HoundBlog

Happy New Year’s Eve! Hope you have whatever kind of celebration you want for NYE all organized and lined up. I know Ken and I do — bed and sleep in tomorrow 😆

Guess that makes us fuddy-duddies, but oh well….you gotta have some of us around to make all you party-hearty people look more fun.

I took Friday off so I could spend Ken’s last day of freedom in a productive manner I plan on painting the hallway and putting up the chair rail I’ve been talking about. I need him to move the washer and dryer out of the way so I can get the laundry “room” painted at the same time.

He bought carpet yesterday for the bedroom, so we pulled up the old carpet and put down the new yesterday afternoon after I finished working. It looks GREAT! It’s a light grey sculptured carpet and he got it fairly cheaply at Dalton Carpets in Anderson. We also got the bed set up and night stands back in the room and I think he’s going to move the dressers back in today.

With the old carpet he has and what I cleared out of the bedroom and living room last weekend, he has enough trash to warrant a trip to the dump and he said he was going to clean out the refrigerator and freezer today.

Our first dog show of 2009 is this weekend. It’s just up the road in Clemson, SC. Later this month will be the shows in Charleston and we’ll probably go there as well. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Mom, Judy and my friend Janet all reported to me that the Christmas cards I sent out this year had the envelopes slit open when they received them. Since you are all in various cities, I figured this had to have occurred at the post office we mailed them from, so stopped by yesterday and spoke with the Postmaster. He took all the information about the incident and said he would check into it, but since nothing was missing from them (I had sent the cards that had any gift cards or money in them via UPS), he didn’t act too urgent about the situation. I’m angry and feel violated, so this attitude made me even angrier, but we will see what comes of it.

Well, I think that should catch you up on our plans. Have a great day!

Love to all,

Margaret

Brrrrrrrrr! Don’t know about you, but it’s COLD here! 22 last I looked, but beautiful and clear.

I sure hope your weekend was better than mine!

I had to take Max in to have his cast changed and there was a new vet there.  Or at least new to me. He fussed at me for waiting to bring him in for the change as he had managed to get the thing wet (well, he’d been chewing on it, so guess that contributed to the wet). Anyway he wanted to keep him for a few hours to let him thoroughly dry out before putting on a new cast. I had to go to Columbia to pick up Tiger, so told him it might be late before I could get back and he said that was OK — they are there 24/7.

So I took off for Columbia and managed to stay out of rain all the way there. Tigger was happy to see me and I wandered around talking to people I knew for a few minutes, then left to head home. Ran into rain on the way home and heavier traffic, but still managed to make fair time. Ken had gone by and picked up Max after he got off work, so we ended up getting home about 5 minutes apart.

We got our respective dogs settled, then ran to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for spaghetti and when we got home, we settled down to rest for a few minutes. Heard an awful screaming from Max and when we ran into see what the problem was, he had somehow managed to pull his leg out of the cast! Thankfully he had not re-broken the leg, but we still had to go back to the vet’s office to get it re-casted.

They were working on an emergency so asked if we could leave him and come back, so we elected to go eat dinner then swing by Target to do some of the shopping we had planned to do Sunday.

We went to one of our favorite places where they serve fish and I ordered broiled Salmon while Ken got his usual fried flounder and baby shrimp. My Salmon was old and smelled and tasted fishy, so I didn’t eat all of it. Ken’s plate was piled so high with food he couldn’t eat it all, so took home a plate.

We then headed for Target which was very busy with last-minute shoppers like us. We managed to find what we were looking for and got checked out, but by then it was pouring buckets. Ken brought the car up to the front of the store, so I didn’t get too wet. He’s thoughtful like that.

Max was ready for us to pick up and this time was sporting another e-collar which he hates.

Thankfully the rest of Saturday was normal.

Sunday we left for Greenville around 8:00 am. Ate breakfast at the IHOP, then went to Costco to sign up for a membership — Ken’s boss gave him one for Christmas — wasn’t that nice?? We picked up a few things there, then went to Home Depot across the street where we bought the paint and supplies for me to repaint the bedroom. You can read about my makeover plans for the house HERE.

I know Ken wanted to wait until we could renovate the house, replace the paneling with sheet rock and re-do the subflooring, but that’s years away yet and I’m up to here with the dark paneling. 10 years of it is long enough!

My friend Janet is coming over Saturday to help me do the bedroom. I have everything I’ll need to do the linen faux finish on the walls. I still need to find and purchase the blinds/shades for the windows, but figure I can do that after the walls are done. Ken and I have a plan in mind for getting the furniture out of the room (except for the bed — that will just be pulled away from the wall). We’ll do that Thursday so the room will be ready to paint Saturday. Since Ken’s leaving for Ohio Saturday, he’ll be out of my hair and Janet and I can do our thing. He won’t be back until Monday, so that gives us two days to get it done. That should be plenty of time since it’s not that big of a room.

Once we finish the bedroom, I want to do the hallway. My office will be the last room to be redone as it’s the most complicated to get furniture out of since the huge bird cage is in there along with my l-shaped desk that will have to be dismantled to get it out of the room.

Finished up the day by doing laundry, wrapping presents and getting Christmas cards addressed. Ken even did the dishes for me! Everything is going out today UPS second day, so you should all get your stuff Christmas eve. I’m sorry I left it all so late — we had most of the gifts already purchased, I just have procrastinated getting it out — you all have my apologies for that!

Well, I suppose I should get back to work although it’s a slow day and I expect there to not be much at all this week, I still need to look like I’m accomplishing something 😛

Love to all,

Margaret

Well, it’s just plain been a sucky week.

I had to put Lottie to sleep as you know on Tuesday and then Wednesday Janet called me from the emergency vet saying Whinney had fallen and hurt her elbow.

When they did the tests necessary to see if they could do surgery, they discovered that she was already in kidney failure (which may have caused her to fall in the first place) and that her heart was enlarged. They did discover they would not need to do surgery as the elbow wasn’t broken but the treatment for the elbow was steriods and for the kidney issue was fluids. The steriods would have placed a bigger burden on her already struggling kidneys and the fluids would have placed a burden on her heart, so Janet elected to not let her suffer and let her join Skinny, Bridget, Sebastian and Lottie at the bridge. I feel so badly for her as she is so concerned that she caused Whinney’s problems in some manner, but I know she had nothing to do with it at all.

I take Max back to the vets Saturday for a cast change and then have to drive to Camden to pick up Tigger who has spent the last 4 weeks in Raleigh with his breeder. They showed him in Winston-Salem where he won a 3 point major on Friday and have tried to introduce him to the excitement of lurecoursing, but he’s not convinced that chasing that bag around the field is more fun than just running around and rolling in horse manure.

Aurora is here through Christmas while her family travels to visit their family in various places. She and Nikki are having great fun playing and all are getting along well.

Sunday I HAVE to finish Christmas shopping.

I think our weather is going to turn cold, but the last couple of days have been so nice. Yesterday especially was beautiful and nearly 70 for a high. Sunny with just some of those high wispy clouds in a very blue sky. Too nice to be indoors, but that’s where I spent my day. So far today it’s foggy, but still warm.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Stay warm, dry and safe.

Love to all,

Margaret

It was a sad day yesterday.

We said good bye to Lottie the Greyhound. This means that for the first time in 20 years, there is no Greyhound in residence at Kemar. Lottie turned 15 in October, but has been in failing health for some time now. It was just time to say good bye. She will be missed as are all the dogs who have gone before her.

Last night was the Greenville Kennel Club Christmas party. Despite being not much in the mood for revelry, I went with Charlotte as we had already made plans and I didn’t want to disappoint anyone by not going at the last minute even though I’m sure they would have understood. We had a nice time and for the first time I came home with a gift that I can actually use 😛 Of course I stole it to get it, but that was all within the rules of the game, so it was fair and allowed. It’s a plush dog bed that some little whippet person is going to love. I just haven’t decided yet WHICH little Whippet Princess will be the recipient.

Our resident seamstress made me a very nice cover for the back of my car to protect it from dog hair and dirt. It’s got holly leaves on it and is quite festive. Sharon is such a sweet lady and so very talented when it comes to crafts. She also bakes the most wonderful sweets for our meetings! Cookies, brownies, cakes and pies and they are all to die for! Oh and she has Greyhounds which makes her totally my kind of person!

Our company Christmas party is tomorrow. I’m sure that will be loads of fun as well since Jean is in charge of the arrangements. Last year’s party was an absolute hoot and I expect this one to be right there with the laughs and hilarity.

Our weather is rather odd. For the last couple of days, it’s been moderate temperatures (high 50’s for highs and high 40’s/low 50’s for lows) and very foggy. We did get some rain yesterday, too (of course on the drive home last night 🙁 ) and I know we still need it, but I sure wish the driveway would have a chance to dry out before the next deluge comes. I am VERY thankful that we’ve missed the bad weather that the west and mid-west have received over the past week along with the cold temperatures! I guess I should not complain at all about a bit of fog and rain.

Well, that’s about it for us. Hope you all are doing well and staying warm and dry!

Love to all,

Margaret

Ken worked all weekend so I had the house to myself. Got it fairly well straightened up for the time being. I need to seriously de-junk it though.

We met Sunday at BMW after he got off work and went shopping. He mentioned that he would like to get a new comforter for the bed as all I have for it right now is a thin bedspread and a blanket. Saw a sign for “last 5 days of Linen’s N Things”, so went in there. There wasn’t much left but we did find a pretty comforter set that had two sheet sets, two decorative pillows, bed skirt, two pillow shams and two euro sham covers in it. It was a raw silk looking kind of fabric in a sea green that is quite pretty! Even at 50% off it was $85 for the set which really isn’t all that bad.

Anyway, it looks nice on the bed and was warm.

Today was overcast and foggy all day. I’m sure glad the bad ice storms missed us.

I have a Christmas party to go to tomorrow night. Guess Charlotte is going with me as it’s the Greenville Kennel Club’s party. I managed to find something for the white elephant gift exchange that I think is quite cute. It’s a cow that the sides are like blackboard and she holds a piece of chalk in her tail. You can write things on her sides — not large paragraphs or anything, but little reminder notes. I think it’s cute, anyway.

I got a santa mantle sitter thingy for the company party that’s Thursday. I couldn’t really think of anything that would suit. There are more women than men, so it’s hard to find things that are gender negative. It’s kind of quirky looking so may appeal…who knows.

Ken’s really bummed out over the latest cuts at BMW. They’re cutting hours and making more off days next year. Nearly his whole vacation will have to be used for shut down days instead of for personal trips and such. Our dog show hobby will be severely curtailed with all of this, but that’s OK. We will do what we can and that will be enough.

If you get a chance, be sure to watch the Eukanuba Invitationals on TV. There’s a Whippet in the finals in Agility and she’s quite good! A Whippet also won a Group Two in the conformation competition, so it was a pretty good year for Whippets overall. See the current schedule for when they will air below.

February 7th, 8 PM (Animal Planet)

Repeat Airings: (Animal Planet)
February 14th, 4 PM

I guess that’s all the news I have to share.

Stay warm and dry.

Love to all,

Margaret

Poor Ken! He’s been having some issues with a tooth on his bottom jaw (the only one he has any teeth left in) being loose and causing him some discomfort. Well, it started hurting in earnest the other day and his jaw looked like he was trying to emulate a chipmunk with a cheek full of nuts on that side, so went to the dentist this morning. He was pretty sure he would lose that one tooth that was loose, but ended up loosing two teeth as the other one was broken, so that meant the dentist had to dig out the root from his gum.

He’s in a LOT of pain!

Silly man went back to work to tough it out the rest of the day….

Guess it’s soup for supper tonight….

I’ve been paying close attention to the weather today as it was VERY warm this morning and there have been a couple of sightings of tornadoes close to home. I had Judy bring in all the dogs as they panic when the weather gets bad like this. I sure hope it’s all passed by when I head home from work in a little bit.

Crazy day!

Hope yours was less dramatic.

Love to all,

Margaret

Gosh! I can’t believe I’ve neglected this blog for so long! There has certainly been enough to talk about, so guess I’ve just been lazy.

Went to Savannah last weekend for 3 days of shows, hoping to get that last elusive point on Butterfly and complete her championship before the year’s end.

Alas, it was not to be as Friday saw us taking reserve to Donna Bost’s lovely puppy girl and then the weather turned nasty (it was an outdoor show) and Saturday saw the rings saturated, muddy and full of fire ants. Butterfly hated it and so came in second in her class. Sunday AM the powers-that-be determined that the show site was flooded and canceled the show. Other than wishing they had done that the day before so I could have checked out of my hotel and gone on home Saturday, it wasn’t too bad of news for me. Of course I was only out the one night’s hotel and one entry fee. There were other people who were out a lot more than that as there were actually two more days of shows, but I had not entered Monday’s show as I had jury duty to report to on Monday.

And Jury duty was a non-event. We weren’t supposed to report until 2:00PM Monday, so I worked from home until time to go to Abbeville. Sat in the courtroom for two hours while they went through this laborious process of excusing some people, delaying the duty on others and finally getting around to choosing a jury for the case that was up for trial. My name wasn’t chosen as even a potential juror, so those of us in that state were sent home and instructed to call this phone number after 6:00PM for further instructions.

When I called, my instructions were to call the next day after 6:00PM and Tuesday’s instructions were the same. Wednesday night’s call said we were done for the week and checks for our service would be forthcoming. I expect to get a check for $7 since I was only there the one day. Big whoopee.

Ken is working Saturday and I will be taking Max, the puppy with the broken leg into the vet for what should be his last cast change as it’s been 5 weeks since he broke it. Thankfully no other dog has gotten ill or hurt during the past couple of weeks, so life seems to be flowing along comfortably for the critters at Kemar.

I’m teaching Riley to say “Merry Christmas” and Ken is teaching him to say “Phew! Mommy pooted” in retribution for my teaching him to say “Phew! Daddy pooted.” Life is fun around here, don’t you think?

Well, I really need to get back to work. I promised someone a report by EOB today, so I need to get cracking on it.

Love to all,

Margaret