HoundBlog

I hope your weekend was dryer than ours! Despite needing to do outdoor work such as mowing and weeding, the weather pretty much kept us inside all weekend.

We did go out Saturday to see the new Star Trek movie — I forsee a new generation of Trekkies coming from that one. But what was with the young Spock’s mouth? It looked like he had some kind of dental appliance in there to make it conform to a certain “look” and he had to work to keep from letting drool drip down his chin. Actually, all the characters were apparently specifically chosen to conform to how their older characters would have looked at that age. They did really well with all of them for the most part. Speech was another aspect that was carefully schooled. Each of the main characters — most notably the ones who played McCoy and Scotty had voices that were pitched and were given some of the key idioms those two characters uttered frequently on the old Star Trek. It sure sparked some great memories!

Yesterday we drove into Greenville — I had to get dog food at Sam’s Club and Ken wanted breakfast from “somewhere we haven’t been in awhile” which could be lots of different places. We at first said we would go to Cracker Barrel, then decided on IHOP, but when we saw the line at IHOP and found there were no parking places either, we went on to Cracker Barrel. We got seated almost immediately which is a rarity at CB! I had a “skillet” of homefries, smoked sausage, gravy, eggs and cheese. It also had onions and green peppers cooked in with the potatoes and was very tasty! Thankfully they didn’t drown it in gravy which was my biggest concern.

We went home to enjoy a quiet afternoon as the rain poured down. I read a book, piddled on the computer while Ken played poker online with some guys. When I last asked him about how well he did, he said not very well because he hadn’t gotten any good hands.

Well, that’s about all there is to tell you. Just a ho-hum kind of weekend!

Love to all,

Margaret

Hello and happy Friday! We made it through another week!

I had some successes at work so it’s been a good week, but I won’t bore you with details.

Ken got some overtime at his work which has made him happy.

We have a fairly lazy weekend to look forward to which also makes me happy. So, I’m really pretty happy today. 🙂

I talked to Eddie Sunday and he told me that they are planning to stop by next month for a few days as they take Chrystalyn back to Orlando for the summer. I’m looking forward to that visit!

I finished up another class at school this week. Although final grades aren’t posted yet, it looks like I’m going to end up with a 94 — still an A so I’m still on the honor roll. Have already started the next class — jumped in early and got a bit of a head start. It’s another IT class on communication.

I checked out the online library for the first time last night. I think I will stick with google for researching my assignments. The library was a big disappointment and not at all user friendly.

We’re hoping that this last “fix” to the pen the big dogs are in has done the trick. I know we’ve sure struggled with these dogs and there have been times when I just wanted to shoot them and get it over with (not that I would have!). I have to remove bedding from their crates though because when the weather gets hot, they will spend the day inside and the nights outside and don’t need the quilts that are in there now. They’ll be hot even in the house if I don’t take those out.

There seems to be some kind of musical event going on outside as I can hear the drums….I need to check that out as I don’t remember seeing any notice of such going on.

Love to all,

Margaret

Hi all — hope you had a wonderful weekend! It wasn’t long enough, but that’s always the case, isn’t it?

Yesterday, Ken and I slept in until 10:30 — way late for us! We went to Anderson to the Golden Corral for lunch which as always was very good! While we were there, I indulged in some people watching. It can be a lot of fun.

Anyway, this couple came in and sat at a table close to ours. They were a bit older than Ken and I; probably in their late 60’s or early 70’s. The lady was dressed in this dress that I had never seen the likes of before. It was quite pretty but not something I would expect to see on a lady of her age. It was like a dress you would have seen in the ’30’s  — very floaty and feminine. It had a strapless bodice that she wore a lace shrug over and the skirt was two tiered and swirled with each step. It wasn’t all that full, just one of those skirts that has an extra panel in it to make it flare out at the knees. She wore a black beret tilted at a rakish angle over one eye. Anyway, as we were leaving, I leaned down and told her how pretty her dress was — that she looked like she was ready to Tango. She threw her head back, flung her hands up in the air, and laughed and said “YES! Bring on the music!”

She was still smiling as we walked out the door.

It felt really nice to make someone smile like that.

I hope your Sunday had smiles in it.

Love to all,

Margaret

Felicia Cinco de Mayo! Or Happy May 6th. I hope you’re dancing the Mexican Hat dance or a Tango or something in honor of today. They aren’t in Mexico thanks to the H1N1 or Swine Flu.

And speaking of the flu – I hope you’re feeling fine and dandy too! Ken and I are both sniffling but it’s from all the pollen and has nothing to do with any viruses imported or domestic. Give us a few weeks and this will all be behind us.

I have a bird I’ve never seen before nesting on my back porch. After googling some, I found out that it’s a blue-grey gnat catcher and summers across the southern half of the US. It built quite a neat looking nest on the shop light hanging on the porch — I guess it also has a ready supply of food since I see plenty of insects there as well and given it’s name it must catch flying insects. It leaves the nest every time we go out the door and sometimes forgets where the outside door is, so I see it frantically hopping around on the screen trying to escape. At first I would catch it and release it outside, but anymore I just leave it alone. I have a photo of the nest on the photo blog (www.travelinshow.com), so you can see it there if you want to. I’ve also taken some photos of the bird, but haven’t downloaded them off my camera yet.

Yesterday while I was working from home, I looked out into the yard and saw a wild turkey meandering across it. I’ve seen them in the woods around the house, but never in the yard. It came up fairly close to the house, but not as close as the bird feeder, so although I got lots of photos, I’m not sure how they will turn out.

I have bluebirds nesting in the Martin house. Last year we had what I think was a blue grosbeak nesting in it but this year, it’s definitely a bluebird. Those are the first I’ve seen around here too although they are a normal bird for this area. Maybe it was too dry last year for them and that’s what also pushed the grosbeaks up as well. I don’t know for sure, but just have a feeling that has to do with the unusual bird species I’m seeing. Like last year, though I have brown headed cowbirds. They tend to stick with the grosbeaks since that’s one of their favorite nests to lay eggs in, but I haven’t seen any grosbeaks so far.

I have hummingbirds — one rather odd looking guy with a head full of feathers that stick up at odd angles and the rest are ruby throats.

Nothing remarkable on tap for this weekend. Hopefully Ken will not schedule too many projects. He kept himself overworked trying to get caught up in one weekend what he should have scheduled out over a couple, but to give him credit, he got it all done. He thought he was going to have Friday off as the plant was needing some parts that come from a factory in Mexico which was closed for the flu outbreak. They canceled that yesterday, so he’s working all week.

I got an early Mothers’ Day gift from Pam, John and the kids – it is a lovely silver bookmark that has their names engraved on it — you KNOW I’ll put that to good use! And from AKC, I finally got my bronze bred-by-exhibitor champion medallion.

Well, lunch is over, so it’s back to work for me.

Have a great day!

Love to all,

Margaret

Happy May Day! Are any of you going to dance around the maypole today? I’m not.

Nothing on tap for this weekend that’s very special. Ken has a boat load of yard work to be done — mowing and finishing up with the tree. He now has all the branches cut that were over the fence and leaning into the back yard, so it’s just a matter of cutting the tree back to the stump. Garbage needs to go to the dump — the cans are VERY full.

As for me, I have a mountain of dog laundry to get done. It’s been piling up for weeks and I just need to get on with it! Bird cage cleaning is on my list as is the normal bathroom duty and our laundry.

I completed all my assignments for the current session in school — that has me done two weeks before the session end. All I have left to do is respond to the other students, but I can’t do that until someone has actually posted something. I screwed up big time in this class and failed to turn in a second part on an assignment, so I’m only working on a 93+ in this class. I think that still translates to an A for this school, though. I did extra work on two other assignments that I’m hoping will give me extra credit and make up for the missing assignment. Then again, this professor doesn’t seem to be easily impressed.

Well, I need to get my act back on work and see if I can do something productive today.

Have a great weekend!

Love to all,

Margaret

We got back from Lake Waccamaw around 4 yesterday which was a bit earlier than we had initially thought we would. Ken finished watching the race and then we unpacked the camper, fed dogs and cleaned kennels. I had already started laundry, so that was going as we did the necessary chores around the house.

We had a good weekend. Saturday we swept Whippets with Oscar taking Winners Dog and Best of Winners, Nikki taking Winners Bitch and Best of Opposite Sex and Tigger taking Best of Breed. Payne was a disappointing second in her class and got ignored for reserve, but Max was Best Adult in Match Saturday night. Sunday the points all went to other Whippets which was OK as they were nice dogs and Ken didn’t want to stay for Groups anyway.

Ken and I have worked out a schedule for the gym. I’m going on Mondays and Wednesdays while he’s going on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We both agreed that we need to get into a routine.

Placed Maggie in a new home Thursday. The gentleman came highly recommended by one of my other Whippet owners and he and Maggie really fell for each other when he came to visit. The gentleman is retired but not old or infirm. He has a panic disorder that Maggie is helping him deal with.

Haven’t heard from Eddie lately although Yvonne friended me on Facebook 🙂 Is it just me who feels awkward having both her granddaughter and daughter-in-law as facebook friends??? 😆

Now you know all there is to know that’s new in our lives.

Love to all,

Margaret

Here it is Tuesday and it already feels like the week should be over. It was a LONG day yesterday!

We had fun at the Columbia Kennel Club shows this past weekend. Ken and Oscar were Best Adult in Match Saturday night. Max was Winners Dog and Best of Opposite Sex Sunday and Payne was Reserve Winners Bitch on Saturday. We leave Friday for Lake Waccamaw, NC and the  Myrtle Beach Kennel Club shows.

I had a Blue Jay in the yard this morning. I don’t usually see them this close to the house for some reason. The house finches have already started feeding bbies — seems like they started early this year. Although I have a fair number of brown headed cowbirds I haven’t seen any blue grosbeaks like I did last year.The hummers are back and one has built a nest on the light fixture on the side porch. I keep having to fuss at Ken about leaving that door open. He’s decided it needs to stay shut because Tiffany keeps sneaking out and then runs away.

I have a kennel club meeting tonight that I really don’t want to go to. Too much bickering between people lately and I’m tired of hearing it. But I’ll go anyway.

I have to get my schoolwork done by this afternoon for the week too since I’ll be busy the next several nights with different things. This weeks’ assignments are very time consuming to do. It’s all about suggesting upgrades and systems for different scenarios. We have to research where to find the components on the web and post where to find them and what they cost. Gives me a headache just thinking about it.

Two more weeks and this session will be over and I’ll move on to another subject.

Well, I need to get back to it.

Love to all,

Margaret

Ken went to the doctor yesterday — it was a routine appointment to check his sugar and stuff but he used the opportunity to get drugs for his malaise. It was not on the $4 list at Walmart, so he’ll get the prescription filled today at work. Overall he’s feeling better for the most part, though which I’m glad of.

I don’t really think it’s something contagious as I feel just fine. Normal sinus drainage for this time of year due to pollen, but even that’s not too bad as the rain has kept the airborne levels down to a reasonable one.

I hate that Ma had to go through at the doctors what she did. I don’t know why they can’t figure out less debasing ways of checking things like that. Just like I can’t figure out why they can’t figure out how to do a mammogram without crushing the life out of you.

We leave Friday afternoon for Aiken and the Columbia Kennel Club show. Normally we would just drive back-and-forth to a show that’s this close, but I’ve been asked to judge a match Saturday night and so Ken doesn’t want me driving home that late at night. I’ll take another half day off from work. Ken will also work a shorter day Friday.

Well, I guess that’s really all there is to tell you about our week so far.

I need to finish getting ready for work.

Love to all,

Margaret

Today is the last day of the Whippet Nationals. We’ve sure seen some gorgeous dogs! And we’ve seen some inspirational dogs.

There is Zoey the whippet who was poisoned at a show and suffered nerve damage. Despite having to have a hind leg amputated and the other hind leg not working correctly, Zoe’s owners have purchased a canine wheelchair for her so she can still get around. Her spirits undaunted, this plucky girl greets everyone with a smile and a tail wag.

And then there is Grandma the 19 year old who gets carried everywhere by her owner and falls asleep at the drop of a hat, but hey! She’s 19!

The rainbow bridge table was simply awesome. So many lovely dogs and lovely people remembered and honored.

Ken and Tigger didn’t make the cut, so we came on home. The weather was bad last night and we were worried about the dogs left here. They are all fine, but were glad to see us home. Sabrina appears to have grown quite a bit while we were gone.

Ken seems to have caught a cold or is having an allergic reaction to something blooming because he’s all stuffed up and sneezing. I’ve given him some Dayquil and put him to bed.

Guess I should go see if he needs anything else.

Love to all,

Margaret♠

Monday was not a very good day. I had Ken take Tazz in to Dr. Martin to see about the abcess on his hip that wasn’t healing. Dr. Martin cleaned the abcess out and gave Ken a bottle of stuff to put in the wound and a bottle of antibiotics to give him. Ken gave him the prescribed dosage when he got back home. When he went to feed Tazz later that afternoon, he said Tazz ran off and collapsed in the woods. Ken brought him in the house and fed him. By the time I got home from work, Tazz was breathing heavily and was very disoriented.

I called the emergency vet because it was already after hours and they wanted me to bring him in, so I left to take him to Anderson. It seems that Tazz had an allergic reaction to the medicine that set his body off to destroying his red blood cells. He was so anemic when we got there that the vet took nearly an hour and a half to get a catheter threaded into a vein in his leg. After doing some blood tests and checking his abdomen (because I reported it being swollen and “mushy” feeling), the vet discovered blood in his abdomen also indicating the vessel walls themselves were compromised. After some discussion of treatment and prognosis, we decided that the outcome was not promising enough to try and let him go. He was 12-1/2 which is pretty old for a standard poodle, but still too young for me to let him go.

When I got home, Ken had already dug a grave and we buried him with the other dogs that have passed away during the nearly 11 years we’ve lived here.

Ken left the next morning for Atlanta and the Whippet Nationals. Nikki made the cut in her futurity class of 16, but didn’t get a placement. He shows her tomorrow in breed. Butterfly is having health tests done today and tomorrow in preparation for her being bred in the very near future. So far, everything is checking out fine.

Keep your fingers crossed for us in our respective classes. Ken in 9-12 month bitches and me in brace with Oscar and Butterfly. I’ll let you know how we did.

Love to all,

Margaret