Heater Eats Slipper

This portable heater is lucky to be alive.


Ticket is quite sure it is the devil incarnate. She's never appreciated it. Watcher and Henry love it. They lay within a foot of it and luxuriate in the heat it throws their way. Ticket warily walks past it, giving it the stink eye. And this morning she tried to kill it.

I woke up at a wicked 5a.m. to the sounds of her barking and whimpering and scratching at something. Before I even opened my eyes I smelled it. That putrid smell of rubber burning. My eyes snapped open and I saw a cloud of bluish smoke spread throughout and about 6 inches or so from the ceiling.

Scrambled out of bed, whipped out to where Ticket was and saw her frantically pawing and digging about 2 inches from the heater. The bottom of one of my rubber soled slippers was stuck to the bottom heater grill.

Ran and opened the door, ran back and yanked the slipper off the grill. Went outside with the dogs and watched the smoke quickly rush out.

I looked at Ticket sitting beside me and I swear she telepathically said to me "I told you that thing was the devil".

After the smoke had cleared and we were back inside, I made a tea and thought about it all. I couldn't understand how the one slipper had ended up all the way from beside my bed to the heater on the opposite side of our home! I looked at the slipper, and from the tell tale puncture marks, saw that Henry had decided it made a great chew toy. I guess he snuck away with it, laid in front of the heater, and it at some point it became wedged to the grill.

The devil heater is now safely tucked in a corner, and shall be guarded with a baby gate as soon as I warm up.

*shakes fist at Henry*

But mostly *shaking fist* at the 2 month old fucked up smoke alarm. It was working, because I check it every Sunday morning. ( something I trained myself to do years ago, after a friends house fire scared the crap out of me) But I guess at some point between last Sunday and this morning it died. I'm thinking I better have at a minimum 3 smoke alarms.

Go check your smoke alarms people!

Saving the day is tiring, right Ticket!

Ohhhh Baby!

6 months from now I'm going to be sniffing on and kissing on my first grandbaby!

Kelly and Sumeet are the two most calm and level headed people I know. They ooze with compassion, empathy, consideration and genuine kindness. They will make absolutely wonderful parents, I have not a doubt.

I'm over the moon with giddiness! My jaw is sore from all the smiling and spontaneous outbursts of laughter since they gifted me with this welcome announcement!

Counting down.....

When snow falls, nature listens.

Yesterday I mentioned about Henry and his first time with snow. It's actually his second time with snow, but it's the first time he had to maneuver slippery snowy steps. That's what freaked him out.

The quote in my title to this post was eloquently written by Antoinette van Kleeff.

Yikes....I woke up this morning to no water. It was cold out yesterday, and snowed, so I should have plugged in the extension to the heater tape cord. But stupidly assumed it wasn't THAT cold. Trudged outside, blow dryer in hand, and heated up the house tap and the trailer tap for about 20 minutes each end. Came inside and heard the glorious sound of water trickling. Happy dance!
Hey, I was starting to worry about busted exploding pipes and the like! I better get outside after my lunch and insulate both ends of my water supply a lot better than it was.

I rarely see cats behind my home, actually I have only seen one in the past few months. I guess with the menagerie of dogs they tend to stay clear. But yesterday and this morning I have seen 3. And all 3 are stalking the birds. Poor little birds are so intent on scratching the ground for bugs and what not, they become easier prey for the felines. I don't like to disrupt nature, but I think I will have to unless I want to watch bird murders. :) I'll start feeding the birds in the dog run where it's enclosed and the marauding felines can't get in.

This morning I was reading the entries from friends on Facebook. One friend wrote that she couldn't get into her car because the lock was frozen. A friend of hers said, and I'm quoting, "If you get someone to run their car beside yours and hook up an old vacuum hose from their exhaust you can use it like a blow dryer to thaw your door." Now, is that redneck or what??? I guess that friend doesn't own a blow dryer and an extension cord.

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....