Early this morning, in the rain, we fetched Plato. It was time to take him to the Vet to get a major trim for the summer. The dog has so much fur on him, that I was sure he had to be miserable. Plus, I was having a hard time getting the frontline spray to get on him really well and get rid of those pesky ticks...
So we got Plato and took a photo so you could see what a wet, light colored dog who likes lying in my rich black potting soil looks like...
..okay, you can stop laughing...really, you can...cause it's true and it's sad and well...it's funny too. You are probably wondering what the story is, so here we go.
We have been on Hughes Net satellite Internet for a few years now. We live where there is no cable, no DSL, and we occasionally find cows wandering through our yard. For awhile we had a T1 line, but that was in the pre dotcom failure days when we could afford to have our very own T1 line. Ahhh...those were the days. But I digress...
So Hughes Net comes with its problems. One is it is affected easily by weather and things such as trees (did I mention we live in the woods). But the main frustration is their fair use policy. Hughes Net has sold satellite space to so many users, that they have to decrease the amount of download that a user can have today. We had the basic package (which hubby swears started of with us have 500 MB of download available a day), but now it only has 200 MB of download available today. We are a family of four. We each have our own computer. 200 is nothing in the grand scheme of web surfing and uploads.
We have a satellite set up for our office which is across the street. We have the mother of all dishes up there and 1250 MB a day. We decided that it was time to switch the two, seems simple enough, right?
Have you ever seen anything so pitiful?
But Katrina loves Ginger and so decided to see just what it was like.... Ginger seemed to appreciate it!
Ginger got fixed Tuesday, but since she doesn't want to leave her sutures alone, she is forced to do the Queen Elizabeth look!
Here is a photo of Plato right after he came to live with us.
This is Plato today (he is inside, bathed and enjoying some one-on-one time with us!
Well, tomorrow, Ginger is scheduled to be fixed. I was planning on taking her early in the morning, but they are calling for a chance of ice (and it will be worse early on, then changing over to rain). I decided to take her a day early and kennel her so I wouldn't have to go out in the mess and so that I would know she was there safe and sound. I have kind of arranged the next 7 days so someone would always be home :(and that is not an easy process), so I wanted to get this done.
So Katrina and I take her to the vets. As we are walking across the parking lot to the dog walking area, I note a boxer coming out with his family. Ginger was busy checking out all of the unusual smells in the walking area, then I heard a shout. I looked up and that Boxer was barreling right toward us. At first, I just tried to put myself between the two, but the Boxer was intent on mixing it up with my 5 month old Irish Setter. The red haze set in. All I remember was complete fear for my pet! I was yanking at that Boxer's collar, trying to keep Ginger from him and cursing up a blue streak for that __________ dog to get off of my dog! I hit it with my purse too. All the while, Ginger was yelping in fear.Finally between me pushing and them regaining control of his leash, we separated them. But in all the commotion, Ginger had pulled backwards and slipped her collar, and she started running. We were next to a highway with cars going 60 mph. Fortunately one of the girls managed to catch her and I was quickly there, holding her and putting Ginger's collar back on.
I chastised the man (probably a grandfather) and shouted something like 'you should do a better job of holding on to your dog). I heard him turn to one of the kids and say...'the leash just slipped out of your hand didn't it?' Now, I know that this was not intentional, and as my anger faded and I found out that other than having wet fur, Ginger was okay, I regretted the curse words I had thrown at the dog in the heat of the moment. But I also found out that this pooch is a known bully and not very friendly. So why, didn't the adult take over the leash when they realized another group of people with a dog were in the parking lot?
At any rate, they left and we went inside. Both receptionists were beside themselves and checking over Ginger for injuries (as was I). Then the vet came out and checked her too. We all talked about how unfortunate it was for this to have happened (after all going to the vet's office isn't the most fun anyway!) and then we had to leave her. It made that even more difficult as we have never left her anywhere except here at home.
I know she is okay and in good hands. But I hope we don't have a repeat of that activity any time soon. I just don't understand why people want dogs that can become so ferocious at the drop of a hat.
three days of rain, mud, and a Goldendoodle together?
Well, another busy week has come and gone. The fence work has been going along (slower than I thought it would be, they have completed one of the four sides). Two of the sides are going to be chain link and they say those will go up in about a day. But the vinyl part of the fence is very complex. They spent all week this week working on it and setting up the posts for the chain link fence. I am ready for the puppies to go outside. Our house just isn't big enough for the two of them and I am very tired of cleaning up puppy messes.
But we have had a little fun this week. Yesterday, I took the kids to FunQuest for a homeschool skate. I really appreciated the fact that they are reaching out to homeschoolers and are trying to set up a reasonably priced fun time for the children. Jack and Katrina had fun skating, playing laser tag, and Katrina spent some time in the big playplace.
Continue reading "Skating, Sweet Puppy Moment, Locks of Love" »
Yesterday, we left fluffball here with Daniel and took Ginger for some fun one-on-one time. Unfortunately, Ginger and fluffball aren't getting along all that well. Hopefully, they will come to like one another. Anyway, we took Ginger on a visit to my dad's mountain cabin. As you can see by the pictures below, she had a wonderful time!
She is awesome at retrieving!
What form!
The joys of running (and coming when called)
Running like the wind!
When we first built our deck last spring, we built in extra big with the intention of installing a hot tub in the next phase. Well phase two came this past week when we finished paying off our Hot Springs Grandee Hot Tub, which was delivered yesterday. And, boy did I miss some shots for my blog! It took them two hours to get lined up with the crane to maneuver the hot tub into place and seeing a several hundred pound hot tub hoisted through the air and heading towards your French doors...nothing quite like it! But, nothing was damaged and I regret to say I missed the great installation photos. Here is what it looks with the cover on and inserted into our deck.
And here is a picture of what the tub looks like uncovered and out in the open (though we chose to recess ours).
We also picked up another item for the deck that had been on our wish list. A firebowl. We tried it out Tuesday night and it is lovely!
We can't wait for the snow to fly so we can enjoy our firebowl and sit in the hot tub. When we picked out the hot tub, the salesperson informed me this was the same model that is in the White House! Wow...we are in some good company, here!
Continue reading "Hot Tub and Goldendoodle - Are We White House Material?" »
...and he gives the best treats!
For the last week, I spent all my spare blogging moments working on the Homeschool Carnival. Now that it is posted, I can update you on how things are going with Ginger and a little bit about what we have been up to.
Ginger is doing better with sleeping (well except for last night, but I guess we all have off nights...) She is sleeping up to 4 hours before waking up and then she goes back to bed within a few minutes after going out and taking care of business. But when she wakes up around 5 or 6, she is ready to be up for today.
Here are some photos...after all, they always speak more than words...
Friday night, Katrina and I enjoyed a fun event at our church - Mother/Daughter sleepover (more on that later). Daniel was out of town, Jack spent the night with a friend and our favorite kid sitter became our favorite puppy sitter for the evening. Ashley and Ginger got along just great!
Well, after much deliberation, many names presented and tossed aside, the vote was between two names last night. Gypsy and Ginger. And it was a tie. Three of us really liked Ginger, three of us really liked Gypsy. Daniel didn't care for Ginger and Jack didn't like Gypsy at all...I think it may have something to do with all the times over the years I have told him I would 'sell him to the gypsies'. So in the end, Daniel voted for Ginger but says that gives him more say so when we pick up the Goldendoodle next month. Seems fair to me.
At least now she has a name...I was getting tired of calling her puppy all the time!
Her sleep is getting a little better. She is waking up every 2 hours now and pretty much going right back to sleep. She even slept for 3 hours a couple of times...
As to dreaming...because she wakes me up regularly, I am remembering more of my dreams and last night when she woke me up, I was dreaming about the cast of LOST and they were having to solve a mystery...some were going to this area, some were going to that area...just like on LOST. I don't remember all of the particulars, but it was funny to me that I was dreaming about my favorite TV show. January gets closer every day....
Hopefully you will forgive me for not visiting and for having a few posts. Between sleep deprivation due to the new puppy that doesn't want to sleep at night and trying to keep some semblance of a homeschool schedule and trying to prepare for a test in tonight's class...I am having a hard time thinking straight, much less keeping up. But fortunately, I am still able to use the camera so that you can see the reason for the current havoc in our lives;)
"Whatcha got there, Mom? Can I see it????"
"Come on Sis...I wanna go this way!"
Wise eyes...
Sleepy eyes...
Well, I have been hinting that change was in the air. My friend over at Homeschooling in Illinois figured out what was up...she's pretty observant!
Well, we have been preparing for a change. We adopted a purebred Irish Setter and this past weekend, Katrina, Ashley (neighbor) and I drove to Beaver Falls, PA to pick up this cute little bundle of fur! She is so sweet, does very well with riding in the car and she has readily accepted us as her new pack. The only 'issue' we are running into is that she hates being in her cage inside without us (we got her a crate and have attached an exercise pen to it). Even if she can see us a few feet away, she howls, whines and whimpers unless she is sleeping.
