there!  

The people departed after a bit, then I was left with a rapidly drying dog.  She got toweled off, I fed her the evening meal, we chilled on the couch, then I tucked her into her crate "until last call", I told her.  But when I headed upstairs to do my normal thing... barks!  I went back down, she was quiet, laying in her crate, so I headed back upstairs again, and... barks!  This is not a barky dog, so I decided to go back down and take her outside an extra time.  Sure enough... she had not peed when we got home with all the extra people around.  Extended pee.  Good girl for letting mommy know!  Good mommy for trusting your puppy!

Then we cuddled on the couch for a bit before putting her back to bed.  And I came up to find the photos my DIL posted to messenger and FB, so I could pick a few goodies to share here.

Life is good!  Spark on!

The exercise of gratitude may be "over", but...

 Thankfulness is an everyday job.  I just don't post it publicly most of the year!

Ember:  What does this "in, or out?" thing mean, Mom?

While playing with Carl on Thanksgiving Day, Ember got a small cut under her eye.  It was truly small.  We in the family are a little bit paranoid after Carl's similar injury (but on his snout) got infected and needed stitches, a year and a half ago.  

Ember's little scrape, though, is healing nicely, and even showing hair growth.  I didn't notice it this morning and forgot to look until a message from my daughter in law reminded me to do so.

Today I posted one more thankful on FB... today I am thankful for tea.  I'd posted gratitude for coffee early in the challenge, but today I'm feeling a little stuffed up, so tea is the beverage of choice.  It is soothing, and I drink my tea "black", no lemon, or sugar, or milk.  Earl Grey, Hot.  Like Jean-Luc Picard.  

I'm trying to keep a low profile today with the hopes of being well and able to go to Zoo Lights with the family on Sunday evening.  Meanwhile, the weather has swung to the "colder than average" range, and Ember still wants to lay in the threshold of the sliding door, not caring whether it's 21℉ or something more balmy.  One good thing:  I am noticing myself become acclimated to the seasonal temperatures.  This is good because 21F, or 17F are only the beginning.  The negative temps will be coming... tomorrow starts December, and we have three weeks of Autumn remaining before the solstice.  Somebody in the TV weather community started announcing that December 1 marks the beginning of "meteorological Winter", and in fact have moved up the seasons by those three weeks all year long!

Here's hoping that everyone has a blessed and peaceful weekend as we lead into the season of holidays... which holidays depending on your own faith.  

Life is good!  Spark on!

Day 35 - Today I am thankful...

 

Today I am thankful for the younger generation and their willingness to include us "seniors" in their lives.  As is traditional in my birthday week, we went to the "big" dog park with Carl, and this year, Ember got to come along.

Which leads to gratitude for the times when the puppy is fully exercised, and angelic in sleep!

I wish I could share photos of the outing at the dog park, and I am clipping some so that the foster grandchild doesn't show up.  I don't want to leave him out as he's a great kid and I'm proud to be associated, mind you, but it's one of those security rules for the safety of children.

Long grass, after the first frost, bespeaks of "hunting season" and the big dogs were ready for running room.  Daughter in law told me to smile... an easy thing to do when you're out in a beautiful setting on a nice day!  I clipped it, but you can see a pair of green pant-knees, up in that tree.  Somebody is a climber.

Life is good!  Spark on!

Day 34 - Today I am thankful...

 I just told the Facebook crowd that I'm thankful for videos that make me laugh and give me hope.  I had just indulged in a few minutes of watching someone's Golden Retriever who "loves pumpkins".  It was well produced and edited, and I'm sure for the life of me that I could not find it again to link here.  Bottom line, after a certain length of time, I grew restless with it. I have "stuff to do", as we all do, but I realized I was thankful that such diversions exist.  I am thankful that people spend the effort in making them available.

Ember looks "leggy" in this photo.  Growing critters look gangly at times, chubby at times, and angelic when they sleep!

Her busy morning before this nap was in yesterday's blog.

Step one:  dishwasher installed.  No serious damage from the former machine leaking.

Step two:  Coming Monday... carpenter to deal with making room for the new stove.

Step three:  new stove and fridge arrive, on Tuesday.

In the meantime, today, Saturday, we have a play date to meet Carl and his humans at the dog park.  It is supposed to be a nice day again, and this is practically tradition for my birthday week some time!  This photo is from a year ago.

Life is good.  Spark on!

Day 20 - Today I am thankful...

I may have to make up today's gratitude as I go along.  I told Facebook at 3 in the morning that I'm thankful for curiosity, and I am.  But I really needed to get some sleep and it was iffy in the Friday to Saturday overnight.  Ember is feeling better, but she's got her nocturnal on.  

Curiosity was in evidence this morning.  You see, this is Ember's first Autumn season, and everything from falling leaves, changing temperatures and colors to holiday decorations on homes is new and piques hers!  

My own curiosity has been fueled by Ember's most recent health episode.  Why did it make her reluctant to go out on the deck?  The inflammation of her paw was the clear winner for that question.  Having had two days' worth of medicated wipes applied, she's OK with the back deck and patio again.  She ventured out into the yard but is still choosing concrete on which to deposit her "output".  That's another thing I'm curious about.

Turning my curiosity to human topics, I'm pondering over the kids' travel schedule.  I think they are driving today.  But not sure.  Carl is being boarded for this trip, as I waved off the ten-days-with-two-dogs scenario.  I'm very glad that I did, given Ember's recent GI issues.  

Speaking of "the kids", my DIL won the pumpkin decorating contest at her workplace, second year in a row.  Here's her creative entry of a pumpkin having a spa day.

I was pleased to have my curiosity satisfied by my visit to the regular eye doctor Friday.  Healing up nicely, he says, and we made an appointment for me on November 22nd, so that will be another point of gratitude.  I'm grateful that I got my driver's license taken care of early, thanks to this schedule, as it would have expired before I got my new prescription.

Life is good!  Keep on Sparking!

Day 13 - Today I am thankful...

 

It's me, The Prisoner, guest writing again.  This morning, the hu-mom told the book of faces that she's grateful I had some dog-free time of pampering.  She's not the only one, I'm pretty happy about it, too.

Somehow, that puppy won't leave me alone if I want to sit on mom's lap for a cuddle and purr.  And getting in my workout here was pretty special.

Aunt Dottie held me while I purred as mommy brushed me on Friday.

Saturday in the dark of the morning I sprawled on the dog-towel on the kitchen counter, too.

Life is good!  Spark on!

Two dog weekend

It has begun.  Carl arrived about 5:30 p.m. on Friday.  Ember was in her crate, but I let her out as soon as the human contingent cleared the house.  Off they went.

I never did get her back in the crate.  I ended up napping on the couch overnight.  I let the two dogs work things out.  I turned off the lights when it got dark outside, put on old Star Trek episodes on the TV, and stretched out.  

In the dark it was hard to tell which dog was checking up on me.  But their collars have different textures so all I had to do was touch a collar and I knew which dog was which.  At some points in the night I was sitting up on the couch with one dog on each side petting them both.  The final puppy pile was me on the couch with my legs in an L, Carl behind my legs, and Ember on the floor beside the couch.

At 4:15 a.m. I extracted myself from the pile to go upstairs and shower and do my morning meds.  Ember was fine with this.  Carl positioned himself at the gate and proceeded to voice his dismay.

They were out playing in the yard before the sun rose.

They ate each other's food.  Breakfast was served about 5 a.m.

Whatever toy Carl would choose became the one that Ember wanted.

Puppy nap.

Big boy nap.

That's me, the lap under the puppy pile.  You can really see Ember's status as a Charcoal Lab next to half-Doberman Carl.

This tuckered out state lasted until I fed them supper about 4 p.m.  Then their energy was back.  I predict another rocky night. 

Sunday morning 

Pre-sunrise tug game in the family room.

I even got to sleep about 3 hours in my own bed Saturday night.  When I emerged, there were two dogs awaiting my descent.

Dawn fetch in the back yard.

They once again traded their meals, like a couple of junior high kids.  There are side effects to dietary changes in dogs.  Those of you who have dogs know what I'm talking about.  Those of you who don't, well let's just say that poo patrol becomes a soupier job.

More tug with the toys.

Carl reports for squirrel patrol.

Ember guards the entrance to the house.

Life is good.  Spark on!

Onward

 

Tree in Silhouette 

There is something about being out after sunset or before sunrise... this photo was taken in the early hours of Saturday morning.  Note the lights in the house across the street.  There is a peace, unplugged and disconnected to anything but the environment around you.  Ember is checking it out, but so am I.

Overhead, the moon shines on the clouds, showing their own powerful images.  If I remember rightly, we had just a slight amount of rain that day.  We were predicted to get more, but it did not materialize.

Here's your Tuesday morning giggle. Ember and the soap.  She got it off the sink.  Perhaps this explains why the bitter spray doesn't work for her as a deterrent to chewing?

Tuesday morning, Pierre, the Ace Handyman appeared at the appointed time.  He looked at the door, then headed out to purchase a replacement for it.  This is going to cost me, granted $$$, but not as much as I spent earlier in the year.

Pierre was gone finding that door for about an hour and a half.  Meanwhile, I needed to let Ember out of the crate.  I have screwed up twice and she got into the laundry room to steal The Prisoner's food.  I had to drag her out of that room. Twice.

Pierre got back to install the door, and Ember was chilling in the X-pen.  I got the dishes hand washed while he was door shopping.

Ember spent a good deal of the install time on leash, watching Pierre work.  In the midst of all this Nate (the irrigation guy from the landscaper's) showed up to tear up my patio to assess where the leak was.  Ember and I spent some time on leash outside, too.

The installed door.  Unfortunately, either the magnets on the new closure are weaker, or the dog is more persistent.  She was through it before Pierre had been gone half an hour.  So, the extra baby gate will have to be installed (by me) when I get to it.  Right now, I'm just too exhausted.  Ember is in her crate for puppy nap #2, and I'm going to nap as well.

Still waiting to hear about the dishwasher part "on order" being shipped from another city, but the guy from the appliance repair service had said "late next week" last Friday, and it is only Tuesday.

Life in Emberville is good.  Spark on!

A tale of the dog-swap

Carl stayed in his vest the whole time at my house.  Mainly a sign of laziness on my own part, not due to need.

The kids let Ember out of her harness, and the kids figured out how to put it back on her.  The Easy Walk harness confuses some folks, but they got it right.

Carl was a good boy the whole time.  He barked at the squirrels, he played with Ember's toys, he got petted and cossetted by his Grandma, who tried out several of Ember's training games on him.  He was an outstanding student.  Good boy, Carl!

While Carl was here, I boiled eggs, just as I would have done if I had Ember with me.  Carl likes a nibble of eggshell when I peel them, too, just as she does.  I don't give either of them very much, just enough to be a little treat for them.

DIL brought me kolache from her grandmother's birthday celebration the day before.  This became my mid-morning snack.

Carl sacked out on my bed.  He's such a lover!  If I put Ember in my bedroom, this would not happen!  She would be going after all the human things that to Carl are just "white noise", nothing to do with him.

Ember, home after a tiring, but exciting day.

Carl and I arrived at the kids' place right about 3 p.m.  The two dogs proceeded to wear one another out in their back yard.  The respite foster boy arrived about 3:30 p.m.  He was ecstatic to find there were TWO dogs to play with and he proceeded to the back yard to play chase with them both.

Ember and I didn't stay long after that, because I wanted to make sure we left while everybody was still in polite/good moods.

This was confirmed by the report from DIL that the boy asked if Ember would come back to play during his week-long stay.

When we got home, Ember ate all her dinner, and crated up without complaint.

Life is good.  Spark on!

It came early!

The new X-pen arrived on Saturday morning!  Ember has been released from leash in the back yard!

I put it together before I let her out of the crate after puppy nap #1.  She seems a little bummed to be prevented from her destructive ways, but I feel better, knowing she can't electrocute herself with her gnawing on those conduits behind the unit!

When it started to sprinkle raindrops, we came back inside, and we didn't even last through "lunch".  There is no keeping her out of the basement now.  Now it is the puppy who is determining what to eliminate from my junk.  She found my old triathlon training gear, including a bike helmet that has LED lights in it and a rechargeable battery.

Safety concerns had me prioritizing getting that particular item away from her, and several other things got sacrificed in the process.

As of now, the casualties include a yoga mat, my Suisse exercise ball, a couple of CD cases, some 3.5-inch floppies, a cord that used to connect a Zip drive to the old computer via a printer port... you know, the general "I haven't used this in ten years" collection of stuff.

It took considerable patience to wait out some of her energy and entice her into the crate for puppy nap #2.  I proceeded to shift almost everything from the big open room into what used to be my son's basement bedroom.

Here's what's left... the tube from the ancient computer but not the tower, keyboard or peripherals.  

In the bedroom:  Mt. St. Omigawd South.  At least there is a closeable door to that room.

Meanwhile, the cat will have to have an escort all the way to the laundry room door (but I was mostly doing that anyway, due to needs to feed, water, and clean the litter box).

I warned "the kids" of all Ember's misadventures of the past few days, and they are still up for the dog-swap on Sunday.  OK, then!

Sunday morning

The great dog swap began about 10 a.m.  Before that, Ember had a session of carpet tearing on the basement stairs, but pretty soon bored of time apart from her Mommy, who just plain didn't want to watch that stuff.

Ember came back up to have her normal routine time leading up to Mom fixing her own breakfast, then tucking Ember into her crate for Puppy Nap #1.

While puppy was napping, Mom washed dishes by hand (waiting on a part for the dishwasher).

Ember got released from the crate about 9:40 a.m., and was dressed in her harness before "the kids" arrived with Carl.

I'm hoping that Ember is napping for them at appropriate intervals.  Just now I have Carl napping on my big bed, because he's a big boy and doesn't chew on everything in sight.

Instead, he never misses an opportunity to bark at the pesky squirrels who tease him mercilessly.  Ember doesn't bark at squirrels, she just silently watches them, and if they get too bold, silently charges at them.

Carl was quite happy to play with Ember's toys, but didn't quite get the concept of some of them being "inside toys", so he migrated about three of her plush ones outside, for Grandma to retrieve and let him know this toy is for inside only.

Ember had to learn about the hose not being allowed inside, Carl is learning about iguana, hippo, and foxy not being allowed outside.

I played ItsYerChoice with Carl, and the initial phase with him wasn't as hard on my hands and arms as Ember's first attempts at it.  He licked, and he pawed, but he didn't bite.  He did surge toward the cheese, but when I folded my hand over it, he respected that.  He caught on to the concept in the first round.  Good Boy!

Meanwhile, the kids took Ember to Carl's closest dog park, the one they call "Friend Park" to wear her out a bit before taking her into their home.  

It took some doing to get Ember into the truck, apparently, but there she is, looking content to go for a ride with these people.

At Carl's "Friend Park", adoring the mythical son.

DIL reports that she recalled to her name, and gave no trouble leashing up at the end of the park visit.

The kids had brought me an extra baby gate so I can keep Ember out of the basement until such time as I can get the door replaced.  It's a real nice one, that has a human opening gate in the middle.  My son installed it while his wife and I supervised the two dogs in the back yard.

The plan is now for me to ferry Carl back over to their house around 3 p.m.  Foster kid for respite is due to arrive around 3:30 - 4 p.m., so the two dogs will have a second opportunity to play together if I hang around to meet the boy.

Since there is the possibility of this turning into a fairly long-term arrangement, I for sure want to meet him.  He should know there are extra grown-ups available.  He already met my DIL's parents, at the last respite weekend.

Life is good, in Emberville/Carltown.  Spark on!

Focus on The Prisoner

 

Such a cute little baby was my Prisoner.  Kitten #6, according to his vet papers.

Friday morning, I brushed out his fur, and managed to get him into the carrier for the drive to the vet's office for his 13-year-old checkup.  He's dropped half a pound, she says, compared to the last time he was in, but that's not bad for a cat his age, nothing to worry about.

She said his blood pressure (would you believe they measure that at the root of the tail?) was good for his age, too.

He is missing that one tooth, but no infection or inflammation around the site.  She observed that his lymph nodes are a little enlarged, particularly on the left, but to a lesser degree on the right, but she could find no evidence of an underlying cause.  I asked what likely causes might be.  She said a wound or a tumor, but she found no evidence of either.  It could be, she thought, an earlier wound that has healed, but left this behind and it is healing, too.  The plan is just to monitor.

He got his 3-year rabies booster, and a 3-year RCP vaccine, too.

Since he's eating, drinking, and eliminating, and doing his "new normal" activities, including being able to get away from the puppy... he's in good shape, says his vet.  This vet has seen him through a few bouts of various kitty hazards, and there's something to be said for that continuity.

He was a very calm kitty while they examined him, too.  Such a good cat!

Life is good, even if you have to share a house with a dog and an old lady!  Spark on!

Spotlight on Carl

Carl was a very good boy staying with Grandma and Ember on Saturday.  Here are a selection of photos to demonstrate.

While Ember is in crate for puppy nap #2, flopping on Grandma's bed.  She joined him shortly after for a co-nap.

On squirrel patrol!  Personality difference:  Ember has never barked at a squirrel.  Carl considers them mortal enemies to be fended off by loud protests!  He also barked at and chased off a woodpecker that knocked on the house despite the fixes.

Posing for Grandma

Defending against "puppy energy".  Ember is looking big enough to match Carl as they tussle these days.

Detective work in the back yard

Showing off his sandy muzzle after playing in the sandbox with Ember.

Sharing the water bowl on the deck

Sand sticks to slobber.  Did you know?

His parents came to collect him and Ember collapsed in a tired heap.  Awesome job, Carl!

Life is Good!  Spark on!