Friday, September 28, 2012

Definately time for a van

The big Tow is getting a work out this weekend-3 large dogs including Loki, four cardigans and assorted stuff for the dinner tomorrow after the show.  I must be nuts.  Totally lost it. And it will be the Clampets going down the road. 

Spent the evening trying to watch the premieres of my favorite shows-Big Bang, Person of Interest as well as a new one, Elementary.  To which I upset the Hubby as Doc Martin was on PBS and well, we'll have to choose for now which to watch.  That's until I break down and buy all 5 season's - heehee.  Anyhow, between washing two dogs, packing my stuff, cooking eggs, giblets, sewing up my skirt-don't get me started on that!, more packing, sorting and such, I was able to watch a small amount of Big Bang and most of Elementary.

So now back to the Big Tow.  I've put Dad to the task-find me a van!  Unfortunately, he's got other things going on right now--yes world, my folks finally found common ground!!!  The house moves onto the site Oct 16th or so!!!!  Ten years after the house fire, lots of squabbling back and forth, plans done, thrown out, they found a Design Home they could both agree one! 

Story is that they were at a bland gun show in Prairie Du Chien, decided to walk through the displays, went to a new one, walked in and both said, this is it!

It looks like we'll be the Clampets for about another month, then I'm praying for a van before we head out every weekend in November, including the huge road trip show.  AHAHAHAH

Need to send prayers and good puppy vibes to Kerri as she stays home, hopefully with a full whelping box of puppies.  And now, off we go-I must be nuts.

Later gators...
C

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Sqeeeeee!

Was that not awesome last night?  No dummy, not that damn game in WI.  Sorry Pam-it was a horrible what happened--now can I put the spoiler up??   Castle!!!!   I'm going to enjoy the fun banter that seems to be coming back to the show.  And well , the rest of it too--the last part before the elevator closed was priceless!  

Sigh, another week to wait, but it's more bearable this time around.

Later gators....
C

Functional and cool!

So just a few photos of the cool and yes functional things from this weekend's road trips!

This is a ten hold nest box for the chickens.  Steal from our amish antique friend Neil.  We saw addtional ones at the swap on Sunday, heehee, deal!

And as you can see, they are already using it!  They seem to have a preference for the lower right hole.  Though we did find eggs scattered in other ones.


The new runners-the drake is on the left, the other two are the hens.  Adapting well and will be in the flock after their 10 day quarantine.
  And of course, I finally got the employees together for their official photos for their badges...
Patches, the temp.  Soon to be eligiable for the employee health care and yes, we do cover birth control!

And the employee of the month, several months running and current training officer, Midnight.
 Later gators....
C

Monday, September 24, 2012

OMG.....9 hours!!!!!!

The Ms is all a flutter!  Less then 9 hours to go!!!!  Okay, maybe I'm all a flutter too!

Later gators...
C

And I feel like I got nothing done!

Weekends as you can tell, are just as crazy as our week days.  This one was not the exception.

Hubby took the day off on Friday so ran and did a bunch of stuff-recyling to the dump, coffee with Max in Whittier.  Pick up the Ms and I where we went off for hair cuts, assorted sundries and pizzas for dinner. Should mention that the Ms got Season 4 of Castle and was now planning a marathon. 

Saturday morning dawned with more errands to run, but fun ones.  Up to Littleton and Hazelton to visit Neil and pick up the Ms' new ten hole nesting box for her chickens.  I might add that it looks very smart in the Chick Chalet and they are using it!

Of course Neil tried to sell us the entire shop-you need this, or that, how about one of these?  Hubby did get two nice harness hooks. 

Down the road to the grocery-few snacks, restocked on spices and some rice mixes.  I love Amish groceries!   Then another turn to the harness shop for oil and halters.  Next stop Blaine's for new crate pans for the dogs, some clothes and of course, Malcolm got a new dog bed!  Yes the pretty boy went along for the day and was a model of good behavior, though there are some teeth marks on the Ms book.

Home to the Castle Marathon!!!

Oh and the Tall Kid, it's harvest time so I never see him.  Working at 4am at Lowe's then over to the elevator till 5, including weekends.

Sunday-Waverly and the fall Exotic Animal Swap.  First for us, some of the characters up there are a little shifty, some are good and then some are awesome.  After almost 3 hours of wandering-we saw skunks, rats, peacocks, black swans, ponies, lots and lots of BUNNIES(ask the Ms how you say that word to really annoy me), pigeons, chickens and ducks.  I could go on and on with what we saw.  What we walked away with?  3 nice pencil runners, a 2' black hills spruce, a 2 door 42" crate(for $40)-looks like it's just outta the box!  And an air compressor.  Interesting what you saw there.

Breakfast in Waterloo, round and about way home through Vinton where we got a few more things-canning jars, dog food, stuff for the ducks. Back roads home.

So we get home with all this loot, what to do, what to do?  First up, let's get the newest residents in quarantine.  That's in the stall in the barn and they were pretty happy after touring the country side.  The to the regular occupants of Chateau Quack.  Banding, sorting and evaluating.  Whops, text message, the stuff I wanted from a gal off Craiglist--woo hoo, one of them is available.  Be right over. 

So we leave the Ms to her continuation of the Castle marathon, run across town and get an almost brand new, professional version, Booster Bath.  Sigh, my grooming area is almost complete!  Aldi's for groceries, Lowe's for a hose and wood.  Home. 

Not done yet, gotta move the Booster Bath into it's winter place.  Dinner?  Oh yeah, it's about that time, but wait, uncover tomatoes - pick lots, sort some, get the peppers, ask Hubby to taste these long yellow ones--have no idea what they are.  Oops--heehee, hot banana peppers.  Note to self, only need a couple of those for salsa.

Finished up the weekend with a huge stock pot of potato soup, bacon, and fresh pretzel rolls.  I finally got the baking time down!!!!  They were perfect.

And yet, I still feel like I got nothing done?  I'm caught up on laundry, the stuff is sitting out and waiting to be packed for the weekend's show.  Just have to do some nails.  I still see that the lawn needs to be mowed, salsa made, more rolls, eggs, etc.   Anyone else have one of those weekends?

Later gators...
C

Friday, September 21, 2012

3 days, more or less

The Ms is in a state.  This weekend we have to run to just about every store in town until we find the Castle Season 4 DVD's.  She has the first 3 and of course, Season 5 starts on Monday, t minus 3 and counting.

I promised Pam that I wouldn't do any spoilers because the stupid state of WI is preempting the show on Monday night for some football game played by some team in green and yellow.  I mean seriously, she won't see it till Saturday????

Anyway, hope everyone has a great weekend.  We are off to do a thousand errands.  Bought a wood stove for the kennel, have to go pick it up.  Then up to Hazelton for supplies or down to Kalona?  Not sure which direction as I know we need stuff in both areas.  Nesting boxes at Neil's, bulk flour at Stringtown. 

Then it's some predator prevention-the Ms has lost an older wyandotte hen, splash amerucana pullet and one of two buff orpington pullets to a hawk/coon/mink/fox?  I'm voting for hawk.  Moving pens, putting tops on pens, etc.  What a nightmare.

Sunday - Waverly Exotic Swap Meet.  We won't take anything up, but might bring something back? 

So here's to a Castle Marathon, and counting the days.  Mal already said he's going to have to watch the premiere from my lap-gotta figure out what all this is about, since he's sort of named after the actor that plays the hunky roll!

Later gators...
C

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

At least he was dry, sort of

Trying to get photos of Mal are well, about as easy as getting them of his mother.  I tried for Cora candids for Karen and every time you try to get her attention, she springs up and runs at you.  I ended up just throwing her on the table just to get one non-blurry photo.  Now I know where Malcolm gets it from!




Are we done yet?   Heck, Mal, we just got started!
 I can see his momma's expression in this one, with just a tempering of Eddie eye's.


So there you have it.  Just a little over 4 mos old, Capt Malcolm Reynolds, ready to jet off in to space and do exactly what his registered name implies-I Aim To Misbehave!!!!

Later gators....
C

Monday, September 17, 2012

Wash in print!

I had to share-aren't these awesome photos of Wash??????  Thanks Dawn!!!

http://obrienphotofarm.photoshelter.com/gallery/20120909-Dogs-All-Breed-Open-House-2/G0000HvH26DAUcV0/C0000rpm3w7vMTus

(and yes, we are aware that he's labeled as a tailless wonder)

Later gators...
C

Really?

I don't know.  Weekends are great but packing so  much to do in such a little time frame, I need either a longer day, or a longer weekend.

Saturday dawned with us each going different directions.  Alec off to help Grandpa--the footings got poured and now time for the 2 x 6's.  The rest of us including Penny, Mal and Moose, went to the last Downtown Farmer's Market of the year.  David got honey, Mal got cuddles from random strangers, Moose got belly rubs from small children and Penny got some great chin scritches from some sweet ladies. 
Then home.  David cleaned kitchen, I made it dirty again.  Loaves of whole wheat bread cool on the counter and three batches later, I think I have the problem figured out with the pretzel rolls.  As soon as I get some more light brown sugar and baking soda, we'll tackle that again.
Thanks to Alec's other side trip, computer repair for Sue, we had Iowa Chops from the grill, warm applesauce and rolls for dinner.  Ummm.....

Sunday rolled around late, I slept in.  Doggone it Turner, made me do it since I had to get up and scream at him to quit whining at 2am--the in-standing-heat-pemmie is right across from him.  Now it's David's turn for a visit to Sue.  After which I determined I need more household insurance.  The other running joke was they were shooting Night at the Museum III - Raiders of the Lost Ark cross over, in the basement.  Sigh.  I sent over some bread, rolls and eggs.
Alec on the other hand, started "grooming school".  My favorite scissors are dull-per Sheila.  So I guess we are in need of purchasing a couple of new pairs as well as another set of blades for the clipper and smaller clippers.  Sigh, look for him showing lambs this fall.
BUT...at the end of the weekend, with not near enough time, I have clean floors on one half of the house, which Click promptly threw up on(grass from the day spent outdoors).  And they will remain clean-everyone in the house knows how to use a broom and mop properly. Clothes hung, whelping kit sorted and repacked with new goodies, several loads of laundry, pictures taken down, rehung else where...

Why can't I have more hours in the day? 

Oh, forgot.  Mal lost his other eyebrow over the weekend.  At least he doesn't look lopsided now. Sigh...

Later gators...
C

Friday, September 14, 2012

Curse of the Eddlets

As Greg said a while back, "Get The Some Eddlet".  For the most part, once you get past the genetic tendency to create utter chaos, you can't help but love'em.

Case in point.....
As noted earlier in the week, Mal is missing his left white eyebrow hair.  He had matching ones, only one, on each side.  Unique, though The Tall Kid was hiding scissors and going to trim those off if he got a chance.  Well he didn't get the pleasure - Penny, I think, did it for him.  So Mal aka Sponge Pup, is now lopsided.  Upon closer inspection, he's also missing a few whiskers on his muzzle, some broken too.  This I just don't understand.  Going to analyze his play and pool arrangements and I think alter those.   And hide The Tall Kid's scissors.

Then we move to Jayne.  Gotta love him.  Still roaming the halls of Suzie's home, reigning over the two corgis and four danes.  Master of the House comes to mind.  Then he goes in for a nail trim.  I described Eddie's scream as the sound of a stuck pig to Suz.  She totally agreed.  Jayne acted like his foot was getting cut off Civil War era style.  Upon return with the vet tech, Suz just looked at her, then him and said, don't worry, he's a drama king.  Sheepishly he looked at Suz and went no dah!  

Shall we talk about Wash?  Now he's art imitating life-chewed a hole in his dog bed.  Inserted head.  Head stuck.  2 hours later mom comes to the rescue.  I had visions of the bolt cutters to get Eddie's jaw unstuck from his crate door a few weeks ago.

Haven't heard if the girls got their daddy's gift for chaos, though I think they grabbed a little more mellow and let's say devious gene from their mother--who got another remote, book, magazine and toy this week. 

Later gators....
C

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Temp hiatus

Going to do a little work on the blog this week--if you see it changing from moment to moment, well, that means I liked it or didn't. 

Hope to be back on line soon!

Later gators.....
C

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Fixed, I think

Just pointed out some problems with the whole comment thingy.  A while back I had had a rash of rude and well, inappropriate comments that I removed immediately, then changed how comments were posted. 

Duh, forgot to change it back.   

Commence commenting!

OH--Sherilyn figured out the Ms' countdown :)

Later gators....
C

The count down begins....

13 days

The Ms knows what that number means, I think Pam will get it.   Anyone else?  

Might I suggest that you, Ms, have a Firefly marathon to tide you over till then?

Later gators....
C

Monday, September 10, 2012

Grinning ear to ear

I think this weekend was one of the best of the year so far.  Granted I've had "winning" weekends, but I like the nice and easy, proud to be here weekends the best.

So what did I do?  Not a damn thing.  Okay, well, not nothing, but close to nothing.

Saturday rolled around with an awesome cool breeze blowing through the window, snuggled down in my own bed with a few dogs borrowed down in the covers with me.  Got up, shower, pull on my jeans and happy that they were loose!   Last weeks stress was a great way to loose weight, though I wouldn't recommend it as something to do all the time.  Cup of tea, then drop Hubby off at his Fair Board all day long meeting.  Me?  Went shopping.  Farmer's Market.  Wine, squash('cause the bugs got mine), radishes.  Then over to the Kettle House for a chat with the owner, pick up some pastries and head home. 

Mom had been by and visited with the Ms who was busy working on her 4-H record book.  Typical, leave it to the last minute and yes, she spent the entire glorious day sitting at the computer typing. 

Anyway, Mom left me a present.....a counter full of tomatoes.  Did she not see what is soon to be chaos in my own garden??  I figure 3 weeks and I'll be up to my armpits in romas and needing new recipes for them.

Anyway, threw an oven full of split tomatoes in for an afternoon of roasting.  Big pot full of the rest for freezer marinara.

Then I had a brain storm or actually it walked by me with leather gloves.  Ms took a break from typing and brushed out her cat and then ....gave it a bath.  I had to rescue it off her back once but otherwise, all went well.

My brain storm?  I now have two smooth griffs, but one has a beard.  Yes great afternoon to shave down Ace for the fall.  Connor was amused by the black hair that was falling off the grooming table.  Then it got a bath and went for a ride to pick up Hubby. 

End of the day, I sat in the chair, enjoying a glass of the wine I just bought and grinning.

Sunday up at the crack of dawn, head to Des Moines.  The grinning part, several people commented that I was just standing there grinning.  Yes I was at a dog show, no I didn't have to do a damn thing but hand off a dog for transport!  It was awesome!!  Tall Kid showed a few dogs.  I spent some money on new leads including Cy's new show lead(it's a beaut!) And sat around with nothing to do.  It was AWESOME!!!

Wanna icing on the cake??  Getting texts from a puppy owner, well he's not a puppy anymore, about how great a day they had with their dog.  Liz messaged me about Max's first AKC agility trial.  He loved it!  One jumpers and one standards leg!   I guess that he gets all excited when they get in the car now and can't wait to get out and run.  Way to go Max and Liz!!!!  You know, I think, baring one exception, some of the best families for my dogs.  They are happy, they love them and they love sharing them with the world.  Those phone calls, texts, emails and photos make me grin every day.  Check out Daybreak Dogs for a prime example-Dawn is having way too much fun with the Wash man!   Keep it up!

Our Des Moines trip ended with Pete now residing in KS.  Hoping things all go well-crossing paws.  Lucretia was great about transporting her for us.  Funny, she seemed to be transporting a lot of dogs for other people :)  It's kind of quiet in the house, Moose is looking for someone to wrestle with and Penny is now in Pete's former crate-not sure what went wrong in the world.  She's funny. 

And as of last night, I was watching the swallows race around the yard, seeing horse butts in the front pasture, dogs lounging in the long grass and grinning.  Gosh, it was a great weekend!

Later gators...
C



Friday, September 7, 2012

Fur mukluks

Or in Eddie's case, he's one of those big furry hats. 

Last night was supposed to be a quiet night.  I put on the sleepy video aka Pride and Prejudice(I LOVE this movie but if I'm tired, I fall asleep immediately).  We all tranistioned into a wonderful sleep until about 3ish.  I woke up with Eddie on my head and Cora by my side.  Rain, lightening, wind and of course, thunder.

You know those beds in the cheap hotels that you put a quarter in and they shake-rattle-n-roll?  Cora has them beat paws down.  Eddie adds in the sauna effect with a little Chinese Water torture slobber drip drip dripping on your forehead. 

Now the key here is that the blue bear was in a crate.  Was.  How he manages to squirm out of it is a mystery.  Never pops the doors, bends them or what not.  They look just like you left them when you put him to bed. 

After about 15 mins of attempting to get back to sleep, the lightening increased.  David got up for the umpteenth time to check windows for rain coming in and I rolled over suggesting that the love birds share a crate the rest of the night.  Not met with great joy, but they can pant and shake together, away from the rest of us.  BTW-Grandma and Frank have been snoring, feet waving at the ceiling the entire time, at the foot of the bed.

So in they go, both latches bolted, clip at the bottom for extra measures, blanket thrown over and I went back to sleep.

So much so, we slept through the alarm this morning. 

Is it 5 O'clock yet?

Later gators...
C

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Another one in the books

I'm exhausted.  I need a vacation from my vacation.
Another absolutely awesome Five Season's Dog Show is in the books.  Record numbers of both entries and spectators, weather was almost perfect, okay a little hot but we made it work! 
I want to extend a public - huge THANK YOU to everyone who helps out. I tried to get around to thank everyone personally but show chair duties pulled me in a few directions, well, a thousand, so I didn't make it around like I wanted. 

Yes for those of you wondering about my foot on Monday, I have a high ankle sprain.  Tripped one to many times over the same darn spot that no one else seemed to trip over.  Simple ankle support wrap on it for the day and spending the week sitting on my butt at work.  See how things go, crossing fingers I don't need to see another dr on it. 

Let's see, oh, you want results?????  I've posted most of them on FB.  Want to send out congrats to all the winners.  But since this is my blog, I'm reserving it for my own little brags first :)

Brag #1 (knock knock) Penny (knock knock) Penny (knock knock) Penny.......totally charmed the judge on Saturday and won the BBE class and went on to take the 4 pt major!   The judge, Sharon Ann Redmer, had previously judged her grandmother, Marge, a couple of years ago and awarded her a 5 pt major reserve as well as giving the dog Alec was showing at the time, Nicky, a 4 pt major.  She just raved about Penny and no Alec didn't show her, I did!  We didn't get Best BBE or BOW, poor 6 mo old girl said enough is enough and just didn't have it in the last go round.  I'm good with that.  She did what was needed.  As she matures, she'll get better and better. 
Anyway, Sharon Ann is also an obedience judge. What I love about it when I talked to her over lunch(after judging was over) was that she understands about form and function.  She really has taken an interest in the breed and we talked about some of the dogs in the ring, pros, cons, why what did what, etc.  Her comments on Penny were that she could move-especially considering we were outside on uneven ground.  She presented a correct sillhouette and her structure allows her to move correctly, ie, form following function.  She's got appropriate coat-considering she's blowing her puppy coat right now.  Not too much, not too little and correct texture.  Overally, for a 6 mo old girl(she told me she had to do a double take on her age, didn't believe a pup that young could move that well) Penny is exactly where she needs to be and will-if history is correct, will mature into a very nice bitch.

So there's big brag #1.  Penny also won her Puppy class on Sunday but no points.  She wasn't entered on Monday as I just could not figure out how to get some blue spots on her.

Big brag #2-Moose now has his CD, which he thought meant he could drive the golf crates, not just ride in them.  We talked about that and he's okay with that-his toes don't reach the petals anyway. On to Rally Advanced we go.

Big Brag #3-Ms and Connor won their intermediate class on Saturday, nothing on Sunday, but 3rd on Monday with a spectacular wipe out in the ring.  Yes the Ms hit the corner, landed on her hip, lead slipped her fingers and Connor proceeded to keep going around the ring like he knew exactly what he was doing and where he was going.  We all had a good laugh and she's only got a brusied ego.  Turns all red and such when you give her a hard time about not being able to stay on her feet. 

Big Brag #4--not from our show but from parts far and wide.  Seems Liz and Max, joined Dawn, Magic and Wash at a UKC agility trial.  And Max is the first of the Dirty Dozen to get almost the first ass end title!  He qualified and placed in his first two attempts at agility!!1 WOOOOO HOOOO MAX AND LIZ!!!!  Abbey's very proud because at least her children are agile, she's so not.

For the rest of the Amana show results, congrats to:
BOB-Howie, Libbyx2 and Raider, all garnered group placements!
Major wins for Missy's Emma, our Penny, Mary's Robin, and Sam's Tess(to finish!!!)  Cross over majors to the class dogs-Connie's boy 3 of the four days?  Hope that's right and Kim's Lincoln on Monday. 
Cy was BOW all weekend, Cara was WB 3 of 4 days and BOW 2 of those days. 

We had a blast all weekend long.  Great clubs to work with, awesome people and beautiful dogs.  Malcolm came along for the ride and he was a super baby.  Won the breed at the match, then group 4.  Yes Alec was judging but to be very fair and honest, I told him to dump us.  He is very impartial and honestly he's likes Penny over Mal.  So I guess that says something.
Mal also trooped around the grounds with me and sat on the club office counter.  We could have made a fortune for rescue if I'd put up a sign--Pet the Puppy for  $1!   What a good boy.  He even got to meet a special someone who said he's looks an awful lot like his cousin Powell.  And she should know!  Just loved him and can not wait to see me show the Pretty Boy.

So now it's time to clean out the trailer, the truck, unpack the bags, sort, clean and put away for another year.  Thank goodness we aren't showing for a long while, I need a break. 

Eghads--we forgot to collect eggs all weekend!  Guess the dogs are getting a treat for dinner.

More .... later!

Later gators....
C