MOOZLES!

I stopped at the feed store on my way home to get bird seed, suet and raw peanuts. (Evidently I feel that I don't feed enough animals and must feed the wild things as well...)

I saw a sign "buy 2 Moozles dog chews, get 1 free". What a coincidence... we happen to have 3 dogs.
Ummmm - I'm not really sure how to eat this?

I know how to eat it nom nom nom

Can I have another Moozle? Puff dried cow noses are tasty!

Goin' to the dogs...

I volunteered to work the Foothills Tracking Club for the March 28 TDX tracking test. The funny thing is they asked me if I wanted to be a driver...

Uh.

No.

I have no sense of direction. None. I couldn't find my way out of an open box.

If they let me drive judges around, I'm pretty sure we'd end up in UT and not anywhere near the test site. When I told Furry Husband they asked me to drive he simply started laughing. He knows all too well how easily I get lost.


I also volunteered yesterday to help steward the Gordon Setter National Specialty in June because I just love those big black and tans. It'll cause little heart string tugs cuz each big, happy dog is gonna make me think of my goofy boy, Booker, who died last summer but it's fun to be around such happy, clownish dogs for a couple days and it makes me smile remembering funny Bookerish ways. (besides I absolutely LOVE Ms. H who is organizing the specialty and I would do most anything for her... within reason Ms. H, within reason)

I'll go tracking with Toe tomorrow. We'll work on his starts. Right now at the start of the track, he stands in one place and doesn't give me a direction to go... once we guide him to his first article BAM - he is hot on the trail. However, the lack of a strong start means we won't be going to the certification test March 6.

I was disappointed but Jolynn says there are a couple of people in the tracking club that can grant him his certification and when he's ready we'll arrange it with the club, head to Denver and get him certified. No big deal.

We're supposed to have some nice weather today and tomorrow... I'm hoping to get me arse in the saddle. Have a great weekend!

One of those nights...

We had company over for Furry Husband's amazing and addicting red sauce the other night. One of them happened to be a wine geek just like Furry Husband. And that means bottle after bottle was shown and talked about and tasted... It was all great fun but the next day was a work day.

I was tired from staying up too late and having too much fun with friends and was so relieved to get home at the end of my day...

While I was changing out of my work clothes, Toe, my little dog, was on the bed doing his little conniption fit thing he does. He rolls around and makes these funny noises, I tug on his paws or rub his belly and he continues on with his "fit". It's a weird game we have - me encouraging him to have his "seizures".

While I was petting him, there was a sharp pain and my back went snap, crackle, pop. Seriously? My back is gonna go out just PETTING the dog?? It wasn't as bad as usual but... still... it's painful and really frustrating.

I finished changing and gimped outdoors with Furry Husband for chores. I had this powder supplement thing I wanted to give Rosso, one of the horses. He doesn't like it so I was trying to be creative - mixing the powder with applesauce while Furry was feeding them.

Only I didn't do this in my kitchen - I did it outside in the 20mph winds with single digit temps in the dark (yeah, not one of my brighter moments - I realize this) making a big ol' mess with glops of applesauce all over...

I haltered Rosso and tried to administer the stuff he doesn't like... mnyaa, mnyaa, mnyaaa - he stood for me chewing at the syringe and I was trying to plunge it, only the powder gummed it up so it wouldn't plunge so easily. His head is above mine and I managed to get most of it in his mouth.

SPLAT - a big wad of applesauce hit my face. And once the plunger was depressed fully? POOF - a blast o' powder that didn't get mixed in flew in my face, down my coat and into my clothes. Nice.

Next I take Spot out for milking. She stands on a wooden stanchion eating grain while I milk. Toe likes to watch me milk while the other dogs, who are riddled with herding genes, are busy bossing the horses thru the fence. I give Toe a couple squirts of milk on the stanchion. This night however, the milk I squirted for Toe was a leeettle too close to Spot's foot...

Once done lapping up the squirt of milk, Toe began licking Spot's hoof and leg. I saw it happen and I knew Spot wouldn't tolerate it but before I could grab the milk bucket, she had fussed, her foot was in the pail and I had milk spilled everywhere.

I let out a big ol' string of curse.....

Toe went running, Spot stood completely still in an "oh crap" sorta way....

I took a deep breath and calmly put Spot back in her pen. Furry Husband checked to make sure I was o.k. but wisely kept his distance. (I was all itchy from the powder down my coat and in my clothes, my back hurt, there was milk everywhere and I was tired from staying up way to late the night before)

I moved the stanchion to expose the spilled milk and called the dogs... all 3 stood politely at the door of the milk room wagging their tails - obviously having thoughts in the same vein as Furry Husband. "uh UH - we aren't comin' in there after all your loud angry words! You think we're stoopid?"

I dug down deep to find my happy voice - It's OK! C'mon! Clean it up! I left them to it while I went in to shower and find a quiet place to curl up with a good book. I think it was best not to tempt fate any more than I needed to.

Keep that trim and no one will F*&$ with you...

Friday night Furry Husband and I went into town for a Big Head Todd and the Monsters show. We don't go out much at night because most things we need for entertainment are at home...

The doors opened at 8, opening act at 9 and Todd to hit the stage at 10:15. The crowd was eclectic to say the least. There were people like us - middle age?, young college students at one end and older, white haired Tony Soprano types wearing Hawaiian shirts and diamond pinky rings. Great people watching!

A guy in a hoodie passed Furry Husband and jumped back about a mile - "Whoa! Dude, you are with the FBI!" and he skittered wild-eyed back into the crowd. I about peed my pants laughing and once we found a good spot to watch the show, Furry Husband asked the college kid in front of us, "Hey man, do you think I look like FBI?"

The college kid looked Furry Husband up and down inspecting him... "Naw. That's more of a cop mustache. You keep that thing trim and NOBODY will fuck with you!"

The show started, Todd and his Monsters were fabulous... that band is tight and Todd plays guitar like... well... like only Todd can.

On our way home, Furry Husband and I were giggling about the "nobody will fuck with you" comment. Where exactly would Furry Husband BE for someone to fuck with him on any given day?

The grocery store on his way home in the afternoon?

His retail accounts while he's selling bordeaux, pinot, merlot? Or would they fuck with him for selling white wines - chardonnay or the rieslings perhaps?

And since we are usually home and in bed by 9pm, I'm quite sure no one is comin' to our house to fuck with him for any reason.

Regardless, I told him to keep that thing trim cuz I don't want anyone to START fuckin' with him.

No one's ever given me THAT before....

The weekend proved to be snowy, cold and I was on edge with cabin fever.

Meg called me earlier in the week asking if I could clean our trainer's barn for her Saturday. She wanted to go boarding and heard there would be snow this weekend. She was right, there was LOTSA snow.


I had the idea I'd take the horses up to Rex's barn to work them when I was done cleaning stalls since she was at a medical clinic where her sister works as an equine surgeon - Littleton Large - for the day.

Furry Husband was his usual darling self and offered to come up and help me knock out the stalls. Yeah. Once we got there? It was freeze butt cold and snowing and... I'm not bringing the horses out here. Confirmation of my decision came on our way home when our car slid thru the stop sign at Cty Rd 15 with all the snow and ice on the roads. No way would I drive the truck and trailer thru that mess.



We had just gotten home and were debating what to do with our day when Mrs. Kravitz came over to see what I had planned. Furry Husband needed to work in town for his wine sales so Mrs. Kravitz and I decided to hit the dollar movie theatre. We saw a pretty average movie for $2... it was entertaining on a crappy day.

On our way home, she wanted to stop at Beaver's Market to pick up a 12 pack of 3.2 beer (the only beer she says she can drink - it's a CO law that grocery stores can sell beer as long as it's 3.2 vs. full strength)

While we are there she says Beaver's makes their own sausages and brats and I have GOT to try them because they are so good. She is picking up various packages of sausages and brats reading me each and every package's flavors and attributes....

She made up her mind.

"I'm buying this for you - you HAVE to try these!" and she's holding a 6 pack of brats.

"Nooo - don't do that because Furry Husband isn't a big brat fan and I can't eat all 6 of those brats. Let's wait til summer and we can have a cookout."

Mrs. Kravitz looked a little crestfallen but she was not to be deterred. She spied a 2 pack of brats. Picking out a 2 pack of garlic brats she told me, "You can eat TWO brats... I'm getting these for you!"

And the look in her eye was one I know would be futile to argue against. I sat in her car on the way home holding my package of raw bratwurst.

"Mrs. Kravitz? I can honestly say no one has ever bought me raw sausages before. Thank-you"

My day in words...

Gym

Groper

Sweat

Shaking muscles

MORE sweat

Tub o' goo

How can I be this weak

Funny hair

White out snow

Empty gas tank

Who do? You do? Voodoo?

. Sorry - but this voodoo doll made me laugh...

Furry Husband gave me a little Valentime's Day present. A friend of his makes some Boo Goo Paw Salve for dogs and these stuffed voodoo dogs. I received this little pot of the paw salve to test along with a small fabric stuffed generic doggie. It is maybe 3 inches x 4 inches of bright green fabric with white daisy-like flowers throughout.

It has a red thread doo dad on it's chest symbolizing a heart and there's a pin in it.

It's supposed to be a good, loving voodoo doll to send good intentions and love to your dog. It's really very cute. Cute idea...

However, while I was holding it and looking at it, Toe came to see. He was very interested in this little doggie representation.

And since the directions say to send love intentions to your dog with the needle into the red threads...

I looked at Toe, I took the needle from the little stuffed voodoo doggie doll and I said in a happy, joking voice, "Here you go baby Toe! See how much I love you?"

And I stabbed the needle in.

Let me tell you, that did NOT feel right AT ALL! I'm not so sure I believe in voodoo or black magic, but um... well... anything I've ever seen about voodoo dolls in jest, cartoons or movies has always been bad and caused pain to the area where a needle was struck.

I immediately thought - "Geez, if Toe falls over clutching his little chest, I am going to feel REALLY awful.."

Toe, of course, did NOT gasp and clutch his chest or even act mildly pained. He was still curious, happily wagging his stumpy tail and hoping I'd give him the little doggie voodoo doll to chew on.

I didn't want him to eat it and ingest the straight pin so I tucked it in my purse and here it sits on my desk. I told some co-workers my story. We laughed but I warned them... "You guys better leave my voodoo doll alone cuz if you kill my dog? I'm going to be really, really pissed!"