PREP!

I'm back. My sweet black lab mix, Miller, crossed the Rainbow Bridge in early spring after a struggle with Addison's Disease and Lymphosarcoma. He was so special and attentive and snuggly that I just couldn't blog about it. I think I'm ready to move on

Miller loved fruits -- bananas, apples, pears, and blackberries that he picked himself, so I decided to remember him by planting two pawpaw trees to mark his grave. I've never tasted pawpaw, but I'll bet Miller would have enjoyed sharing one with me.

Miss Mo resumes her Reading Education Assistance Dog visits next week at the public library and at Good Neighbors Camp at our church, Trinity Ecumenical Parish. She's still going strong for an 11.5 year old lab. Shiner Bock and I have spent a number of weekends working on his UKC Conformation Championship which still eludes us. He has plenty of points but needs 2 more competition wins. We may try AKC in Roanoke this summer since it's nearby.

I've been gardening ferociously this year, determined to conquer our ravenous deer, and with the help of a special person who came into our lives, am finally able to have gardens. A mystery lady appeared this spring in desperate need of a place to board her stallion. She couldn't pay but offered barn and yard work instead. What a blessing she has been! She helped make my Labyrinth presentable, brewed up hot pepper spray to deter deer, rigged up a 10' high deer net, grew lots of flowers from seeds and created a lovely new flower garden complete with a marble path. She has also added little surprises of color throughout my gardens. What a treat it has been to have her with us. Her stallion has been a lovely guest and we will truly miss them both when they move home to Colorado this summer. I know she was meant to be here for me!

We've had drought for years and are thrilled with the frequent, soaking rains we've been blessed with all spring. My veggie garden is full of green and yellow snap beans, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers of various ilks, Japanese eggplants, zucchini, watermelons, lettuces, honeydews, and cantaloupes. Probably some other things I can't think of right now. Oh, lots of herbs -- a whole row of summer savory, my new fav. Yesterday I dug up my 20+ year old rhubarb plants and moved them to a new location prepped with lots of organic matter. If all goes well, I should be selling rhubarb again next summer.

Speaking of prepping -- today's my prep day for a routine colonoscopy tomorrow. If you've experienced that delight, enough said. If not, it's something you can research on the Internet!

No more class :-(

Syd called today to let me know that she's canceling her after school Web 2.0 class for the rest of the year due to filter password issues. Kathy and I plan to continue the program on our own but it was so much better to go learn at the feet of the masters so to speak! We'll miss our Monday afternoons at LHS Library but I guess that clears the afternoon for a new round of springtime dog obedience classes.

In the few weeks we did have class, I got hooked on blogging and have posted on both my blog and my dog Shiner's blog. I was inspired to coordinate my accounts with Twitter and Facebook. I set up a Dogster Page and a web site for Shiner. His site links his Dogster Page, Blog, Splash Dog titles and jump statistics, and his OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) stats for breeding information. I will be able to continue adding information there and anyone interested in using him as a stud dog will have easy access to all his documentation. I feel that I got a great deal from Syd's class and am truly sorry to see it end.

ICE

The glistening beautiful layer of ice coating all the branches was finally rained away this afternoon. The thick fog has lifted and the wind is picking up. We're above 32 degrees for the first time in a couple of icy cabin-bound days! In fact it's jumped from 31F at noon to 44F at 4 PM so I guess the warm front arrived. The next weather change of the day is supposed to be an evening cold front moving into the area and refreezing whatever moisture remains. We still haven't had a real snow but I'm hoping for that Monday night.

The Financial Peace University class is going well and our refinance on the house looks like it will close on Friday after three postponements due to the rust spots on the roof (where the cats POOP) and the appraiser's difficulty in deciding a value on the little cabin in the woods. The last appraiser just listed it as an additional outbuilding like a barn or shed. This appraiser felt it should be listed as a guest house and was determined to find something comparable in the area so he could price it. The new mortgage payment should be quite a bit lower and allow us to pay it off early.

We missed our Web 2.0 Class at Liberty High School again this week because of a problem with the school system's Internet filter and new password restrictions. I hope it gets straightened out because I'm really ready to get back on track and learn new tricks!

I finally gave in last week and called the doctor for antibiotics to wipe out my sinus/ear infection. I feel lots better now and even showed up at Tai Chi ready to rumble on Thursday afternoon. Due to final exam schedules no teachers showed up again (2nd week in a row). The two of us that did come agreed to postpone class so the others wouldn't miss the last class in our session. Ergo, tomorrow will be the end of my first Tai Chi course. But never fear, I will sign up for the next round because I think I'm really getting a lot out of Tai Chi.

I leave for Harrisburg, PA on Friday after our mortgage closing to attend a seminar with Shiner, his brother, and my friend Kathy (their breeder). We hope to learn the finer points of showing dogs so we can earn some titles with these boys and put 'em to work as stud dogs!

January 2009

I missed Web class at LHS on Monday and Tai Chi at SRHS last Thursday because I've been sick as a dog (seems like a fitting description for anyone in our furry household.) I feel less doggie today so I'm catching up on my assignments for both of those classes AND the new Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class that Wayne and I attended Sunday afternoon at our church, Trinity Ecumenical Parish. We have to create a quickie starter budget together before Sunday's class. That should be interesting.

Wayne, Shiner, and I had a great holiday at Massanutten, taking the new Wii along so we could play with friends and family. We celebrated New Year's Eve with a Swiss Raclette dinner shared with Kristina and Brian Taylor, Maggie Hagood, Collin, and Brian Marquis. We also spent time with Wes and Saidee. Watch out for us next year as Wii Sports Champs! I don't know about the rest, but I came home with sore muscles from bowling...or maybe that was flu?

The big chill is hitting our area now with temperatures colder than we've seen in a couple of winters. Single digits are expected on Friday night. We'll check on the cabin, plug in the heat tape, and bring the pussies indoors.

Just think, last year at this time Saidee hadn't even been rammed on the slopes at Massanutten and we were deep into wedding planning. Jeremy wasn't even house-hunting yet and now he's a home-owner in Ohio! Time flies.