Sunday,April 28th, Star date -309678.5430301877

We had some storms move through the area last night.  Seems we were lucky and got some of the heavier rain.  Three inches!  Unfortunately,  the last big parade of Fiesta got called off early due to torrential rain and lightning.   Too bad the storm had to rain on the parade but we sure needed the moisture. The sun is out and shining brightly this morning.  I've been sitting outside listening to the birds and enjoying how fresh and clean everything seems.  Except the back porch.  That's covered in muddy dog prints. lol

 Doug, I have no idea what any of that means about the mower, but I hope you've gotten it all straightened out and working properly.

I'm back to watching the race numbers again to see when Luke is up. I debating about going out there this morning to run him in his first race myself, but I decided not to do it. I trust the person who has him. I also didn't think his race would be up early enough for me to run him and get back to work on time. It looks now like I probably could have done it. His first race will probably be in about 15 minutes. Hopefully he thinks it's a good idea to run at his normal speed today. 

 Karen, I'm sure your photos are great, and they will appreciate them even if they aren't perfect.

Luke's first race of the day is done, but I haven't gotten an update yet. I guess because another of our teams is now on deck, so I'm going to be patient for a bit and wait it out. There was only a gap of 4 races between the two teams, but there are two rings, so that really means the gap is 2. A race is generally 5 minutes, so they had a 10 minute gap. She probably put Luke back in his crate and went to get ready for the next race.

Yesterday, I texted a team mate because I wasn't hearing back from my friend. She was super crabby, and is apparently very upset. She's been looking for a new man. Her husband died I think 7 years ago, and hasn't been with anyone since. Last week, she had found someone, was supposed to possibly pick him up at the airport this week. That didn't happen. The guy was supposedly from Portugal, he was traveling to Georgia (the country) for a work thing, and was coming back this week. When she told us the name of the guy last week, the name sounded very Italian. I commented to her that there was no way there was a Portuguese person by that name. It turns out I was right. He started asking her for money, and then her sister tried looking him up online, and found that no such person existed. Then he changed his details, told her a new more Portuguese sounding version of his name. She's apparently pretty upset about the whole thing, and was pissy with me yesterday. 

Yay for rain Jackie!! Sorry about the parade though.

Jen - that's creepy about the scammer boyfriend but better she found out before he robbed her blind.

I'm really enjoying this warmer weather and spending time outside. I'm antsy if I don't have anything to do though, so yesterday I painted a pot and a decorative candle stand that had gotten rusty. It was fun and both turned out pretty nice. I need more projects like that.

I'm hungry for a BLT now :)

 Apparently he was pretty bad in that race. The team discussed pulling him for the rest of the day, but if they pull him, the rest of the team jumps 14 inches instead of 7. So, they're willing to let my dog keep screwing up. I told the friend who has him that if he doesn't improve in the next race, he absolutely should be pulled from the final race of the day. I don't really care, he can't be allowed to keep running that poorly. It's not his fault or my fault that those of us who thought he should keep using the box he is used to were ignored and told everyone is using the team box. There was also discussion of taking him out of racing after today until he learns to catch properly. That I am absolutely willing to do. Except I will do it with another team. I won't do it with a team that is going to let him keep screwing up because someone didn't want to lift a heavier box or some ***. I've been fed up with this team for long enough.

I'm wishing I was there, or I could get there to see his next race. I hate to put my friend in the position of having to be the one to tell the team he's out. If he has to get pulled, I owe her so big for that. 

Jen, I'm sorry things aren't going well for Luke today.  It's never easy to run someone else's dog and having to decide whether to pull a dog or not is so hard when it's not your dog.  I've run dogs for other people (not flyball but similar concept) and I always did what I thought was best for the dog even if that meant pulling the dog.  Too bad the team isn't smart enough to realize that letting him use a box style he's used to could have been well worth any extra effort involved.   Yep, time for a new team. 

Karen, I'm sure you'll take some nice photos and how nice of you to do this kindness for the family. 

Cathy, yay for nice weather and projects that turn out nicely. :)  We saw a beautiful rock wall at the botanical gardens.  It was planted with succulents in the cracks and I'm determined to do something similar.  I'm thinking of making a large rock walled planter.  Whenever we go to these gardens I'm filled with ideas and inspiration.  I need to win the lottery because then I could hire someone to do the design and work.

OK, off to do some chores.  It's gorgeous outside and I hate being stuck indoors but I'll give the house a lick and a promise, as a dear old friend used to say, and get outside quickly.

cakana

Karen - is the washer out of warranty? It does seem like you just bought it :(

Anyway we tried a few other things and DH sourced a part so he'll replace it and see what happens. Fingers crossed

Cathy I am sorry the weather didn't cooperate for your walk :(

I took the photos for the family - the person who is gravely ill is indeed gravely ill. I felt kind of bad for her as they carted her outside (its kind of chilly) and kept trying to get her to hold her head up and smile. Poor thing didn't have the strength  Anyway I took a zillion photos and gave them the SD card so they have them all to go through.

I have more cleaning to do but it can wait 

I was thinking about comfort food so I made some scones to go with some Devon cream (clotted cream to the English) and I have an awesome dark fruit spread (no added sugar). It was very yummy

Karen, how nice of you to take photos of that family --- it must have been a bittersweet photo session for everyone.  I don't want to think about what it feels like to be the gravely ill person, knowing everyone is gathering and posing together because you won't be around much longer. 

I've experienced something similar when we visited a very dear friend (who we grew up calling "Grandpa";) -- he was in the hospital, not expected to recover.  He wasn't strong enough to attend our wedding, so we visited him immediately after the ceremony so he could see us in our "wedding garb."  He was propped up in bed and had insisted the nurses put his red cardigan sweater on him so he'd look nice for photos with us.  I knew it would likely be the last time we would see him (he died about 3 weeks later).  I'm very grateful we have the photos, but they do make me sad when I see them.  We're all wearing smiles, but of course there was sadness there, too.

Glad to hear Luke's issue was only ball related.  Sounds like it turned out much better than you feared, Jen.

Cathy, I'm sorry you missed the K9 cancer walk.  The heat can really be too much for bigger dogs, even without the extra concerns you have for Shane.

More clouds today, but still quite pleasant.  I'm glad we can be outside because DH is away crabbing and clamming this weekend, and it's very hard for me to keep Ruby as exercised he does (plus, she is very unhappy when he's not around).  Being outside all day helps give her some distractions.  I'm working my way through a stack of magazines while sitting out there with her.  I also gave her her first frozen "Kong parfait" (peanut butter, chicken, yogurt, kibble).  She loved it!

 Karen, I'm sure the family will be glad to have to pictures no matter what.

Cathy, Luke is another dog with heat concerns. I would have opted out of taking him to walk in 90 degree heat too. Callie could do it, and he would try to do it, but he can't do it. It kinda stinks in the summer, not being able to commit to outdoor dog activities too far in advance in the event that it will be too hot for him. Which reminds me, I need to check the weather for his demo next weekend. I doubt it would be too hot in May, but I need to check. 

Luke is on his way home, and should be here in about 45 minutes. My friend left with him after his last race. His team might have actually placed. There were only 4 in the division, and something must have happened to one of the dogs on another team, because they only had 3 today. I can't wait for my puppy face to get home, and to hear all the details of what went on.