Endless summer

Well, it is November. In Florida that means that we have made it through another hurricane season. (June-November) YEA! There were very few named storms, most of them stayed in the Atlantic and did not come near us. Last year in preparation of getting my new windows, I painted all my window inserts white, mostly to preserve the wood. I store these panels back in my shed. I have to constantly check and re-check everything I have back there because in hot, sunny Florida we have a lot of bugs. Lately, I have been "bugged" by black carpenter ants. They seem to be all over and get into every nook & cranny and set up nests everywhere. I recently got a new outside gas grill and found them living up under the gas tank of the old one. They had also made a nest in the electric box of the rotisserie. I had a hell of a time getting all of them out of there with bug spray, then I had to take it apart and clean out their "nest mess". It is not very pleasant and very time consuming to keep up with all of this maintenance, but I guess that is the price you pay to live in paradise. I wish we would get a little cold weather. I have lived in Florida since 1975 and this is the warmest it has ever been this late in the year. I would be happy with any temp below 80 degrees! Remind me of this post when I have to go to Chicago in February!

Custom made urns

Since none of us get out of this life alive. . . I thought I would show you my friend Marion's urns. You might remember me telling you about my talented woodworker friend in an earlier post. She is the one who made the murphy bed and the Adirondack chairs for me. Anyway, she has made urns for people and for pets and here are a few photos of her work. She makes them in all sizes, according to your needs.

Contact me at my e-mail if you are interested in purchasing an urn or if you just want more information about them.

Vet visit

I have to take "IDGY" to the vet for her 12 week shot. I made the mistake of calling first and of course they made me make an appointment. I asked if I could just come in now, and they said no, that the doctor wasn't in on Wednesday afternoons! (Of course he isn't, he is out playing golf with the people doctors!) Now I have an "appointment" for Friday afternoon. I will know better next time to just show up. Next, they will be asking for my doggy's health insurance card!

idgy

See how my face is getting browner? My mom bought me a red collar. I have to wear it for my puppy pre-school class!


I heard a lot of "GOOD GIRL" in school tonight!

Puppy pre-school

Idgy will be 12 weeks old this Friday. We decided since she is such a "willful" breed that we should take her to obedience school. Last night she went to her first class. She was a hit at school, everyone "ooowing & aahaaaing" about how cute she is. She learned how to walk on a lead and sit and to pay attention. About 30 minutes into the 50 minute class, she was bored and wanted to go home. Her schedule was so re-arranged yesterday that she was up at 3 AM this morning. I hope today that we can get her back on schedule so she will sleep through the night.

Tammy & Valerie

I do not know them well. I only met them once when we all had dinner together with mutual friends at a Thai restaurant. I thought they were both nice, and I liked the way that they were comfortable with each other. It was clear that they were quite fond of each other by the way they interacted; the way people look when they know each others next thought. I was sad when I heard the news about their terrible motorcycle accident sixteen days ago. It was a shock and a tragedy to everyone as the news spread among their friends. Broken bones and brain injuries usually happen in a motorcycle accident, and this one was no exception. In the first couple of days, it was not clear that Tammy would even survive. Each day that she is in the hospital gets us a little closer to having a collective sigh of relief, that at least now she will survive. I have owned two motorcycles myself, when I was younger. You think to yourself, "it will be OK because I am a careful driver". You never know when out of nowhere, someone will not see you and hit you. I find myself thinking of what must have been going through Tammy & Valerie's minds as the accident was occurring. Tammy tried to keep the bike upright, as it was skidding out of control. Valerie, helpless to do anything but hold on, on the back of the bike. I am sure they were both so scared. Incidents like this begin to slow down when you are in them, and seem to go like a slow motion movie, frame by frame by frame. I hope that they have no memory of this and I hope that they are not lying in their hospital beds reliving it and wondering what they could have done differently to change the events of that night. Tammy & Valerie were smart to have a health care surrogate in place, their good friend of many years, Donna. If there are angels on earth, Donna is surely one of them. She has taken care of everything from difficult medical decisions to feeding their cat, and everything in between. If good thoughts or prayers for them can speed up their recovery, they have plenty of that.

I love my dogs!

The new puppy IDGY is doing well, learning to sit on command for a treat and learning to potty outside. She is a real doll, I swear her legs get longer everyday! She has learned how to bark & growl and has a very deep voice for a puppy! Wire Fox Terrier puppies are born with almost all black hair on their face, then it fades out to brown. Since they do not shed, they have to be groomed with plucking or shaving. By the time of her first grooming, she will look much different, loosing all the black around her face & head. It is natural for these dogs to dig, as they are ratters, and she has started that already, although I am right behind her with a distraction! I don't want to have holes in the backyard.



She loves to run and play with her big brother, HEMI.

The old dog, BUDDY, tolerates her, but still growls at her to stay away from him. She growls right back at him, but keeps her distance. Buddy says, "Leave me alone, I'm old!"

This past weekend, we went to the "Dog Extravaganza" and saw lots of other breeds of dogs. The vendors at the show gave away LOTS of samples of dog food. I am trying different foods for the new puppy to see what she likes.