Shanster's Goats N More

yo-yo-yo word....

2012-02-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

No. Not that sort o' word...not to yo' mutha...

WORD for the year.

Yesterday was my lunchtime yoga class. I absolutely LOVE my instructor, most of the things she discusses before class really resonate with me for some reason. They click and make sense in my little life. Yoga is my brain candy... I like the peace it brings the hamster running on the wheel called "my brain".

Yesterday she talked about having a word for the year... said she asks people to think of a word specifically on Nov. 1 - something to do with alignment (some of the yoga concepts are over my head - can only take so much in) and it becomes this seed planted in the ground to grow in the coming year, right? A visual about your word.

I was not in that particular class... I didn't know about the word thing...and of course it is fine that you didn't have a word in November and she asked us to think about what a good word for the year might be.

My word flashed into my head like a giant neon sign.

Right around November 1 is when I wanted to become stronger and started investigating the body weight stuff... I have been thinking STRENGTH since November. Took some pix o' myself November 2nd to track progress and body composition changes. Co-inky-dink? I think not.

This may be too fru-fru for you vs science based - maybe a little too Mulder and not enough Scully - and yet, I think things happen for a reason and there are no coincidences.

When she was talking about all this and how right now is the "quickening" when your word is really wanting to burst forth and you have all this energy surrounding your word and what it means to you.

I've had this renewed energy and increased motivation for my workouts....? Furry Husband was saying the other day I seem a little "obsessed". Heh. Me? I have had a lot of excitement about it - reading and researching it all.

Very interesting.

My word, that I didn't have to think about and have been focusing on since November, is STRENGTH. And of course this can cover many other aspects of my life - not just physical strength but the strength to do what I think needs to be done vs. what others think (I think I easily cave to go with status quo), emotional strength (to conquer fears I have) etc.

Just thought it was cool.

She said to think of your word often - when you are lagging or tired think of your word and it will help you move toward that word. Of course it goes right along with setting goals, it's not like it's magic or some sort of yogini juju ... sure is a neat way to think of it tho! An idea, planted... growing and becoming something of substance in your world/mind/body.

Now, think of a word YOU want to focus on this year. Let's move toward that idea, word, goal, concept in 2012...

AND speaking of strength... here is a YouTube link for some amazing "wow" factor. This is my body weight role model, Al Kavadlo. Check this man out... talk about some serious STRENGTH. Dang.

Ch-ch-ch-changes....

2012-01-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

Flying changes that is.

I really try to be a good student, do my homework and progress.  I took it seriously at the last clinic when Debbie told me I needed to work on my flying changes every time I rode Sera.

I started at home with the simple changes - canter, walk, canter. Making sure Sera was really round and through and not inverting or getting stiff in her neck, back or jaw when I asked... I did them all over... long side, diagonally across the arena, figure 8s, half circles etc. I did them with various canter strides in between too. Sometimes 5 strides, sometimes 10 strides. I made them as unpredictable as possible so she'd really be listening to my seat and legs.

And every once and a while, I asked for a flying change. If she got stuck and it didn't happen, no big deal, I continued on with my simple changes.  I'd ask for a flying change again somewhere in the middle of all the simple changes.

I got a flying change on each side.  They were kicking out and not beautiful but I got them and I was excited. I called Rex and left her a babbling, incoherent voice mail I was so excited.

I had a ride with Rex that weekend and told her (coherently) how I did them at home... she asked me to recreate it. I did and I got the flying changes again.

However, I had a big light bulb moment.

This work is new to me and I've never ridden Third Level before... all this work and all these new maneuvers are as new to me as they are to Sera. No one trains her - I take lessons but she's never been schooled by a professional on her back. I've never ridden a school master horse to teach me how it is supposed to go. We are really the blind leading the blind as we move up in Dressage.

It was discovered while riding with Rex and our discussions in my lesson that I was thinking about simple changes when asking for flying change. I was focused on half halts and slowing Sera down for the change like I do when I am collecting her to ask for a walk from canter.

Rex told me to stay forward - don't slow, keep her over her back, deep AND keep her forward through the change.   Sera still kicked out but it was one kick vs 3 or 4, the change occurred faster, smoother and it was more on my aids. The canter stayed the same rhythm before, during and after the change.

Ohhhhhhhh!   *ding* And there is your light bulb!

Probably elementary to those who have schooled them and ridden them before... to me, it was so exciting! Like Helen Keller asking Anne Sullivan for the word "water". I LOVE learning the new movements and how to ride them effectively.

I had a clinic yesterday with Debbie and I hoped she would see improvement too - that I wasn't "imagining" our flying changes had improved. I do have a pretty active imagination....

I explained to her my light bulb moment with Rex and she also had a moment of raised eyebrows as well..."oh, I didn't realize you thought to ask for them that way but it makes sense that you did".... she asked me for a flying change.... and another... and another... I must've done 6 or 7. I've never ridden that many all in a row....I didn't think I could.  I didn't do my simple changes to warm Sera up either.

Guess what? I did them! Got changes every time! Debbie pushes me to ride harder and to ride better and that is a good thing!

She did see improvement...less kicking, quicker reaction... she says riding at Third Level this summer is very attainable. I really may get my USDF Bronze medal this year.

I asked if she would get on Sera so I could watch her do some changes. Debbie was happy to do so, she's never been on Sera before - we were 3/4 done with our ride time, Sera was warmed up, working and going well.

Yeeeowch! When a trainer gets on the horse that only you ride? Your horse shows all your faults and weaknesses in your riding. Horses don't lie. Debbie didn't do any changes but she certainly zero'd in on my weaknesses!

It was good for me to really see Sera worked correctly.  While I truly thought I was making the corrections and adjustments in my riding the way Debbie was asking me to - I clearly was not . I'm too "nice"....not that I need to be mean or iron fisted - I need to be much more firm.

I'm not doing myself or Sera justice if I let things be "good enough". I need to expect more from myself and from my little red-headed mule. I understood - she can do the work - I can do the work - it was a really great visual to have Debbie ride so I could clearly picture what is needed.

Sera has to be more committed to the outside rein - I'm to practice letting go of the inside rein for longer periods of time - seeing how long we can go with Sera truly in that outside rein.

Sera has to be able to move forward in collection. No more eeking the reins out little by little.

Sera has to be hot off my leg. No more blowing my leg off... she must respond exactly when I ask.

I got back on after Debbie tuned Sera up with the above concepts and yes... the difference was big. It will only help us in progressing onward and upward. It was a great ride and another really great light bulb moment. I've got a lot of homework til the next clinic Feb. 8th.

I love these moments ... and I absolutely love my mare for having so much try in her and working so incredibly hard.

Denver National Western Stock Show

2012-01-17T09:03:00.003-07:00

It's that time of year. Stock show! Furry Husband and I went last Thursday - we like going during the week when it's a lot less crowded. It was sort of a boring stock show day, no big events going on, but still FUN!

We got there around lunch - Furry Husband got his corn dog - THE, one and only, annual corndog! I got some ribs... we went to the coliseum because we thought they had a ranch horse class going on, only it hadn't started yet, it was collegiate judging.
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There were groups of all different animals... 4 angus bulls set up over there, a group of 4 herefords in a pen at the end of the arena, 4 sheep held in head stanchions at the other end of the arena, another set of 4 sheep moving in a small round pen, 4 pigs in another round pen over yonder. There must've been a couple hundred college age people/teams with clipboards. The sheep in head stanchions were being felt and fondled while other groups were standing around or in front of the other animals evaluating, taking notes, judging.

The entire coliseum was empty - absolutely NO ONE in the stands. Just the few hundred college kids evaluating animals in the arena below.
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We sat down to watch while we ate.
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The announcer gets on the loudspeaker and dismisses the Junior Teams from the floor. Suddenly the area we are sitting in is flooded with college kids. The announcer comes on and says, "The people in section 219... please move... to the people in section 219.... please remove yourselves."
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We are the ONLY people there... Furry Husband gets up and promptly leaves.
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Uh... honey? A little help?
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I'm stuck in my seat, I have my purse, napkins, plate o' ribs, plastic forks to gather up and my hands are all covered in rib juice - not making for a seamless escape....all the college kids are filing into the seats around me. I'm trying to lick and wipe my hands off as fast as I can to grab my stuff and get out.
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Lucky for me, Furry Husband came back, took my plate and we moved... sheesh! They didn't have the area marked off or anything... and there was NO ONE in that coliseum, I swear!

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We walked around and looked at vendor booths... fun to see everything. Got a pair of leather gloves at the Carhart place for $16... Dave got a pair of warm chore gloves there too for $8... I bought a book at a vendor that has all horse books...I'd read about it, wanted it, forgot I wanted it and there it was on the display table... so got it.
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The Eighty Dollar Champion by Elizabeth Letts - about a time in 1958 when a poor Dutch immigrant buys a big grey plow horse from the kill van for $80... he needed a new lesson horse for the place he teaches riding lessons... they become the TOP Jumper competitors of the day - he earns the nickname "The Flying Dutchman" and the horse was named Snowman....true story.
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I read the first couple chapters and I'm totally sucked in - it's gonna be a good book! Love those sort o' underdog/rags to riches stories!!
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We left after walking around a couple hours... stopped at Odells brewery on our way home in Ft. Collins... sat and talked and had a beer in PUBLIC with real people all around. We seem to rarely meet for beers or go out to dinner not on purpose, guess we just get busy with other things so when we do meet in public, it feels so out of the ordinary.

We always talk about how weird that is - how rare our forays into public, popular, crowded places are...tho' I suppose once everything you love is at home, there is not much reason to go out looking for entertainment!

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Well.... that's my story anyway and I'm stickin' to it! (Besides, it sounds much better than being a 41 yr old boring cat lady recluse...grin)

Crazy Cat Lady?

2012-01-11T14:25:00.001-07:00

Furry Husband called me yesterday to ask if I had anything to add to the grocery list because he was going to stop at the store on the way home.

I told him I loved him SOOO much, that I had something to add to the list but I would stop at the store to pick it up myself. That is the depth of my love for him - I would not make him buy tampons.

He laughed and asked if I would pick up some cat food too?

I went to the store to buy feminine product and a ga-zillion tins o' cat food. I don't know why I found that to be such a funny scene at the grocery store check-out line....

tampons and cat food in my little basket.

I shoulda added a couple pints of ice cream and a cat brush.

Ninja Runner

2012-01-05T09:23:00.001-07:00

Furry Husband and I go on walks most mornings... it's such a nice way to begin the day, we get our thoughts in order, the dogs love it and we all spend some quality time together.

I wear a reflective vest thingy and we both have headlamps for visibility with cars because no one is awake on a dark, dirt, road at 5am or expects to come across people walking dogs at such a funny hour and we don't want to get smooshed by anyone half-alseep.

We generally take up the whole road with 4 dogs on 26' flexi-leashes and 2 hoomans trailing behind. If a car comes - we easily hear it in the silence of the morning and at this time of year, headlights are seen long before the car is near.  We call the dogs, they come running, and we all walk on the shoulder with dogs near us and flexi leashes locked with a short feed. In summer, when it's light in the mornings, we see other people walking dogs or jogging and we'll do the same thing.

No big deal.

The other morning we were heading down the road when all of a sudden there was a jogger... RIGHT THERE.   No warning, no shout out that he was coming or he was there. He was so quiet none of the dogs alerted us until the poor guy was on top of us... he was all in black, no reflective gear or headlamp and it was a starry, moonless morning where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. You might say, darker than the inside of a black cow, sort of dark.

Keenan began going ape shit because at the very least it surprised and startled US, and with her issues... well, it put her on high alert and "I will friggin KILL you, you mutha *%#(@$", mode. I'm just glad Furry Husband didn't let her go and she was close to him when she went ballistic.

Sammy, another one of our dogs, was down in the ditch on the side of the road sniffing some interesting smells and I'm sure the Nina Runner didn't see him, cuz he's black, and it was so dark out.

I'm sure he had no idea there was a flexi line cutting across the road.

He tripped on the flexi and landed in the ditch.... got up and just kept jogging away.   I think I shouted after him pathetically, "We didn't know you were there! We didn't see you!" or something to that effect .... not that any self-respecting Ninja would reply back as they disappeared into the deep night.   grin.

If we knew he was there, we would have corralled the dogs up, pulled off to the side of the road and let him pass.   Next time I hope he gives a shout out... ya know, if we haven't ruined his New Years Resolution momentum already.

Running into a pack o' dogs, one that wanted to take your head off and being clotheslined at the shin to fall into a ditch in the dark and cold at 5am would curtail just about any one's momentum for a nice run before work in the wee hours of the morning!

Poor Ninja Runner!

Such is my life....

2012-01-03T10:30:00.004-07:00

A co-worker of mine and I were talking about farmers/ranchers and alcoholic drinks... I used to wait tables at this funny, little restaurant frequented by farmer/rancher types. When I asked someone at a table how they were, they responded with phrases like, "Finer than frog's hair parted 4 ways!".

Yes.

Yes, I suppose that is pretty fine indeed.

I remember the Boot Scoot Boogey was the song played over and over and over on the jukebox over on the bar side if that gives anyone a time reference.

Anyway, this co-worker and I were talking about how many farmer/ranchers would order a Budweiser or Coors and add tomato juice to it.   Or they would order a beer and add a pretty fair shaking of salt to their beer.

Condiments I had not witnessed being added to beer in the college bar scene and a practice I don't see much of, if at all, when Furry Husband and I go out to eat, which isn't often. We do most of our drinking at home, a glass of wine with dinner. Our alcohol choices these days are bottled, microbrew beers and wine.

My co-worker mentioned that she bought a Budweiser brand beer that had Clamato already added to it... and she didn't care for it but she'd bring it in for me to try. I never minded tomato juice or salt in my beer from my days back at this restaurant, I remember it being pretty tasty - and of course it's FREE. I'm no dummy. I'll take free food or al-key-hol any day. I figure it'd be a kick in the pants to pour a glass of tomato juice beer and think back on those days of yore.  Of course I told her I'd give it a try.

She kept forgetting to bring it to non-work functions.

Thursday before the New Year holiday she brought it to work wrapped up in a bag. We aren't supposed to have ANY alcoholic beverages on our work campus. I left it on my desk near my coat.... and I FORGOT it at work.

Man.

That night right before falling asleep, that lovely twilight when all things are calm and peaceful and floaty?

My eyes snapped wide open.

CRAP!

I forgot that stupid beer on my desk!

Yeah, it's wrapped up but what if a security guard or some other person gets all nosey and takes a look to see what it is??   I tossed and turned - fretting - and had a story made up if I should get busted. It must've been a prank, I have no idea what it is or where it came from....

I went to work the next day and of course no one had even given it a second glance. I put it IN my purse and at the end of the day, stopped a few places to run errands. I took the beer out of my purse and set it in the passenger seat... I made it all the way home and as I was taking groceries out, the beer dropped in my driveway.

I heard a little "pfft".

CRAP!

I walked in the house, groceries and my Clamato beer in tow.

Sammy and Bequia, our old dogs, rushed to greet me. Sammy wears a diaper because as he's aged, he's become incontinent. We give him pheynolpolypropelene or whatever those pills are that help a dog keep his bladder tone but some days it just doesn't work. His diaper was SOAKED through with a large pee spot on the floor where he'd been laying....

I took the diaper off and tossed it in the sink while rushing him outdoors... a little dribble of pee trailing on the kitchen floor marking his egress.

I let the young dogs out of their kennels....

I returned to the kitchen to investigate the warm Clamato Budweiser beer that had been in my purse and on the passenger seat of my car all day.

Hmmm. The top isn't open... did I imagine hearing that little "pfft" noise?

Maybe the hole is so small, I can't see it. I squeezed the beer can... nothing. No dribble o' beer.   I was looking the can all over, squeezed it again and a spray of beer shot out....there was a tiny, hairline, cut on the body of the can. It must've landed on a rock or something just right....

I popped it open and poured the very warm beer down the drain. All that fretting, my co-worker forgetting over and over about this beer. So much effort... all down the drain.

It smelled like beer and tomato juice and dog pee. It was a really gross combo of smells.

I rinsed out the can for recycle.... hand washed Sammy's diaper....cleaned up the trail of pee on the floor... put everything back in order.....

Later that night, Furry Husband got home. His eyebrows went up in a question... he picked up the empty tall boy of Budweiser Clamato beer.

"Uh. Honey? Do we need to have a talk?"

Yowza! Debbie clinic

2011-12-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

Wow.

My clinics with Debbie Riehl-Rodriguez have really ratcheted up a notch. She is on me like white on rice and when I think it's finally over she calls out, "Ok, let's pick up the reins and get her connected...." and on we go.

It's a good thing she's pushing me hard I think.

We started immediately in our canter work focused on flying changes yesterday. We started off on a figure 8 asking for a change in the middle of the figure. If a change didn't happen, tickle with the whip... Sera likes to kick out with both hind feet for the changes. When she kicks out, usually a change occurs. Her kicks can be pretty big and they are ugly but never morphs into anything more or dangerous.

Seems like with all new things... they start out pretty ugly but once the muscle memory and how things have to happen gets learned, they get prettier and prettier. No baby learning to walk ever starts off strutting like they are on a catwalk ya know?

She seemed to "get" the change from right to left ok - not pretty but when she took one off my aids we called it good and started in on the changes from left to right.

Not so good. Much kicking out behind but no changes....

Plan B.

20 meter circle in counter canter, simple change to walk with an IMMEDIATE haunches in on the circle, and if Sera didn't move her ass over in response to my leg, there was a whip correction. Straighten to normal bend on the circle, and begin again with counter canter.

Debbie said this was to get her 1. moving off my leg quicker vs. blowing me off and 2. gets her thinking about her hind end.

Next came the change - I kept her in counter canter, half-halted and asked for a lead change, changing the bend of her neck with the inside rein and bringing my outside leg back. If no change, tickle with the whip... still no change?, continue in counter canter... gather her up, half-halt and ask again.

Shoooooo

Sera was wet ears to tail as if I'd hosed her off when we were done. She works SO hard for me. I love, love, LOVE my mare.

Debbie says I need to do something with changes EVERY time I ride... not the level of pressure we put on her yesterday but something to keep her thinking about it. Gulp.

I cooled her out indoors til she was breathing normally... put her cooler on and tied her up in the sun to dry off. The girl trying Rosso brought him up... he was his normal bug-eyed, histrionic self. Poor fella. Must be hard living in his head where the hamster on the wheel is running at 180mph all the time.

I loaded them up and got home with plenty of daylight to spare. Was a really fun ride and a good day.

Rosso Story

2011-12-19T13:47:00.003-07:00

A couple of clinics ago, I was talking with the barn owner about this woman riding in the clinic. She is a tall woman and she is always on these teeny, tiny client horses. We were talking about how she needs a BIG horse to really fill out her legs, stature etc. Not in a mean way - and the woman riding has also said this.  The barn owner said this woman had a couple of larger horses of her own but they each ended up with severe lameness issues and she gave them away to good homes.

I was like ???wha??? how did she give lame horses away? I have a perfectly sound horse at home that is ready to go for someone and I can't find him a home to save my life!

We started talking about Rosso... he moves well, athletic...however, he is very much a reactive/nervous horse and I don't appreciate that but know someone could have a lot of fun with him if they were a strong, assertive rider.

This barn owner thought she might have a couple people interested in him... so the next clinic date I brought Sera and Rosso down. And yes he screamed like a ninny the entire time from the stall/run we put him in. Fun. He hasn't been ridden since spring... and he hasn't been many places... his eyes were pretty much bugged out of his head...

When the girl interested in Rosso showed up... she got him out, tied him up... I saddled him for her... lunged him in the indoor... the barn owner got on him... and while MY heart was in my throat, he was fine. He had an objection about something - she yelled at him, stayed on and resumed without another objection. He rounded up beautifully, sweat between his back legs and flanks (horses sweat where they are working) and the barn owner kept exclaiming how sensitive he was to her seat and weight - how light in the hand he was - how big his movement was... I think he has better movement than Sera does and is more athletic and eye-catching. I know everyone was surprised. He is very pretty and uses himself well.

You think "free" horse and you think puke horse. Rosso isn't a puke... but I really don't appreciate his mind. I know someone would have a lot of fun with him but it isn't me.

Lemme put it this way.

If he was a human, he would wear black turtlenecks, skinny jeans, eyeliner and read poetry on open mike night with a very effeminate voice and possibly a lisp. If anyone looked sideways at him, he'd run dramatically sobbing, eyeliner streaming down his face, to the bathroom and he'd lock himself in there the rest of the night.

Not that there is anything wrong with someone like that. God love 'em.

I just don't happen to appreciate those qualities in a 1,000lb animal I'm sitting on.

Then the girl who was interested rode Rosso. The whole time he is screeching to Sera and Sera is screeching right back... but dang, he was GOOD. He didn't do anything horrible, he listened, he did his job... he was worked hard, in a new place, by two different people, with his one and only pasture mate screeching to him... and he hasn't been worked or had anyone on him since March or April of 2011. It was the 2nd week in December of 2011.

I was hopeful.

He stayed on a 30 day trial.

I got home with my lovely Sera Sue... unloaded her and then felt sad. Which suprised me. I suppose when you care for an animal for 5 years there are attachments formed, even if you don't love exactly everything about them. And it didn't help that Sera kept calling for him and looking for him... and when the girl got him out to groom him he buried his fretful head into my chest like - omg! save me!

I felt like the big, mean, carnivore.

Not to mention I watched him go and he was pretty - I saw all the things that I loved about him and the reasons I brought him home in the first place. It's hard to let it go and know you weren't good enough to get past it.

My crazy neighbor Mrs. Kravitz asked me last week if I'd be mad if the girl showed up at a show and beat me and Sera?

No! I'd be really happy actually!

Mrs. Kravitz said she'd be mad enough for both of us then if that were to happen. chuckle. She does love me and means well even if she is a little (or a lot) crazy.

I got an e-mail today from the barn owner. He is still being a good boy, no shennanigans and yet the girl interested is also intimidated by his nervousness. The barn owner reports that she'll warm Rosso up for the girl, walk, trot, canter - lots of transitions and the girl rides him but she won't ride him without the barn owner around.   That is what I thought might happen. He needs a strong, assertive rider that he won't question. The girl didn't seem to have that take charge personality when I watched her ride but I hoped I was wrong.

It's ok... I want him to find a good fit. I love the big goof and I don't want to see him (or another person) in a bad situation. I have another clinic on the 28th and it's my guess that he'll be coming home with me to resume his status as a fully sound, capable horse that gets to be a pasture ornament/buddy to my wonderful mare.

Dang.

That's a pretty damn good job if you can get it when you are a horse!   Especially in this horse market....

Keenan Story...

2011-12-14T09:23:00.002-07:00

Keenan... our "problem" child dog. She's made a lot of progress and is still a work in progress with her issues.

She goes to doggie daycare 2x a week. It's an extravagance for sure, however, it helps with her energy levels. High energy = more devotion to her issues and escalating issues. Daycare keeps her socializing with dogs (even tho' in the real world she wants to kill all strange dogs). We figure it's good for her right now while she's young and we are working through these things.

Furry Husband came home the other day, "Honey, guess what Keenan did at daycare today?"

Oh, I would have no idea...

"She figured out how to open the door and led ALL the daycare dogs outside!"

Nice. The outside is a fenced area so no dogs were exactly in danger...but I know the daycare groups certain dogs together and lets Group A outside during certain times and Group B at other times etc. Not a good thing to have different groups - segmented for size, temperaments etc - milling around all at once.

It's like the West Side Story - Sharks vs. Jets meeting all at once....

Guess the employees corrected her from then on each time she tried the door and she just kept trying.. the owner told me she must've tried at least 30 times. Yup. Sounds like our Keenan.

The little angel.

After that day, when we drop Keenan off, the employees shout to each other - "Keenan's here!" and bungee cords go on the lever handled doors.

A couple weeks later Furry Husband walks in the door after picking up our deviant canine... "Honey... guess what Keenan did today in daycare..."

Hoo boy... I'm afraid to ask.

Guess Keenan figured out how to open the slick, metal knob door to the lobby/retail area of daycare. She stood on her hind legs and worked the knob with her 2 front paws til it opened. (Did I mention when we let her out into our yard, or we are out doing chores, we have to lock our doors or she lets herself inside - our front door gaping wide open and she is lounging happily on the couch or bed....having a wicked smaht dog is super fun.)

She happily opened it and led all the dogs merrily into the lobby to peruse the retail shelves....

Christmas shopping would be my guess.

Inpiring and TRUE

2011-12-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

I found this blog post from a woman by the name of Rachel Cosgrove and wanted to share it with you:

http://www.rachelcosgrove.com/2011/07/the-zero-scale/

and this one

http://www.rachelcosgrove.com/2011/11/making-weight/

Now that I feel good from eating primally, I want to try and become stronger...

I've started some sprint workouts once a week. I run as fast as I can for 30 seconds, rest til I can breathe and repeat... 8 times. Not so hard. Tho' they seem like the longest 30 seconds ever. I take our troublesome Keenan dog with me and she is loving it. You could also bike, swim or whatever floats your boat for 30 seconds really hard... rest... repeat.

I started some of the primal essential movement workouts 2x a week (plank, squats, pushups, pullups). I really like the idea of body wieght movements and not needing a lot of fancy equipment, space or gym membership to get strong.

I'm pretty sadly weak and puny but you gotta start somewhere.

I can't do one pullup. I just hang there... suffering, muscles quivering while I grunt. Furry Husband watches in amusement. I have to do chair assisted ones to really get my chin anywhere near the "up" part of a chinup. And I do the girlie knee pushups... I can plank and I can squat and I attribute those to riding.

Already tho, when I get out of the shower, I can see little muscles moving in my pec area, my biceps seem more firm - not so flabby and reminicent of my 1970's kindergarten teacher and I think my butt has gotten a wee bit firmer or lifted... just a wee bit anyway and heck, any little bit helps.

My workouts - sprints and the essential movement ones - last no longer than 30 min. Sometimes not even that long. It's not overwhelming or 2 hrs long or hugely involved. I just have to remember to give the dogs something good to chew on so they don't try and play with me while I'm doing this stuff on the living room floor. And of course Furry and I walk most mornings 2 miles with the doggers. It's such a nice way to start the day... for all of us.

We'll see where it goes.

I dunno where the time goes...

2011-12-12T09:25:00.001-07:00

My new job is great... I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my office, the co-workers, my boss... and I'm busy most of the time and it's really cut down on my internets...

Not like I hated, my last job and I liked my boss... and this job just "clicks" with me for some reason. Hopefully this feeling stays. It's been almost a year since beginning and I'm still having fun so that is a good sign me thinks.

My last story was about cats in the closet.

Well, this is a cat story too. Our giant 25lb male black cat, Mojo, went missing. This was Furry Husband's cat...HIS cat. Mojo liked to jump out at me and play but he LOVED and PURRED and CUDDLED with Furry Husband while having nothing to do with me. He was a very, very cool cat. We let him out in the day and brought him in at night. A couple times he didn't want to come in at night... and played the stay away game. He was always on the porch in the morning.

The last time he played the stay away game... we tried to get him in before bed... shortly after getting into bed... even got up in the middle of the night to call for him. We could see him but he wouldn't come and would run away if we tried to nab him. The next morning he was gone.

We talked to all our neighbors and looked for him for months.

Furry Husband wanted another cat he could call his own and he was looking around on Petfinder.... he found a female tortoiseshell kitten in a shelter in Greeley. One day I came home and there was a new addition to our house. He named her Katona (cat + anniversary) since he brought her home on our wedding anniversary.

We set up our big wire dog crate so she and the residing ani-mules could all meet and greet with minimal safety issues and Furry Husband would take her out to cuddle every day. After a couple weeks we started letting her out for short periods of time.

She started pooping on our couch. Pooping behind the t.v. stand. Pooping in the bedroom.   And not just cat turds but runny, liquid diarrhea....nasty, gooey, stanky, stanky poo.   Disgusting.

We called the vet and ran a fecal... even tho' the shelter said she was wormed. Our vet found her infested with round worms. Nice since the dogs helped clean up her errant stanky magma poo and we didn't know if she had used the litter boxes some of the time so our existing cats may have stepped in, cleaned their paws and ingested round worms...

And so we started EVERYONE in the house on round worm rotation. Fun!

We've always "found" kittens or cats in rural areas and they weren't in high confinement cages full of other animals coming and going, passing parasites back and forth. Good to remember next time there is a shelter animal....

The next fecal showed the round worms dying and gone... however, there was still this horrible diarrhea. Fountains of it.

Vet ran coccidia and giardia... nope. Nothing.

We began changing foods... nothing worked. We were having discussions about putting her down because she obviously didn't feel good... and living her life in a cage was no life.... people told us we should let her loose outside to be a "barn cat" however we didn't like that idea given what happened with Mojo and she was so little...

And so I turned to the internet. I Googled kitten with diarrhea or kitten not using litter box... found a website discussing IBS in cats. How they are true carnivores and some cats have severe reactions to dry foods. This is the link if you are interested, http://catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfood

Surprisingly, some of the grocery store brand cat foods are healthier than "fancy" foods like Science Diet or Nutro etc.... I went to the grocery store and found 2 types of Fancy Feast cat food where the first 4 ingredients were meat, broth and organs, no grains listed.

It didn't work.

The article went on to discuss feeding "raw". Cats exist on birds, mice - other live critters....the organs and bones of their catches meet all their nutritional needs.   The article had recipes for how to make your own cat food... including buying a grinder and where to get whole, skinned, rabbit carcasses with all the organs....how much a cat typically should eat of the "raw" food etc. etc. etc.

Right.

Then I saw that damn show on Animal Planet called, "My Cat from Hell". And these people were living with HORRIBLE cats! One couple had this cat they adopted from the shelter and in the night the cat attacked the husband... serious, deep, bites and lacerations up and down the guy's spine... he had to go to the emergency room and needed stitches.   And these people were working with a guy to help solve their problem with their cat.

Here, we had this sweet, loving, kitten that purred all day long and there was obviously something wrong with her. So if the people in the above show could work with and overcome the violent tendencies in their beasties... it seemed like the least we could do, was try some other food options.

I stopped at the feed store and picked up some RadCat raw cat food. There were no sweet potatoes or peas or brown rice in it to dilute the pure carnivore feast... it was meat and organs with some added vitamins/minerals. Yum.

And it worked.

Katona had turds for the first time in probably 8 weeks since all this went down. We let her system adjust and settle down and we tried another grain free kibble. Instant diarrhea.

Alrighty then. Raw it is. Raw bought from the feed store is expensive tho'. Making our own would be cheaper. Grinding our own cheaper still but I'm not ready to go there....

Pricing out whole rabbit was sorta spendy when you factored in all of our cats. I was considering getting them all on a raw diet since research shows feeding raw dramatically reduces kidney problems and other health problems. Maybe if we feed this way, we'll spend less in vet bills as they age? That was my line of thinking anyway. I put raw out for our other cats and all but one LOVED it. They cleaned it UP.

I found another place referenced in the article and was introduced into a whole 'nother world of animal feeding. I guess I figured that people with reptiles got mice from the pet store... never gave "live" or "raw" feeding any more thought.

Wow - there is a whole culture out there of raw and live feeding for pets.   You can get a sack of 25 frozen white mice... and there was a testimonial on the site about how this person warms a mouse a day for her cat and throws it in the bathtub for him to demolish.

Interesting!

You can get whole, frozen guinea pigs... small, medium and jumbo.   (YOU could, I don't think I could....)
Rabbit... turkey... day old chicks... whole ground mouse goes for $6.99/lb. MMMM.   Try that in your next taco salad!

Besides whole frozen critters, they also sell parts. I guess frozen, skinned rabbit heads are great fun for your dog! Or maybe for a small dog, just the rabbit feet....

I ended up ordering whole, ground chicken. The whole chicken.... minus the feathers....in a giant tube-like package like you might see at Sam's Club for ground beef...only it's whole ground chicken. We added B and E vitamins... taurine... fish oil... egg yolks.... whatever the recipe listed, mixed it up and portioned it in 6oz tupperware containers.   A 5lb tube of chix with the vitamins/minerals lasts about 3 weeks for this kitten.

It's easy to make - takes literally 15 or 20 min. for a 3 week supply

Yeah. It's weird. I know. I guess I just think when you bring an animal home, YOU are responsible for that life. And yes, we did discuss putting her down and came very close before I found this relatively easy solution.  Others may have chosen to kill her - and that is fine as long as it's done humanely. However, I guess it wasn't something we wanted to do until we tried other options. Giving her back to the shelter wasn't an option to me as we'd just be unloading this problem on someone else... not a responsible way of dealing with it.

Now the kitten runs happily around the house, hasn't had any accidents... is happy and purring and friendly. She goes into her cage to eat her raw diet. I put the grain free kibble and some Fancy Feast out at the same time for the other cats (decided it was too spendy to feed all of our cats raw)... Katona stays in her cage for 30 min while everyone eats... I pick up all food and the kitten is released to resume living "normal" life in our house.

The only bad thing?

She's friggin' picked ME.   She isn't Furry Husband's cat. She seeks ME out.... I didn't need another cat....

Sigh.

Furry is trying to win her over... but ... you know cats....

Fingers crossed!

Solution

2011-11-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

We've been living with a problem that drives us both insane.

Our cats climb up in our closet.

They pull themselves up with the clothes on hangers which results in claw snags in clothes or clothes all on the floor in a crumpled mess.

They like to sleep in the folded clothes on a shelf above the hanging clothes... that equals more clothes pulled down and layers upon layers of cat hair all over everything.

It's been this way for years. We try to keep the closet doors closed and the cats dig and dig and dig until they open the sliding door enough to wedge themselves back in.

And then one night channel surfing, I saw this show on Animal Planet called My Cat From Hell.... the solution to many of the cat issues was to build them high spots. And so I did. Furry Husband was skeptical when I told him about my grand plan since he didn't see the show and wasn't sure just what in the hell I was talking about...

One night when he was at a wine tasting event I built this:

He got home and he helped me finish it... I bought a 1x12 at Home Depot and had them cut a 4' length for above our window and two 1' lengths to use as stepping stones....I covered them with soft, on sale, fleece material from a fabric store.

We ended up only using one step. A dog kennel is next to the dresser... step 1.

The shadow box on the dresser is screwed into the wall for stability... cat step 2.

There is a step mounted to the wall... cat step 3.

From there, they have their choice of the box filled with the left over fleece material or the fleece covered ledge with a kitty cup.

I sprinkled a little catnip on the ledge and the cat step number 3.

They are using it vs. our closet!

Score 1 for the hoo-mans.

Tied Up...

2011-11-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

Well... I took Sera to Rex's for a ride last Saturday.

I went out to get her and she was hot, sweaty and blowing. The horses have been kept in their pens because of the huge amount of snow we got in 2 different storms. Pretty much everything is, or was, muddy, slick and icy. We didn't need the horses out running like wild jungle animals, slipping and injuring themselves or tearing up the pasture.

She and Rosso had been fruiting around because they are bored and pent up and it's cold and they feel good.

I unloaded her at Rex's and she was tying up pretty good. Sigh. Called the vet and she was there in 30 min... steroid and non-steroid anti-inflammatories given. A dose of ace to relax and get blood flowing to the muscles... some laser treatment. Still took at least an hour before Sera could walk again and she was still sticky on the left hind.

She hadn't tied up since November 2008.

Caught me by complete surprise. Last time she tied up I was feeding 100% alfalfa from another hay supply source... we stopped and she hadn't tied up since. I figured that was the cause.

Since Sera had been penned up from the storms, we cut the Purina Healthy Edge complete feed back by half. (They only get 1lb in the AM and 1lb in the PM with loose mineral salt) And we gave them some extra hay at night since it was our first true cold snap and they don't have woolly winter coats yet. It's a grass hay with a tiny bit of alfalfa - whatever grows in the pasture when the hay is harvested. We've gotten it consistently from the same hay supplier - same fields since 2008 - nothing different about the hay.

It's quite disappointing.

I ordered some Platinum Hemo-Flo supplement which is supposed to have good results for horses that tie up... ?? I'm never really sure if supplements are truly helpful or if they are just good marketing? Anyone have thoughts about that?

I think Theresa asked about the new lifestyle Furry Husband and I are working on...
The book is: The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson - very good, easy read, and explains more the why of eating and living this way. He just released a new book, that in my opinion is maybe a little more condensed, a little updated and more of a specific "how to" vs. "why to". It's the 21-Day Challenge or something... both are good reads.

There is a website tho' that is free which offers lots of information for anyone looking... www.MarksDailyApple.com

Pizza experiment....

2011-11-03T14:06:00.000-06:00

We've been eating primal (no grains or legumes) for 30 days as of October 30. Part of us trying the primal eating for 30 days, was to experiment once the 30 days were over with a grain based meal to see how it made us feel.

We brought home a Cozzola's take and bake pizza, cooked it up after chores... consumed it..... felt fine. The world did not crash around us. We were not ill. We felt perfectly fine.....

UNTIL 2:00AM rolled around.

We were both wide awake, tossing and turning, and could NOT for the life of us get any sleep. We finally gave up the fight and got up at 5:00 to go walking with the dogs under the stars...

Doesn't really make me want to try grains again any time soon. Since eating primally, I have slept soundly, all night, every night vs. waking up at 2 or 3 AM probably 4 nights out of 7. And the nights I did sleep were Tylenol PM induced. I very rarely slept a night without something to keep me knocked out.

I'd gone to the Dr. for some pretty severe depression this summer along with the sleep deprivation to have my hormone levels checked out. My hormones were ok but my my adrenals were high (why I was waking up in the middle of the night unable to sleep) and my B vitamins super, super low (why I felt so terrible all summer).

I go to a more wholistic Dr., and they offer the option of working with herbal supplements if you want to go that route via diving right into Western meds. Tho they offer the Western meds if you want them.

I started taking an herbal supplement to calm my adrenals... and I got a B vitamin shot once a week for a month to get my B levels back up. After that, I took a sub-lingual B supplement.

I haven't taken either supplement for a couple weeks. I stopped the adrenal supplement right around the time we started eating primal.... and I sleep. Oh how I sleep! I sleep sound and it is THE most glorious feeling to get sleep all night, every night.

I'm really liking the variety of veggies, fruits and proteins from fish, meat, chicken, eggs. Yum! We've tried brussel sprouts, rutabagas, turnips, mashed cauliflower... all sorts of good things.

I'm never hungry, I don't count calories, I don't watch my portions... I eat full fat dairy, cook in butter, use olive oil and coconut oil vs. man made or grain/legume oils like corn, canola, peanut or vegetable oils. I have even energy all day long, no lulls or tired afternoons for me any more....

It's been a pretty interesting 30 days. I feel GOOD. I feel HAPPY. I feel AWAKE.

I'm going to start with some exercise body movements to give me functional strength... I don't have goals to be amazingly ripped like Linda Hamilton from the Terminator movie... however, I'd like to be able to do the stuff I want to do easily and handily without much of a struggle.

I started today with some squats, plank and girlie knee pushups. I'm so weak it's a little sad. But hey, we all gots to start somewhere.

We'll see how things progress...

Besides it's been so muddy, mucky, snowy, icy with the 2 storms we've gotten, I've got some extra time for evaluating how weak I am and trying to fix it. grin.

I go to the Dr. for another blood draw to evaluate B levels... I'm guessing they are gonna be pretty good based on how great I feel.

Debbie Clinic

2011-10-28T13:20:00.000-06:00

For anyone wondering... I survived my clinic!

I was quaking in my boots thinking all our worst habits that come out at shows would be in full force... the sucking back, the tenseness, the holding back, the head tick tock, the 4-beaty canter....

Nope.

Not a ONE of those icky things popped up in the clinic. Not even toward the end when Sera was tired and pretty much at the end of her reserves... she stayed in a true, forward, 3-beat canter. She stayed round, over her back, forward, in my hand....she tried hard for me.

Can I say how in love I am with my mare? I love her, love her, love her!

We are both a bit out of shape but we still have it and we don't suck (well compared to Hubertus Schmidt I'm sure we suck but for who we are and where we are, in Northern Colorado with no goals to show professionally or beyond locally, we don't suck! Hooray!). Debbie said she's NEVER seen Sera look so good. And Debbie, while very kind, will never, ever, ever pay you a compliment you don't deserve. You gots to work hard to make her happy.

I tried shoes on Sera's front... she has never been lame or "off"... she tested fine for the farrier... but she seems just a little ... I don't know... careful... a little flat.... a bit quick....

Debbie said Sera seemed much more "floaty"... "forward".... and get this... she said, "I didn't think this horse had a trot like that IN her!"

So yeah, guess Sera will be in front shoes....seems to make her more comfortable and confident.

Colorado Marrow Donor Program update....

2011-10-27T16:49:00.002-06:00

About 2 mos ago, I was contacted by Colorado Marrow Donor Program as a potential match for someone needing a transplant. I was to stop by the hospital lab for some additional blood draws for testing to determine the match and they'd let me know in 6-8 weeks.

I received a letter this week that the extensive testing of my blood samples and the patient's blood for compatability indicate I could be a suitable match. At this time, however, the patient isn't ready to proceed to transplantation and they may contact me in the future. Thank-you for your willingness to consider donation to someone you've never met.

Interestingly enough, just after giving my blood for testing, I found out a woman I worked with many years ago had a bone marrow disease severe enough she needed a marrow donation. (there are no coincidences, eh?) A mutual friend told me this woman's brother donated for her probably a year ago? The transplant was in all accounts a success. Yet, this woman died the beginning of this month.

It's pretty serious business - when someone is sick enough to need a marrow donation, it's not like donating marrow is a 100% cure-all, rainbows and happiness. Yes, I would donate in a second if someone needed my marrow, however it's also sobering to know that they could still die. It's the least I could offer for someone truly fighting for their life.

Anyway - please keep whomever needed this donation in your thoughts... I'm sure he/she and their family are going through some major heartache and heavy decisions. I wish them much love and peace.

If you are interested in becoming a donor, please visit the following site for information or registering to become a bone marrow donor: National Marrow Donor Program

You might provide hope or an option to someone that has none.

Agility!

2011-10-26T10:38:00.000-06:00

We finished our sequencing class... putting obstacles in a sequence and practice running them... I still feel very awkward, clumsy, herky-jerky and like there is so much to know and remember. I often forget where I am on the course. However, both Toe and Keenan really seem to enjoy it and their hoo-mans do too!

Here we are running our pattern!

Grand Junction Pix

2011-10-25T19:49:00.000-06:00

Toe & Shanster go 4-wheelin for the first time....

Isn't it gorgeous?

Powderhorn!

Never could get a shot of Toe coming TO me....he sure has a cute hammy butt tho', dont he?

Grand Junction

2011-10-18T09:49:00.001-06:00

Furry Husband and I left for Grand Junction last week. We stayed with his buddy Mo, who lives at the base of the Powderhorn Ski Resort in Mesa.   It was GORGEOUS.

Furry Husband played in the Colorado State Disc Golf Championships (which he completed in a 3-way tie for Fourth Place! Way to go Furry!) while I hiked on Saturday and went 4-wheeling on Sunday. I brought the little Toe dog with us to Junction for fun - he's compact, travels well and is friendly to everyone.

I think Toe probably had more fun than the hoo-mans... bombing around the mountain on hikes... swimming in mountain lakes...and riding sandwiched in between me and Mo on the 4-wheeler little stump tail goin' a mile a minute....

The weekend was sunny, cloudless, no wind and 70's or 80's... fabulous, perfect, incredible Colorado weather and I was outside most of the time...   ahhhhhhhhh.    Hard to come back to reality and a desk job, indoors with no windows near-by.   *sniffle*

Agility last night - I meant to bring a camera to tape how herky jerky I am... completely forgot. Maybe next Monday I'll remember and you can get a glimpse of the insanity!

Tomorrow I ride with Debbie and I am cringing cuz she'll see how we've reverted back to all our old habits... but I won't worry about that until I actually make it there.

Our truck isn't 100% reliable lately and only does it's acting up when I'm towing a load over distance... mechanics can't find anything wrong with it, we can't get it to do anything in town or to and from Rex's place.

Always a comforting thought as you are on the interstate towing your beloved horse....

I think I have my life back....

2011-10-11T12:07:00.000-06:00

I'm not working long days plus weekends any more. It is so wonderful to have my life back!

And I'm now *gasp* 41 years old.   Yow! Seems like just yesterday I was 28. I took my birthday off from work and Furry Husband and I went to The Rio Grande for lunch... they have the best patio in town and we enjoyed liesurely margaritas in the sunshine. Divine.

I GOT CARDED!

I never get carded.

I think it was all the pimples on my face earned from the long hours indoors under fluorescent lighting in September.   At least those damn things came in handy for something. Was a really fun birthday treat...

We went to a movie at the dollar theatre (cuz I am a cheap date)... and we had a nice dinner at home with real champagne that Furry's boss gave to me as a birf-day present.   It was truly a lovely day.

I started off the day by getting some horsekeeping done... tooth float for Rosso and hocks done on Sera... the farrier came out the next morning and we are ready to get back to it.... have a clinic with Debbie Riehl-Rodriquez on the 19th. I'm sure she will be disappointed at how we've let ourselves go this summer.

Life happens... we'll get back to it and work hard to make it up.

Oh - the eating thing. Trying really not to think of it as a diet but as a lifestyle and definitely NOT focused on the scale.  I want to see how this way of eating affects the way we feel and if it's realistic to everyday life.

So far, I'm not missing bread or grains. My energy seems more even keel... I don't have highs or lows - no food coma here! And even when I eat more than I should, (it happens - I've never gotten the portion control thing down pat) I don't get that omg, I'm going to die or I feel sick or I need to sleep 3 hrs because I ate so much feeling...I'm just much more comfortable even if I over do it occasionally.  Seems my belly stays the same size thru the day vs. getting sort of bloaty and/or poochy by the end of the day. I don't feel super changed or highly energized but the changes I've noticed are pleasant - consistent feeling.

Lifestyle of a cult follower?

2011-10-03T10:08:00.001-06:00

Our neck of the woods has been converted to a cult following. Most of the people I know are religiously and devoutly following this new "religion".

So much so that Furry Husband and I have discussed it... rolled our eyes over it... fought it....scoffed at it and after a spring and summer full of hearing other people discuss it ad nauseum with a sparkle in their eye and a fervent following much like those who may have followed Jim and Tammy Faye Baker back in the day....

*sigh*

We are trying it.

We are going primal, paleo, cave-man diet.... for 30 days.

Mostly we are doing this as an experiment. I'm not really discussing it with anyone in my circle of friends already "converted" because I don't want the fervent gleam in the eye, "oh you've finally come to the right side of the force - welcome!" discussions or affirmations.

We want to experiment with it - see what we think of it, find out for ourselves if it really does increase energy levels and the big overall increased health benefits everyone is saying they feel. You would think this lifestyle is a wonder drug the way people are talking about how much better they feel....

I'm on day 3.

The rules are easy - eat plenty of animals, seeds, nuts, plants and dairy in moderation. Avoid all grains and legumes (beans and peanut products). No corn, wheat, bread, flour or baked goods made with any conventional flours... theory being that grains aren't digestible by humans and cause all sorts of problems in our bodies.   (Not saying I buy this, I'm not a Dr. or a nutritionist or scientist.... and it seems any "diet" book will tell you what they believe with facts and Dr.s who can back it... then 3 more telling you how "wrong" the diet you just read about is....I'm only telling you the theory behind this lifestyle in a nutshell and we've had several months of many different people living this way and telling us how amazing they feel.. I'm absolutely not pushin' anything here.)

I can use almond flour or coconut flour.   I have NO idea what either of those flours look like or taste like or how they are to work with.... we will pick some up from a health food store and maybe play with making tortillas or biscuits I found in a paleo cookbook.

I'm not counting calories or worrying about portions or fats... just avoiding any grain or legume based food items. I hate diets and the yo-yo crap that goes with it. If it can't become part of your every day life, I personally don't think it will ever work long term. We are seeing if we can do this as part of an every-day lifestyle.

This no grain thing makes it interesting to think outside the box and find ways to follow it - for example, Furry Husband and I went to Qdoba's for lunch Saturday.... hmmmm. No beans, no rice, no tortillas.... I had a naked chix burrito: chicken, lettuce, cheese, tomatilla salsa with grilled veggies thrown in.   It was tasty... and tasted like Qdoba.... just a little unconventional when ordered.

I wonder if I will miss bread, tortillas, corn chips and crackers?   I don't know. We were trying to eat less traditional carbs like that as it was for general healthy eating...this is simply taking it to the next level.

Like I said, it's an experiment for 30 days that I'll share with you guys once and a while. We aren't doing it for weight loss but to see if we enjoy feeling healthier, less aches and pains, less allergies, more energy, improved digestion and less bloaty feelings in ma' belly.

Before we began this crazy 'speriment, we wanted to read up about this lifestyle to figure out what was involved and how to follow it.

We first ordered a book by Robb Wolf. Didn't like that guy at all... he was very "used car salesman" and felt like he was really talking down to us. He was super, super annoying and we both felt this way... we dropped his book off at the thrift store.

I bought a 2nd book called "The Primal Blueprint" by Mark Sisson. I much preferred his down to earth discussions... I finished the book and Furry Husband is now reading it.

I bought a paleo based cookbook not written by either author for yet another opinion/writing style.

Sounds like The Primal Blueprint rubs die-hard paleo people the wrong way I think cuz this primal diet includes dairy in moderation... well, guess what? I have dairy goats and I'm not about to give up milk or cheese... I don't eat it in mass quantities as is because it is whole and fattening... tho' I enjoy 1/4 cup goat milk each morning in my coffee and goat cheese whenever the mood strikes.

The primal diet also allows wine and beer in moderation... good, I can hang with that. And of course dark chocolate with a 70% cocoa content is supposedly the key to satisfying sugar cravings... I bought some and we'll see. I can have some pretty damn strong sugar cravings....

Breakfast will be the hardest for me as I enjoy a piece of toast with peanut butter. Quick, easy, no thought to it.

This morning's breakfast included one of the various fruits I prepped Sunday ... we have peaches... apples... grapefruits...

To go with my fruit, I put a piece of ham in a muffin tin with an egg broken over it ... popped it in the oven at 350 for 15-20 min while I took my shower.... ham and egg cup.   Furry Husband and I each had 2 ham/egg cups. Pretty tasty. Very simple.

I didn't have time to eat my grapefruit so I brought it with me to work...

So there is our dirtly little secret experiment.... I'll keep you posted.

Pumpkin' carving ideas....

2011-09-29T11:21:00.000-06:00

I have an old woman trapped in my body. I have more cats than probably any one person should have.... I enjoy feeding birds and watching them.... and I really like my subscription to Better Homes and Gardens.

Check out their Halloween ideas here: http://www.bhg.com/halloween/

The last magazine issue that came sent me to the computer to share with you some cool pumpkin ideas... I am all about faster, easier and less mess... I am instant gratification queen.

Yo! Check it out dawg....

Get an apple corer... poke it into whole, non-carved squashes and pumpkins of different colors... keep the plugs. Mix and match the plugs back into the holes and you get polka-dotted pumpkins! Genius!

Or get a nail... poke holes into your whole, uncarved pumpkin... stick some daisies and mums into the holes. They say the moisture of the pumpkin will keep the flowers fresh for a couple days.... how is this for a perfect Thanksgiving centerpiece?

And you can use the apple corer to poke letters into your pumpkins... how do these people think of these things?? It astounds me...

They had a lot of other really fun ideas for pumpkins and Halloween decorations. Dang. I love me that Better Homes and Gardens crew!

Yelled at....

2011-09-28T14:03:00.002-06:00

Sheesh.

Yoga class is nuthin' but trouble these days!

I had a hair-brained idea to WALK over to yoga. I walk pretty fast and thought it would take me about 15 minutes. Would be a nice warm-up there and good, peaceful, yoga, namaste reflection on the way back.
Besides the 4-lane road in front of the yoga place is all torn up and traffic is mad-house. There are barriers up and sign holders and one direction is closed off completely to traffic. Perfect solution, I'll walk!

I got to class on time, set my intentions, had a good, peaceful yoga experience. On the way out, I decided to cut straight across the road vs. using the walk/bike path. I could take another route back to work for a change of scenery and it looked like it might be a little more direct.

There were NO cars anywhere in sight... all the large work trucks and equipment for the road project were way at the other end of the torn up street and I crossed.

There happened to be a sign guy near my path of egress.

He began waving his arms and saying something....

And this is the part that kills me, I actually stop.

"What?"

He keeps gesturing and moving his mouth...

I say again, "What?"

He moves closer still, trying to communicate with me.

A third time I repeat, "What?"

And finally he is close enough for me to hear. "Can you HEAR my VOICE?"

He's wearing a hard hat, big ol' 70's mirror style sunglasses and sportin' plenty o' facial hair.... like that band member from The Muppet Show... the drummer I think.   Anyway - it's hard to read his facial expression and I obviously can't hear him very well.

I say, "Well, NOW I can." and I remain standing there.

I'm not sure what pearls of wisdom I thought he would impart to me but it was sunny and warm and I was in my peaceful yoga frame o' mind. Maybe he is the Buddha coming to bring enlightenment.

He goes on to say, "Do you SEE the barriers and the trucks and this sign I'm holding?   What do you think they are for?"

I look down to the end of the street confused.   I look back at him.

"Uh, cars?"

He proceeds to say something about they are barriers to keep the area clear.

And I say, "Really? Even for people?"

And I say this remaining completely confused, because at this point I really have no idea what he is trying to convey to me. Why did he follow me across the street and why is he asking me these questions? (did I also mention I have a cold and I've been working a ka-trillion hours and this is the first time I've seen sunlight other than on my way in to work in a long time? Maybe this is why I was being so obtuse. Well, that and the guy was also a soft talker... unless that was just the snot clogging my ears and he was really speaking at a normal volume...??)

And he says, "Who do you think DRIVES the cars?"

At this point the low wattage bulb goes on above my head.

Ohhhhhhhhh, I get it! He's mad at me!

I tell him, "OK, OK I get it." in a roll your eyes tone of voice because seriously, what the hell, I just walked there and all the guys next to the bike/walking path stopped their trucks and their work and actually WAVED me across along with two bicyclists. In FRONT of their tucks so close that I could touch them.... and now on my way home there were absolutely no cars or trucks or equipment anywhere near me and I have this guy chasing me down, with his big STOP/SLOW sign in his hand to yell at me?

And there were cars coming which he was completely ignoring, not holding his sign to direct them or to stop them from driving into his co-workers a few hundred yards away cuz he was across the street yelling at me.

I turned my back on the guy and begin walking away because what is it exactly I'm supposed to do? I'm already across the street.  He followed me or a little while still going on about the importance of his job and the barriers and why he is there and who he is there to keep out. I kept walking back to work.

Boy. He most defiantly was not The Buddha coming to me with enlightenment.   Tho' he was trying to enlighten me in a manner of speaking.

Confidence gathering....

2011-09-27T10:49:00.000-06:00

Well, I did it. I called up a woman 'round these parts known well for her cross country jumping and eventing skills. Left a message asking for a few lessons.

I'm not going to become an eventer... however, I don't feel confident much out in the "real" world on horseback. Sera is fine with it, it's not that she is disobedient or spooky or naughty, it really is all me and only me. I just haven't used myself in the saddle outside of my comfort zone in a long time and I worry I won't be able to hang.

Figure if I can take some outdoor jumping lessons with some baby cross country jumps, it'll help with my confidence levels out on the trail and in the "real" world.

Speaking of confidence gathering....

Agility was fun last night. We are putting sequences of obstacles together and running them. I was a little rusty and my head wasn't quite in the game -- I have a cold and we missed last weeks class cuz of the buck hurting himself -- however we did o.k. Learning, gaining confidence and moving forward...

Keenan was the star of the show and you could tell she was having FUN. She didn't bark or growl or make one social mis-step the whole night ... not saying she's "cured", tho she is improving and that is nice to see!

Even with the hole, he's fine.

2011-09-26T15:28:00.000-06:00

Goat vet came out yesterday. Furry Husband and I donned our Dickies one last time to go hold the buck while goat vet took a look at him.

Bucks stink this time o' year. They do this gross thing to attract the does.. the pee all over themselves.   Very much a "golden shower" fetish going on with goats. And they stink and they are sort of sticky from all the pee in various stages of drying....

We wear the Dickies to protect....and I bought some nifty gloves that are thin and like they have been dipped in rubber... they provide grip and feel. Most excellent when trying to hold onto an animal that wants to leave or having to give shots to said animal.

Vet ripped the gauze pads off one at a time... and buck reared up, broke his collar and ran away. Bet it hurt like a mutha'. However, all the skin is pink and red underneath... no swellings or oozings or green putrid smelling things.   Bonus!

There is still a hole on the right horn... the one that was sawed off. I asked if we should be concerned... goat vet says no.... it will heal in 6-8 weeks.

Crazy.

Tonight is agility... wish us luck!

Workin' in a coal mine....

2011-09-24T17:21:00.000-06:00

Know that Devo song? Workin' in a coal mine?   That's where I been... workin' like a rented mule. Should be over in the next week and schedule will go back to normal.

Harder to keep a schedule like this at 40 yrs old vs. 25 yrs old! At 25 I was a rock star, work long hours, fit in party time and show up for work the next day no problem.

At 40, it's all achin back and going to bed early so I can get up in the morning.... no party time for this girl. Tho' someone did ask if I wanted to go to a one man acoustic show of Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead covers last night.   Wow. That sounded terrible to me and not something I wanted to sacrifice sleep over.

Mostly I've been neglecting everything except for the most basic elements of personal hygiene. I'm breaking out like a hormonal teenager but at least I don't stink.   Well.   I don't think I stink.

The only new thing that's happened is that our buck - who was dehorned as a wee baby boy - grew his horns back as most bucks seem to do. And he BROKE one of his large, almost full size horns off at the skull line.   We've had bucks break off pieces of horn before and it looks like it hurts them like a mo'fo and there is lots of blood - real gore-fest - but nothing much to do about it.

Tho' at the SKULL line I called the vet.   There are holes - open holes leading into the buck's sinus cavity... thought he might need further attention.

Turns out he did.

Vet came out, we put the 200+ lb bugger into la-la land to have a look-see. She ended up sawing the other horn off with a hack saw. Very bloody and gross since horns have their own blood supply. Sorta like limb removal in 1776.  I looked down into the buck's head thru the hole that was penny or nickle sized... yes, IN his head.

Vet put a couple gauze pads with a big ol' dollup o' furazone ointment on each horn/skull base. Wrapped his head and I gave the buck IM shots of banamine for pain and SubQ shots of penicillin.

I stunk like a buck in rut the rest of the day. Even after showering and scrubbing the first 3 layers of my skin off with steel wool.

I decided Furry Husband and I should invest in Dickies.   Those dark blue, full body suits that zip up?   Yeah. It's a fashion statement. Tho' I'm thinking once we are done messing with the buck I could live in my Dickies.   Just go around naked... if someone comes to the door, I'd holler out, "HOLD ON A COTTON PICKIN' MINUTE - I GOTS TO PUT ON MY DICKIES!"

Getting ready for work would be so much easier. Never have to match shoes or pants or skirts.

Dickies are the answer.

I digress.

Vet is coming tomorrow to evaluate our buck and remove bandages, tho' it seems he may have them off by the time I get home today.

Will the hole be closed up?? Will he scratch it open when it's healing and gets itchy? Will bugs go in there and eat his brain and eyeballs all up from the inside out just in time for Halloween?

Guess I'll see tomorrow.

Right now his bandage is bloody, dirty, tearing and moved a little to partially cover one eye. He looks like a Civil War Era soldier.

Free thinking dogs?

2011-09-14T08:58:00.001-06:00

So I'm reading this book a friend got for me a long time ago - Can't remember the title right now and I'm feeling a little tired and grumpy this morning. It's about Merle, the dog, and this guy, Ted, who found him while on a river camping trip and he lives in Jackson Hole, WY and is a huge, huge, outdoor enthusiast/hunter and how Merle is this free thinking, free roaming dog who is his equal because Merle has been given his freedom to think things through and learn from his experiences etc. right?

I've been enjoying the book, the story is good and the author writes well and it's very clear this was a special relationship. I'm closer to the end and the author has gotten a little "preachy" and "judgemental" ... he was going on about how we've all dumbed down our dogs because we expect them to obey - most dogs only show devotion to their owners because of the Stockholm Syndrome - coming to rely on their captors while they are held captive by us for their food, pleasure, elimination and he was giving this speech about locking them in kennels all day... and so I'm skimming this part cuz not everyone can have these free roaming dogs and I really want to get back to the story vs. the preaching part....

And I get it - Merle was this exceptional dog and this cool, free relationship really worked for them and it really is a neat story... and everyone is entitled to their opinion.... also don't think it would work out well for most people given society and when you live in more crowded areas and I don't think it would work for all dogs because many would die from their experiences with cars, rattlesnakes, coyotes etc. before they had a chance to learn from their experiences....

This morning I get down on my knees and I'm loving on Toe and Bequia (while Sammy remains in his privileged bed spot - Keenan is having daycare day today) and they are licking me and I'm petting them ... asking them, "Am I ruining your lives? Are you guys kept stupid because of me, cuz I don't let you decide for yourselves and I make you do stupid "baby" tricks that don't mean anything to you and cuz I kennel you all day?"

So then I think - I'll leave them out and see what happens!

Well, we leave Bequia out much of the time and Sammy is left out - I only worry about Bequia and her seeming senility and forgetting she's inside and having some accidents tho' it's still only happened that one time (she's 13 and going deaf and blind), Sammy is a solid K9 citizen left to his own devices.

I'm looking around thinking what is the worst Toe could do? He's not a big chewer of weird things, other than socks and they are all picked up - he's too small to counter surf -- there are plenty of nylabones and elk antlers and bones around if he wants to chew.....?

Decide the worst he can do is get into the litter boxes and gorge himself on clumping litter and then the litter expands in his gut and he dies... so I think - well, I'll baby gate the room with the litter off from him and leave him out.... I get the baby gate which is in the room blocking off access to the litter box entries... but of course I think that he could dig at it or knock it over if left alone all day to think about it - it's only leaning against the litter boxes to block access, not really "baby-gated" in a proper way...

I decide I'm going to put it in the door and block access to the room entirely .... the second I take it away - he runs over and sticks his head in the litter box - I tell him LEAVE IT and he is ignoring me... I go over to grab him and out he pops with this giant cat turd sticking out of his mouth like a cigar.... and in a flash it's gone... in his mouth and he is chewing and swallowing as fast as he can...before I could take it away from him. Gross.

Fuck it. I kenneled the little turd burglar.

Agility....

2011-09-13T14:20:00.000-06:00

We had agility class last night... working on getting our dogs to work at a distance from us... sending them to a jump away from us using our body language... seemed like everyone in class struggled with this concept and the dogs wanted to stay near their hoo-mans vs. going way over there to the jump while the hoo-mans hung back ....

Good, brain work.... figuring out how to direct the dogs with our body language.... funny how our bodies rarely do what our brains tell them to do when we are learning something new.   Ya watch and think it looks simple enough... til you try it and discover it's not quite so easy.... like pattin your head and rubbin your belly while chewin gum and walkin down the street.

Keenan was almost like a normal dog in class last night.... she gave an intense stare and a growl at a dog she seems to react to (even tho' this dog never looks Keenan's way). We nipped it in the bud and she was all innocence and who me? Look how cute and sweet I am! I wouldn't growl at that dog over there.... never!

This morning on our walk tho' she reacted to a car that slowed way down to a crawl to go past - so slow we were walking faster than the car.   I'll give her that - it was weird.   And the school bus... with it's loud, diesel engine and flashing lights....

Work in progress.   Little improvements here, set backs there...

The Dead Thing

2011-09-09T13:48:00.000-06:00

We took the gogs for a walk the other morning and when we reached the end of our road, we turned Left. The gogs really like going Left! (gogs = dogs in small child speak... those "D"s are hard to say when you are learning how to talk!)

There are bunnies galore popping out unexpectedly and running over hill and dale while the gogs are stuck on leash, straining, eyes-bugging out of their heads because they want to chase the bunnies oh so bad. Damn hoo-mans never let them have a bunny. Not sure why there are no bunnies if we go Right.... bunnies only seem to live Left.

And there is a house with free roaming chickens.... the hens sometimes come out near the road to scratch for bugs. When we walk past with the goggies, they all pick up their skirts and run back to the safety of their yard.   Always very exciting to goggies.

Just after this house, on the right side of the road, there is a spot where Little Toe always rolls.

Always.

Without fail.

The spot is thick with tall grasses.  I've never thought much about it. Figured some good smelling plant grew there. The other dogs never sniff or roll there.

We turn to head back home shortly after the house with a brown standard poodle in the yard. We've named the poodle "Brownie". Yes! We are extremely imaginative! Brownie always barks at us, we say good morning and there is further excitement as all our dogs take turns peeing in front of poor Brownie, whom I imagine is yelling in a canine version of an old man in a robe with his morning newspaper yelling, "Get off my lawn!".

Once home we get ready for work.  I sit at our kitchen table drinking my morning coffee and eating peanut butter toast for breakfast. Toe sits in the crook of my crossed legs. I pet his speckled head and rub his long silky ears... sometimes even rubbing my face in the soft fur on the back of his neck and kissing the top of his wee head.

I made a mistake this time when we turned Left.

I stopped and looked to see what was so great about "The Rolling Spot".

There is a dead thing. Skeletal with taught skin covering some of the bones. No way of telling what sort of animal it was... no fur or feathers or shape to discern since it is so completely rotted, decayed and folded in on itself.

Toe has been rolling on this thing every time we've gone Left for months. Literally.

I've been coming home and rubbing my face in his soft fur... kissing the top of his head... while I eat breakfast.... after he's rolled in a rotting carcass.

It's a little amazing to me that I don't have ebola.

B12

2011-09-02T11:03:00.001-06:00

Who knew how important our B vitamins could be???

This whole spring/summer I have been so unmotivated, low energy, tired, draggin' ass and depressed. Figured I was just nutz in the ol' noggin.

I am really happy I went to the Dr to have it investigated... finally! I went to see if my hormones were out of whack or something...

She had some blood pulled and sent away to the lab.... my B12 is way low. The Dr. was surprised how low it was and told me no wonder I'd been feeling so bad.

I received a B12 shot and was told I should have one shot every week for 4 weeks to get it back up... then I could either get a shot monthly or take a sub lingual. She told me the first shot probably wouldn't have much of an effect but once the B vitamins started climbing back up to normal, hoo boy would I feel better.

I just looked at her... sure I would.

I had my second B12 shot this past Tuesday and didn't think much of it.

Yesterday, for the first time in what seems like forever, I was completely cheerful and animated - so much so, my co-workers were asking if I was ok.

Boy did it feel good!

To be AWAKE.... FUNCTIONING.... CHEERFUL... ACTIVE...!

Hope it wasn't just some strange moon phase or something....

More agility....

2011-09-01T09:37:00.001-06:00

We had our first "sequencing" class Monday night. Now that we are all sort of familiar with obstacles we are putting them together and running short courses.

It is actually great fun!

I am still working with Toe on the A-frame 2on/2off... he gets going so fast he flies off of it and he needs to have 2 paws on the ground and 2 paws on the yellow contact zone or in a competition he'd be disqualified.   I practice it and he does it ... but I practice it slow. He has to learn how to do his 2on/2off FAST...  the trainer showed me how to practice it fast...

He doesn't care for the teeter yet... the drop and the bang startles him.  We are going slow... treat at the pivot point... treat at his nose to keep him coming forward... the trainer holds the end and lowers it slow so the sound and drop isn't so fast/loud/dramatic and he gets a treat at the end for his 2on/2off at the contact zone of the teeter...

We haven't really even started weaves yet... those weave poles look friggin hard. I eye them dubiously when I see them....

Toe is having a lot of fun - happy and stump waggin' and zooming along the course....

Keenan still has some reactions with the dogs in class... they are stopped faster and we are trying really hard to get her before they happen but dang... it can happen quick.   When she is off leash and running the course tho' she couldn't care less about the other dogs and people - she is having fun and focused on Furry Husband. Think this agility training can only be good for her....

She'll be a year old in October and won't be competing or working hard and long in agility for awhile... the jumping and work she's doing in our classes isn't any more than what she does at home running around, jumping over things, playing and doing general puppy things... I don't think we are harming any growth plates or doing damage to her young frame.

I started teaching her to use the treadmill last night... doggie daycare is spendy and we didn't envision taking her for the rest of her life. It was supposed to be a good social outlet and take off the puppy edge to wear her out a couple days.   Getting her good and tired is helpful to training and with her reactivity issues. We take her for walks, practice agility and it's pretty clear that some days she needs more of an energy outlet.

Treadmill here we come.

I had her on it for a short time last night...she stepped on the motor part that doesn't move which sort of freaked her out, then she stopped and slid off the back of the treadmill which sort of freaked her out. I got her back on it... for a short time, she wasn't happy and was looking for a way out... I stopped it... treated her big for staying on it and being on it.   Fed her on it this morning....

Tonight we'll try a couple minutes again....

A Spot Moment.....

2011-08-31T13:24:00.000-06:00

Had a funny Spot moment this morning....

Spot is our oldest dairy goat and will be officially retired this fall. We have always called her "the dullard" cuz while very sweet she is not very coordinated or quick to react. The other goats will jump up on the spools, houses etc we have in the pen and Spot still has never figured out how to jump up on stuff true to her little goatie nature.... she wants to... she tries and alas remains earthbound.

I had her by the collar, walking her to the milk room... Keenan, the puppy, had the zoomies (zoomies = dogs running crazy with their tail tucked and the wild look in their eye as they race around pell mell burning off excited, happy energy) in the yard and I sort of wanted to play with her but I had Spot.... I walk to the door of the milk room and push Spot in... thinking she would go in, jump on the stanchion and wait for me....

I turned my back on her and jumped out low for Keenan... Keenan comes running over all zoomie-fied...

Spot at that very moment comes out of the milk room - sees Keenan running at her and takes off around the goat pen. All I see is Spot's fat ass running for all she's worth, eyes bugging out of her head with Keenan right behind her with the zoomies like WHEEEEEEEE!

Spot came running full circle around the pen with Keenan on her tail... I grabbed Spot's collar as she ran past me and put her in the milk room on the stanchion to milk her.... poor Spot.

She was shaking violently the whole time I was milking her and she didn't eat her grain.... it scared her! She was fine and was relieved to go back in her pen with her homies to eat breakfast and be safe from the zoomie puppy.

But WOW it was a really funny scene.... and of course all the other goats in the pen caught a serious case of the zoomies from the excitement of seeing Spot chased by a dog around the pen... they were all running full speed around and around, jumping on and off things in their pen...

I think everyone had fun this morning except poor old Spot!

Tooz-day

2011-08-30T09:23:00.001-06:00

Working a lot o' hours.... and will continue to do so til the end of September - full days on Saturdays, some Sundays and definitely no 3 day weekend for me this Labor Day weekend. Also squeezing in lots of OT during the week.

I'm not complaining - tho it IS making me a little punchy.

I was trying a Christopher Walken impersonation the other day at home.... "I got the fever, and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL!".

I need a hair cut and when I was practicing Mr. Walken in the mirror while scaring Furry Husband, I also needed a shower so my hair was very Christopher Walken like. ( I'm not saying that Christopher Walken needs a shower... it's just my hair can look like his when I need a shower and I don't know why that happens... it's sort of like when people see Jesus' face in their toast... a small miracle.)

Tho' my verbal impersonation of him really needs work.

After my shower, I didn't put any hair goo into my hair and it dried Au natural with frizz and curls and then my hair looked like Will Farrell.

My hair is very talented in its movie star impersonations, while I am not.

Overnight guests!

2011-08-29T11:54:00.001-06:00

Furry Husband's buddy M and his standard Poodle dog came to stay with us on their way back to the Southern, Grand Mesa part of CO.

You can imagine what Furry and I thought once we found out that M was an hour away and we discovered for the first time he had his dog with him .....given Keenan's "Cujo persona" right now.

I kept saying, "Oh, honey, it'll be fine." with a bravado I'm not sure I felt.

Seriously tho'. We have crates, we have halti's (gentle leader or head halter for dogs),there is the power of the ez cheese.

Worst case scenario? We kennel Keenan, and rotate dogs in and out for potty breaks etc. Not like she would be out of our control or running loose to savage any one at any time.... it can be managed.

We started out introducing her to M when he arrived and leaving his dog in his car.

Yes, Keenan reacts and at the same time, her reactions are less and she gets over them faster than she did. Progress.  I'll take what I can get.... any move forward is A-OK with me.

I taught her this cool "trick". I say "touch!" and she touches whatever it is near her.... I figure most people hold their hands out to dogs to sniff... could train this into a trick and it may help her with any fear she may have toward a new person. (with people she is more fearful)

I wasn't sure if the trick would transfer over but if not, nothing was lost in teaching it.

Turns out it does transfer!  Once she was sitting near M, I'd tell her "touch"... she'd reach over and touch his leg or his hand and look immediately to me for a treat.   Pretty cool.   Tho I think at one point she reached over and touched M's privates and I'm sure he was thinking... "Gawd I hope she doesn't react NOW".

I think men are sort of particular when it comes to their testicular area.

Once Keenan was comfortable around M, we brought his dog out and worked on getting her near and tolerating a strange dog.   We did the dance of near and far... putting pressure on her as we neared the new dog and as it became too much, backing off... rewarding her for relaxed, non-reactive behavior.... moving in close and backing off again, all the while inching closer and closer to this new dog.

We got to a point that she could tolerate which was us standing near M close enough I could reach out and touch him or his dog.... still a dance of sorts because as M moved or his dog moved, spaces were infringed upon, looks were given, moving dogs and people are different than stationary dogs and people - the world is static and ever shifting, not stationary much to Keenan's dismay.

Through it all, Keenan has the halti on and I have her leash. It's manageable.

We came indoors and kenneled Keenan while we ate dinner so we could relax.   We brought her back out after dinner and she tolerated the strange person and dog in our living room while laying down and remaining relaxed.... always on her leash and with her flexi.

I thought she did well considering.

There was no blood and no loss of limb, testicles or life.

Jekyll and Hyde

2011-08-27T09:46:00.001-06:00

You remember our "Cujo" dog, Keenan?

All of a sudden at 8 mos of age (infamous fear stage in dogs) she became "Cujo" on an outing to our friend's house when she saw/heard their loud yet harmless German Shepherd. Since that moment she's been pretty reactive to other dogs. (it's "reactive" now and not "aggressive" - I discovered - for those not current in dog training lingo for this sort of thing...which I wasn't)

Tho' she is fine with our 3 dogs at home and she still goes to a doggie daycare 2x a week.

We started taking her to daycare when Furry Husband couldn't take her to work with him anymore... she was still young and we figured it would assist in her "socializing" with people and other dogs as well as wear her out vs. being in a kennel all day cuz our dogs are crate trained and in kennels when we are away at work.

The doggie daycare sends all dogs home with report cards. It's really very cute - and I absolutely realize it's for the hoo-mans and not the dogs.

The hoo-mans pick up their cute, widdle, goggies from daycare and they ooooo and ahhhh over the report cards which list the dog's "friends" they played with that day (Max the Golden, Sasha the hound X, Toodles the Poodle).... whether or not they listened well.... what their favorite toys were.... and if they played well with others.

Awesome marketing ploy.   Chalk up a point for the doggie day care staff.

Every time we go to pick Keenan up from daycare the staff remarks how she is the absolute BEST player there.   She "loves" the small dogs at nap time and would prefer to snuggle and sleep with them, lets them crawl all over her as she is laying down. She plays SO WELL with ALL the dogs there and it's really pretty amazing what a great dog she is with everyone!

Last night her report card said, "I played with all the new dogs today, I am a GREAT WELCOMER!"

And while I realize this place is taking our money and wants to keep taking our money.... They tell people when they come to pick up their dogs if Fluffy was nasty and tried to fight and had to be placed in a kennel. I don't think they would blow smoke up our arses if Keenan was being "Cujo".

Glowing, glowing reports of Keenan and how fabulous she accepts other dogs at daycare. She loves all the staff and she is a great dog. There are rainbows and unicorns and little care bears dancing around in this alternate universe.

And then we get her home and she sees a dog in the "real world".

We go for walks most mornings.... a woman I'd never seen before in our neighborhood was walking a well behaved Golden down the road. We would have to pass her... there is no other way out... it's a long country mile before we reach an intersecting road.

Keenan is going ape-shit. Cujo - muther f*%cer I will KILL you - red eyes - froth - and her head is spinning around like that girl in the Exorcist movie.

The woman with her Golden looks at us in horror, like we are the absolute worst dog owners in the universe, speeds up and gets past us as fast as she can thanking whatever God she believes in that she and her dog did not die that day.

Yeah, yeah - I get it, Keenan is used to daycare and the "rules" and dogs are so very literal.   Behavior in one place doesn't = behavior in another place.... and we are working with someone to re-direct Keenan and get her figured out and it's not a laughing matter. (the ONE day I forgot our emergency "Keenan b good ez cheese can" to keep Keenan's focus on us and work her thru the "reaction" we come across this poor lady with her Golden.... the ONE day.... every other day nothing - not a thing for Keenan to react to... sigh)

I dropped her off at daycare... the gal taking the dogs told me to wait a minute and she'd be right back. A guy was sitting in the lobby area.

I practiced getting Keenan's focus, asked her for some tricks to which she complied happily and readily.... the guy sitting in the lobby says, "Wow! She is really well trained! MY dog could learn from her!"

Yes. Yes, absolutely your dog could learn from Keenan.

Learn to KILL.....

THE talk....

2011-08-26T13:09:00.001-06:00

The below link came to me from Girlfriend # 1.

JUST after I talked to Girlfriend #2 about how her daughter wrote a short story in one of her school classes about their dog "humping" a favorite doggie toy. Daughter was talked to by the teacher and told "humping" isn't an appropriate topic to write about.

Daughter didn't understand why.

Girlfriend #2 had to have THE talk with her.

When Girlfriend #2 was telling me about it, we were laughing about her poor daughter's response as she began to put the dots together about how she was created. She was very clearly horrified and disgusted that adults actually do this.

Then I got this link to Minnesota Public Radio and Julia Sweeney's monologue about having "the talk" with her 8 yr old daughter. How very timely....

Warning: This may make you laugh so hard you spritz a little pee.....

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/04/06/wits-sweeney/

Bloodletting for HLA typing....

2011-08-23T08:28:00.001-06:00

I stopped by the hospital lab Monday morning for my confirmation blood testing to see if I am a match for someone needing a marrow donor.

There was a box the lab needed to send in for further testing to see if I really do match this patient - it contained maybe 6 or 8 test tubes... the woman in the lab tapped my vein and filled test tube after test tube. She said I must be a pretty close match because they included such and such vials....

I was given a consent form, further information about the process and sent on my way. I read through the consent form, signed it and mailed it to the marrow program. It says how they will test the blood... that I'll be tested for blood transmitted diseases like Hepatitis.... at any time I can stop the process... the results will remain confidential and released only to the marrow program and the Dr. who is treating the recipient.

I read through the booklet. It says even at this stage of the testing for the donor, only 1 in 12 people will actually donate. I should know in 4-8 weeks and they will let me know either way.

I read about the two ways to donate.

The first way, they knock you out and take marrow from your pelvic bone. Sounds like you are sore for a day or two and then you are very tired.... takes a couple weeks to feel fully recovered and within 4-6 weeks your body has replaced all the marrow they took.

The second way to donate, that they give you a shot every day for 5 days. It sends your marrow into overdrive producing blood cells and platelets. The booklet said you are bone and muscle sore for these 5 days and then you donate your blood. Once you donate and aren't receiving the drug anymore, the soreness goes away.

There was a picture of each type of donation. I'll admit it's a little scary. Tho' whomever needs the donation is literally fighting for their life so I can't really be much of a baby about it.

The pelvic bone donation showed a person lying face down on a stretcher in an operating room - naked.

Great.

I could be passed out, face down and naked in a room full of people.

That's never happened to me, even on my wildest night of college partying....

Fabulous dessert....

2011-08-22T11:24:00.000-06:00

Had to share this with you guys cuz it's 1. so yummy 2. it didn't make very much clean-up and 3. it was super easy... win, win and win in my book!

We had this after dinner last night compliments of a reader recipie in Better Homes & Gardens magazine:

6 peaches halved and pitted

1/4 C butter - melted

3Tbl cinnamon sugar (3Tbl sugar and 1tsp cinnamon)

1/2 of an 8oz pkg of cream cheese, softened

1/4 C sugar

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Dip the peach halves in the melted butter, arrange them cut side up on the baking sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

In a mixing bowl beat cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla until combined. Spoon into peach centers.

Bake uncovered about 30 min. or until lightly browned and softened.

Serve warm or at room temp. Makes 6 servings.

Dog Days of Summer

2011-08-21T10:31:00.000-06:00

Swappers?

2011-08-17T09:53:00.000-06:00

Hey - I read about this group called The Mile High Swappers in our local paper.... (no - not THAT swapping... think those people are called "swingers".... heh heh)

People sign up for an event - think they have them once a month. Limited number of people allowed - first come first served sort of thing.... you bring 5 servings of something homemade.

You go around and look to see what other people brought... if you are interested in what they have, you sign up on their sheet.... if people want what you have, they sign your sheet... then you swap your stuff for other people's stuff and so on... so I could bring goat cheese and/or goat lotion or soap....

The newspaper article said there are all sorts of things... elk sausage... canned goods... pies.... baked goods.... honey.... preserves.... etc, etc, etc.

I signed up for their website today - they usually do the swaps in Denver but for the first time are coming to Ft. Collins area - which is why it was in the paper.

There is a Sept. 18 swap... 11am to 1pm.... guess you are alerted when you can sign up over e-mail....I joined their website so I can be alerted.... could be a sort of neat thing?

I'm all about the barter system baby!

If anyone in the Denver/Boulder/Northern Co area is interested their site is www.milehighswappers.com

Bone Marrow donation?

2011-08-16T11:34:00.000-06:00

Hey - I just got called as a possible match for a bone marrow donation! I've been part of the bone marrow donation registry since 1994. I was called once as a possible donor but the patient decided not to go through with it and nothing further ever happened.

Got a call today.

Filled out an online health questionnaire - questions similar to when you donate blood. Things like: do you share needles, have you been vaccinated for small pox recently, have you had sex with someone at risk for AIDS, have you had a tattoo or piercings in the last 12 mos., do you take any medications and if so, please explain what they are and why you take them...

I go to a lab on Monday to give blood where they narrow down the match even more. Can take 4-8 weeks from this point to know if I'll move on to the next step toward donation. Could be it ends there.

If I go on to donate, I'll keep you posted about the process.

I think it's very interesting and I hope it happens!

I'm a big believer in giving what you can to help - blood, organs, tissues, marrow... told Furry Husband that he could really and honestly donate my body to science when I die so others could learn or be educated -- think medical or research students.

I know - that may be sort of weird - but how cool that through our deaths, others might have a chance to live?   Even in a round about way from research....

Anyhoo - enough of my ramblings...

If you are so inclined, join the bone marrow registry program and maybe help save a life! Thousands of people with leukemia or other life threatening diseases rely on marrow donations to live - many never find a match. The more of us who join, the more matches may be possible. Join here:  http://www.marrow.org/

* Sort of off topic but not really.... if you ever get a chance - read the New York Times Bestselling book "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Cadavers" by Mary Roach. Awesome book about what happens to our physical bodies when we die.

It's researched, accurate and told with very tongue in cheek humor which I love.  Made me want to donate my body when I die all that much more once I finished reading it!   grin.

Tho' if you are squeamish or don't like honest and sometimes graphic medical descriptors this may not be the book for you. If you are a biologist, medical buff or otherwise geeked about science - I really really recommend this book!

Mrs. Kravitz story....

2011-08-10T12:43:00.000-06:00

I talked to Mrs. Kravitz last night.

Mr. Kravitz is at Sturgis this week.

Mrs. Kravitz told me she's woken up every morning feeling great - no back pain, no knee pain, her ankle isn't giving her problems....

I groaned, "Oh no... it's not Jack Lalanne entering your body again is it?"

"No.. but I did think that for a second! No - it's not Jack Lalanne. I began thinking to myself tho'.... what is different about my day now that Mr. Kravitz is gone? And then it came to me! I have been turning on music and dancing around my house! It must be loosening me up like the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz movie!"

Then she tells me she gets afraid at night because Mr. Kravitz is gone so she's been sleeping with a loaded Beretta gun under Mr. Kravitz's pillow.... and she isn't really sure if the safety is on or not. Does red mean it's on or does it mean it's off?

The Agility World....

2011-08-09T14:13:00.001-06:00

Yowza.

So much to learn! It's boggling my little mind!

We had a clinic sort of class last night because the instructor is leaving for a couple of weeks.  No sense starting up something new for a class then putting it on hold for 2 weeks.

She had this clinic style class last night where we discussed targeting for speed and getting our dogs used to working out and away from us...

We talked about contacts - those yellow zones on some of the agility obstacles. Our dogs are supposed to have 2 paws on and 2 paws off upon leaving an obstacle or they get disqualified - even once they understand slowing down enough when they are running up and over a regulation A frame they can easily pop off and miss their contact or 2 on / 2 off... they need hind end awareness.

Just like with horses, dogs want to be on their forehand and they carry a lot of their weight on their front halves.   Teaching your dog how to back straight up helps strengthen their hind end, as well as teaching them to sit up... then have them stand on their hind legs from the sit up position also helps....

And we talked about weaves.   (weaves scare me) Instructor says contacts and weaves will be the hardest things to learn and those two things are the things that will disqualify us in a majority of runs.

Got to work on your weaves and contacts!

Anyway - once the information was slowly leaking out my nose - she let us go. I wish I woulda brought a notebook to jot some things down.

Toe is having great fun zooming around, jumping, running through tunnels, chutes and over dog walks and A-frames.   He is such a jolly little guy. (tho Furry and I call him the Lil' F*#$er... very affectionately of course....)

Keenan is really digging all this agility stuff as well.... I asked Furry Husband on one of our morning walks if he was enjoying the agility classes. He said he was surprised but yes, he was enjoying it and could see Keenan was having a lot of fun too....

Interesting .... wonder where all this new agility stuff will take us?

Glow little glow worm, glitter... glitter....

2011-08-02T19:46:00.001-06:00

Ready to head to the show 7am....

Obari... Flash... Sera

A and Flash...

Rex and Obari....

Flash with glitter....

Me and Sera Sue... who knew those screamin' green breeches would come in handy? I left my skull helmet cover on... figured if there was ever a time for it... it was now....

Rex and Obari glittered up....

Me and Sera Sue...

I got home at 7:30 that night... it was a really fun day... HOT with 99 degrees and full sun. By the end of the day I was over the sweat, dirt, sweat, grime, sweat, heat, sweat, sun, sweat dust, sweat and... did I mention sweat?

A shower never felt so good.

Next day tho' glitter kept turning up.... on my desk... in my hair... on the back of my neck....on my arms... on my clothes... I went to the restroom and there was even some damn glitter in my underwear! Good grief.

Glitter?

2011-07-30T15:29:00.004-06:00

I'm in a little fun-show thingy tomorrow. A team thingy...

A. from Rex's barn wanted to go, she talked Rex and myself into going. We each ride 2 tests, the team's scores are added together and averaged for an overall score. It's a fun event - doesn't count toward anything. Hopefully it'll be a fun day hanging out with our horses.... in full sun.... 95 degrees.... 8am - 5pm.

Ow.

They wanted us to come up with team names, colors, costumes.

We are bright green because where else would my screamin' bright green breeches come in handy?

Team name? The Lucky Charms. (my idea thanks to having been raised on sugary cereals of the 70s like Trix, Count Chocula, Cookie Crunch, Flintones Fruity Pebbles, Cap'n Crunch, Frosted Flakes etc. etc. etc.)

And I hear there will be stenciling of shamrocks with green glitter on our horses' great big behinds. I've never done glitter and horses before.

What if I like it?

What if I begin to glitter Sera and Rosso all the time like My Little Pony dolls?

I wonder if there support groups for that sort of behavior?

What? there IS no magic pill??

2011-07-29T16:55:00.000-06:00

I went to see The Groper today.

The guy who fixes my back but does muscle pressure holds and manipulations in areas awful close to *ahem* your naughty bits.

Well no more titilation for me... he's into acupuncture needles now and they frigging HURT!

I was cussing up a blue streak at him. Good thing he is young, cocky and everything bounces off him like rubber....

I talked to him about my knee - trying to divert his attention from the needles in my hip, lower back and butt.

Told 'im when I go walking it feels like it over extends sometimes and hurts on the back side of the knee... he said my quads are needed to hold the knee and they aren't doing their job because they are weak. He started talking about little old ladies who come to see him saying they worked out hard weeding or carrying their groceries.

Pause. Heyyyyy.... wait a minute....

"Are you calling me a little old lady?!"

He said I was headed down that path if I didn't start working out again.... I asked him about all the walking I'm doing and he scoffed. "It's not strength building".

Well crap. That'll take the wind outta yer sails on a Friday afternoon. No groping to speak of and being told I'm one step away from being a weak little old lady.

Movie star goats....

2011-07-26T12:42:00.004-06:00

Weird. It was weird.

I loaded up the 2 youngest goats - they are smaller, malleable, friendly, interested in new things. I had grain, hay and a 5 gal bucket o' water cuz I didn't know how hot it'd be, if they needed them to do something for them and the goats would need to be plied with grain or what.... brought Toe with.

Drove 1.5 hrs up the canyon to Pingree Park - there is NO cell reception there. I was praying the directions were good otherwise there would be no way to find them - huge National Park - tons of people camping etc.

I get to the first fork, take the right and the directions are that I should take my first right from that road.... I'm going down this single lane dirt road.... been going prolly 10-15 min and a car comes from the other way - I pull to the side to stop and let him past - he rolls down his window and says he's the rancher that owns the land they are "filming" on... says one of his sons is part of it and sort of rolls his eyes... tells me to go exactly 1.4 miles and there is a really steep road on the right where their campsite is.

Found the campsite - let the goats out who had peed and pooped in the back of the car and lets all hear it for those rubber Subaru mats! I took that out and drained all the pee off it... flipped it over and rubbed it around on the grass....it was gross and I heard a couple of the guys exclaim "whoa..." due to the gross factor....

The guys introduce themselves... then we load up and move on to where they are filming....

2 guys are dressed I guess in older time clothes - one takes the goats - is asking me how to make them follow him and I'm like... uh, walk forward and pull them, they will follow you.... little goaties just going along with whomever cuz they are thinking...where ARE we?

One guy goes up the mountain with the goats.... the other guy has a shotgun. I'm joking "there will be no shooting of the goats right?" crickets. The scene is that these 2 guys stole these goats as they are making their way back home...

The one with the gun yells out - "Jed, they're makin' too much noise - get 'em outta here now - take 'em up the trail" and the other guy walks across the scene leading the goats. (of course the goats are completely silent... guess they'll have to edit in some goat noises eh?)

They are doing this over and over to get the right lighting etc. I ask if they need me there or if I can go hiking with the dog? They tell me to go do whatever and they'll be done in an hour or so and there is another place they want to go to shoot some other scene involving the goats....

I hike around with Toe - there was a stream so that was good for cooling and water for him... .TONS of biting flies... my ankles are chewed up and I am itching them between typing....

Got back to the cars - they weren't done and I sat in the car with the air on, windows up to avoid flies.... listened to NPR.... ate sunflower seeds.... they get back an hour later and say they shot the other scene cuz they found a good spot to do it further up....

The one guy - I think he would have been what some might call "the director" says "oh, your compensation".... he pulls out this sweaty, pathetic, crumpled $5 bill and three ones....stammers and says he has more money at the campsite. At this point I just want to leave and get home....

I say - uh - why don't you give your Dad some good beer, he can give it to Mrs. Kravitz at work and she will give it to me. Kid's face lights up - oh! good beer! oh! ok! That can be your compensation!

I ask them if the goats will be screamin' out their names in the night.... nothing... crickets.... alrighty then. Figure they must be super serious about their art and immune to any sort of humor....

They hand me the goats and walk back up to where all the equipment is... goats are thinkin' - What!? We've been in and out of that damn station wagon twice already... no way jose! I'm left wrasslin with goats and getting them in the car... the kids finally turn around and shout down - "do you need help?"

No shit sherlock. I had gotten the goats in, shut the hatch door and waved the kids off....

Got home....Mrs. Kravitz calls and says WHAT? about the compensation. She says no way - you need $100. I'm going to make his Dad feel so guilty and tell him that his kid screwed my best friend and get you $100.

Whatever Mrs. Kravitz - it's fine - I don't care....

Do you think this is how Joe Camp of Benji fame got started? heh heh

Frogs!

2011-07-24T16:55:00.004-06:00

I have a lot o' tadpoles swimmin around in my pond... I was doing some pond maintenance.... microbial additives and barley straw extract to help with the string algae... adding some water and picking out the string algae when I caught THIS!

You can still see a remnant of his little tadpole tail.....

Do you see it? The tail nub?

No wonder we can't find the frogs in spring when they are singing their little froggie songs... they are tiny! Western Chorus frog haven in my yard and I'm so happy to have these little guys in my tiny pond.... heh. It's all about the little things right? Even if they are little frogs!

Movie goats?

2011-07-22T10:02:00.000-06:00

Mrs. Kravitz e-mailed me saying one of the vets at the Vet Teaching Hospital where she works has a son who needs some goats for a film.

Guess the kid is in a film school in San Francisco... he must be home for the summer and he's making a "short western".   He was desperate to find someone with goats.

Enter me.

It's all about promote the goat, baby.

I gave him a call and I'm gonna take 2 does up to Pingree Park in the canyon Saturday afternoon.  The kid was telling me that I could stay on set as long as I liked and he'd discussed it with the rest of the "crew" that the goat handler could be there as long as they wanted.   He said it like it was a pretty big privilege.

I didn't say anything but I was thinking more along the lines of - ummmm, how long is this gonna take so I can get home and on with my day?

How bad can it be?

I'll take a nice drive up the canyon (wait - 2 goats screaming, peeing and pooping in my car.... maybe not such a nice drive).   I'll bring my little dog, Toe... a book... an iPod.

Tho a co-worker looked at me and said, "Wait. You are taking 2 goats up into the mountains to meet a guy you don't know and have never met?"

Hmmmm.   It does sorta have the makings of a hillbilly gathering gone a little wrong dontcha think?

Aliens....

2011-07-14T14:32:00.000-06:00

When we take the dogs a'walkin' in the morning, the grass is so high in spots alongside the road that all we see is tall grass fronds moving around and our flexi-leashes disappearing into the tall mass o' grass.

I stood waiting while Bequia and Toe were snorflin' around in the tall grass and I thought...

Wow! This could be a movie....

Aliens....

The dogs are in the grass, unseen, snorfling around per usual.... the grass starts moving wildly.... the flexi is zig-zagging in the grass and all of a sudden the flexi snaps back to my hand.... empty.... no dog on the end.... just a frayed, bloody collar....

Hmph.

I think I watched too much of the Aliens vs. Predators movie on some cable channel the other night....

Toe and the bag o' hotdogs....

2011-07-12T08:51:00.000-06:00

So uh.... I was a little over-zealous and trying too hard in my last post about this.

I toned it down... let him just sniff the bag o' food... let him lick it.... moved it a little on the ground so he moved toward it....

Last night in our agility class he bit the bag and was TUGGING it! Hooray!

Who knew I could get so happy over a dog tugging on a mesh bag full o' hot dogs?

I survived

2011-07-11T13:23:00.001-06:00

Yes, I actually survived the three year old's birthday party complete with many little ones so jacked up on sugar there were nuclear meltdowns happening all around me in tiny human form.

Since my niece is the only child in our family she gets a MOUNTAIN and I mean MOUNTAIN of toys. So many that it's overwhelming to me and I would imagine to a three year old as well.

Tho' I did see one of her tiny friends go running thru the backyard waving the primitive gourd rattle in one hand while simultaneously blowing the slide whistle and I had to smile. Little kids LOVE running and LOVE making noise.

I think my niece and her five or six friends had a good time and were adequately sugared up. Isn't that what birthdays are all about when you are tiny?

I was pretty glad to come home to the peace and quiet of our little house in Northern CO... I sat in the sky chairs and breathed in the peace. Ahhhhhh.

Revenge is sweet....

2011-07-08T15:10:00.002-06:00

My 3yr old neice's birthday party is this weekend.

I bought a lovely wooden slide whistle and a gourd rattle from a store that brings in things from other countries and pays back a % of the profit to the locals who made them.

They are both really loud. Really. Loud.

evil grin.

I thought about giving Niece a nice package of colored Sharpie permanent markers.... thought that might be going a little too far.

Picked Sister up some earrings while I was there.... and a couple fancy chocolate bars for each of them.

A sugar high will improve Niece's slide whistle, gourd rattlin', one woman band performance for sure.

The Evil Aunt strikes again....

Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

The funny pages....

2011-07-07T09:33:00.001-06:00

I know it sounds odd - and yet - our subscription to the Denver paper is mostly because of the comics.

Who wants to read about murders, domestic violence, child abuse, animal abuse, who is taking what drugs and shooting people or crashing cars or causing fatal accidents on highways or in bars. Which actor is sleeping with which politician or vice versa. Which politicians are making shady deals or sending pictures of the bulge in their underwear to underage girls....

It's depressing.

Then you move to the comics pages and there are (or were) FOUR whole pages devoted to making you smile. Clever artwork, puns, humor, characters and the comic artists come up with something new every single day. Amazing when you really think about it.

Furry Husband and I ease into each morning sitting at the kitchen table with mugs of steaming hot coffee - mine doctored up with plenty o' fresh goat milk from the girls - and we read the funny pages together.

Then one day, The Rocky Mountain News closed shop and merged with The Denver Post. For a couple of months I was in heaven because they kept ALL the comics... from both papers!

They cut a bunch of comics after taking a poll ... I protested in writing and with a call to the comics editor when they took some of the comics I enjoyed. Nothing changed, the comics I missed weren't brought back....I figured compromises had to be made.

They recently cut another bunch of comics. No warning. No reason given.

Sigh.

We didn't renew our subscription and let them know it was due to the further comic page cuts. I wrote to the comics editor again and I don't have much hope they'll bring anything back.

I don't want the paper for all the violent news... we have local news channels and news radio.

I subscribed online to DailyINK for some of our favorite comics like Bizzaro and Rhymes with Orange. The rest are found at GoComics. Really not the same tho'. Our giant black cat Mojo can't dive under the paper to play.... the easy morning rustle of newspaper pages.... the smell of newspaper and ink....

Give me back my funny pages!

The phone call....

2011-07-06T08:23:00.000-06:00

We call Furry Husbands Mom on Sundays usually. Every once and a while tho' we get so busy running around and with chores that by the time we get inside it's 9pm or later and Mom-in-Law lives in a time zone one hour later than ours. We can't call an 84 yr old woman at 10pm her time....

We were fixing dinner last night and I grabbed the phone to give her a call.

She answered the phone, flummoxed that we would call her on a Tuesday night. She asked if we were trying to confuse her and that she felt like the Monty Python skit called, "Confuse the Cat."

We really weren't trying to confuse her but that had me laughing... confuse the cat.

HA!

New way?

2011-07-05T15:31:00.001-06:00

Waaaay back in the day I thought it would be really cool to take a dog and train him up through the Utility level. I went to a giant dog show held at the Western Stock Show Complex in Denver with a friend from college back when I was 18 I think.... watched a Utility class and it was so cool to see dogs that tuned in to their owners.

I had a dog but he was a mix breed (Bloodhound X Aussie Shepherd - people always asked me if he was a Catahoula dog) and at that time you couldn't compete with your mix breed dog in "real" events. You could go to fun shows or practice shows but it just wasn't real in my mind. Where I got this idea to compete I don't really know.... I worked with him enough so that he was a very nice obedient dog, had a great time with him, loved him immensely but obedience competition never really went anywhere.

When he died, Furry Husband was in the picture. We met with the woman who taught the basic obedience classes I went to with my first dog and brought some different breed profiles we were thinking of. She worked with dogs and taught dogs - we figured she'd have some good insight and I wanted to go purebred so I could show in AKC obedience.

We discussed pros and cons of the breeds we picked out and decided on the Gordon Setter.

I took Booker everywhere but was told not to do very much obedience work with him because I would "break his spirit" for the conformation ring.  Booker was a wild man. Oh, he absolutely LOVED everyone and everything but he was a wild man. Not a mean bone in his body. He really thought he was the mayor of Denver and wanted to shake every one's hand and kiss every baby.

We did conformation and it just wasn't my thing. He was nice enough to win occasionally - he was middle of the pack - nothing spectacular but certainly not horrible either.  I didn't want to keep going with it.  shrug. It just wasn't my cup of tea tho' I do enjoy watching conformation from the sidelines and we always tune in to Westminster Kennel Club every year.

We began obedience work and we were the number one Gordon Setter in the US for Novice obedience published in Front and Finish obedience magazine. (probably not a whole heck of a lot of Gordon's doing obedience work - they aren't generally great obedience working dogs) People would tell me what a nice working dog he was and how it was great to see such a happy dog in the show ring after we went. I won a prize in one of my competitions - it was a decorated 8x10 mirror which I keep in my cubicle at work to this day so I can check my teeth for spinach particles.

We moved on to Open obedience and it was a lot harder. The training methods got a lot tougher. I didn't know I had options. I thought this was the way it had to be. I started to feel like each lesson I was beating my dog into submission (no I didn't really beat him) and the instructor was beating me.... he wasn't having any fun and I certainly wasn't having any fun. We got one qualifying score in Open and I quit. Just about that time my Dad got really sick and it was a pretty intense emotional time. I couldn't focus on the obedience work, I wasn't having fun and there were too many things going on that were pretty un-fun in my life.  I took a break from the un-fun things I could control and the break became permanent.

Decided after a while that I didn't mind not having all that pressure and someone yelling at me all the time and I sure didn't miss forcing my dog, in sometimes pretty hard ways, of doing things. I loved him and decided I didn't need a dog that obedient if that is what it took. I just let him be our dog.  He was well loved and still goofy, happy and wonderful. He was a really good boy.

When Booker died, I wanted another happy, go-lucky companion I could take anywhere. I truly appreciated Booker's optimistic nature, tho' I wanted a smaller dog. Booker thought he was a lap dog but at 75lbs... I'm pretty sure my bruised uterus and ovaries from his paws/elbows in my gut gave a big sigh of relief when I started looking at smaller dogs.

I really wanted an English Cocker Spaniel. Seemed like some Gordon Setter people also had English Cockers.... the English Cockers were still a gun dog, active, not too small but not too big... they had merry temperaments - not frail - I was already used to grooming a long haired dog. I'd met two in an obedience class with my first mix breed dog so long ago and always thought they were lovely dogs.

Enter Toe.

Dog training changed a lot in 10yrs. It's all about the clicker now. There are a bunch of 100% positive only methods.

I read a book about dog training 100% positive. Oh my. That author wanted you to change your life in ways you wouldn't believe in order to keep the dog 100% happy 24/7 no matter what the dog did. It was unsettling and very odd. If your dog wants to bite you, let him and be sure to give him your other hand to keep him interested and happy - don't mind the disfigurement cuz it's all about the dog and his happiness. That wasn't gonna work for me and really turned me off looking at other 100% positive training methods... but I didn't know what would work.

I decided this time around I'd explore different doggie avenues vs. obedience only. I tried Tracking...Rally.... I thought I knew enough and could do the Novice obedience on my own without paying for classes or lessons.

That didn't turn out so well... we got our Novice title but no one was coming up to compliment us on our work in the ring.   I didn't want to go back to the previous methods and didn't want to go the 100% positive route either. Thought I could do it on my own. Turns out I didn't do so great left to my own devices.

Feeling pretty lost about knowing anything in dog training right about now actually.

I started reading this book called Control Unleashed. It's geared more for Agility.... but there are some really interesting concepts in this book. There are more positive methods and they work... so far.

I started with something simple - something I knew from way back.  Only this was a new way to teach it.    It worked faster that the old school method and so well it's sort of blowing my mind. I'm really excited to try some of the other exercises - I see the practical applications of them and the theory behind the methods makes sense to me.

I'm messing around with the exercises in it with both Toe (supposed to help with focus in the ring) and with Keenan.  This book was recommended to me after Keenan's Cujo moment for dogs teetering toward aggression because of fear... I'll keep you posted.   Really different but interesting exercises. I'm all geeked about it and it's sort of nice to feel excited and hopeful vs. clueless and frustrated.

Tug

2011-07-01T09:16:00.001-06:00

I'm taking this agility class right?

We discussed using "tug" as a motivator vs. food. You can play to reward your dog vs. feeding him... a different motivator to get him pumped up and excited.

That's great. Cept' Toe doesn't tug.

There is a mesh bag you can buy online at http://www.tug_it.com/ to teach your dog how to tug. Put some sort of softer food in the bag with the idea that when the dog bites the bag, the food squishes out the mesh holes, he's rewarded and the lightbulb will go on for the tug game.

The agility instructor tells me to play with Toe every day for 5 minutes. Even if he doesn't play back, be happy and playful and pretend like he is playing back with me. She assures me this will work and Toe will become a dog who loves to tug.

Every day I take my mesh bag of squished hotdogs outside with Toe. I squeeze the bag so the inside of the hotdog is coming out of the mesh. And yes!, it is just as disgusting as it sounds.

Toe stands there... stump slowly wagging... looking at me dubiously like "What in the...." and I proceed to dance around like Muhammad Ali... float like a butterfly...sting like a bee.... waving the mesh bag of smooshed hotdogs in Toe's face.... lightly hitting him with the bag seeing if he'll bite or go after the bag. "get it, get it, get it, get it" I squeal as I dance around my little dog with the bag of hotdogs.

It's not working.

He's beginning to run away from the crazy lady dancing around him, talking in high pitched excited words and hitting him about the mouth, chest, neck and head with a mesh bag full of smooshed hotdogs.

I've said it once and I'll say it again....

2011-06-30T14:59:00.000-06:00

Thank the good Lord above for farm boys.

Had a trailer load of hay delivered the other night.... and our hay person has her 17 yr old son unload and stack it. I love that kid and his youth and muscles.... and not in a lecherous, dirty, old-lady way.

Rode Sera Sue bareback the other night. I really need to get me a suede bareback pad. She has tall withers that makes my ....... cringe.

I'm going riding at my friend J's house Friday night....not sure if it will evolve into a trail ride or not. She borders that giant ranch land with permission to ride out on it...

Made arrangements for a trail ride with some friends July 17....

I haven't ridden tons... the wet spring and quarantine halted things but good. Can't imagine I'd show Third Level this year without much work put in and it's already July... looks like that'll happen next summer. In the meantime... bareback, trail rides and finally workin' with Rex again to move onward and up the levels in the Dressage will keep my little personal horse goals movin' right along.....

Bomb Scare

2011-06-29T09:29:00.000-06:00

There was a bomb scare in our building yesterday.

Turns out one should not leave their backpack in the bathroom across from their suite when they go to yoga over lunchtime.

Turns out the bomb squad gets called in.

Turns out the police and security guards knock on all the suites and question everyone inside them about said backpack; no one knows about the pack because that person is at yoga.

Turns out the building almost was evacuated.

Turns out my peaceful yoga bliss evaporated almost instantly when I returned to work and discovered my backpack was in the lobby surrounded by police and security guards.

Namaste everyone, Namaste.

Rinderpest and Agility

2011-06-28T09:24:00.000-06:00

I read in the paper today that Rinderpest is officially extinct now. It was a cattle plague assisting with the fall of the Roman Empire... Ghengis Khan's Mongolian take-over...

Any civilization depending on cattle was at the mercy of Rinderpest.   And now we can all sleep a little more sound knowing it's extinct right?

RIGHT!

Week 4 in agility... a little frustrating.... Toe was zero'd in on me last night vs. looking forward or ahead for his target.   Which is a little funny since in his obedience I couldn't get him focused on me enough and now he is too focused on me to do his agility exercises well. Poor little guy - has to be confusing to him at this point!

"Geez mom... look at you.... don't look at you.... what in the hell do you hairless bi-peds WANT from me???"

However we'll stick with things and it's only our 4th class... we'll git'r figured out one o' these days!

Keenan, never having done much with obedience other than a puppy class is doing well and is happy and fearless over her obstacles.   Tho' she is S-L-O-W.... trots happily through everything without a care in the world. La-la-la-la-la.... stroll in the park....

Cujo?

2011-06-27T10:30:00.000-06:00

I had a scary incident with our big, half livestock guardian dog, Keenan last weekend. She is pretty tall, lanky, 55 lbs and 8 mos old.

Her personality is very different from my little Toe dog and it's expected. Livestock guard dogs are not overly friendly or social... they need to be wary of new people/dogs/situations in order to guard their property and livestock. We don't need her to be super social and outgoing but we do need her to accept new situations and behave in an acceptable way. She doesn't have to like new dogs or people but she has to learn how we expect her to behave around them. I know livestock guard dogs can be difficult...I've met many that aren't but I know they can be.

She's been to a dog show while I was in the ring with Toe... she accepted all of the dog show commotion, people and dogs calmly, laying at Furry Husband's feet.

We took her to my sister's house with people and dogs she didn't know... she was happy and relaxed.

Furry Husband takes her to play disc golf at local parks and she is relaxed and obedient.

She goes to doggie day care two times a week - more to help burn off puppy energy than anything else. While she is there, she interacts with staff and many dogs in a controlled environment - they've never had a problem with her. She plays all day long and likes to nap with the small dogs when they have their quiet time.

She goes to agility class with strange people and dogs and is accepting and happy.

She is typically shy with new people and if they ignore her, she approaches them, takes treats, wags and warms up to their attentions.... she is still a puppy after all and who can resist puppies? We never force her to be social because I don't want to turn her into a fear aggressive dog.

I took Keenan and Toe to my friends' house last weekend. T & L have a loud, excited, happy German Shepherd. He barks and carries on with enthusiasm but wouldn't hurt a fly and is not the least bit aggressive.
I pulled into their drive and Norman began doing his thing - barking, carrying on.

Keenan went ape shit. She turned into friggin' Cujo before my eyes....

It was scary and I'd never seen her like this in any socializing situation. She was so "out there" and agitated - lunging, snarling, in full-on kill mode that I had to break her focus from Norman and get it on me... I ended up stringing her up with the leash - frankly I didn't care if she passed out because she was that "out there". She wanted to go after one of my friends who came over to see if they could help and I know she thought about biting me when I was trying other things to get her focus on me.

This was a life or death situation.

If a dog bites a human, it's a death sentence. Right or wrong - these are state laws. Human safety is first and foremost. Humans mean more than dogs and biting is never allowed. (I'm not talking puppy playing and mouthing - I'm talking full on dog bite with intent to harm)

Once she looked at me the leash loosened and she got praise... if she lunged and began Cujo'ing out she got hung with the leash.   I had no other option at the time - it happened so fast and it surprised me with how very out of character she was.

Once she was calmer, we went into the yard - Norman was on leash lying quietly. Keenan stayed on a loose leash lying at my feet.... she was not happy, grumbling and hackles still raised but she was not Cujo anymore.

We got a squirt bottle and if she growled or moved toward Norman in any sort of aggressive way, she got a squirt and a "Leave it"... she eventually relaxed and could be near Norman, she wouldn't look at him but she would tolerate being near him, standing next to him etc. She could be near my friends while remaining relaxed, wagging while they petted her and gave her treats. She got lots of praise and cookies while she was relaxed.

It freaked me out. I talked to the owner of the training/dog daycare place to see if we needed a consult with our dog. We worked with Keenan in a head halter, otherwise known as a gentle leader or a halti.   Much better option - provides lots of control while their mouth is unable to open wide for biting vs. hanging your dog with a leash...but hey, the first situation was desperate, surprising and I was unprepared.

I took Keenan and Toe to my friend's house this past Friday night armed with treats and the halti. We were trying to recreate the situation that happened the weekend before. Norman was barking and excited just like before.

Keenan was perfectly normal. Totally and perfectly normal. So normal that after watching her interact with Norman for a while and seeing her remain relaxed, we took her off lead and took the halti off. She was relaxed, happy, and the dog we know and love.

So what the heck happened? I know dogs go thru fear stages around 8 mos... did something that day strike her in her fear stage just the right way? Of course we always watch her and are aware she can be shy in new situations but after last weekend....   I worry a switch will get flipped and she will turn into Cujo.

A friend of mine at the barn confessed to me, her dog a Border Collie mix did this same exact thing around 8 mos and she was also terrified he was going to turn into an aggressive dog because he was so "out there" when this happened. Just like Keenan he was lunging, snarling, freaking out. He was at the vet office when he turned into Cujo. She worked with a dog training friend along with her vet to work him through the fear, and now he absolutely LOVES going to the vet. You would never think this dog could act this way - he is happy, friendly, playful and obedient. He hasn't exhibited the same behavior again....

I haven't had a young puppy in a long time and I haven't really had a breed that can be difficult in a long time either. You forget about all the work that goes into them to make them sound, sane dogs in all sort of situations when they are adults.

Reality check....

2011-06-23T09:15:00.002-06:00

I'm reading the book by Denny Emerson, How Good Riders Get Good.

It's a wonderful book... very positive and yet very honest. I'm about half-way through and just devouring it. He is such a kind and wise man who has been involved with horses in so many different ways... saddle seat, The Tevis Cup endurance, eventing, olympic level competitions... seems like his interests just go on and on. He knows what he's talking about.

His book had me thinking about my goals. What do I want to get out of riding?

Had a good talk with Rex.

Reality check.

I'm gonna stop riding Rosso. I enjoy him on the ground - he is low maintenance and a good pet.

I'm in Northern Colorado - I'm not on the East Coast or in California or near any sort of top showing circuit. I don't have goals to compete at top shows... I don't have goals to break and train young/green horses and get good at it.... I don't want to do lots of traveling to big shows so why am I torturing myself with all the anxiety around Rosso.

Rex asked, "Riding is hard, why not have some fun along with the hard work? No one says you HAVE to ride him. If training young/green horses or disagreeable horses is your goal then yes, keep riding Rosso but I don't think that is what you want."

I thought about what I want.

I want a sound, confident horse that I can have fun with while learning Dressage... I want to increase in the levels and get to top levels. I want to compete and do well locally but I don't want to show extensively. I'd like to show enough that I get "over" myself and it doesn't make me so nervous. More bareback rides along with trails tho maybe not at the same time - grin - to get out of my comfort zone, do something different that compliments the dressage work and increases my confidence/seat. These are my goals.

Rosso is not a good fit for those goals and it's been causing me so much consternation. WHY? Just let him be a pet.

Put my time, effort, focus, attention and money into Sera where I am having fun, learning, progressing and moving forward. I wanted to try training a young horse - I did that with Sera. Got started with Rosso - he is trained well and a model citizen on the ground. If he had been a different horse maybe it would be different. I wanted to experience starting a young horse cuz I thought it would make me a more rounded horse person. I did and it did.

We discussed that I'm not looking for another horse right now. When the time comes, as Sera ages, yes... I would like a 7-8 yr old horse with some initial training that has been to a couple shows. Think solid Training Level horse that has shown a few times and has potential. A horse with potential and some training put into him/her will cost $.

I'm gonna start putting the $ I'd use for Rosso's lesson each week into a savings account (gots to start somewhere) and we'll go from there. Years from now (knock on wood Sera stays sound and healthy) we can begin looking for a started horse that is a good fit/match for me and my goals...

Feels sort of good to have that all resolved.

IF a good home comes up for Rosso fine... tho' I doubt that will happen.

And that is fine too cuz he is low maintenance, lovable, keeps Sera company and he really is a rescue - he was free - has a cataract - not the best front leg conformation - broken front teeth - the chiro vet I've had out thinks he broke his pelvis at one point along with his withers - probably pulling back and going over backwards... and he is sort of nut job in his brain from his race track days.

I feel better....

Now I really can get focused on what I want to do... DRESSAGE and hittin' some trails.....

Puts your poor little psyche out of whack to try and be or do something not in line with where you really want to be... took a while for me to figure it out.

Stubborn I guess.

Agility week 3....and HORSES

2011-06-22T10:47:00.000-06:00

Finally making plans with horses again... been a lonely horse spring with quarantine limitations. My tracking buddy J is also in the agility class and she has reining horses at home. After agility we talked about going on some trail rides... I know she will think I'm boring but I'm not going to go scaling up rocks with Sera. She will just have to dummy down a bit til I get my trail ride seat...

I have a lesson with Sera Saturday morning.... lessons with Rosso forthcoming....

I bought a book, "How Good Riders Get Good" by Denny Emerson to help with the Boyd and Silva Martin barn fire out East. Part of the proceeds from that book go to them to help them recover. It's making me think.... not sure that is always a good thing. grin.

Agility is still going well. I think it must be hard to instruct people who don't know what they are doing and have to watch us all fumble around....

We practiced a front cross doing a pinwheel exercise with some low jumps. I was nervous cuz I'm very directionally challenged and trip over my own feet constantly... I remembered to "turn into my dog" and focus on the outside jump pole for the end of my front cross. Shew. AND I did it without falling down. Bonus.

Still practice the 2on/2off... the teeter slam... and the jump chute... and an exercise for weave pole entry. Next week we will practice the rear cross for the pinwheel exercise.

Can't wait to get me arse in the saddle for a real live training this weekend.... I think there should be a military flyover for celebration.... confetti.... spotlights....

I cheesed the cat....

2011-06-21T09:17:00.001-06:00

Mojo, our giant 25 lb black cat who thinks he's a dog, was sitting at the door whining to go out. We were making some spinach/mushroom quesadillas for dinner. It was beginning to get dark.

I had the mozzarella cheese bag in my hand... I looked over at Mojo, "Moji - you can't go out, silly cat!" I shook the bag of cheese at him from half way across the room for emphasis.

... uh... cheese bag was open. I hadn't closed it yet.

Shredded mozzarella cheese sprayed everywhere... it was all over Mojo... the bench by the door... the floor... in our shoes by the door... everywhere.

The dogs were pretty happy that I decided to sprinkle the entire kitchen with cheese. I gave a giant GASP and started laughing.

Furry Husband says calmly, without turning around or blinking an eye as he was flipping the quesadilla's over.   "Honey, did you just cheese the cat?"

How does he know?!

Cuz he's been living with me for 13 years and is well aware of how "special" I am....    grin.

Pickle...

2011-06-20T11:27:00.001-06:00

There is a situation at my place that has me in a pickle about what to do.

Furry Husband and I go walking many mornings with the dogs... we walk to the South and if we go far enough we pass this house. Last fall this house added a horse to it's little paddock/pasture and we noticed because there are metal t-posts with no caps on top, barb wire, scrap metal, a camper and a snow mobile in this enclosure.

Not that I'm judging - people do all sorts of different things with animals that I don't choose to do. But as we walked past we made a comment that our horses would surely kill themselves in an enclosure like that... they are hotter and Rosso is a huge drama queen who's run himself into and through a fence at least 3 or 4 times since we've owned him. The metal and barb wire would have ended his drama pretty abruptly. This horse however seemed calm, older, quiet and has been fine in this pen without any injury to itself.

This spring we went walking in that direction far enough to pass this house.  This horse has lost a dramatic amount of weight - he's lost the winter coat and we hadn't been down that way in a while. I looked online and he's probably a 3 on the Henneke body scoring system. He was in good weight when he arrived in the fall. His hooves are very long and beginning to dish up which makes me think "neglect".

There isn't enough grass or weeds for a horse to live on in the pen. Right now there isn't any grass or plant matter at all - he's eaten everything. I don't see any signs of hay bales or tarps that might be covering hay anywhere. I could be wrong - I'm not on their property.

Maybe these people brought this horse home as weed/grass control. He could be ill.  Tho', he seems bright eyed, isn't cushionoid, walks normally... he looks o.k. He is older - but he isn't as old as Brandon or Jess were... he just doesn't have that super ancient horse look about him.

Furry Husband and I discussed going up to the house to talk to the people... I hesitate to do it because I would expect a lot of anger if we did. A neighbor suggested we offer $ for the horse to save it. Someone else told me I should be prepared to take it if I talk to the people.

Only I don't want another horse right now. And while I care, why does it fall on us to pay for someone elses lack of responsibility?

Horses aren't cheap... vet, farrier, vaccinations, feed... and they live a long time. I think most of the animals we have are rescue.... 2 dogs from animal shelters.... 5 cats we found that were stray/feral/sick - we trap and spay/neuter any other cats that show up and try to re-home them or if they are feral, we release them back where we found them (google Trap, Neuter, Release for feral cats) .... I've had 2 free horses cuz no one else wanted them... I feel like we do our part to help give a home to unwanted animals.   We spend a lot of money on our animals to give them good vet care, food, training.... our financial situation isn't great but we do o.k.   We don't have unlimited funds, time or space to keep bringing home animals in need.

At the same time, it's not right that this animal could be starving and we are supposed to turn a blind eye?

I submitted 2 reports to the Larimer County Humane Society, asking for a home visit and education to this address... the horse may or may not be in a neglect situation.  I've been leaving messages for a horse rescue near Ft. Collins.   I've offered a donation to the horse rescue if someone can come out to evaluate/educate the situation. I'm trying not to make assumptions but trying to get help from an organization who's job it is to do this sort of thing if it's needed....

I'm thinking about dropping off some bales of hay for these people to feed... I don't want judge or be holier than thou and I would really rather not even be IN this situation thinking about getting into these people's business..... I also don't want to see an animal that might need real help and ignore it either.

What in the....

2011-06-17T14:21:00.001-06:00

Furry Husband called... Keenan, the 8mos old, 55lb, very tall, Akbash/Aussie mix puppy....
was STANDING on the cat perch in the window.

Yes.

Exactly like the one pictured here. Just standing there looking out the window.

It is plastic and cheap. How in THE hell did it not break with a large dog STANDING on it? And WHY was she standing on it? She is tall enough to see out the window by simply turning her head to look.

Next thing you know, we'll walk into a room with her standing on one of the ceiling fan blades for the ride 'round and 'round.....

Do they remember?

2011-06-17T08:05:00.001-06:00

Furry Husband was moving some hay bales this morning. Consolidating piles... 1st cutting is here, 2nd cutting here... a little of 3rd cutting over there...

While he was moving hay bales he noticed peanuts tucked between the bales.

We have bird feeders, one of which is a platform feeder. We put whole raw peanuts in there for the Blue Jays. The jays take the peanuts and hide them all over for later.

I find them pulling weeds or when we move something that hasn't been moved in a while... it always makes me smile to think about the jays hiding them and I wonder how many hidey holes do they actually remember?

*sidenote* and what is UP with the middle-age waking up at 2am and not being able to go back to sleep thing? 4 outta 5 nights this week I was awake at 2 or 2:30... blink, blink.... wide awake....not sleeping...

Agility week 2

2011-06-16T10:12:00.000-06:00

Yikes. Week 2 is funny. We are all new, none of us knows what we are doing and we sure do fumble around a lot in general as a class. Which is good - we are all starting out at the same level! Funny to watch tho' I bet.

We are still having fun and I am still way uncoordinated! grin. I knew this going in and it's one of the reasons why agility scares me! Second being course memory....

We learned front crosses and rear crosses in our 2nd class.

Good thing Furry Husband is NOT so uncoordinated and he can do the footwork and better yet, remembers the footwork! I went to practice with Toe last night. I remembered how the rear crosses went... I started to practice the front ones and could not for the life of me remember how a front cross went...

Just then he pulled into the driveway and was able to show me.... will have to do that over and over so I can get it cemented in my noggin.

Next week we do some exercise the instructor called "pinwheels".

Gulp.

Better keep practicin' my front and rear crosses cuz a pinwheel sounds complicated!

Comparisons....

2011-06-15T11:09:00.000-06:00

Do you ever struggle with comparing yourself to others? Man - I really do. Always think so and so is smarter than me or stronger than me or knows more about X than I do and I get really down on myself.

It's sort of a silly thing to do and yet I can still get really wrapped up in it and feel completely miserable.

Good to take a step back, a deep breath and think... it's o.k. to be different from each other. I have my own strengths and my own thoughts. They don't have to be the same as so and so.

I think we wish for the strengths we see in others when we see them cuz we don't happen to have THOSE strengths... we seem to downplay our own because we already have 'em and are familiar with 'em. They are old hat.

Grass is always greener sort of thing I guess.

And those are my deep thoughts on this fine Wednesday in June.

I'm looking for some other horse outlets... the EHV-1 virus put a kabosh on things and Rex is leaving for AK for a couple of weeks... I tend to be more goal oriented in my tasks which is why I like the lessons - they give me things to work on.

Was thinking about other horse pursuits I could do... jumping? Meh. Don't think I'm courageous enough anymore. Barrels or other gymkana events? No interest. Endurance? Also no interest.

One of my goals this year was trail riding. Where do I find people to go with that can go easy on me until I'm more comfy? I'm good getting out of my comfort zone but I don't want to be over faced with steep, narrow trails on my first rides....

Pasture time...

2011-06-14T12:42:00.000-06:00

We began turning the horses out on pasture last week... we turn them out for a short time in the AM and the PM for a week. We increase the time a little bit the next week.... a little bit more the week after that and so on until they their systems can handle the lush green grass and they can stay out all day long.

When Brandon was alive I'd call them in by shouting, "C'mon B! Bring 'em in buddy! C'mon B!" Brandon's head would come up out of the grass and he'd faithfully come in with the younger red horses right behind him, following his lead.

The first time I went out to call the horses in, I had to remind myself not to call for B. It was right on the tip of my tongue.... ghost of summers past.... C'mon B.... I called out for the horses. "C'mon ponies! C'mon Sera Sue... C'mon Rosso!"

In unison... as if they were synchronized swimmers... both horses lifted their heads from the grass, swivelled their necks to look in my direction... paused for a moment .... gave me a "yeah right" look and swivelled their heads back to resume eating.

Huh. (me standing there with my hands on my hips takin' in the scene)

Well, that's not gonna work.

Life without Brandon...

I grabbed halters and went out to get 'em. I walked up to each, put the halter on and led them quietly in. Did that for a week.... there is 1 flake o' hay and a small handful of grain in each feed tub as incentive to come in....

Now I call and they both come walkin' in...

What good, red ponies!

Just took some adjusting to a new routine....

Agility!

2011-06-13T09:03:00.001-06:00

We have our second agility class tonight with Toe and Keenan!

I thought Keenan might be a bit of a spazoid being 7 mos old but she was good ... there are 4 other people besides Furry Husband and myself... nice, small class. A dachshund named Bear (love it!), a Golden Retriever and my tracking buddy J with her husband and their two English Cockers....

The instructor was great - knowledgeable and fun. She taught us about target training using the lid from margarine type containers... starting out with a treat on the target and working toward treating our dogs whenever they nosed the target... moving it further away so they had to go to the target to touch it. It's teaching them to work away from us because they will have to go out to jumps and obstacles in agility vs. staying close to us like obedience work. (heh - not that Toe stays close to me in obedience work like he's supposed to anyway! grin.)

We also learned the 2 on, 2 off concept. The dogs have to have 2 paws on and 2 paws off the yellow contact areas on the end of the obstacles when running an agility course. We practiced using the Aframe.

There was a short table next to the Aframe, letting them jump up on the table to get onto the lower third of the Aframe. Our targets were at the bottom. When they reached the end they were treated, told wait with 2 feet on and 2 feet off... released with a happy OK! and treated again.

We let them run thru a weave pole set up... at this point the weave poles are far apart with pole standing on the right and left while the dog runs through the open middle... the poles will get closer and closer as the training progresses.

Last thing we did was introduce them to the teeter... the instructor held the teeter just a few inches from the ground while our dogs put their front paws on to get used to the drop and sound it makes when it hits the ground.

All exercises were done from the right and left sides so we get used to working with our dogs on either side. Different from obedience when dogs are always on your left. A harder concept for ME vs. the dogs ... isn't that always the way it is?

It was great fun - our dogs were happy to work for food and seemed to enjoy figuring out the agility equipment and what we wanted them to do.

I'm looking forward to tonight!

The necklace

2011-06-11T13:17:00.002-06:00

I don't remember if I mentioned that my friend Meg, an artist, was going to make me a small piece of horse hair pottery made into a pendant from Brandon's tail hair. She makes all sorts of pottery but I wanted something I could wear and have close to me....

This is the back of the pendant ...

And this is the front of the pendant. I wanted a design in the clay... I think she did a great job. Can you see how it's a horse head profile that makes a heart?

Meg knew Brandon and I've known Meg since she was 12 and I was a 20-something. It's nice to have this made from someone I know and who knew my Big B. Brandon will always be in my heart.

Fly Sheets....

2011-06-10T08:41:00.000-06:00

I went over to Mrs. Kravitz's house last night. She bought a fly sheet for one of her horses and it didn't fit. I thought it might fit Sera. It didn't and I took it back to Mrs. Kravitz.

Went home and I sprayed Sera with some spray....

Rosso has a fly sheet because he will literally run to get away from the bugs until he's made himself colic. (tiny bit on the dramatic side, that one)

Sera doesn't really NEED a fly sheet, she won't run until she's sick but the mosquitoes are particularly thick right now with all the rain we've had.

Next thing you know, here comes Mrs. Kravitz, pulling into our driveway... she brings me another fly sheet. Tells me it's another spare they found in their garage and if SHE had a Third Level Dressage horse, you can bet it'd be covered.

I thanked her and told her I'd just sprayed Sera with bug spray...

"Oh, that shit'll give you breast cancer. Just use this...." shoving the fly sheet into my arms and crawling back into her car to drive away before I could say anything else.

Meet Poly....

2011-06-09T10:12:00.000-06:00

As in polydactyl. See her extra toes? Makes her look like she has mittens on. I bet she is great in the snow....

We had one of those nights a couple weeks ago.

Keenan, the LARGE, 7mos old puppy who is a skilled counter surfer, nabbed a sponge from the kitchen sink and promptly ate it.

I was in the process of giving her some 3% hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting vs. risking it making it through her system... which worked almost instantaneously by the way.... hur-gack, hur-gack, hur-gack....

Furry Husband ran her outside to monitor and retrieve the sponge...make sure she didn't eat it a second time....

The phone rang and I was talking to a lovely tho' extremely chatty person, the sort that doesn't really let you get a word in edgewise... when I hear Furry Husband yell, "HONEY? CAN YOU COME HERE A MINUTE?"

Thinking something was going wrong with Keenan, I tried to get off the phone with the lovely person to no avail... I went outside and Furry points down our little gravel path. He says there is a cat down there writhing around and he thinks it might be injured. He's holding Keenan back, monitoring vomit, picking up sponge pieces and can't go investigate.

I walk down the path and find this little tabby cat writhing around, not cuz she's injured, but cuz she is in heat.... I scoop her up (all the while with Ms. Lovely talking in my ear) and move her to our bunk house with food, water and some spare blankets for a bed.

She is such a nice little cat... completely friendly... loved the belly rubs.... she was pretty dirty, matted and hungry. We got her spayed and found her a home with 3 kids... I guess the youngest daughter carries her all around and loves her to death which is great cuz we have 5 cats and really didn't need any more!

Mystery cheese....

2011-06-08T10:46:00.000-06:00

I read somewhere that no matter what your cheese turns out like... it's still cheese. Maybe not exactly the cheese you were trying to make, still a cheese of some sort.

We had some birthday parties for friends coming up and I wanted to have some soft chevre to give... I tried to make a chevre from buttermilk and rennet vs. the direct set starter packet I buy from New England Cheesemaking Supply.

I opened up Mary Jane Toth's book, Goat's Produce Too!, and found her recipe for chevre. It called for cultured buttermilk from the store to ripen the cheese and rennet to curdle the cheese... I think my milk amounts and rennet amounts were off.

I got the curds as usual... all looks well so far!

I put the curds in butter muslin to drain the whey.... and when I pulled them out to mix them with some sea salt... the texture was weird.

Really weird.

It was like working with a sticky bread dough....

Too much rennet?

It's in the fridge aging and cooling... I ended up not giving it to anyone for birthdays because I'm not sure it's gonna taste good or have a pleasant mouth feel... who eats raw bread dough? I made more from direct set culture because I didn't have time to mess around with getting my rennet to milk ratios figured out...

Gonna have to give that one another try... wonder if it'll taste good or change in texture with some age in our "cheese cave"??

POOP!

2011-06-07T08:40:00.001-06:00

We got up early this morning to go for our little 2 mile walk with the dogs. A few houses down, all 4 dogs rush over to sniff something that must smell really good to a dog.

The 7 mos old puppy, Keenan, came away from the sniff fest with something in her mouth. It looked like a crumpled up piece of paper...

Furry Husband pulled her over, reached into her mouth to take whatever it was away and I suddenly heard,

"AHHHHHH! POOP!"

He sounded like and his face looked like a South Park cartoon with all those lines on the outside of the wide, shocked, cartoon eyes and he held his poop streaked hand out in front of him looking at it in horror. Turns out it was poop mixed up with a dried leaf.

I'm still giggling....

Tack cleaning and honey badger....

2011-06-06T10:28:00.002-06:00

Went to a tack cleaning party Sunday afternoon. Since we are all staying home til the o.k. is given for the EHV-1 virus, we hadn't seen each other and we figured we could be productive, chatty and clean up our tack. Boy is my tack CLEAN now... maybe I'll ride Sera bareback with a halter from now on so it stays that way. grin.

Had a nice afternoon chattin' with all my barn friends. A couple of them are really, really, really (did I say really?) into CrossFit. They are talking about doing some team competition thing and having honey badger shirts made. I didn't get the honey badger thing.

One of my friends pulled it up on YouTube for me... and if you haven't seen it yet, here it is.

*lightbulb*

Now I get it.

Nasty, bad ass, honey badger!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg

Cringe, cringe, cringe....

2011-05-31T16:36:00.000-06:00

Toe went to his Novice B class today with B and T, his breeders, watching.

Uh. Right.

It was as if he'd never heeled a day in his LIFE.

He was all over the place, never once looking at me.... it was awful. I had to call him to heel 300 times and even then he never looked up and he maybe only thought about where I was for a brief moment before he resumed sniffing, investigating and circling halfway across the ring...

Worst he's ever been and as you can see from the Mountain States video in the last post... it's not like we've ever been rockstar with our heeling as it is.

Oy.

Embarrassing.

What can you do other than keep going?

Dogs and horses. They keep you humble.

We finished our class, we did NOT qualify, which doesn't surprise me. I'm tellin' ya, it was B - A - D, BAD... and not a in good bad ass way either.

Monday we take our first agility class. At least we will be under instruction and anything we learn can only help. It couldn't get worse. I don't think anyway....

I've heard/read about how you have to be the cookie for your dog. Be the best, most exciting thing so they want to be focused on you and they are ready to spring into action with any word you might utter.

Boy.

I was mos' def'ntly NOT the cookie today.

I was a piece of 3 month old, unappetizing, boring, dull piece of dryer lint off in the far corner calling Toe heel! Toe heel! Toe heel!

Toe got his CD title!

2011-05-30T10:44:00.002-06:00

We showed Saturday - I got there an hour early - it's IN a hotel. Which I thought was weird but they are small dogs and I've been told a lot of small dogs have shows in hotels.

The hotel saran wrapped the carpeted ballroom floor! And on top of the saran wrap they had placed those mats for dog shows with a ring gate around that....   Next to the dog show ballrooms there was a medical convention with medical talk and slides etc. going on.

I didn't know where to set up my kennel.  No one had kennels in the room with the ring.... there were grooming areas but I hadn't paid for a grooming area because I didn't need one.

I asked a guy who seemed to be in charge... he put me in a storage room... mostly Toe was going to be with me but if I needed to put him in a kennel for some reason I wanted to have it there.  The store room was an empty ball room with behind the scenes dog show things like more ring gate stuff, extra gift bags, misc. equipment and there was my one solitary kennel for Toe!

I took my Rescue Remedy for nerves... warmed up... Toe did seem really focused on me and happy to work...so I was hopeful. We went in the ring - the on lead heeling was pretty good. Lost focus a couple times, felt the leash get tight a couple times...I stepped on him once when he was not paying attention and I had a left turn... maybe that's good for him to pay attention!!!

He did his stand for exam really well... even tho' he had wiggle butt for the judge... he did his stays nicely.... he came when called with such enthusiasm that people laughed and he sat in front... he finished and sat so his sitter wasn't broken this time like at the Mountain States show.

The off leash heeling? Started out GREAT! and then we did an about turn.

The room was small enough that people were sitting next to the ring - so close their knees were almost touching the ring. All the shows we've been to, no one really sits next to the ring and I hadn't thought to proof him or expose him to that sort of scenario.

The about turn in my heeling pattern put him next to the people and he thought... "Oh! They are here to see ME!"  He stopped to visit.... walking along the ring gate looking at all the people and wiggling his charming little stump tailed butt.

I had to call him to heel again cuz I had lost him.

We were in another part of the ring for the off leash heeling pattern, he was distracted by people and went visiting again.... I was halfway across the room and called him to heel a second time... his face clearly said, "Oh yeah! I forgot!"  He came running and was near heel position and then it was over.... shew.

Everyone laughed cuz he was really funny about the visiting. Hey, at least he was entertaining!

I thought they allowed you to call your dog once but if you did it again you flunked.... and someone said to me after I went - "too bad you had to call him a second time".... so I figured I flunked.

But I passed!

And then I felt guilty. (hello, Catholic schooling for 12 yrs!)

Thought because the judge is a woman I know from tracking and it was a specialty and I know they are more lenient at specialty shows but thought maybe I was an outright cheater cuz of the 2nd call to heel and I still passed - tho' I didn't ask anyone to pass me... but still, I was more worried about that than the fact I qualified if that makes sense?

Afterward, on my way home, I called a woman I'd taken a private lesson with to tell her about his qualification and title. I asked her about the call to heel ... she said yes, at specialties and nationals they are more lenient but you CAN call your dog to heel more than once.

Normally you don't if you want to get a good score but it's not an outright flunk if you do, it's points off and the judges discretion about how many points off.. shew. I felt better about it.

Wonder if he'll go visiting on Tues now that he's been in the ring and done it and seen how it is?? Will still show Tues. cuz they can't take the title away! I'm holdin' onto that sucker with both hands! Grin.

I could see he had improved from his last show at Mountain States and someone told me Saturday, when he was on, he was spot on... he just isn't on all the time for heeling in the ring.  That is the time thing with me rushing it and thinking he was ready when he just quite wasn't.... so I'm cool with it.

He had improvement and I was happy with that! His sitter wasn't broken, he wags the whole time he's in there and he had some really nice moments. Yay Toe!

I wasn't sure what to expect at the show cuz I wouldn't really know anyone... Toe's breeder's, B and T, told people if they saw a brown dog to introduce themselves to me.  It was funny because people I had no idea who they were would come up and say, "Is this Toe? Hi, I'm so and so...." and we'd chat for a moment. It was very nice of everyone to do that, I felt very welcomed and everyone was so nice to us.

B and T showed up in the afternoon and I hung with them, watched the conformation dogs go. Fun to see the English Cockers groomed to the nines. I would have hung out to watch anyway and was nice to spend some time with such fun people.... 0

B helped me strip Toe to take the fuzziness away and leave the hard coat....I can't seem to get it... he spent 10-15 min showing me and using a stripper on Toe...

Anyway - it was a very nice day, I had a good time and Toe got his CD honestly which makes me feel a lot better! I dont' want to be a cheater!

The woman from the Mountain States show posted a YouTube of us if you want to see - this is the show we were in May 7 and 8.  Here's the link if you can't see the video:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krV9lryF6gg

Rain leads to cheese...

2011-05-21T12:29:00.000-06:00

Seemed like everyone else was getting rain except for CO.

Well... now we have rain.

Lots of it. Mini lakes and mud to your knees all over. I think I saw a school of fish in the goat pen last night.   Since it is cool, muddy and gross outside, I don't really want to be outdoors. I'm thumbing through my cheese books for recipes.

I'm making a batch of feta right now... remembering when I overheated the milk accidentally but being too cheap and stubborn to dump the milk, I tried the recipe anyway. The feta turned out really creamy and delicious vs. chunky like you think of feta being.

Today I purposefully heated the milk to 170 vs. 160 while pasteurizing it. I think the day I discovered this phenomena, I had forgotten the milk on the stove and it hit 180 or 190... I'm playing around with the temperature a little.... seeing what it's gonna do to the cheese. What will 170 bring?

Want to try some other cheeses... will do a St. Maure again. The first time I tried it, it wasn't humid enough for form a rind and I over salted it.   It became inedible as it aged from the salt. Yuck.

I have some new ideas about aging cheese using humidity. It's been my biggest struggle...how to get humidity?  *lightbulb goes off* I'm gonna try clear plastic storage bins... put some water in the bottom, place a rack in the bin, cheese goes on the rack ... cover it up and voila, humid cheese cave in a very dry clime.

Added bonus?   Automatic dog protection! Out of the 7 St. Maure cheeses that were aging at room temperature, we had one disappear without a trace. We think Sammy, our counter surfer dog, had a taste.... guess he thought it was too salty too because he never stole another.

Wanna try a farmhouse cheddar that takes 4 weeks vs. 6 months to age and while I expect failure before I get the hang of it... would love to figure out a Camembert. I'll keep you posted to my cheesing adventures....

See?   The pastures aren't the only thing benefiting from the rain!

We got a flying change!

2011-05-17T16:30:00.002-06:00

My last lesson started out well... we warmed up and immediately hit the shoulder-in on the circle. That exercise that makes Sera mad?   I'd practiced it at home and was crossing my fingers there would be improvement.

Sometimes you practice and you think you are kickin' ass and takin' names but when your trainer sees you or you go to a show? You find out that maybe all that ass kickin' was mostly a mental fantasy vs. reality.

However, this time our shoulder-in on a circle did improve and Sera was more uphill because of it.   While it still made Sera mad, it didn't make her AS mad if that makes sense? We worked her out of her snit with some leg yields, half pass and trot extensions.... all work she really enjoys.

We gave her a walk break.

After the break, Rex says, "OK, lets try some flying change... pick up right lead canter and in the middle of the arena, ask for the change to the left lead...."

I took a deep breath, asked for canter, told myself not to think about it too much... I didn't give myself a warm up circle but looped out of the corner toward the middle of the arena.  I asked for the left lead.

Sera shook her head at me, pinned her ears and tho' I couldn't see, I'm pretty sure she wrinkled her nostrils in distaste at me... and she changed... perfectly... not late no half steps - a solid, clean, flying change! She stayed relatively round, deep and through! No kicking out with both hind feet, going on the forehand or inverting into a big, ugly capital U....

I immediately gave her both reins, stood up in the stirrups and began skritching her neck and telling her what a great, smart, fabulous mare she was.   She dropped into a big, springy trot... neck arched, both ears pointed so far forward you'd think they grew out of the middle of her forehead, chest puffed out and she looked so danged PLEASED with herself!

We ended the lesson there....   good, good, red-headed mule!

Due to the Equine herpes virus type-1 (EHV-1 or Rhino) neurological outbreak after the National Cutting Association's Western National Championships in Ogden in Utah (April 30-May 8 2011) and with 3 confirmed cases and 9 horses being investigated in CO... we are all staying home until this nasty virus is figured out.

I can enjoy Sera Sue at home and I'm awful glad I had such a nice lesson to end on if I have to take a break from learnin and workin on new things....

Turd in the punch bowl

2011-05-16T16:04:00.000-06:00

That's me.

I'M the turd in the punch bowl. grin.

Y'all know I'm trying for Toe's novice obedience title at the English Cocker Nationals on Saturday the 28th and Tuesday the 31st, right? He has 2 scores and just needs ONE more! I think we can do it!

To improve our very sucky heeling, I need to get Toe out and about, so he gets used to paying attention to me with all sorts of distractions. I've been smuggling him to work on cool days (we aren't supposed to have dogs in cars in our parking lot). I cover his kennel with a blanket so no one can see and he can't see to bark at any one or any thing.

At lunch time we go on our little adventures. We go to parks, Home Depot, PetCo, Wilburs Liquor Store, sidewalks in front of strip malls... and I practice heeling with my little stump wagger.

When we practice in public, people will stop to watch the dork with the dog in weird places like a liquor store heeling up and down aisles... making right and left turns... going fast and slow... and some will smile and tell me, "Oh, he's so GOOD! He listens to every word you say! How do you do that? Did you train him yourself?"

And that makes me giggle on the inside because they have no idea that we really suck.

Then I'll go to random obedience drop-in classes. These classes have people and dogs who have been doing obedience competitively for YEARS. When I show up to those classes I'm the turd in the punchbowl. People sort of automatically give me wide berth and instinctively move away from me, not making eye contact.

Toe isn't spot on, competitive obedience like these people and dog teams are. They don't know what to do with me.  When they group up in teams of 3 for a figure 8 exercise... I'm the last one picked and you can tell the instructor feels sorry for the other 2 people that have to be paired with me. Or the instructor will make blanket statements loud to all the people like, "If your dog can't do X, let me know..." while looking at me.

I'm the new face and no one knows what I know or don't know. Quite frankly, I don't know what I do or don't know anymore either.... dog training is really different after 10 years!

It's o.k. I don't take offense at all. I know I sort of rushed this novice obedience thing without realizing it.  For some reason after 8 or 10 years pass, you forget how much goes into all the obedience work and it seems like it should be easier than it is... you sort of think you know more than you do and then you find out ya really don't.

Whoops!

And did I tell you I signed up for a June 6 beginner agility class? Gulp. Agility scares me - I think The Little Toe dog is gonna think agility is great fun... and as long as he's happy....

Strawberry Avocado salsa

2011-05-14T10:23:00.001-06:00

I tear out magazine pages of recipes, I put them in plastic sleeves and I keep them in a binder. I have one binder for meals and one binder for desserts/baking.

Dork much? Yes.

We try new things a lot with this method of recipe hunting I have. Some of them are gross and earns that magazine page a trip to the trash. Some are pretty good but the time, effort and dirty dish ratio to make them means we will rarely make it again. Other times things are really, surprisingly GOOD and EASY and have a pretty low dirty dish ratio when all is said and done!

This is one of those surprisingly good, never in a million years woulda thought to pair these 2 things together, so glad I tried this recipe and it's so easy sort of magazine pages.

Brought to you by Cooking Light - strawberry avocado salsa with cinnamon tortilla chips....

2tsp canola oil
6 (6 inch) whole wheat flour tortillas
2tsp sugar
1/2tsp cinnamon
1.5 cups chopped ripe avocado (about 2)
1cup chopped strawberries
2Tbl chopped cilantro
1tsp minced seeded jalapeno pepper
2tsp lime juice
pinch of salt

preheat over to 350

brush oil evenly over one side of each tortilla

combine sugar and cinnamon - sprinkle evenly over oil-coated side of tortillas. Cut each tortilla into 12 wedges (I used a pizza roller) arrange wedges into single layer on 2 baking sheets bake at 350 for 10 min or until crisp.

Combine avocado and remaining ingredients, stir gently to combine - serve with chips. Chips can be made in advance - cool completely and store in an airtight container until ready to serve.

So light, refreshing, unexpected.... the hint of cinnamon is a taste sensation with the salsa... the whole wheat tortilla chips ground the flavor with that nutty whole wheat tone.... this is definitely gonna be my "go-to" summer dish for any parties or potlucks.

A friend of mine thinks it sounds gross... not sure she'll make it even with all my crazy pleading for her to just try it! If you end up making it, tell me what you thought. Is it as big a hit in your house? I'd love to know!

Car Shopping

2011-05-13T14:29:00.001-06:00

Furry Husbands car took a major dive. It was slowly falling apart before our eyes and we weren't going to sink any more money into it.... he began car shopping. No new cars, simply new to us.

He decided on a Subaru Forrester....

Every one we found would be snatched away - sold - before we could look at it. We decided to widen the search area and voila!

I found one 30 min from the dog show I was at last weekend...

Sunroof, heated seats, breaking the pattern of all white cars with the color black and most importantly a MANUAL transmission. Very few cars are manual anymore and this is something Furry really wanted.

I called the dealer three or four times that day... I couldn't get out there before they closed that day to see it... but I'd be out the next day for the dog show and could I come see it then? Did they need a deposit to hold it? They wouldn't sell it out from under us? It was exactly what we'd been looking for!

Yeah - the opposite of what you are supposed to do with a used car dealer I'm sure. The complete and total opposite. Showin' all my goods. I know. I'm an idiot.

Saturday I left to go see this Forrester from the dog show.

Furry Husband calls and says, "Honey? I'm off the Forrester. I decided I want an Outback instead. That dealer has a 2005 manual transmission Outback... will you look at that one instead?"

I rolled my eyes at his fickleness with cars but said I'd look at the Outback instead. I didn't think to call the dealer and tell him about the change of plans.... a used car lot is a used car lot is a used car lot. Right?

Nope.

This particular dealer keeps all the cars bumper to bumper in a warehouse/showroom. Nose to tail. So tightly parked you can't even walk betwixt them.

I walked into the showroom.

The sales guy shakes my hand eagerly - awaiting his easy sale.

The Forrester is polished up, apart from the showroom of sardine-like packed cars, lights shining down upon it and he says, eyes bright..."And HERE is the Forrester!" I think he even moved his arms like Vanna White showcasing a letter in the Wheel of Fortune.

I didn't even glance at the Forrester.

I said, "Um. Yeah. My husband doesn't want the Forrester anymore. He wants me to look at the 2005 manual transmission Outback Turbo."

The sales guy was completely still. Smile stuck on his face. You could tell he was trying to understand what my mouth just said.... and then? His whole face crumpled and he uttered a very quiet, "Oh."
He slowly looked back over his shoulder at the warehouse of cars parked headlight to taillight.... the Outback Furry wanted me to look at was in the far corner, next to the warehouse wall, 3 cars deep from the side and 12 cars deep from the front.

The sales guy swallows hard and says quietly... eyes forming tears and lingering on the magnificent Forrester showcased in all it's shiny, black glory.... "Well... I'll need to move some cars around...."

Poor guy.

I had to pee super bad and I didn't want to wait for him to move 15 cars.

Yes the showroom had a bathroom but it was 4 walls with no ceiling, in the middle of a warehouse... with 5 salesmen sitting in a group outside the bathroom. You KNOW each and every drop of urine I expelled would be heard by ALL of them.

I have a shy bladder.

I'm not peeing in a bathroom projecting sound like a friggin auditorium in a warehouse full of guys. Besides, you know the second I tried it, a fart would emerge and it'd be a really embarrassing fart noise, not a cute dainty girl fart but a big, disgusting sound you could never pass off as a squeak from your shoe, sort of noise.

I tell the sales guy - look - we have an appt with the Longmont Subaru dealer to have a car checked out on Monday from your place. If you take the Outback in on Monday and it checks out, we can go from there. I'm sure this car starts and drives. I don't need to drive it.

I leave the dealer and head back to the dog show.

Furry Husband calls and asks me about the car. "Did you drive it? Is is fast!?"

I decide to tell a white lie.... I really, really have to pee and I think I might wet myself at this point.

Yup! It sure is zippy, honey!

He replies, "Oh good! Because I found the exact same car here in Ft. Collins - everything is the same except the one I found isn't a turbo. The dealer is letting me take it home tonight so when you get home you can drive it and tell me the difference!"

Crap.

Crap, crap, crap.

See what happens the minute you tell a lie?

Favorite New Blog Posts

2011-05-10T10:07:00.002-06:00

Went to Mountain States dog show this weekend... picked up a second leg for Toe's novice title. His heeling is still really sort of suck-i-licious.

Like a banana flavored Tootsie pop.

You think it's gonna be good until you put it in your mouth and then all you wanna do is lick the carpet to take the flavor away....

BUT, my good friend and dog diva, Hez, was there and watched us go. She gave very helpful advice and it was like a life line given to someone floundering in a pool of heel.

We'll see if I can't work on making Toe and I's heeling much better and not so painful to watch for the English Cocker National show at the end of the month. English Cocker National?? Wha??

It's the SUPERBOWL for English Cocker Spaniels.... think of Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl.....only all English Cockers.... YAAAAAAAA

The people who created Toe are are gonna be there and my goal was to get his Novice title in front of them... give a little shout out to their breeding program, kennel name and a thank-you for my wonderful, stump-tailed, happy dog that I love.

In honor of dogs, dog training and the challenges one might find therein, please go read the posts listed below. You won't be sorry.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/11/dogs-dont-understand-basic-concepts.html

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/07/dog.html

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2011/04/wild-animal-simple-dog-goes-for-joy.html

I was having trouble taking in air after reading these posts because I laughed so hard .... it was a welcome change from the sadness of the last post.

Brandon

2011-05-03T20:20:00.001-06:00

This is Brandon. The bay, 15.1 or 15.2 gelding.... my Mom bought him for $1,200.00 in 1986 for me. He was 8 yrs old and I was 16 at the time. I send the woman I bought him from an update every Christmas.

I started riding him as a hunter/jumper. We jumped 3'6" fences... he rushed his fences. Always rushed and used that giant neck o' his to get him up and over the jumps. His sire was an Appaloosa, his dam a Quarter Horse.

I took some eventing lessons on him back in the early 90's. He didn't rush the cross country jumps, he really enjoyed them and went right along jumping all of them. I almost entered a 3 day event show but the entry fee was too high for me so I never did.

When I was 16, I was in a bad car accident that broke my leg cuz of a drunk driver running a stop sign. The very next weekend I was supposed to go on a mock fox hunt with Brandon. I woke up in the hospital wondering if I could ride in the hunt with a cast....

I started taking Dressage lessons on Brandon in 89' I think... walked up to a house that someone told me the woman inside gave lessons.... knocked on the door.

She and her family were getting ready for church but she took down my number and I started taking lessons in Dressage from her. I'm still good friends with that woman and joke that she is my 2nd mother. She has 3 daughters and 1 son ... one of her daughters is my age. I began taking lessons from her oldest daughter when she retired from teaching. And her son is one of our neighbors...

They all know Brandon and have known him since I knocked on that door one Sunday....

Brandon used to throw riders that couldn't sit his trot and I was dumb enough to put beginner riders on him thinking THIS time, he'd be good. He had a wide back and didn't move much but the trot is hard for people who don't ride.

He was really comfortable to ride bareback... I used to try to hop on him like some people can without the aid of a fence or step up. Poor Brandon would stand there and tense up cuz every time I tried, I just kneed him in his kidneys and never really made it up. I gave up the idea and Brandon breathed and I'm sure, peed, a little easier.

The last show I rode him in was at First Level in Casper, WY. He took a first place and a second place.

I used to ride him before Dressage was very well known around here and he used to get first or second placings in the Dressage Suitability classes. This was definately pre-warmblood horses and way before Dressage took off in CO!

As he aged, he had ringbone and Cushings. We bought him boots to help his feet when they got sore from the founder Cushings causes... sometimes they worked, sometimes not.   Most recently he was on Previcox and was really doing well.

I groomed him this past Thursday night - got his top lip going cuz he was itchy with winter hair - Furry Husband fed before I was done grooming and Brandon was prancing and trotting ahead of me on the way back to his pen cuz he wanted to get to his mush. It made me laugh at his old man antics.

Even tho' he couldn't eat hay anymore, he still was the boss of everything...

Anywhere I'd ever boarded him or kept him, he was always the top horse.  When I brought home young TB horses he kept them in line and they looked to him for comfort. He was a very wise babysitter and disciplinarian. One look would put Sera and Rosso on their best behavior.

When our young Holsteiner colt hurt himself so badly one night long ago, Brandon nickered and nickered until we came to see why he was calling softly over and over and over.   If not for Brandon, we wouldn't have found our colt til morning.   Our colt still died but at least his suffering didn't last all night long.

He used to look in our bedroom window when we first moved into this house - before we had our pens set up. He would stare and when he caught sight of movement or heard us talking, he would nicker until we got up. When we came out of the house, he'd be standing next to his food tub. We always got a kick out of that.

Brandon was a good friend. I enjoyed his friendship for a long, long time and he was a really great little horse.

Sunday afternoon Brandon colicked. He was very painful - normally stoic - not so much with this one and I knew it was bad. Our vet lives 4 houses down and was over in 10 minutes. He either had a twist or a tumor strangling his intestines. We put him down in our front pasture before he was in agony. He didn't suffer long or much.

A service called Greener Pastures came to get him the next morning. We weren't home. Didn't wanna be home. She takes them to Ault, CO and buries them individually - said she says a prayer for them before they are buried. That felt comforting.

I'm doing o.k. I knew he was old and wouldn't last forever.... he was 33. It brings me great comfort and peace of mind to know I was there to help him quietly and peacefully out of this world. He brought me so much happiness and taught me so very much.

We loved him and he will be missed.

Sera Sue

2011-04-28T09:52:00.002-06:00

Had a lovey ride on my sweet red-headed mare last weekend. Well - actually it wasn't lovely.... but the previous two lessons were so nice. She was really round and deep and coming out through her withers - I could feel the forward, uphill, smooth, recycling of energy.

She is normally tense in her neck and I know I always will have to work on getting her deeper and reaching out to my hand... it's her "go-to" evasion.  Those last two lessons were so nice. Like but-tah. I thought - oh, maybe we've finally gotten it? Maybe it'll be like this from now on?

Well. No.

Last weekend's lesson Sera warmed up beautifully, round, deep, coming over her back, forward and feeling the motor from her hindquarters pushing her onward.

And then we began shoulder-in on a circle.

She HATES shoulder-in on the circle. HATES it.

We pissed her off.

Her stride became choppy and very up and down like a piston, her neck came up and became stiff like rebar, while her ass swung back and forth like a barn door any time I put any leg on her.   Sigh.   We worked through it, got some decent try and moved on to flying changes.

BIG, GIANT, 2-LEG KICKS behind with her ears back telling me just what she thought of that idea.   And when she's kicking with both barrels?   All that weight that is supposed to be shifted to her hind end?   All that weight is on her front - on the forehand - the opposite of what we are shootin' for.

The good part about our lesson tho' is that I know what it can be... I know how forward and soft and uphill she can be. The piston, up and down, flinging around gave me a very dramatic taste of what we don't want and for me, it's good to see, feel, work through it.  It was an extremely clear demonstration of good vs. bad.

Sure was disappointing after having the good Sera Sue... even tho' it was sort of cool to truly feel the complete difference between her good side and bad side.

She's like that nursery rhyme... There once was a girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead... and when she was good she was very, very good... and when she was bad she was horrid.

That's my Sera Sue!

Oh - random sidenote:   I say her name affectionately like Tsera Tsue... with a bit of a T sound in front of the S.

Mrs. Kravitz asked me last weekend, "Why do you call her Tattoo?"

I guess it does sort of sound like that... I had to explain my weird, affectionate, nick-name with my Ts in front of my Ss....

When does it ever turn out so right?

2011-04-27T13:46:00.000-06:00

In our neck of the woods, hardly ever.

Now that Furry Husband is working Saturdays, I told him what I wanted to get done last weekend. I wanted to re-seed our pastures.

I called Poudre Valley Co-op and talk to their seed man. Priced out some dry land pasture mix and talked about seeding rate - 25 lbs per acre. Would be nice to get the equine pasture mix... but we only have irrigation 2x a month in summer and it can be so dry. No sense spending more money and risking a miserable failure.

Saturday, while Furry was working, I stopped to pick up 100 lbs o' the dry land pasture seed. Figured we probably had 3 acres to do but the West pasture is pretty thin and I wanted to use more than the suggested rate there.

Sunday we got up, read the paper, sucked down some morning coffee and headed outside to hitch up our harrow. Furry Husband harrowed the first of three pastures on our little 5 acre lot. As he moved to the second one, I started the hand casting seed ... throwing it left and right. The day was cool, cloudy, with a slight breeze and that was just fine cuz out it helped distribute seed as I scattered it into the air.

We finished all three pastures in roughly 4 hours.

That night it rained... a good, steady rain with NO wind.

Monday morning we were all smiles, fist bumping each other and saying how awesome we were. (as if we had anything to do with the weather) It stayed cool and damp all through Monday with rain showers... today there is wind but it's not 40mph, more like 15 or 20mph.... think the damp, muddy seeds will stay put for the most part.

And we all wait.

The horses look out over the pastures from their dry lots wistfully waiting for their summer salad to grow....

You can't eat just one...

2011-04-26T09:00:00.002-06:00

I had a dream about Lays regular potato chips.

Not just a dream but a DREAM.... I touched, looked at, tasted each chip individually. I heard the crunch, enjoyed the salt...

I ate the whole bag.

I even scrounged all the little broken crumbs - licked my fingers from the salt and grease. And I experienced guilt in the dream about eating the whole bag of chips.

We don't keep potato chips in the house and there were no potato chip crumbs in bed when I woke up.

It was a good dream. All the satisfaction with no calories.

The dream was almost as good as the ones with Ian Somerhalder in them.....

Bits and pieces....

2011-04-20T15:09:00.000-06:00

I don't have any cohesive stories or news today but I'll share what is buzzin' around in my little noggin.

We get 1 or 2 hummingbirds each year and I never really know when to put out my feeder ... I looked it up online last night at http://hummingbirdworld.com/h/migrate.htm#by-state

Late April for Colorado. Animal dork anyone?

I'm assuming that is when our Bullock Orioles will reappear too...

I started thinking about the nectar feeders and springtime things arriving cuz our little pond frog came back and is singing it's little song. Sounds like if you had a plastic comb and you ran your thumbnail over the top...

The Western Chorus Frog has been back for about a week and we've noticed another frog answering it's call just last night! Ooooo - we'll have frogs gettin busy in our little pond. Nice we can provide them a little spot for some boom chikka bow bow.

No wonder I can't find the little frog no matter how hard I look around the pond ... lookit how tiny they are!

I took Toe to PetCo today to practice our heeling. Wow. Yeah, he isn't so focused on me when he's out in the big, wide, world. That is a hole in his training and I just need to get him out and about more and more and more. 16 more days til Mountain States dog show. That means 16 more times of "out in the world" heeling, getting him focused on me vs. everything else and hoping things straighten out a little bit for the show.

Good news tho' my bud Hez will be at Mountain States and she's bringing me BAKED GOODS! I'm drooling already....

Mrs. Kravitz and the road base

2011-04-19T09:01:00.001-06:00

It's been pretty windy here - springtime with all the changes in temperature and thaw and cold - wind brings change. There's been a couple days with 50+ mph winds... other days with sustained 40 and over 30mph winds.

It's the sand blasting your face, pushes me around (and trust me, I ain't no delicate flower), feels like you are on some desolate space planet with a red sun sort of wind. I've had horses with ulcerations to their eye in wind like that - stuff inevitably blows around horrible and some piece of grit or something gets in there. Luckily mine have been relatively small and easily cleared up with lots and lots of eye ointment once the vet came out to have a look-see.

Mrs. Kravitz's 2yr old horse that she rescued had an eye injury. She called the vet we use because her vet was too far away. Vet told her she's only had to send 2 eye injuries to the hospital in her lifetime and this injury needed to go.

Mrs. Kravitz loaded up the 2yr old and took her to CSU Vet Hospital. They found the object - they thought it was a piece of roadbase - and it had taken out 50% of the cornea. Poor baby horse! Probably it got in there and baby horse rubbed her eye because it was so uncomfortable and that caused so much more damage... she has a hard plastic cast over the eye to protect it with drainage tubes coming out. She will be fine but no one knows how the eye will turn out at this point.

And no one is happy to hear this - it really sucks to have an injury like that to one of your loved animals!

Mrs. Kravitz is convinced that the roadbase stuck to the filly's eye due to tar. Tar on the at least 8-10 yr old roadbase was so sticky that once it met the eyeball it STUCK there like a sticky note to your office paper.

The day after this happened, the neighborhood was out cleaning irrigation ditches to prepare for irrigation season. Furry Husband was working alongside Mr. Kravitz when he noticed Mrs. Kravitz driving up and down the drive in front of their house. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth - over and over and over again.

Furry Husband asked, "So - Mr. Kravitz.... what exactly is Mrs. Kravitz doing?"

Mr Kravitz replied since the vet hospital thought roadbase damaged the filly's eye, Mrs. Kravitz was "packing down" the roadbase that makes up the drive with the car.

Alrighty then.

Ch-ch-ch- changes....

2011-04-18T11:29:00.000-06:00

Since it's all "official" now with both old and new employers/customers/friends/family... I can share that Furry Husband took a new job and started today. It's been a little funny at our place because while he was in negotiations for the new job, he was also having to sell his devoted little wifey (that's me) on the new position.

It's a little scary to have him change jobs - his income and my income are both very needed to maintain our funny little lifestyle. We don't need a bunch to keep us happy... but we do have many little and not so little furry mouths to feed, a mortgage to pay, and things in our life I'd rather not give up.

Being the "Super Salesman" he is, he set up a very good case complete with factual documentation about gas prices (he'll be driving probably 200 miles or more less per week), salary history to show me the new job's offer was within what we've been living on along with other benefits.

He won me over.

Probably inevitable that he would cuz when he's happy I'm happy - but it was stressful and negotiations went on for awhile. Trust me, I had many zits pop up in the last month from stress. Big change is just hard. Goats don't like it, horses don't like it, dogs don't like it, I don't think cats like it either... suffice it to say us hoo-mans struggle with it as well.

He called today to let me know part of his new job as a wine buyer for the 7th largest liquor store in the state is that we'll "have" to attend wine dinners paid for by his new employer.

Sigh. Guess I'll "take one for the team" this Wednesday night with him at our first wine dinner.....

*wink and saucy grin

Conquerer!

2011-04-16T18:26:00.000-06:00

Had a lesson on Rosso today. First one in a couple weeks due to spring vaccinations on one Saturday and Rex being out of town the next weekend....

He warmed up per usual on the lunge line - very obedient. I climbed aboard. Fine. We walked around to warm up, kicked it up to trot and he was really good and forward and listening. He had a short walk break and when I asked him for trot again, he did his thing... but only for a moment. He gave it up and we went on.

Rex said we should give him a break before going to canter... I was like ... ummmm no. He is naughtier when he's had a break cuz he doesn't want to go back to work so I'd rather do the canter work now.

Unless you think we should try to get thru that b.s. again. She said no - lets go ahead and do canter work and not ask for a fight.

I started on his right side - the side that is weaker for him - it's better to do the harder stuff earlier when they are less tired vs. them being tired AND having to do difficult stuff on their hard side... I asked him to canter and he farted and kicked and bucked.

I brought him down to trot and I have to ask again cuz now we are IN IT. If I give up now, he knows if he makes a fuss, he won't have to do it and his "fuss" will get bigger and nastier. So I ask again - head shaking and trying to buck again... back down to trot... ask again. He cantered - it was the wrong lead but he cantered and it was decent and not trying to be a jerk.

We turned and went the other direction... again - bucking and farting when asked to canter - or attempting to buck anyway - always feels MUCH bigger when you are on them than seeing it from the ground. Took a couple tries of bringing him down to trot and re-asking and then got a canter and it was good and forward and no bullshit.

I let him walk and then we were done. Felt good. I didn't lose my seat at all - I stayed on - I won the battle and every time this happens I will gain more and more confidence. Told Rex - if a fearless 19 yr old comes along and wants to go galloping over hill and dale - Rosso is theirs.

In the meantime, I'll keep riding and building confidence and until he can learn to be a polite member of society under saddle he'll have to live in the indoor when he's ridden. Once he's more obedient and I know what his crap is and I feel confident I can handle it - ultimately that is my fear - that things will spiral out of control and I won't be able to handle it and bad injuries will occur to him and me.

Once I have that confidence, we'll ride outdoors again.... I'm learning and I'm good with where things are now. At least I'm on him and dealing with his stuff successfully... it will only get better. Will make me stronger and a better horse person.

Anyway - feels good to have conquered! Good lesson for both Rosso and me for different reasons! Tomorrow I get to ride my girl, Sera, and I know that is always a good lesson.... my reward for riding the brat-child.

Experimental Chicken

2011-04-12T10:15:00.000-06:00

The woman who helps me with tracking for Toe - asked me if I wanted some raw chix. Some company she works for does chix studies... then butcher the chix and the employees can take them home. I said sure as long as I won't be contaminated with hormones, drugs or radioactivity... she laughed and said no.

I gave her a smallish cooler - the only hard sided cooler we have - and I came home to it packed to the gills with raw chix - blood traces - some raw chicken bits on the outside of it. (there was a dead guy found in a suitcase in Denver and I'm imagining this as I am handling the cooler)

She told me cuz the chix was just butchered, I needed to wash it and put it on ice for 2 days to cool it. I guess you can't put freshly butchered chix meat in the freezer or it will sour. I thought I could just cook it all and freeze it but she said no to that too. It has to age. She said I don't hunt otherwise I would know this...

I told her I'm glad we can still be friends even tho' I don't hunt. She didn't laugh. But I was.... on the inside.

I got home from the dog show with a bag o' ice from the gas station where I filled up... I drank a beer for courage cuz I think raw chix is totally GROSS. And I washed off 20 to 25lbs raw chix... mostly breasts and thighs with the drumsticks attached. There were wings but I don't really eat wings unless sometimes at a bar but know I wouldn't prepare wings. Some of the wings have ID tags in them... like leg bands for identification but wing bands instead? Made it that much more special.

I put ice in the bottom of our Thanksgiving Day turkey roasting pan, put a layer o' chix parts, more ice, another layer of chix parts, covered it with tin foil and stuck it in the fridge in the bunk house. Washed the rest, emptied out the cooler with bloodied ice water in it - cleaned the cooler - put ice in the bottom, the rest of the chix bits, more ice on top and stuck that in the bunk house fridge as well.

I put all the chix wings in the now empty ice bag, tied it shut and put it in our trash can outside.

Gross.

But cool cuz we have 20lbs o' free chix. Can't believe I did that. You have no idea how wiggy I am about raw poultry. (yeah, yeah - whatever - I grew up friggin city kid eating chef boy-ar-dee from a can for meals with a single dad who didn't really cook so cut me some slack - I'm just lucky I wasn't stunted or my bones grew malformed from some vitamin deficiency - hey, let's hear it for Flintstones chewable vitamins!) I spent 30 min. sanitizing the area when all was said and done... bleach, bleach and more bleach. Ewww.

Furry Husband and I bagged it up last night and stuck it in the freezer --- after I spilled bloodied experimental chix water all over the floor moving it to the kitchen for final rinse and freezer bags.

Our dogs thought that was way cool.... mmmm.... raw, bloody, chix water! and ran to lap it up. We put them out and I bleached the floor.

Poor dogs... I never let them have any fun.