May Flowers...lets chat

Isn't it sad to see those dogs get so fat?  Tootsie rolls with legs.....

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Here's a happy ending to a story.....a woman in Tampa had 11 children, and all had been taken from her(some at birth) and  put in foster care, languishing there for several years.  A pastor from MI happened to visit Tampa, hear about the children and made it his mission to find homes for these children.  All 11 have been adopted by members of his congregation who are friends, so that the children will basically grow up together in different homes.  My niece and her family adopted 4 year old Tasha...she is a beautiful child and joins Ana, from Guatemala, ( who I am certain is thrilled to have another person of color in her family), Grace and Joel, who is probably feeling a bit outnumbered as the only boy!!  But, at 14 or 15, he's likely pretty secure!  It touches me so to know that these kids will grow up knowing their biological siblings or part siblings and yet be part of loving families at the same time.  My niece and her husband are very special people and their children are blessed by their open hearts.

Sometimes life can be so kind and happy!

Great Story Glenda. Thanks for sharing. And thank you to your niece and her family for adopting the the children that they did.

That is a fantastic story, Glenda.  Your niece and her husband have big hearts.

Doug and Maureen, your comments about tree trimming are timely.  Yesterday our next door neighbor's 10-year old son came over asking for help because a tree limb hit his Dad on the head and he was bleeding.  DH grabbed his phone and some towels and we ran over.  Luckily, the Mom was already on the phone with 911.  They were cutting down some damaged limbs when one fell on the Dad.  A big gash on his head, bleeding pretty badly.  A huge hook-and-ladder came with paramedics, followed by an ambulance, but once they determined no neck/back injuries, they did some temporary bandaging and said it was safe for his wife to take him to ER rather than the ambulance.  

He came home with 10 stitches and a bad headache.  His poor son had been totally calm throughout the whole thing, but then he fell apart when they came home.  He felt guilty because he was "helping" his Dad, but it was just an accident.  Trying to lighten the mood, DH brought over one of his old hardhats, after writing our neighbor's name in big letters on it with a Sharpie, as well as the message, "Ouch!  That's gonna leave a mark!"    

I know a lot of people who've had injuries doing home maintenance tasks -- trimming trees, cleaning gutters, painting --- all things that use ladders or sharp tools.  I told DH that no matter what the cost, my preference is that he always hire someone else to do these things (not that he listens to me!).

@tacran

DH brought over one of his old hardhats, after writing our neighbor's name in big letters on it with a Sharpie, as well as the message, "Ouch!  That's gonna leave a mark!"    

Too cute, I need that hat cause my poor sweet klutzy hubby could use a hat like that.

One of the young ladies I work with (actually more like a daughter than a coworker) just got a new house a few months ago.  She had barely got her furniture moved when her Step-Dad passed away.  She is finally settled in and is having all of us over tonight for a cook out/open house kinda thing.   I am so happy for her and her kids.  They call me Grandma Ginger and they are both taller than I am....yaya I know, the joke is everyone is taller than me.   I am really looking forward to a ladies night.  It will be fun.

Wow is this weather crazy or what.  It is May 21st and it was 46 degrees this morning.  I love it but it is usually at least shorts weather by now.  Hot Shot is loving the cool front that came thru,  his furr coat appreciates a cool down.

This weather IS screwy.  Todd and I were talking last night, bundled up in sweatshirts and jeans, about how HOT it had  been in Savannah 32 years before when we exchanged our vows.  Yesterday marked our 32 anniversary....32 years of sharing, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the truly horrendous, along with unimaginable joy.  We got pretty darned lucky.

The sun is shining today, but it's still pretty darned cold.  We had frost warnings both Wed and Thursday, and looks like we will again tonight.  All the veggies that are living in pots awaiting the tilling of the garden, have taken up residence where ever INside I can find a place to set them.  Thank goodness we've slacked on the tilling of the garden!  My garlic is in big pots and those have stayed outside.....I figured anything that survives the bitter winter should be fine with a frost or two.  Garlic is pretty forgiving of the weather.

Ginger, hope you enjoyed the bbq.

Today is the day we wait for.  Cool morning with full sun, no clouds.  Warming to 70F.  No rain, light breeze.  Yard is green green, and about 6" of grass.  New shrubs are growing, grapes are blossoming, no apples but lots of cherries.  Tomatoes'  go in this afternoon.  

Taking Sky in for a check up and nail trim.  He has been shaking his head flapping his ears.  Looks like he is trying to fly.  The dog park has been great so far.  He has meet and gotten along with a lot of dogs.  He likes to play rough, so Alaskan type and Pitty types are a favorite.  He was working on a big beautiful American Bulldog yesterday.  

Sky was in a three dog furball playing so I called him by name.  His head looked up.  I said "come" and he came at a dead run.   There is hope.  The dog park is near BENCHS, the Blue Earth-Nicollet county shelter, so a lot of rescue dogs are brought in by volunteers for a fun hour.

For those of you not in Minnesota this weekend, you have my sympathy.  Have a good weekend anyways.

Doug.

Happy belated anniversary, Glenda!  You and Todd sure have weathered lots of rough waves since I've "known" you on the forum.  You set the bar very high for maintaining a strong foundation as a couple -- here's to many more years together with far more joyful moments than difficult ones!

Doug, if I lived closer to you, I'd arrange a playdate for Ruby and Sky.  He sounds like a good candidate for Ruby's rough play style, and she only likes male dogs from what we've experienced.  And maybe he could teach her to be more reliable in her response to our calls for her to come when she's fully engaged in something!  Also, if I lived nearby, I'd be parked near your cherry trees because those are my favorite fruit!

Enjoy the holiday weekend all -- not much planned for us.  Dinner with a good friend tomorrow night, possibly a BBQ to attend on Monday, maybe a movie with another friend.  Not a very wild agenda!

Doug, sounds like good progress is being made if Sky comes when he is havin fun with his buddies :)   It will still be some time before Garth comes to his name but he is reacting well to the sound of our voices.  

We were outside most of the day today and when I just went to look for him, found him sacked out in his crate, ha!  The lack of sleep person in me want s to go wake him up and keep him awake for another hour or so,  he looks so cute and comfy.

Glenda, I am so sorry I forgot you and Todd's anniversary.  Hope you had a good one.   I don't know why I don't remember, today is my birthday and I know your anniv and my bday are really close, lol, really really close.    Ron fixed my favorite dinner outside.  Today we only had a few sprikles.  It was very cool but no major rain.  The next 3 days are supposed to be wet.  We got the lawn mowed and I am almost thru  with my French door painting project.  I will take pics of my before and afters if I ever  done.  

Have a great weekend all, stay safe and wear your sunscreen :)

Well I see above where I told everyone to wear sunscreen, I should have said....rain boots and umbrellas.  Oh my have we had the rain.  Everytime it let up even just a little bit we went outside .  Wettest Memorial weekend I can remember.  On the other hand Garth is growing like a weed and loves to play in the wet muddy yard :)

Is Garth what you named the new pup?    Work has been absolutely insane so I haven't been able to take much time to chat lately.  Florida is just plain hot -- and we've had more than our share of rain (lakes are FULL with water levels lapping at the docks).  

Had a great Memorial Day Weekend of agility. We stayed over in Saratoga Springs. The trial was about 35 minutes away but we'd stayed at this place before and the dogs knew it and we enjoyed dinner's out there. Kinda sorry we did though as the agility ended much later in the day as it had the other times we'd been at this trial. That and the sprinkles we had to run through just outside our door and 3 more between the door and the trailblazer. It was impossible to not run through any of them the way they were set up. Didn't have the time to talk to the Hotel Manager/owner until the morning we left. That morning we waited until they went off. He said the computer must have been screwed up again. We had the extremes of weather for the trial. The one day it was so freaking cold it was like winter again. So glad I'd brought cold weather wear. The other day it was crazy windy and  rain off and on and the 3rd day it was extreme heat. We got through it though and Corey and I got the qualification we needed for the Nationals. I teamed with a couple from Pennsylvania. Just met them this weekend and what a great couple of people to be teamed with. As it turned out they had cattle dogs as well. Not very often we'd see 3 cattle dogs on a team and we were given the name Cattle Dogs rule. Fun time. Happy Belated Anniversary Glenda and Happy Belated Birthday Ginger and trust you are having great fun with Garth. Good to see you Callie.

Maureen, congratulations to your and Corey on getting the qualification you needed.  Wishing you lots of good luck for the Nationals.  When are they held?  Your "sprinkler dodging dance" reminds me of a couple times when I let Ruby out in the backyard one day forgetting that the sprinklers were about to come on.  When they started spraying all around her, the look on her face was so funny.  If she could talk, she would have been saying, "What the . . . . . ?!?!"

Callie, it's good to see you.  I was talking a couple days ago with a friend who lives in Naples and she said the same thing about the heat and rain.  I really feel for the people in Austin and other flooded areas.  So horrible.  Mother Nature really can be nasty sometimes.

Belated BD wishes to you, Ginger.  I bet you got your fair share of BD kisses from Garth.  Can't beat puppy kisses anytime, but they'd make a BD extra special!

My car is in the shop for a couple days -- some major repairs that will cost me a bundle.  Luckily, my mechanic is my neighbor and I completely trust him to advise me on what work can't be ignored.  It will hurt to pay the bill, but it's better than paying a few hundred bucks each month for a car payment,  At 13 years old, it's not surprising some things have worn out and need replacing.  He tells me I've got lots of miles left in the car, so as long as he can take good care of it for me, I'll try to get a few more years out of it!

I just realized that our new car is 6 years old.  My 150 is a 97 and just hit 200,000 miles.  Owes me nothing, still starts and runs.  Always has and always  will get 16mpg..   But life with out payments is good.  I used to say I would drive them until the wheels fell off.  Then, one of my wheels passed me.  I bolted it back on and kept driving.

Sky is back in "Control unleashed", also known as clicker training.  Focus is the problem.  We hit the dog park first to let him run and tussle first.  Didn't help much.  But today on our morning walk, using the clicker and rewards, he walked easier on a loose leash.  He walked very nicely at heel off leash for a while-we have been working on this for a while- and his recall is getting really good.  Especially if he knows I have treats.  It is fun watching him at the dog park.  He likes everybody until they tell him to get lost.  Then he takes up with another dog.  He came up out of the low ground chasing a GS full speed.  The GS, with longer legs, just out ran him.  So he wondered off to play with the Pit.  

Some nice dogs are brought in from the nearby rescue by volunteers to give them a good workout.   Jr might get a puppy yet,

There was a 12 wk old assorted breed puppy playing with  a Terrier.  Really got into digging.  Pup was bigger than the terrier.

Sunny hot and muggy today, so wife wants yard work.  I want cold beverages.  The grass is lush and the grapes are looking good.  Rain again tomorrow.

Wife made rhubarb-strawberry jam.  Delicious, but didn't set up.  Will be excellent topping on ice cream.

Tracy the trial is in October in Murfreesboro TN, so have awhile yet. Have another trial this weekend, locally. Still have some tournaments left that I need qualifications for, in order to do them at Nationals, but I don't need them to go.

I can just imagine the look on Ruby's face when the sprinklers came on. Probably the same look as Corey when he jumped out into the middle of a pond for the first time. At that point, we hadn't had him swimming anywhere and he no idea about deep water. When he came back up, oh my what an expression. He loves water but is afraid of swimming. He usually gets to go to the lake a few times every year.  He will retrieve his toy but he is a very panicked swimmer. I think maybe his legs are just so skinny that they don't propel him real well. He also tries to drink all of the water. I guess he thinks if he drinks enough he will be able to walk out to his toy. :)  We have to really watch the water drinking since he could easily drink way too much of it.

Rhubarb-strawberry Jam....sounds yummy Doug. I love strawberry-rhubarb pie.

Saw a very little bit of blood that was passed in my Gus boy's urine. I actually only spotted a couple of spots on the motel room floor. Took a urine sample in today and he has a very minor infection going on so will start on antibiotics this evening after he eats. Since he is 11 there is that worry that there is more than just an infection. Will check things again when he has finished the antibiotics and will also probably have the vet check him out at that time.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.