I had Hubby take this picture to show you how I work stripping Greta. She usually lies in my lap and while I watch TV I just work her over with a stripping comb and the small scissors. I do this, probably twice a year, as I let her coat get nice and thick during the winter.
Some dogs, like Greta do not shed. Their dead fur must be gently pulled out, in other words, “stripped” from their body. It doesn’t hurt, rather, it feels like a good vigorous brushing to them. Ears need to be stripped to the point where they have just little wisps left and then gently trimmed at the edges. Below you can see the before and after pictures of Greta’s ears.
I took a big step. I taught myself how to strip Greta’s ears. Now I know there are some of you sitting there thinking, what’s so tough about stripping the ears of a Rauhhaardackel (wire-haired dachshund), ? Well, there are no books here, or guides. I’m sure if I were back in Germany I could find a millions books on the subject (all written in German, I’m sure), but here in New Hampshire, there are none to be found, zero, zip, zilch!
I looked at books, pictures, went to web sites of champion dackels, and then just sat down and started working. Greta was not thrilled, but she was patient and she allowed me to work. They look pretty good, not perfect, but good for a first attempt.
What do you think?
Last night was a banner TV night for Hubby and me. I had taped “The Apprentice” on Monday, so we watched that from 7-8, then we watched “NCIS“, and then “House“. I love all three of those shows, and being able to watch them back to back, well, how good is that? Now some comments on those three shows.
On The Apprentice, I wasn’t very happy that Bryce got fired. I really felt that Lee should have gone. Now I understand that he was observing a religious holiday, (for the second time), and this is admirable. But come on people, this is business and in the real world you have to keep on keeping on even on religious holidays! His team needed him (again), and he was a non productive member (again). Even when he is there, he isn’t. He is dead weight. So I thought Lee should have gone. Of course that’s not PC so I wasn’t surprised that The Donald kept him on. I was sympathetic to Lenny. He was there, and he did try. So what if his ideas were crap! He was present and attempting to be a part of things. The two women also worked hard. So I can’t fault them either.
Hubby and I were torn about which jingle was the best. In the end, I think the decision was made because team “Gold Rush” got to their meeting so late. What is with these people? Haven’t they watched The Apprentice before? Don’t they know that everything takes three times longer to accomplish in New York City, even a simple 2 mile cab ride?
I have not picked out my favorite candidate yet. Maybe because no one really stands out. We shall see…
NCIS. Yes, I’ve heard that one character will die at the end of the season. I’m thinking it will be Jen (played by Lauren Holly). They have suddenly made her very friendly with Gibbs and if she were killed it would be very dramatic for his character. Last night’s episode was pretty good. It dealt with gangs. Quite interesting.
Lastly, House. Okay, last nights episode was a little weird and gross all at the same time. I will not go into great detail about the weird and grossness, but I will say that I like House sharing his bachelor pad with Wilson. They make a great “Odd Couple”. It adds a bit of levity to an otherwise tense show.
Now there is nothing I really watch on the tube until Sunday. Sad, really. I love to watch TV and I am a very loyal viewer. But nothing has been turning me on, so I spend a lot of time watching old movies, or just playing on the computer.
Yesterday afternoon I went in and got my hair colored. I had this strange thing happen with my hair. In the 5 weeks since Shubi died I got a white tuft of hair on the side of my head. Totally white! I feel better now that it is covered and the same color as the rest of my hair. I guess grief will do that to you.
I’ve now had my 15 seconds of fame. Today I was sitting here writing to you all when I looked outside and saw that it was both raining and SNOWING! Now that’s odd, I thought. The weather man at NECN is always asking people to write in when they see weird weather, I thought that when it is both raining and snowing at the same time, now that’s pretty strange. So, I wrote in and said, “Matt, it is both raining and snowing at the same time here in **** New Hampshire. It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen!” signed Maribeth ****. A little while later I was sitting here and he read my e-mail on the air!!! Of course no one heard it but me, I’m sure, still, it was exciting to know that someone actually read it and that it didn’t just disappear into a void, and somewhere there is actually someone who is thinking, “Wow, in **** New Hampshire it was raining and snowing at the same time!”.
15 seconds of fame is pretty exciting, but my neighbor reminded me, “Just don’t let it go to your head”.
I knew it was going to happen sometime. I just didn’t think it was going to happen so soon, but it has.
Hubby returned to the family room last night and took over the remove control!
I don’t mean to come off as some sort of horrid wife, who would wish strict bed rest on their husband, but I do confess to enjoying the last few weeks of being the “Queen of the Remote Control“.
I’ve watched my soaps, I’ve watched The Health Channel’s Labor and Delivery shows, I cried when babies were born and even watched appendectomies while eating dinner at night! The channel even stayed put during a commercial, or when I have gotten up to go to the bathroom. Best of all, I have not had to endure college sports, the Stock Market Channel and continuous news.
But here was Hubby, happy to be out of the Guest Room and comfortably ensconced in his recliner while I fixed dinner last night. I had put on local news and weather to see what was happening in our world, when I heard, click, click, click. Frustrated, I mentioned this to Hubby, who growled something about “watching stupid commercials”, so I just let it go.
Once dinner was done, Hubby went back into the Guest Room, where he can both watch TV and sit with my old laptop computer, and once again, I was “Queen“!
As I’ve said, “It’s nice to be Queen“!
I am happy to report that it’s been about 5 days since Hubby has taken any pain medication. He decided that he wanted to go out with me today to the grocery store, and he wanted to be the one driving. I admit to being a bit nervous about this, but he did just fine and we managed to get to the store without incident.
He didn’t want to go into the store. I told him he could go around in one of those little electric carts, but that didn’t interest him, so he said he would wait in the car listening to the radio.
I went in and did the shopping. I wanted to make Reuben sandwiches, so I needed to get the sauer kraut, the corned beef, swiss cheese and the rye bread. I had everything else. While passing the fish department I noticed they had sockeyed salmon for $6.99 a pound, so I grabbed a nice fillet for dinner, (Tomorrow night. Hubby insists he’s rather have stuffed peppers tonight. Go figure!)
I was taking a bit longer than I had planned and when I went to check out, there was ONE register open! Shoot!!! Fortunately the management saw the line of 10 people and opened two more lanes, but, of course, I wasn’t in a position to grab a quick one.
Eventually I raced back to the parking lot to apologize to Hubby for taking so long, only, I couldn’t find him or the car! I tried to hit the button that makes the car’s horn beep, but nothing happened. I was wandering and wandering, looking for the car, feeling like a real jerk, when a man collecting carriages asked if he could help me find my car. (This man probably thought I was a real lunatic. The parking area isn’t that big and there I was acting like a confused nitwit!) We looked together for a bit and still, no Hubby. Finally I spotted the car, on the opposite side of the lot from where he dropped me off. I went over and loaded the groceries in the trunk.
I admit to being a bit on the perturbed side. Isn’t it usual to drop a person off at one door and pick them up at the same door? Oh well, next time I will simply make a meeting place ahead of time.
We drove home, noting that most of the lakes and ponds here are ice free. Could it be that spring has truly arrived?
The lake “Iced Out” here today. A full two weeks earlier than it did last year! The wind was blowing fairly hard up here and that was just what was needed to break up the ice. I always love it when the lake goes back to being alive after the long winter months of being frozen solid. It’s not really that the lake seems dead in the winter, but in the spring when the ice goes out and the water is moving again, it’s a form of rebirth!
The sun was shining today and I photographed Greta in her favorite spot on the back of the sofa, looking out over the lake. She will sit there for hours soaking up the sun and watching everything going by. I really love to watch her, and the way the light plays across her little face.
This is interesting as I am a native Cape Cod-er! Born to swim.
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I had to order new bones for Greta today. She is what is known as “an aggressive chewer”. She is quite obviously related to me! I simply love to chew, preferably on chips, cookies or chocolate! Greta is happy with 8 inch compressed rawhide bones.
Now when I first got her, I could get those little 4 inch compressed bones and that would last a bit, but now, she would chew up one of those little bones in half a day. So, it became more economical to get the large ones (that are actually meant for dogs Fritz’s size), and let her go to town.
*Note* Fritz could care less about these bones. He’s just not a chewer.
Now, these bones can be expensive. They cost nearly as much as a good steak in a butcher shop! Since she goes through these things like I wish I could go through boxes of dark chocolate, I needed to find her a supplier that was cost efficient.
I searched high and low and finally I found a great supplier for these wonderful bones. The Ferret Shop! Yes, they have a branch of their on-line store that has dog supplies! If I order over 12, I get a drastic reduction. So I ordered 24 and then I got free shipping as well.
I figure it is something in the genes that makes me unbelievably happy when I buy something on sale. I really do hate to buy anything at full price, especially when it’s a rawhide bone! Add to that *Free* shipping and I am simply delirious!
When ordering rawhide bones makes my day, all I can say is, “I lead a very strange life!”