Okay. Dog ownership is sometimes not all it’s cracked up to be. It’s sort of like having a baby all of the time. They need to be fed, groomed and put to bed, just like a baby, and even though you can train them to go outside to do their poops, come springtime, when the snow melts, you still need to go out and scoop the poop off the lawn and chuck it in the woods.
I don’t usually worry about such problems. I take care of the indoor stuff, like food, water, pills, when needed, and baths (not my personal favorite, but hey…), and Hubby does the poop scooping. However, as you all know, Hubby is on crutches, and as much as I would like to send him out there with a shovel, I just can’t bring myself to do it.
Yesterday I was out with Greta on the leash and I saw that enough snow had melted that the entire side hill of our lawn was literally, “COVERED” with poop. It was cold and windy and I thought, “Hmmm, not now”, but today it’s going to be a little warmer and so I cannot put off this rather distasteful job any longer. It’s now, or come mud season it will become totally disgusting.
So while all you mother’s with little pooping babies lament poopy pampers, just think of me out there with a bucket and shovel and be glad that when Junior is finally house broken, he/she will know how to “flush” it away!
Author: Dackel Princess
That Loving Feeling
Yesterday Greta began looking at me with a little glint in her eye. That’s cute, I thought, until she jumped over on me and let me know that she wanted me to be the father of her puppies! I patted my little friend, and tried to explain hormones. Now how do you explain hormones to a 23 month old female dog in heat? It’s not an easy thing. I finally had to put her on the floor to escape her “passion“. Thinking that I was showing an interest in further “love play” she started to nuzzle my slippers. (Wait, I have furry slippers! Do you think she has fallen for them?) I finally gave up and took her to bed, in hopes that she would settle down and go to sleep in there. After a bit she did, but at 5:30 this morning she woke me up with passionate kisses. After taking her out to commune with nature, I am now keeping my distance!
We will breed her next time, but this time her amorous ways will have to be for naught. Meanwhile, I have another 10 days of these loving feelings and changing little puppy pants.
The things we do for love!
Loving Firefox!
I’ve come into the 21st century! I finally left Netscape behind and have gone over to Firefox and Thunderbird!
Now before anyone thinks that this is really a stretch for me, let me explain.
Firefox and Thunderbird were developed by the same people who originally made Netscape. When Netscape was purchased by AOL/Time Warner, they left and started their own company. Thus Firefox/Thunderbird was born.
I have found the transition to be mostly painless, although I had a few places where I had trouble setting things up, but that was simply because I am only a wanna be computer geek! It is all installed now, and set up and working like a charm.
What do I like best? The tab browsing is good, but the best? Probably is in Thunderbird. I write to a friend in Germany all the time and occasionally I use German words. Thus a normal spell check isn’t always kind. I imported a German dictionary, that I can use to run a spell check on the letter and it will give me correct German spellings, Umlauts and all.
Much of the actual program is the same as the older versions of Netscape. So, I haven’t had any trouble adapting to it. I like it so much, I plan to upgrade Hubby’s computer as well.
What did we do before computers?
Worry
Hubby had all his pre-operative testing and the visit with the surgeon today. Everything went well, but I am not sure I liked what the doctor had to say. Between the cysts growing on the bones and a hairline fracture too, I didn’t feel really good after. Not that I don’t like the doctor, I do. I just worry about my Hubby!
We stopped at the motel I will be staying at and I was able to check out the place. Bed, Internet access and a Continental Breakfast each morning. What more could a girl want?
This and That
It was a big day here at The Dackel Princess Home. The oven got fixed, bills got paid, I selected a pair of glasses and I went to the LL Bean Outlet store and found a King Size Bedspread in pale blue. Now the best part about the bedspread was that, it is usually a hundred dollars and I talked the sales girl down to $50.00. Here is the deal. It was already marked down some because it was a clearance item. The item was not bagged and had been on the floor. Obviously it will need to be washed before use. So, we played, “Let’s Make A Deal” and that was the end result!
Here is a picture of the spread. I got the lightest blue one.
My new glasses will be here in about 2 weeks. I selected a pair of wire frames that are tinted a fleshy pink color. They almost fade away on my face. I also got them with the anti-glare filter on the lenses. Because I must wear glasses all the time, I decided to order a pair of sun glasses. Woo-hoo! I used my old glasses (the Harry Potter Frames), and they will have the new prescription with a polarized dark brown tint. I’m psyched!
We see the Orthopedic Surgeon for Hubby’s pre-operative appointment. He will tell us all that he plans to do, And we will make the final arrangements with both the hospital and the motel I will stay at.
After a few days of walking my little panty princess, I must say I am really ready for spring! Every time Greta has to go out, I leash her, and out we go. It has been in the single digits each morning and hasn’t gotten over 20 degrees during the day! Brrrr!
Come on Springtime!!!
Girls in Glasses
It’s time to go out and select new glasses. Now this always proves to be a real challenge for me. First, I really hate glasses. I was a contact lens wearer for 25 years. After my retina detached, it was bye-bye to contacts and hello to glasses, permanently.
My current frame is what I call a modified Harry Potter frame.
Large, round, but instead of being black they are gold frames. However, I think this time I’ll go for something a little smaller. Gold in color, but small.
If I must wear glasses, then they have to be gold as I look simply dreadful in any colored frames. Oh vanity, they name is Maribeth!
I’ve decided not to get glasses that automatically tint to sunglasses. They are such a waste. They do not work in the car! That was something that no one bothered to tell me. I think what I’ll do is get regular lenses in the new frames and then get my current glasses dipped and made into dark sunglasses.
It just stinks when you can’t walk across the floor without wearing glasses.
The Boys Are Here
Well, it started. I knew it would. The “boys” have discovered that Greta is in heat and have begun to “come a calling!” Currently we have one black lab and one yellow lab, in our back yard, searching for Ma Belle Petite Fille! Of course, I knew this would happen, and I am ready. I started to walk Greta on a leash last night, and I keep a close eye out for any young studs who want to take advantage of my baby.
Fritz is going crazy, as he hates to have any strange dogs in our yard. He races from one window to the next, barking and growling and generally making my head hurt much worse than it did a while ago. Greta just follows along. Personally, I think she would be thrilled to go out and cavort with these young boys and just give it all away. She’s like that when she is in heat. A real tramp! It’s good that she has a mother like me that is keeping her pure for that special boy!
Speaking of which, I think we have found Greta a good suitor. He is almost the same age as Greta, the same size and looks very much like her twin. He comes from a similar background and I think theirs may be, a match made in Heaven!
Meanwhile, I shall fight off the advances of these young studs and keep Greta on the straight and narrow.
Freezing Cold/And Heat
Since my sister ratted me out about the first panty picture, I took a new one and added that to this post.
It just never got warm on Monday. I wore my long johns under my jeans and chamois shirt and I was still cold. The wind blew hard and I am guessing that the wind-chill had to be down in the negative numbers all day long.
I got my Recycling Center trip done early, and I am pleased to announce that ‘mean’ guy wasn’t there. I was able to bring in 8 boxes of stuff without so much as a whimper from the nice guy attendant!
I picked up the mail and received really special cards from many people expressing their sympathy at Shubi’s passing. In her own way, that little dog touched so many lives. None more than mine, but it was so nice to know that others shared my sorrow at her death.
We are now 7 days into Greta’s heat. She is just the cutest, funniest pup in her little pants! Probably the funniest thing is how much she actually likes wearing them.
Last summer
Today
I’m not sure what it is, maybe she thinks she looks hot! She certainly struts herself around the house like a prima donna!
My books arrived on the care and breeding of your pure bred dog. I had to laugh. One chapter is titled, “Sex And The Single Dog”! Now that just cracked me up!
Where Is Spring?
Okay, who called in the request for more winter?
Over the weekend we had a foot of snow, and then this morning the temperature was -4 degrees (F) with 25 mile an hour winds!
I went out to get the morning paper and slipped on the ice and pulled the muscle in my calf! Did that hurt! I searched and searched for the morning paper before I found it under the car. Apparently it had blown there in the high winds.
So, I’m inside now, thinking that this is a day I should just stay in my pajamas and do nothing. Ha! I actually have a lot to do, including a trip to the Recycling Center (I sure hope the guy who yelled at me isn’t there), and a mail run. It’s my goal to get the garage cleaned out over the next few weeks.
Back to this awful weather. Now, I am hereby proclaiming that winter should end and that spring should arrive with warm temperatures and gentle breezes!
Doesn’t that sound nice?
Treasure Hunt
Have you ever taken stock of what you have in your cupboards, closets, or attic? Recently I started looking and I realized I had so much stuff that I do not use at all. It’s perfectly good. There are sets of dishes, silverware, glasses, casserole dishes, etc. Years of accumulation, plus the death of Hubby’s folks and absorbing their stuff too, made my collection way too big!
Hubby said, “Have a yard sale. Sell it on Ebay.”
That sounds good, but it means schlepping it all out, pricing it, setting up on the lawn, perhaps on a nice cold rainy day, (I know that this would happen, because, well, it’s me we’re talking about!).
I had a better idea.
My daughter just bought her own place. Her best friend is married and in her own home. They are young and starting out in life. Yep, you guessed it. I called them up, and asked them to come up for a “Treasure Hunt“!
They arrived at lunch, and once I fed them (a small bribe so they would take more of the stuff!), we went down and started sifting through boxes.
Before they knew what hit them, I’d gotten the entire back of the Subaru filled with boxes! I was just giddy with delight! They helped me decide to send several other boxes off to the Recycling Center (I just hope that jerky guy isn’t there to yell at me), and what to actually throw out. All in all, it was a very constructive day.
I made Hubby a pot of Lamb Paprikash and then jumped into my pajamas to relax. I think I hear the sound of a tea kettle calling my name! Hmmmmmm.