Rain, Snow and a sore ass

Rain rain go away, come back another day. Or just rain while I'm sleeping. K, thanks.

It's too much even for the dogs. They quickly slink outside to pee, ears all down and body low to the ground. Then just as quickly pile back in. I have small votives with vanilla oil scattered about, but the lovely aroma of wet dog is winning the war I fear. Ah well, it's to be expected with this shit weather.

Apparently snow will fall tonight and mix it up with the rain intermittently through till Sunday.

Oh yay. I don't have a problem with the rain, and I LOVE the snow, but the slush that develops from both can take a hike.



I must have been near a sickie last week because I've been down for the past several days. I won't get into specifics but nothing has kicked me so hard for years. In fact, I can't remember the last time I was that sneezy/pukey/shivery/sore. A good 1/2 the humans I know on the west coast have been sick with what sounds like the same thing. Better today and tomorrow I'll be perfect again. How's that for positive thinking? :))

I wrote the above last night. When I was a positive thinker. This a.m. I feel just as crappy as I did 5 days ago. Damn, flu, gotta' shake it off!

My alarm clock ( Henry's cold wet nose shoved in my face ) woke me at 7 am. Hugged and smooched 3 dogs who jumped on the bed kissing me awake, got dressed and went to the door to let them out to pee.

Normally, Henry rushes out first followed by Watcher then Ticket. But this a.m. Henry stopped dead when he put his 2 front feet on the top step and crouched down so low and long he looked like a Dachshund. It had snowed during the evening!! It was Henry's first experience with the white stuff! I tried cajoling, I tried going around the corner and calling him, nothing. I went up behind him and tried to give him a wee shove and WHAP! ended up on my ass. This pupper was not going anywhere! Ticket finally came back around and assisted me. She went to him and touched noses and did a whine and he followed her. The same way she taught Henry to go up stairs, she taught him to go down. Damn, I love that dog!

I'm sure the snow won't last, it never does when it snows this early, but it sure is pretty for now.

The mountain behind my home...

Walkin' The Dog(s)

Where we live we have a multitude of mountain,river and creek walking places. You can't ever run out of somewhere new to go! But what has been really hard to find are flat areas with no obstructions. Obstructions such as low branches and twigs and scrub. With Henry being blind, and young, and as he just crashes and thrashes his way in the bush, I am constantly fretting over him getting his eyes scratched, or breaking a a limb.

There are plenty of flat cleared farmers fields, and I thought a few times of stopping and asking permission to run my dogs, but never did. And if I go a half hour to the east I can find cleared areas, but really wanted something closer to home.

A few days ago I drove past a spot I have driven past thousands of times. It's off of a bi-way that I like to travel instead of the highway....because I hate all the traffic. It's a sand and gravel pit. But not a *pit* in the traditional sense....more of a flat graveled area with mini hill of sand/grave/ and grass. We've been twice and have only seen bear scat once, and no other animal tracks. So I feel pretty safe taking the dogs there.

The dogs all love it and leap out of the Van and race across.

Henry circles back, as he always does, to find me

and overshoots, as he always does

And yay!! this spot is only a few minutes out of town! But I know I'll be knockin' on a farmers door soon enough when we tire of this place.

Heading home, this mountain range tells of the snow that will soon fall. YAY SNOW!!!!

My Alarm Clock is Cold. And Wet.

Without fail, between 7 and 7:15 every morning, I get this rubbed all over my face.

But it's accompanied by this


So I don't mind.

And I didn't mind seeing this yesterday....

I Love Fall!

Winter is my absolute favorite season, Fall is second. You just can't beat the mother earth colors.

I went out grocery shopping and ended up taking the long way home so I could capture some of the beauty around here this season.

Kris Kristofferson Concert

The lights dimmed and Kris walked out. No fanfare, just the man and his guitar.

His voice was in great form, he joked, he told anecdotes from his time spent with the "losers" as he obviously lovingly calls them, Johnny, Waylon and the boys. Sang some hauntingly beautiful songs written for his "babies and their Momma's", some classics like Me and Bobby McGee, The Silver Tongued Devil & I, Darby's castle and a whole lot more.

As well as some really wonderful material that doesn't make the airwaves as often as others. One song was written for Layla Al-Attar, who was an accomplished Iraqi artist. She, along with her husband and housekeeper were murdered by a missile attack directed by Clinton after the attempted assassination of the senior Bush. The song is called The Circle.

People were snapping photos all around me and I cursed myself for not bringing my camera. I just did not expect that it would be allowed. At the end of the concert I rushed up to the stage and stuck my hand out. KRIS KRISTOFFERSON SHOOK MY HAND!!!!! Although, I guess he didn't have a choice. It was either a shake or a slap, and since there were witnesses he went for the shake. He's got a nice firm handshake...just in case you were wondering. :))

My fantabulous cousin Denny, who treated me to the evening, took some pics with his cell. Here's Kris....*swoon*

Seeing him last night means I can cross one more thing off my Bucket List!

Back Up Baby!

The last 2 days I've been unpacking and putting away the very last 3 boxes of stuff. And so there have been a few things out of place. For instance, in the bathroom I placed a flattened out box between the toilet and counter til I took it and the others outside. It stuck out of the bathroom about a foot but left just enough room for the dogs to get in the washroom and have a drink of water. ( I have to leave their water dish in the tub or else Henry thinks the dish is his own personal water park and well, you get the idea )

Henry's first trip in to get a drink was a disaster. I heard him in their drinking and then heard what sounded like a dozen dogs in with him thrashing and crashing against the walls and flattened boxes. I run to go see wtf is going on and see him caught between the tub and the boxes. He had tried to turn around in an area that no other dog would attempt. I got him turned around and told him he was silly when it was so easy to just back up as the other dogs did!

A couple hours later and he is again thrashing and crashing and stuck. It was then that I realized he doesn't know how to back up! There was never a problem where he needed to. I made sure that where we lived he had open spaces. Nothing for him to crash into.

Crap man, it was hard enough teaching him stairs, now I have to teach him to back up!

My cousin Denny, who's blog is Running With Safety Scissors is taking me to see Kris Kristofferson tonight!!! Front row seats....I may just pass out from delirious glee when he walks on stage. I can now cross seeing him off my Bucket List!