Tag: puppy love

Sentimental Value

Published on by yvonneannetteLeave a comment

Sometimes we keep things way past their point of use. We call that insuring the sentimental value. Why? Well, sometimes it takes ten years or more to say goodbye properly.

When our dog Furbie died the kids were off to college and I could no longer drive anywhere that I wanted to. Life had changed in a very hard way for me. And with the last link to the “girls” gone, I just simply could not stop the flow of tears. I even went to the doctor to try to settle the grief score and the emotions would not heal easily. So we tried another puppy and only got a bad mistake. For the next three years the-dog-that-does-not-deserve-a-name was trying his hardest to make me glad again. It did not work. And because the poor little thing mirrored my emotional upheaval perfectly, he developed a bad gut. (The bad stomach came from an overnight visit to a neighbor who did not understand the no people food rule of small dogs.). We ended up having to put the dog down.

Those few years of lost connections to the days when my girls were about the house were hard. Our first dog died the fall the first daughter went off to college. Then the second during the spring of the second daughter’s freshman year. And then three years into the college gig and the third doggie died of diabetes just after our first daughter became engaged. Rough times but life was marching on and it was time to write a new future for myself.

Don’t feed the bitter roots. This is easier said than done. I think of all the history of this place in which I live. The homestead has so many rich stories of the people who have lived here and farmed and kept the place what it is. All those years of sheep and herdingthe girls and pets around. I did not have time to think of what went on before us. Now time is all that I seem to have

There are some happenings on any acreage that could keep others from wanting to even live there. We ddecided to not feed those bitter roots and bring life to the place. But one of our old friends during our sheep days would say, “when you have livestock, sometimes you have dead stock.” So I began to take the passing of my cats and doggies differently.

All dogs go to heaven? Well, my mind is not so sure about all of that simplistic thought. Perhaps they do. I still feel a little guilty about not bringing Furbie’s body back home to be buried. Sometimes grief really clouds the thinking channels. But animals don’t have a soul like people do. Animals have spirit, personality, and character traits. Some just seem to be larger than life, and are harder to let go of. Like Furbie.

The blanket in the first picture was his special blanket that I crocheted for him after umpteen projects that he would “test” out for me. Every thing that I crocheted had to be tried by his furry little body to see if it was worthy of a nap. Of course, I made a lot of rugs during those days so that was fine with me. But soon even the afghans and blankets had to be tested. So I found this old project from years past, pulled out the yarn and made him his own Zen blanket. (I don’t really believe in any of that stuff.)

For sentimental value I saved the blanket in a ziplock blanket bag in the top of some closet. It took me four months to get up the courage to pull out of the step-stool and look for it. Yep, this little doggie can only be seen on the white side. It’s time to say goodbye to the zen and do a makeover.

Look for positive and join in. This is a great policy in life when working with other people in a work situation or community setting. We looked for a new kind of dog bed that would work in our current lifestyle. So this little “trough” style bed seemed just right to me.

Making it was a trial in and of itself. My poor hubby had a board from up in the attic of the garage come down and bite him in the lip. It took a few layers of skin right off his upper lip. Miserable. Poor thing still can’t pucker up as the pain is bothering him yet. But I think he did a great job on the little bed. The other evening during supper Kona had half his body underneath the bed retrieveing a toy. That was so funny I nearly cried laughing!

Now of course the decision is paint or stain. I think we are leaning towards painting it white-ish so that it reflects light and it is easier to find him. We’ll see what it looks like after the blanket is done and in it.

Keeping things for one reason or another can make for a very cluttered house. Trying to find Furbie’s crocheted blanket occupied my thoughts longer than the actual activity of getting it out of the closet keeper. I am glad we keep it even though I have no special memorial spot for the first few pets, at least this black and white yarn will bring back a smile.

Holding water in one’s hand. That’s what they say about trying to hang unto the past when the present is drowning out old memories. I hope I always have room for the hear and now. And I pray I will seek to make new memories always.

The past four days while experiencing this momentary affliction that life on this earth sometimes has to offer us, I spent a lot of time in the numbness of pain. Not even thinking of the morrow, just looking for the next hour to pass can be feel pretty hopeless at times. Nevertheless, the hours to go by. Time does march on. The stomach bug does flush away to the land of never-ness. Until next time, and I wonder what have I learned from this suffering? How has this made me more like Christ? How did this conform me to the image of the invisible God-head?

Movie Watch: Moonrise, Heaven’s Door and Land all on prime video. We tried a couple on the tv smart stations but they are so old we could hardly handle the language and drunken escapades. Land is about a woman who has given up on people and tries to go live off the land in the mountains by herself. Only to find out that she can still learn from another person. Heaven’s Door is about a family who looses a grandfather just after loosing a baby. The eldest daughter shows them waht is like to have childlike faith in the aterlife and yet in the her and now. Moonrise is also a “grief-loss-gain” movie. A country singer finds his way back to the trade through hiring a horse trainer. What they all have in common is that everyone needs some form of grief counseling simply because we live on this fallen planet. Affliction adn suffering happens to everyone. What we chose to do with it is another matter.

Sentimental Value can have us grasping to hang unto things like water in nne’s hand. I think of this as the yarn slips through my fingers. What was here today may be gone tomorrow. Puppies aren’t forever. Yarn might last more than a lifetime if it’s taken care of properly. What really lasts is the pleasure we derive from such vain things. And may we grasp that even such joy comes from the Giver who can hold the oceans in one hand.

Excuse Me, You’re In My Blindspot

Published on by yvonneannetteLeave a comment

“Yet it was kind of you to share my troubles.” —Phil. 4:14 ESV

T shirts with attitude sayings are not particularly my thing. But this one should be part of my wardrobe as there are so many times that I run into people without meaning to. Even today I used a more polite “excuse me” as we were out and about shopping. But the biggest issue today was my poor little doggy.

I know that I have anxiety, but today it was challenged to the point of panic driven behavior. Just afternoon about one o’clock I took the dogs out for a stroll outside to find a couple items. We walked quite a bit from building and finally after the mail. On the way back from the mailbox, Charlie put Zucchi, the cat, up the ash tree. It was sort of funny. Then we came back into the house.

I was eating my snack and drink and not paying attention to the puppy when suddenly it dawned on me that he was not nearby. Immediately I began calling his name and got no response. “Kona Come!” So anxiety kicked in and I began looking everywhere in the house for him. (So I thought.). The behind the doors, under the beds, behind the sofa and in my search I noticed the front screen door was slightly ajar. The warm-ish weather always makes the frame swell and it has to be pulled shut to latch.

My brain said, he’s not in the house, he must have slipped outside. The first few minutes outside started the “baffled” feeling. Where was Kona? To me he was lost, hung up on the short leash that I had left on him. After fifteen minutes outside, I panicked. Literally. I was a hot mess.

Lost puppy is not how I expected the day to happen. And valentine’s day at that. A few phones calls, constant searching, lots of walking. I was trying not to trip in my tear induced state. Where was my puppy? To me, he was lost.

Blind Lady Trial number 3, 429 was in full scale. How in the world could I be trusted with the care of anything? Apparently a little black puppy had done me in. I was now a complete wreck. Gavin came home with the truck and the dog in the house barked. Honey had been in the house because I had a neighbor helping me look outside and she was just in the way. Then he heard another tell tale bark.

Searching through the house, he found the little black Shih Tzu wrapped up around the chair and the piano bench legs. The leash that I had left on the collar did get stuck on something. And yes, he was wrapped up around some major sticks (of furniture). He was stuck enough not to respond to my calls.

Why had he not barked ever for me? Why had he not answered me with a bark or whine? I know he’s a quiet little puppy most of the time but this was a bit much. Perhaps he had tried to get unstuck and only made the collar tighter so that he could not bark. Obviously he had hidden there to chew on a little twig or something. But really? Excuse me puppy, but you were in my blind spot. I had even looked under the piano bench. But not under that chair as he had never gone under the chair before.

“I’m sorry you lost your puppy.” This was little Melody a few hours later when we dropped off an item or two at her house. Who had told her, we don’t know. But the tears in her eyes were as real as the tears that I had shed earlier. She wanted assurance that all of the puppies and kitties that we had were okay. Honey? She’s in the pickup with Kona. Charlie? He’s home in his hut. The kittens? They are all in their little houses. Okay. Okay!

This past evening we put an Air Tag on the dog’s collar. Yes we did the research, and decided the benefits outweigh any risk. The Air tag is in a silicone case on his collar. And it is the cheapeast piece that we could do for peace of mind. Philipians 4 has much advice for us who suffer anxiety. Verse six and verse 13 tell us to put anxious thoughts in their corret place and do things in the strength of our Lord. But I am loving verse 14 right now. “Yet it was kind of you to share our troubles.”

Well, I boiled that cup of tea a bit strong. And I did not do so well on hunting for a new harness for him either. I neglected the fact that we have to pick him up to get in and out of the truck. The harness was an H style without a chest to girth support. He has to have the X style, even if it is not the step in. Though I think he likes the step in, he’s pretty quick at “Buckle Up!” So I am back to the drawing board on a new harness. Bugger. The Step in X is the best style for smaller dogs so that they cannot excape. The one I ordered had the x over the top not under the girth. Bother.

Blind lady issues will be part of my life going forward. I have RP or retinitis pigmentosia. Loosing things is part of my life. Like the other day when I spent all day looking for my woolen homespun crocheted hat. It was on the table full of what nots! We just have to find the right tools to help me in my “trade.” One of our recent purchases was a talking thermometer. That was very helpful when I had my ear infection. Another recent purchase was the cup full meter. It beeps much like the back-up alarm on the truck. Closer. Closer okay over filled! I use it daily multiple times. And I don’t even poor my dark drink into a dark cup!

Unfortunately I can’t wear an Air Tag or a too close meter for people when I am out and about. Can you imagine the alarm going off constantly because someone is in my blind spot? The nerve of people to get close enough that my alarm might go off. Spacial awareness is not the God given gift of everyone in the world. Some of us are visually challenged. The other day while picking up the puppy and “bed” at my daughter’s house I knocked over the oldest grand child because I did not know that she was in RANGE. Oops. Much apologies later, I was back in route to my destination. Yep, I’m blind. Sorry little girly! Too close meter might not have even worked in that situation.

Kona Weak 18

Published on by yvonneannetteLeave a comment

The cone of shame has arrived. The day before Ground Hog Day 2024 and we are treating our puppy to some chicken noodle soup for dogs. Well, okay, just putting his kibbles in some water so that he will rink something. They say it’s the hardest part of surgery recovery.

Tonight we started the must see movies for “would be writers.” The first on the list was “The Words.” I recommend it for even the novice reader! The idea that life can be either fiction or nonfiction and that it is what we make it our to be….

Today while Kona was away I spent the day cleaning up the house. First I finished my editing on the introduction to Cocoa’s Tale. I am so excited about finding Cocoa’s voice in my mind. Cleaning and writing and planning writing don’t seem to match what poor Kona was experiencing at the knife of the surgeon. Nevertheless the day was passed in such quick order.

The Fresh air day of windows open and smell of spring in the air is quite not right for the first day of February. But the thoughts of spring kept me reverting to the love that Cocoa had for Young Grass. Ahh, that will be a few months away for sure!

Return to roots happened once again for me when my sister began talking about the BAD apple cake that went moldy back when we were growing up. And of course, no one is allowed to forget it. We all remember. Mother is the only one that will still make an apple cake and then eat it. I won’t even put apple sauce in my muffins! Cocoa loved his apples. I remember how he wanted me to hold it so that he could eat around the core. Just keep turning it, he seemed to say, you know those seeds are not good for any living thing.

Attempt at nothing for the past week turned out to be pretty productive. My ear infection is finally responding to the medicine and I am feeling better. Thank goodness, because now Kona will need to have more of my attention. Though I think it will be more to the two hour schedule that we had earlier in his puppyhood.

As usual, I have another meanwhile to insert…. This past month I had the joy of renewing some connections with people from our first Home away from home in Minnesota. That was so special to hear from my good “old” friends. Makes me think of Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s somg “You Can’t Make Old Friends.”

And then the night…. That was rough. Kona would not sleep in his crate. He just whined the whole time in there. So I took him to the sofa so that Gavin and Honey could get some sleep. And every twenty seconds it seemed he tried to get away from his ouchie. Uff dah.

This morning we have been outings but not much success. Water has been sucked down a few times and he ate a soggy soup breakfast. We watched a horse movie to help me get in the “mood” for writing about Coco, the only thing that helped was the waterworks. Tears. Yep. Movie “A Sunday Horse” is the dream of a miracle horse, rider, and the jumping show business. In the end the horse lives 25 years and has to be let go. Of course, nothing lasts forever here on this earth.

Then I got the vision of Charlie and Honey being the Ken and Dolly of our farm. Oh, my. Charlie is always “bark” asking if Honey can come out to play. Today is is wet, misty, on the verge of raining. Not the best weather for the second day of February. So here goes for six more weeks until spring. Or six more weeks of winter, you decide.

(The Truth-by Gavin…. I took Kona away from his lady on Thursday and then picked him up at the vet around 3 pm. The look on the little guys face was death daggers and kill you! The next 24 hours proved the neither of them could live without me. After a completely sleepless night, She told me to come with solutions or don’t come home at all. WOW! And I thought we all loved each other. So I came home with some drugs for dogs and a reprieve for my poor wife. Just saying those melatonin chamomile chews for the dog worked great. And she’ll never know that the oatmeal cookies I made for her are full of vallium. Okay I might be kidding about that one. Calming treats do work though. Love you dear!)

Measuring Up

Published on by yvonneannetteLeave a comment

When things go wrong, sometimes they really go down hill like an avalanche. And though yes, one recently occurred out west on a ski slope, I’m talking about common everyday mishaps and blunders. This week I began to wonder if the guardian angels had gone on strike!

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.” —Proverbs 21:2

Last evening as I was playing in the hall with the little black mop, my golden doodle barked directly in my right ear. Nice sharp pain accompanied my own yelp of “OUCH!” Then an oozing feeling inside my ear followed with more ringing like a loud old fashioned school bell. Yep, that hurt. After an hour, when the feeling did not leave me, I decided I had enough of tears and went to bed.

A ruptured ear drum in my GOOD ear was not how I planned the next few weeks. Recovering from my highly anxious, high energy Honey is how I have spent much of my time with her in my life. High energy has now been defined as a dog who thrives on generous doses of energetic activity. And if there is any energy movement in the home, the high energy dog wants to be in the CENTER of the activity. She will not sit back and watch any active movement. Even if it is just sweeping the kitchen floor. This dog want to be in the middle of the dust pile. If she is not… She will make a dust pile to be in!

It will be awful quiet around here as I spend time resting on the new sofa cushions letting my eyes just tear as much as they want too. Gosh darn but this dog is going to kill me one of these days.

Finished my sofa makeover for the new year. 2024 begins with a new C2C gingham blanket and two pillows made from the leftover yarn. I am very happy with the end result. And yes they are comfy also.

We attempted to go to church with my ear drum all in a dither. As soon as the piano started playing, I had to leave. The sound is so sharp and my head just throbs. I’m trying to keep away from the vertigo that is lingering on the doorstep.

Being the resourceful person that I am, I decided to try and give Honey some smell therapy. When we got home I put some lavender oil on her handkerchief and wrapped it around her neck. On the way home, I asked my good shopper to buy some lavender and chamomile scent scapes or something for the plug in., He found an air wick brand aroma therapy. So for the win, I caught her going to rest almost immediately after plugging it in.

So my little black Kona and I can continue our cuddle sessions. Poor Honey has not had frisbee time in over a week. Perhaps that would explain her bottled up energy outburst. The temperatures are looking much better for the forecasted future.

While I find myself not measuring up to my own expectations, I am reminded that God has His own standard of measurements. And every where I look across my family prayer list there is need. May the Lord weigh my heart and find it not lacking in my prayers and hopes for the needs of others. Meanwhile I hope this ear thing does not turn into a fever. That would require a visit to the doctor.

Yeah, Well…

Published on by yvonneannetteLeave a comment

Week seven of Kona at the Clark Homestead was punctuated by my awful head cold that I got from my hubby. First the head ache, then some respiratory sinus pressure, then the ears, and chest and now just some barely there lingering annoyances. So for the first time in a very long while, I did not go to help out at my daughter’s this week.

No daycare for Honey. No kid time for Kona. No boatloads of laundry. Just lots of aceltominiphine and ibuprofen. It was rough. But I’ve heard that others had it worse. It’s just that for me sleep eludes again.

So while one day it did absolutely nothing, the next day I took a break from all other chores and crocheted a small sweater for Kona. I know… It looks a bit small. But the pattern has begun and the next one will be better color coordinated and I have a few small changes to make. The sweater needs to graduate larger and I think that part is fibured out along with how to make it bigger across the back.

He was the perfect little model. The only thing missing is a ring to clip the leash unto. Yeah, well…

This week the Book I am listening to is “woven” by Meredith Miller. There is a whole lot of her “language” choice that I do not care for. Redefining words that have meant one thing into another just for the purpose of self approval seems rather narcissist or something. But there are enough other things in the book that maybe get her point across. It’s hard to spend so much of my listening applying grace and mercy to the author for her “misuse” of words. (The most difficult one is her use of the Hebrew word for God that is repeated to the point of loosing it’s reverence- Yahweh. This is a word for them that is only a breath or whisper word. It is not spoken in great repetition.). God seems to have lost His Holiness in this book.

Our pastor is doing a sermon series on the book of Romans. Romans 1:17 is the verse I chose to memorize this week. “For in it -the gospel- the righteousness of God is revealed from faith unto faith, as it is written ‘the just shall live by faith.’” In the message his emphasis on the Faith Unto Faith really hit home.

I am not a swimmer so finding the right analogy to understand this meaning is a little harder. The beginner swimmer starts in an area of water in which he or she can touch the bottom. Soon as skills are learned the lifeguard takes the swimmer into deeper water to test their skill and learn more about the buoyancy of the body when the lungs are filled with air. Faith is like that. The more we take in the truth of God’s promises, the better we learn to float on His word. From faith in the Cross to faith in life’s challenges our learning teaches us more about filling up with the Air ie God’s righteousness and the better we will float undisturbed through life’s rough seas. Yeah, I’m not really a swimmer. But I can float on my back, and I can do the back stroke. It’s tucking my head into the water that I don’t like to do.

Faith unto faith going deeper into trust in God is part of how we weather the floods of life.

Finding joy in life or in spite of life is the deeper part of faith’s well. There is another saying about faith being about drinking from the well spring of salvation. So many spiritual lessons to learn from physics.

Meanwhile this little crochet mosaic pattern is one of my favorites. It will continue to be a pattern I return to again and again. From mittens, to hats, to bags, to a doggie sweater! Here I go.

Kona will probably out grow the little sweater before he even gets to use it. The forecast this next week is seasonably average to warm. The pattern will be adjusted going forward. But I have some other things to crochet and will have to return to this later.

Comic relief

Published on by yvonneannetteLeave a comment

The heat is on- in the house that is, so far the greenhouse has not needed it. But I think next weekend is a different story.

Fall changes going in and out of the house. Finding the hats to go with that jacket is a good thing. Being cold is no fun at 45 degrees to take the garbage to the dumpster, now requires a jacket and a hat. The mittens will come later. And this morning my phone decided to revert to blind lady mode. And the speaking person is so annoying. What makes them decide to use such an awful AI voice for all of that data repetition. So frustrating for this technically challenged person. Changing the command applications on my phone overnight essentially means that I can no longer use my phone the way that I normally do. There went all my plans for making jelly et cetera for the morning.

Pear Tabasco Sauce Recipe 2023. 25 oz or so of chopped Tabasco peppers and 3 red jalapenos and 2 red pablano peppers in the food processor. ADD 1 1/2 teaspoons of canning salt, 1 1/2 cups white wine vinegar *one bottle, 1 1/2 cups pear juice concentrate to the sauce pan and bring to a boil. RETURN to the food processor and blend until smooth. Bring to a boil in sauce pan again. Put the entire contents through in a screen sieve to drip out for two hours. I covered with a saran wrap. Add 1 1/2 cups filtered water to the pepper juice concentrate. Finally, I used my empty vinegar bottle for Pear Tabasco Sauce. And YES it is very hot. I tested with a toothpick and it took my breath away. I am letting the cooked peppers drip awhile longer to get the rest of the juice.

What in the world am I making this stuff ror? The son-in-laws for sure, and a drop or two in my mac’n’cheese was pretty good. My brothers might like a little vile of the hot sauce, maybe.

Comic relief Thursday was the cat hanging on to the little dogs leash. Zucchi really likes Kona. They are usually not far from each other when outside. Or maybe it’s me that they both are so attached to. I thought it was pretty funny to see the cat chase the dogs leash. Zucchi is bigger than Kona. That’s also very funny.

Kona’s first visit to the vet was Thursday afternoon. I found out he was only 6.6 pounds. That would be about 6 lbs 9 oz. He won’t be much over eight pounds when full grown. Our first Shih Tzu Furbie was only suppose to be about 12 pounds and he ended up being 22 pounds of love when he grew up. We are learning with our history it is better to wait until closer to a year for the neutering so that size is smaller and more natural to genetics.

More comic relief is me trying to clean out the closets and redo our storage centers. In the moving of all those items, I found Honey’s first service harness. So we put it on for the day and ran through the “guide helps” again. She is so amazing on the harness. Off of it, she is a wild beast. Like jumping right into my hands to knock the phone, the leash, and the frisbee all to the ground. At least she did not break my nose this time, but it was a dropped call nevertheless!

So I though it was super funny to get a picture of the guide girl helping me take the little laptop out for a potty break. Honey finally made “Dog of the Week” at doggy daycare that she goes to on Tuesday. Funny thing how they don’t kow My Dog! She is so well behaved at day care. A model of good behavior.

I also tried to pick pears yesterday. And after an hour, I had 1 1/2 five gallon pails of pears. I as sorting them as I picked. There are still so many more on the tree. This really is not the job for blind person. I have to find them by feel a lot. Or I back away from the branch to bet a better view. Then when I come back in to pick a pear, the branch usually pokes me in the eye! Ugh. But they are so GOOD!

I am also trying to finish up my geranium cuttings for the next spring plant selling. There are still a few more varieties to trim back. And I really have not even touched the pelargoniums that have such jagged leaves. And their flowers are smaller with mostly two toned visuals. I might have outgrown the greenhouse last spring. BUT this fall I have definitely outgrown it. Some of the plants that do not like less than 50 degrees have already been brought to the house. But there are some succulents that still need a new home. Cutting the larger geraniums back is my only option for more space.

And just when I think the greenhouse is full someone calls with another plant donation! There were five more large plants to take in and an Hibiscus Bush / Tree. It was not quite the right season for propegating the hibiscus, but the cuttings had to be done for it to fit in the growbed. Center of the middle bed is its new home.

Meanwhile the closet rearrangement went pretty well. Decided to store the extra canned goods in our closet that has no heat source. It is always about 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the house. The seven years of taxes are moved, the long dresses that I never wear are moved and the shelving in the closet is so much more accessible than stacking all the boxes directly on top of each other. Next project is clean up the house for an overnighter with the grandees.

My New Laptop

Published on by yvonneannetteLeave a comment

Otherwise know as the blood pressure regulator

One Wednesday morning just three weeks ago (September 27th to be exact) I ate my breakfast and then found myself suffering from the lowest blood pressure that I have had in weeks. My body temperature felt like 95 degrees and so I sought out my “warming bag.” It is an upholstered sock filled with beans, or corn, or cherry pits, not sure now after all these years. Sitting on the sofa under a mound of blankets and hugging my mug to get warm, I looked at my social media feed. As we all do while doing “nothing.” This adorable little black puppy came on the screen once again, and I though… Ahhh, that would be a nice warming bag.

A bag of fur lined with a little body, a pumping heartbeat and oh, so snuggly. When I am cold, I shall have a new laptop!

Snuggles and puppy licks are oh so much nicer than sitting alone on the sofa looking at my selfish sixty pound doodle on the floor. Honey just never took up the cuddle bug vibes. As much as I tried to make her sit with me, it only lasted ever so shortly!

Today marks the beginning of week four with Kona in my life. And all those around me. Feeding time still involves a few minutes of classic training for puppy. Training stays into the little guy’s life is the new key challenge. Sunday after church he launched himself out of the pickup before I could get the leash hooked on. The four foot fall made him a little “yippee” and sore the rest of the day. By Monday morning he was fine. I knew nothing was broke as he still let me touch and examine him all over. So training stay into our routine is vital.

When I’m not looking is actually quite frequent and with my tunnel vision, finding the little dude is sometimes not easy. The harness and leash is the most important tool for a blind dog trainer. That way I can keep track of the fast little fur-ball

Yesterday with the grandkids my little grandson (who giggles with such glee) was running with Kona and accidentally dropped the leash. “OMA! I dropped the leash!” My response was quick with a look downwards and a foot on the tail of the kite, I said it’s okay- That’s why he has the leash. Thank you for telling me right away, Isaac..

All the “oops” involved with puppies are great learning tools. Pets have a way of bringing out the best and worst in people. And when we are tired, UFF, by the worst is not pretty. Thankfully, there is a crate for the half hour leading up to the two hour potty window closure. Either it’s time for close attention and learning language of the cues or it’s time to put puppy away and let him “yipe” for the going out need.

Books are still one of my best time busters. My mp3 Bible lost battery juice the other night and that was a rough going to sleep. I am trying to listen to a book my daughter recommended, but the going is slow. And the talking book library has been forgo-teen these three weeks.

Greenhouse is on maintenance mode. Though I have been tackling some cuttings yet. There are three or four more varieties to get done. And the canning is slow if not halted. There are still those pears…

Garden cleanups need to happen yet… All the end of the season chores. Like getting rid of the plant matter, pulling up garden stakes, and putting away all of the water hoses. I feel rather slow at any of that stuff because that means the snow will fly soon.

I am making myself feel overwhelmed as I write out the list. One thing at a time.

Drying the herbs and peppers is ongoing also. At least the herbs can go in the dehydrator. We strung the habaneros up to hang on the window curtains. The drying time takes awhile, but it’s usually done by Christmas decorating.

It took me a whole summer to figure out how to keep my chapel plant happy. I fed it some coffee grounds and then put it on a tray of pebbles with water. And now look at it. Maybe I’ll become a master gardener after all.

The big question is: Did the blood pressure regulator work? And the the answer I would give is YES! So far, I have not been cold after my own meal consumption for quite a while. I was cold on Tuesday after standing outside watching the grandkids play. But it was cold. And my ability to go outside without even a jacket at 45 degrees has amazed me. But when puppy has to potty- we run! Three minutes at sweater weather without a jacket has not bothered me near as much as it use to. And I really have not been sitting around as long as I use to. Keeping Kona schedule is movement at every two hours!

Two weeks into Kona training

Published on by yvonneannetteLeave a comment

Well, two weeks went by really fast. The second week that Kona was here involved my mad rush to get everything into the greenhouse for an overnight temperature of 33 degrees Fahrenheit. Some of the leftover plants outside are actually doing pretty well in spite of the cold snap. We did not have our true freeze yet.

Back to my book listening this week, I finished up my praying the Scripture book by Jodie Berndt. So much of the book is memory bank deposits. But such good reminders. Right now our family has one main prayer focus for one of my cousin’s young child. Our heart just aches when we stand at the door of God’s kingdom begging for His assistance. It reminds me of the Matthew 18 parable of the widow and the judge. Please Lord, intervene in this young life.

The greenhouse takes up a bit less of my time right now. Which is good, because Kona needs some real training attention. Yesterday in the rain I went out with him nine times. It seemed to pour rain every hour and a half that he needed to go out. Today, I am pushing him to every two hours.

Finding homes has been part of his social skill set this last week. We take the kennel with us on the day I go to my daughter’s house. That evening after supper at home, he found his way back to the crate to fall asleep. He was definitely all wore out from the day. We spend a few minutes before each meal on training. This week, I added “stay” to his knowledge of words. (Kona, Come, Sit, Down, Kennel, and of course Go Potty are the commands so far.)

To my surprise, the Black Cherry Rudbeckia or African Coneflower, decided to bloom this dreary rainy week. It is so pretty. I think it bloomed early last spring, in May maybe. So seeing the larger bloom pop open really made me happy. It’s not very many flowers that will actually bloom in the greenhouse at forty percent less sunlight.

And now it will be time to clean up all of the house plants. Some of the ivy’s and winged plants will not handle consistent temperatures at less than fifty degrees. So that is the next push of work. Of course after I finish cleaning up the Geraniums and putting away the canna lilies.

The other day it was rather warm outside so I took the time to clean up some of the houseplants on the kitchen window display. The puppy’s crate is just beneath all of the plants and I did not want any plant residue to fall into his “living area.” Needless to say in my blindness I spilled a plant and some water and had a whole lot more clean up than I had planned on. Oh, well. It’s all done and clean, and ready to go the winter now.

Two weeks into puppy training and I think I know Kona’s schedule pretty good now. Licking means he’s thirsty. Biting means either he’s hungry or has to go potty. Clock watching is my new pass time. And the days are going by much too quickly to get any large projects done. I tried to can some tomatoes on Monday and it was a fail because I could not find the right gauge for the pressure cooker. Ugh. The whole day’s work went into the compost pile.

Two weeks of Kona and I’m so glad that he sleeps through the night. Of course my hubby gets up so early that I think he takes him at four thirty a.m. or so. Six to eight hours of sleep is pretty good. Now if I can just get to the list of things calling for my attention yet. Pears, peppers, Zucchini, beets, carrots, broom grass wreaths and other items are just waiting for me to take a puppy break and get some work done around here. (-oh and another cat took her life on the road by vehicle tires again-maybe we should build the house at the east end of the property) That’s enough for now.

Where there’s a …

Published on by yvonneannetteLeave a comment

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way” is the old saying. And it was meant to mean doing something really difficult because one’s determination is insurmountable. This week has been a different sort of will and way in my determination observations

Where there’s a basket there’s a cat . I put the basket out on the deck the other day to return it to the vehicle for “containment” of items while we drive. It seemed the basket was always finding it’s way back to the house. And cluttering up our allready very messy entry way in the kitchen.

Where there’s a fence, there are weeds. These Bicycle tires make a great visual guide for me when I am walking from the greenhouse to the barn. So of course for the first three months of summer I had to pull bind weed out of the spokes. Finally now that fall has officially arrived the flowers are showing their little faces through the fence. I think it looks so fun!

“Moon garden delight” is what I call this next photo. The fact is I was supposed to be helping hold the tomato containers while my hubby did the picking. But when darkness set in and the solar lights came on, I could not resist trying to get a picture of the mass of blooms. I really need to get after dead heading the blooms but sometimes it’s fun to let them go a little longer.

And now for true confessions of deep desires and companionship. Yes, I spend a lot of time alone. A LOT. The last six months have found me bringing Zucchi or Pepper or Tabitha in the house during my afternoon rest / crochet time. About three weeks ago Pepper found her life’s end on the pavement by the mailbox. It was a sad day, but she was not real attached to me. Then just the other day, yesterday in fact, one of the four year old spayed females died on the road also. Lela was old enhough to know better I had hoped. She was not real friendly as cats go, but she was a good mouser. I hope the mouse she was after tasted good. It certainly does not seem worth the rest of running across the road for it

So while I spent the afternoon digging a five gallon sized hole, I made my final decision to spend no more money on cats when we live so close to a busy paved county road. And it turns out that one of our neighbors has been raising small lap dogs for a few years now. As a bit of side income and enjoyment, small dogs do make a lot of people happy.

I have been looking at small dogs for a couple of years, I so miss the companionship of a little thing on my lap or next to me. Yes, I know it’s a lot of work up front for a couple months. And yes, I know I didn’t really want a black dog. But little Shih Tzus are such an attachment to their owners, that I’m not to worried about having a ton of eye contact. And now for the name…

At first I wanted Ebony after the black keys on the piano. I like to caress them also. Then I thought of Kona, after one of my favorite dar roast coffees. Then our daughter texted “I WANT SNUGGLES!” And we though maybe that would be a good name. Bugger but it’s important to get a name right. We’ll be saying it for the next fourteen years or so.I’m

So this little eight pound hairy thing will be mopping up a lot of pollen over the next few weeks until frost. And he’s way too small to do the stairs. He does well on the leash / follow thing so that’s good. And so far in less than 24 hours of “gotcha” I have only stepped on him once..

Kona (the coffee) has a light, delicate sweet and fruity flavor with less caffeine than roasts made from beans picked later . So we think the name fits a little black pocket puppy quite well. He’s pretty light, you can carry him with one hand. He’s very delicate because of his size. but actually quite well proportioned. . And yes, he’s very sweet and it’s going to take a lot of will power to keep up with the training and not let him be naughty. He’s also a little fruity when he gets his energy spurts. But that’s just the nature of a happy little Shih Tzu.

Next up: how to train a puppy if you are blind. I wonder how that one will read.