The 100 Sheep Nativity

Our Taiwanese 3rd "daughter," Bun-Chu, spent plenty of time with us due to her parents ministry in Taiwan (her father is a Presbyterian minister). Bun-Chu knew I collected Nativities and decided that she'd make me one. Each year, she gave me new pieces to the Nativity. One day I was bemoaning the fact that most Nativities I get only have one sheep...and the Bible says it was a flock, ya know? So Bun-Chu, being the sweet little angel she is, made 100 sheep for MY Nativity. And 4 shepherds to watch that flock. So every Christmas, I have to find a place for 100 sheep. And I always do! LOL



The sheep...and the stockings because I have no mantel this year.




And the house, all lit up!

The dogs are starting to accept...

That Emmy is here to stay. They've snapped a couple times and chased her under the bed a few weeks ago. However, she is getting bold about being near them, as long as we are nearby.



We had a massive thunderstorm rip through one afternoon. The dogs are afraid of thunder, so they stick close to me. Usually, they settle down if they are on our bed. I helped Flint onto the bed and Emmy joined him. She played with his ears, his tail and then attacked his back collar. Flint was not amused. He put up with her for a few minutes then hopped off the bed and went to his floor bed, curled up and went to sleep. Emmy went into my office and proceeded to chew on the cardboard flap of the slide projector box, which is sitting in the middle of the floor until I find a home for it.



I went to fix Richard lunch this afternoon and found the girls in the chair together. Echo tolerated it for a little while, but then Emmy decided to play. She grabbed one of Echo's paws and began gnawing on it. Echo put up with it for about a minute and then left.

Emmy is getting big. She eats her dry food throughout the day, gets breakfast and dinner wet food, and then slowly creeps towards the dogs' dishes while they are eating, silently intimidating them until they leave. Then she eats a little of their food. I tried giving her a portion of their homemade dog food in her own dish. Nope. Its all about who is Alpha-Cat in this household. She won't eat it out of her own bowl. She must eat it out of theirs.

The good news is, Flint and Echo used to be a little spoiled about eating their food. They'd let it sit then beg for their treats instead. Now that there's competition, they've taken to eating their food quickly and efficiently. no more food souring in the bowls!

New addition to the Stahel household...

First - allow a rant. If you acquire an animal and are not a breeder, spay or neuter your pet immediately. If you cannot afford this, do not get the animal. Domesticated animals have SOME survival instincts, but usually have to be TAUGHT hunting skills from another animal. Dumping a litter of kittens or puppies on a back road where predators are known to roam is despicable. They cannot survive on their own, no matter how smart or instinctual they appear.

Three of Emmy's litter are probably dead. They survived a grand total of four days that we know of. We could not get them to come to us. Emmy finally came to Richard after he spent two hours in tick and chigger infested grass coaxing her to come to him and only after the rest of her siblings were gone. The chances that they ran off and left her are remote.



Emmy's a beautiful smoke color with bright green eyes. Estimated age is 3-4 months old. In keeping with our family tradition, Emmy is named for Emily (Em) Sackett Talon, a character in Louis L'Amour's Sackett series of books.



We think Emmy looks like an Egyptian temple cat here.



I used to belong to a writer's group called the BatCave. I received two charms from them, a small brass bat from Cathy and a silver kangaroo from Lex in Australia. I hung them from my computer screen so I'd always feel close to my buddies. Emmy attacked the charms and the rest is history. I have to get pliers and put them back on their jump ring to re-hang on my screen.



I bought Emmy some bizzy balls to give her play time. I figured 8 was too many, but heck, it was only a $1.97 for the pack. I think we've found two again...the other six have disappeared into cat magic lalaland...they are not under any furniture that I can see. One day when I deep-clean (Ha! Like that's gonna happen) I might find the rest. Or Emmy might.

I don't know 6 blog-people...

Quirky Meme...

1) Link to the person that tagged you.2) Post the rules on your blog.3) List six unspectacular quirks you have.4) Tag six bloggers by linking them.5) Leave a comment on each person's blog to let them know they've been tagged.

My Six Unspectacular Quirks:

1. So as not to hurt my daughters' feelings after they fixed my hair at ages 3 & 4, I went to the grocery store with a 20 barrette hair-do. Kid barrettes - pink, purple, green, yellow and blue pastic clips. As people would start to comment, I'd jerk my head at the girls standing beside me, so proud of their work, and say quickly, "Don't you like my hair, the girls fixed it!" and every one of my acquaintances and the store clerks went along with the it.

2. I used to drink Pepsi continually, all day. I had a special insulated cup so the ice wouldn't melt. I carried the cup around with me - driving, walking, talking to neighbors. My family and neighbors knew my "Pepsi cup" and would bring it to me when I "lost" it. When I decided to be more healty, I switched to iced tea. After, that, I'd look for my "tea cup" when I lost it. My BIL thought I meant an actual tea cup and got tired of the mis-labeling. So he named it Fred. My cup has been Fred ever since. The cups change as they wear out, but the name doesn't. Everyone of my acquaintance knows Fred.

3. I love looking at photos. Anyone's photos. All those people who say get rid of guests by dragging out the photos and slides...I'll stay till the wee hours. I like looking at photos and speculating about the stories they have to tell. People, places, scenes, all of it.

4. I hate feather pillows. That sinking, smothering sensation makes me crazy. Give me a firm pillow any time. However, I love down comforters. That sinking, smothering cocoon makes me feel cozy and warm.

5. I am always cold. I wear wool socks year-round. I have a hard time keeping warm and therefore don't usually wear shorts or dresses even in summer. I have a special thick fur blanket that goes with us when we travel because I rarely have enough covers in hotel rooms and family/friends homes'. My children named the blanket Minkie (it is a "mink" blanket from Korea). All my nieces and nephews love Minkie, too, and have used it as a tent, as covers, as a nap pad, and to warm up around a fire when we camp. My dogs settle immediately when they lay on Minkie during storms. Despite being *my* special blanket, Minkie's actually a source of comfort for our whole extended family.

6. I'm very lazy. I work hard to streamline chores so I can go do the fun stuff whenever I want. People think I'm very busy because I have so much time for my hobbies, but in reality, its directly atrributed to sheer laziness. Chores have to be done, but there's no reason to drag them out. LOL

Its been awhile...

Life is good, we've just been busy with various things.

Pa built a teardrop camping trailer and wanted to test it, so we went camping for a few days.



I've been poking around doing jobs in the house, a little sewing, some rearranging of furniture and decluttering. And writing, of course.

Mom and I went to a couple weddings, that was fun!

I've been trying to capture butterfly photos but for some reason they all seem to be in a hurry this year. Flint had one between his ears like a big bow. I grabbed the camera and started shooting, and the thing just disapepared!

Flint has been doing quite well. He's lost a lot of weight, is happy to be outside and prances around like he owns this place. Echo stays inside more, she gets hot and wants to be in air conditioning.

1974 Airstream 31' Sovereign LandYacht FOR SALE

This Airstream was gutted and refurbished to live in while constructing our house on site. We lived in it for almost a year. We cut the pipes to the propane appliances and made it all electric because electricity was already at the property. Propane can be reestablished by a professional, if needed. The propane tanks are still installed on the tongue and have the new code connectors.

The futon couch, double bed, microwave, toaster, hotplate, fire extinguisher and refrigerator will remain. ALL are FREE-STANDING. My Pa also built a kitchen counter (without the sink) and a cabinet for storage over the wheel well. Neither cupboard is fastened down, but can be if necessary. Remember, this trailer was used for living and was parked for the full eleven months, so modifications to build-in were not necessary.

There's a large unit in the upper kitchen cabinet that was used to monitor the holding tanks and other stuff - we disconnected this and have no idea if it is still usable.

A new subfloor was laid over the old one for support. Previous water damage (which we also fixed) had made holes in the old flooring. I also installed carpet.

The air conditioner was broken, we had a Carrier representative fix it properly and it cools great now. In times of VERY HIGH humidity, the A/C sometimes leaks if you overuse it. This only happened three times last year (we ran it for over 8 hours per day). To prevent the leak, we discovered that if you turn it off for an hour, it will defrost and be fine to turn back on. The AC has an outside winter cover for insulation.

All walls are painted, except the bathroom.

I made new duck fabric curtains for all the windows. I put up standard rods for easy off/on to clean.

The screen door is now reinforced with a patterned cut-out steel mesh because our dogs kept destroying the regular screen mesh.

A new 10 gallon Sears water heater replaces the old 5 gallon one. There is a cut-off switch inside on the bathroom wall to turn it off. It can also be unplugged inside. The weater heater is larger than the old one, so I made a temporary wall of foam-core so it would still look nice in the bathroom. The wall is removable for service. We replaced the old toilet, too. The shower had a crack which the former owner repaired. The repair has held up nicely and we've had no problems with it.

Phone and cable were run inside for landline telephone/dialup computer and satellite TV.

An extra electric box with a separate outside connector was installed into the living area so I could run a heater during the winter months, without compromising the rest of the appliances and lights.

The full length front awning comes down easily, but has a small tear about 8 inches long at the rear end. Its never been a problem to all-over use (we just make sure to roll it back up if there's wind). The awning over the back window was never used, due to broken struts before we acquired the Airstream.

Only one outlet doesn't work and that is by choice. It was retro-installed and wire was run across the room under the couch, which was a fire hazard. We cut and capped the wires. Power can be restored by a professional electrician. One of the bedroom lights has a short, the light will go on sometimes and not others. Needs an electrican to look it over before use.

We are fairly certain the holding tank has a leak ON TOP. If lines are clogged, it will create a small wet spot on the rug in the hallway. To alleviate this, flushing the black water tank for 20 minutes on a daily basis (in the evening) worked wonders. The lines remain clear and water flows easily. A few teaspoons of Rid-X once a week kept the anaerobic bacteria happy, too.

I replaced the plastic fan caps, the bathroom light cover and the kitchen light cover.

All the rivets have been caulked and as far as I know, nothing leaks. There is condensation between the panes of the front window, but not inside or outside.

This Airstream is fully habitable now - it would make a nice parked unit on your camp or vacation property. It can also be used as a nice hunt "shack" on your hunting lands. If you are a person who wants a restoration project the hard work of gutting it has already been done.

Price: $4,800.00

This Airstream is located in the Midwest and you will have to pick it up. It is being sold in an "AS IS" condition.

If you are interested, leave a message in the blog comments section with your email address written out like this to avoid spambots: johndoe at aol dot com.

What I've been doing...

Between days of never-ending rain, we've been getting spots of sunshine. On those days, we're able to walk to the bridge. Flint's recovery has been slow because of the weather. However, now we're getting somewhere!

I've also cleaned out the Airstream in preparation for selling. Next up, the garage and cars! And of course, the landscaping. Richard and I bought some plants to pot and our front porch doesn't look so naked now. I also bought a slide bench. I am planning to make cushions for the bench and the chairs. Richard's been cleaning out rocks in the soil and has fertilized the grass, which is growing beautifully.

Today we meandered to the bridge after stopping to check on Pa's progress. Pa is building a teardrop trailer for camping. The frame and body are put together, now he's doing doors and windows.

At the bridge, the barn swallows began buzzing us, about fifty or so flying overhead trying to get us to move on. Their nests are on the underside of the bridge so either babies have hatched or they're very close to being born.

Next time, I won't forget the camera.

So...there was a lot of crackling off in our Sanctuary. Richard and I were excited. What kind of birds were back there, nesting and raising their babies? Maybe it was the rare flying squirrels, or perhaps some owls? Ricahrd went back there with a camera to catch whatever he could.

He heard a crashing noise, looked up and two birds were locked together falling through the trees...

BUZZARDS.

BUZZARDS. Mating and nesting in our Sanctuary. We don't know where the nests are. They're not visible in our leafless trees. Maybe they don't make any. At any rate, we've never even seen a baby buzzard. So while all the country neighbors have the cool animals, we have BUZZARDS.

It could only happen to city-slickers.

Six days ago...

Tuesday, April 1, 2008...It wasn't an April Fool's Day joke.

The lightning storm caused a strike right in front of our house. We had turned off all the computers, but not unplugged them from the surge protectors. Richard has a fancy, battery operated surge protector...I have an expensive one, but no battery. The resulting EMP (electromagnetic pulse) from the strike fried my computer. We took it in to salvage the harddrive, thinking only the motherboard or the power supply was damaged. According to the tech, this is only the second time he's seen a harddrive so badly damaged he couldn't retrieve all the data. He did a couple sweeps and collected some, but my books were gone.

Needless to say, I was crushed. Not only had I lost my books, I lost YEARS of photos and other documents.

Richard was certain he'd done a backup of my system in the last month or so. We'd moved from the Airstream to the house, so stuff that was hurriedly packed was scattered between garage and house. We had no idea where the backup drive could be.

We bought a new computer and began the task of learning the new Vista program, plus downloading things I use like Yahoo Messenger (which took 3 days, due to disconnects and extremely slow dialup - 24 baud at times!). We also bought an external harddrive, in hopes of salvaging my data. That didn't work on Richard's computer. We may try it on mine, later, but chances are slim.

I found the backup drive this morning. Richard loaded it to the new computer...and the only thing I've lost is about 150 pages of two books (anything written after Feb 15, the date of the backup) and the last six weeks of photos!

Needless to say, despite the loss of my last 6 weeks of work, I'm still ecstatic - most of the precious photos were saved.

I'm happy.

The Visitors...

The girls and Richard's sister arrived last weekend for a visit. The girls only stayed a couple days but we had a blast. Massages, shopping, breakfast at Grandma's, playing in the shop with Grandpa and walking the dogs. It was like old times!

Richard's sister stayed for the entire week and we also had a lot of fun. I'd forgotten about late night girl talk, laughing at our men and long walks discussing everything under the sun as the dogs sniffed and played.

They were our very first visitors to the nearly finished house.

I hope everyone loved their visit as much as I did.

The New Me...

Back in the 80's I had a hairstyle that I loved, that looked great, and was not fussy to fix. I could put it in a ponytail and look good, or fluff it out for special occasions, or wash and wear it for every day. Everyone said it was dated and I needed to try a new style. I went from short to long to in-between, never happy with it. Basically, because of that, I skinned it back in a ponytail and just didn't bother with it.

Finally, I decided, you know what? I LIKED my 80's hair style. So poof! I went back to it.




I took the picture in the mirror which is why its a little wonky. But there I am, all 80s hair!

LOL

Ready for Spring...

We had a couple days of 70 degree weather and then winter hit once more! Richard and Echo tramped out in the snow. Flint and I stayed warm and cozy inside.



We're still having the up and down weather of March, but I hope in a few weeks Spring will be here because Richard's never been here during that season. Already, a few trees and bushes are showing tiny buds. I hope we don't have a repeat of last year when everything bloomed and then a surprise cold snap froze all the budding plants. It pretty much killed the apple crop for last year.

I still have the little apple twig...er tree...that my sister gave me for Christmas. It even has fresh green leaves. When it grows up and fruits it will be a Macintosh apple.

Richard, Mom, Pa and Echo walked to the bridge last week. I waited a bit and then Flint and I went to meet them. He tried to turn around and go home three different times but I urged him on. He needs to exercise the leg and get back up to walking daily. I let him rest the next day. Mom and Pa meandered down the day after resting and we all walked to the bridge. Although Flint was slow towards the end, he made it there and back with no problems. He sacked right out in the bed and napped the rest of the afternoon, though. LOL.

Walking in the woods...

Since Flint is down for the long count concerning his leg surgery, Echo and Richard have taken to tramping in the woods around the property to investigate new smells, enjoy the crisp air and watch for wildlife.

Richard went up to the ridge above ours a few days ago and snapped a photo of our roof in the trees. The black spot near the center of the picture is Echo investigating something.



Echo keeps an eye out for moving targets...er...wildlife.




This is a shot of the moon in the morning a few days ago. The good thing about a digital camera is that we can simply take even "impossible" shots without wasting anything but a little battery power. Its been fun trying to get night shots, distance shots and everything else. Sometimes they turn out okay.

Watching the work...

Flint and Echo, despite the last two years of subcontractors coming and going on a nearly daily basis, still get nervous when anyone new is in the house. They've only "met" Nathan the cabinet maker once before.



Guarding the couch (and my messy house) and keeping an eye on the stranger.

I've been unpacking boxes and have no where to put the stuff I unpack. All the shelves, bookcases and display cabinets aren't in place yet. The roll-top desk has become a major piling place. LOL

Partyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

P and Mom feed the birds through the winter. A couple days ago, Pa went out the door and the cardinals had taken over the picnic table. We figured they were having a party...

The long, long walk...

So Mom and Pa came up to see us and offered to take us tramping through the woods. We have wanted to do this for a while, but the weather has not cooperated. Today was beautiful! We had deep blue sky, the big fluffy Colorado clouds and about 60 degreees up on the ridge. I decided to take Flint, even though he's not supposed to be exercising that much. We went up the loop road and then cut through the woods to walk along the ridge above the lake. Echo was thrilled to be running a new path and stayed ahead of us leading the way throughout the whole walk.



This is the top of the ridge looking out over the lake.



I knew Flint wouldn't be able to walk the whole way. I took off my scarf and made a sling, put it under his chest and over my shoulder. This way, he was balanced on my hip and the load was spread evenly. I could only carry him like this for about 200 yards. Richard also carried him. We tried to do it in places where the trail was rough or uphill and let him walk downhill and in low spots.



Once Flint realized he could get a free ride, he'd stop walking and wait for me to sling him up again! Richard and I carried him about four times before we made him walk the rest of the way to Mom and Pa's house. By the way, Flint weighs 53 pounds.



Two tired puppies! We stopped at Mom's to have a bit of birthday cake and give the dogs some water. In the 30 minutes we sat there, the temperature dropped 10 degrees, a wind kicked up and we came outside to wisps of fog and overcast skies! Richard and I hurried home in the cold and wind, surprised at the sudden change in weather.

I gave Flint a pain pill, doctored his wound a little to be sure it was okay, helped him onto the bed and he's been sacked out ever since. I expect to be doing more walks - the days are warming up and the housebuilding is slowing down! And Flint will need the exercise, too.

After I finished all that and we puttered around a little THIS is what we found when we looked outside again! SNOW!

Mom's Birthday!

We had planned Mom's birthday party a couple times, but postponed based on people being unable to attend. Finally, we had it Sunday night. Richard grilled rib eye steaks using mesquite wood chips for flavor. I made sauted mushrooms, sauted squash, twice-baked potatoes and homemade sourdough bread. Dessert was birthday cake and ice cream, of course! Becky brought a 4 cake sample with carrot cake, red velvet cake, German chocolate cake and chocolate turtle cake. Some of us sampled it all LOL.



Mom blows out her candles - they say 29 because that's how old she says she is. Naturally I mixed up and had them as 92...I'm lucky I can run faster than Mom!



Mom reads her cards....surrounded by presents.



Mom loves the British TV show, HOW CLEAN IS YOUR HOUSE? She's wanted a pair of frou-frou gloves like Abby's for a while. I bought the gloves and put the fancy cuffs on them so she could clean house in style!

A good time was had by all.

Busy...

Flint only had half his staples removed. Although he's healing well it's slower than the vet anticipated. He's very active and wants to run and play so we have to be careful he and Echo don't get too rough.

We took them for a walk in the woods today and he really enjoyed it. Towards the end he started getting cold and headed home. I went with him and Richard let Echo play for a bit more before coming in, too. Its about 7 degrees outside and the sun is shining. The grass was crunchy with ice and the air was pretty brisk, but no wind, so it was nice.

Mom is healing from her second cataract surgery. She is very happy to be able to see better, although she still has to wear the sunglasses for a while.

I'm still working on decluttering my office which is difficult due to the fact that a lot of my stuff is still out in the garage. I have binders, sheet protectors and file folders somewhere out there! I suppose I should go out there and haul in a few boxes today.



Echo and Flint last night waiting for supper.

Flint's Day...

Today, Flint goes in to the vet to have his staple stitches removed. I expect he'll not be too happy. We've had to keep the cone on his head to keep him from chewing and I anticipate having to use it for another few days, too.



Flint is not a morning dog. He prefers sleeping until daylight. I woke him up to take a picture of him. Note the couch. That's his and Echo's sleeping spot in our bedroom. Initially, I was letting them sleep wherever they wanted, but on second thought I decided that if we had company, especially company who didn't like or was afraid of dogs, it might be better to have an assigned sleeping place with us. Flint sleeps there every night, but since his operation Echo has avoided sleeping there because he growls at her. I expect once he's healed they'll go back to the old arrangement.



Echo often will sit/sleep in a doorway or just behind me as if she's guarding me from everyone. I suppose in a dog pack that's pretty much what dogs do for the leader. Richard claims I am the undisputed Alpha dog in this household. Yay, me! LOL

Success!

I have always wanted to bake sourdough bread. I had a few false starts towards that goal that never seemed to work out. Well, now that I have time I've decided to try again.

My friend, ElizaBeth, gave me a friendship starter which I managed to kill. So when we moved into the house I started another one. I also mixed together a sourdough starter. The instructions off the Internet claimed when it was bubbly and frothy it was ready to use. That happened in about 10 days. However, it didn't have that sourdough yeast smell I'm used to from the San Francisco breads we bought when we lived there. More reading on the Internet confirmed that a good sourdough needs about 2 months to really acquire the flavor and smell. So I let it go another couple weeks. About a week ago I put in the flour and water and the smell was perfect. I finally had some time to devote to the task so yesterday I made sourdough pizza crust.

May I say WOW! It was perfect (okay, I skimped on the salt and immediately noticed, but really it was almost perfect!) I baked it in an electric oven on a pizza stone which I'd also never used even though I've owned it a gazillion years. I didn't have any meat so I made a veggie pizza - bell peppers, onions, olives and mushrooms, with homemade pizza sauce (1 small can of tomato paste, 1 can water, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt - slowly heat to boil, then turn off and apply to pizza crust). I topped with mozzerella cheese. Then I baked the whole thing together - pizza crust and toppings. If you want a crispier crust supposedly you cook the crust alone for a bit.



This is the SECOND pizza. We ate the first one all up! BTW, this second pizza was frozen without cooking - I put the whole thing together, froze it, thawed it out about an hour before and we ate this one for lunch today.

The starter:

1 large glass pyrex bowl with lid
1 cup flour
1 cup water

Mix well, cover with a lid. Every 24 hours, stir and feed the starter with a half cup of flour and a half cup water. Keep it in a warm area. Mine is on the back burners (not used) of my Corning glass stove top. The residual heat from cooking and baking on the front burners & oven kept it warm enough. Some days it'll be bubbly, some days it will have a clear liquid on top. Stir it all back in and keep going. In 10 days, you have a decent starter, but like I said, I wanted more of that sourdough yeast smell and taste, so I let it grow for 2 months.

Slow days...

Its snowing out today. Just a dusting and some sparse flakes but the weather is cold and dreary. The snow has mostly stopped but looking out my window I see the occasional flake drifting down. Its either blowing off the roof and trees or its still snowing a bit here and there.

Last week, I called the place where the girls' senior high school photos were taken. One of the photos has faded with a greenish tinge. I didn't expect them to still have her photo on file, but it was worth a shot. They had warned that they kept photos five years. Well, she graduated long before that. I called, not expecting any miracle and got one ANYWAY! They had her photo in their archives, still! The man I spoke with found it and is sending me a FREE 8 X 10, because they guarantee non-fading! Anyway, I'm still waiting for it to arrive, but am pretty happy.

Flint is healing nicely although a little slower than the vet anticipated. He's been romping with Echo and wanting to walk with us, but we're still limiting his movement some.

Richard has resorted to walking Echo two to five times a day. With no buddy to play with she is highly energetic and needs to blow off some steam. Flint has warned her off so many times she finally got the point. Last night I put my Mo-Mo slippers on (They're fashioned to look like giant Bigfoot feet). Echo started barking at them and ran down the steps outside to chew them. I started backing up and she chased me. I came back inside and she chased my feet again, barking and chewing on the toes of the slippers while they were on my feet. I suspect we have a new game. She's careful to only fake chew, she's not tearing at them or anything.


The tile guys are here doing the master bathroom. Richard and I discussed it and decided we didn't want to do it, so we hired professionals!

Echo...

I've posted so many pictures of Flint these past few weeks that it seems I need to post one of Echo.

She's been pretty good with her wounded playmate - she will not sleep with him on their couch and she's wrassling gently, allowing him to initiate it.

Both dogs stuck close by me today - the mail lady brought a package (my books, I love Amazon) and the UPS guy delivered Richard's jackets and cap from Land's End (big sale).

I wrote a short story for a specific market, let's see if I can sell it. A quiet day, pretty much wrote all day.

He's back!

Flint is back home.

Everyone is happy, except him! Well, he's happy to be home but he seriously hates the cone collar. He has to wear it to keep from licking his wound.



Echo has sniffed him over quite well making sure we didn't do anything to her buddy.

Its been a hectic week and I am also glad its over.

Puppy Dog Tales...

Flint went to the vet's early this morning for his cruciate ligament operation. All went well and he's awake, although not alert. We will pick him up tomorrow morning. The vet prefers to keep them overnight for observation.



This is a photo of Flint before the problems started.

Surprisingly, Echo is somewhat clingy today. She is so independent that we figured she'd be pretty blase about her pack mate being missing from the family for a couple days. Not so. She's been very subdued and is staying very close to one or the other of us.

While Richard stayed home and did house things, I took Echo up and down the road to burn off some energy. She had fun sniffing through the brush and has finally settled down at the foot of my bed (Flint's favorite naptime spot).

We're heading to Mom and Pa's for dinner tonight. They meant to invite us yesterday but when they came up to issue the invite, we were gone. We'd taken off on a walk in the woods back of our property and went exploring the creek for a good hour or so. It was cold but not bitter and both dogs enjoyed tramping in the woods. Flint was not supposed to go walking but he set up such a pathetic howling that we caved and let him come with us.

I am really hopeful that is operation will fix his problems permanently and walking will be easier for him. He always goes with us, but the effort he expends is hard to watch. He's a faithful little friend and I'd like to see him able to romp and play again.