“Every increased possession loads us with new weariness.” – John Ruskin
Sunday, September 06, 2009
The Dogs Remember
It is very clear that the animals remember the cabin. They immediately fall into old habits and behaviors. They remember the daily “routine”. (Except their internal clocks are still on Eastern time, so they wake us up at 4:00 a.m.) They remember where we set their food bowls. They remember that we take a long walk each morning after breakfast and a shorter walk in the evening before dinner—and they remind us if we forget. They remember the trails in the woods and all the places we normally stop to gather everyone together and give them a treat. (A way of keeping them close on walks that we train into them from pups.)
What about Bella? Well, she “owns” this place—at least in her mind. She shows no fear. She leads us down every trail. Today, she went swimming in the pond. She is really good at following the game trails—which we also use for our walks. She runs and jumps and swims—not having any problem with the adjustment. See Lynne’s blog for photos.
The cats have settled into their routine also and seem very much at home.
So, the animals are all well and happy. As are we!
Posted under: Cabin News • Dog Stuff • Cat Stuff • by Rick on 09/06/2009 at 05:19 PM
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
One Week and Counting
One week from today we leave on our 3-week vacation to our remote cabin in Colorado. There is so much to be done!
We will leave NJ on Wednesday morning, as early as possible and drive with 3 dogs and 2 cats as far as the Mississippi. That is our strategy—MIssissippi, Missouri, then Cabin! Our goal each day is to make a major river—with the last one being Bart’s Creek on our land. The cabin is about 20-odd miles directly south of Laramie, Wyoming, but in Colorado. No electricity, no post-office, no phone service, just a log cabin in the woods, 3 dogs and 2 cats—assuming we all make it across the two major rivers.
We’ve been working on “security” given some surprising discoveries about how our house and property is used in our absence. So, the web cams are running, the alarm system is tested. House sitters are lined up, the pool guy will be here every day to add toxic chemicals to the water, and the police will be doing a “house check”, assuming we get the forms back to them soon. Should keep all but the most tenacious or most stupid away from the house.
But, there is so much more to do! We need to work on our first week’s meal plan because as we drive through Laramie on our way to the cabin (the 3rd day on the road), we’ll stop in Safeway and stock up on food (and wine) for a week. So, we are negotiating meal plans, picking recipes and creating detailed shopping lists. You do not want to end up at the cabin and not have a key ingredient because it is a minimum 40 minute drive to the first 7-11.
The dogs are getting groomed so they don’t smell too bad in the truck on the way there. And, to minimize the dog hair. We just know that Bella will come into season on the day we leave and be in season the entire trip. Oh well, we’ve done it before, we can do it again.
I need to wash the truck. I like to start the trip with a clean truck. We’ll do an oil change in Laramie. It is about 1700 miles and very uncomplicated. Just drive about 10 mile south to I80, then about 1670 miles West to Laramie, then 20 miles South to “home”.
We have our favorite motels along the way—the ones that will take a dog. LIttle do they know that we don’t really walk our dog 3 times each evening and that each walk is a different dog! The cats like to sit in the window and watch the other people walk their dogs too.
I hope to post each day along the way and maybe even while we are there. Yes, we are “off the grid’ but thanks to solar panels, inverters, satellite dishes, and laptop computers, we’ll try to stay in touch.
After all, we need to check out the web cams often and watch the time-lapse movies of the pool activity, and ...
Posted under: Cabin News • Dog Stuff • Cat Stuff • Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 08/26/2009 at 06:57 PM
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Saturday, January 06, 2007
Lazy Daisy
Daisy has a favorite place to nap—a love seat in the office. Here are few pictures taken over the Christmas Holidays.
Posted under: Dog Stuff • by Rick on 01/06/2007 at 10:48 AM
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Sunday, October 22, 2006
Millenia is Gone
Today we put Millenia to sleep. She was almost 7 years old. She had wobblers disease and had been on prednisone for a year. But, she got around great. However, starting a few days ago she began to fail. She become weak, could not get around well, stopped eating and drinking, and was incontinent. We took her to the vet today and blood tests and X-rays pointed to a very high probability of a tumor on her spleen, causing bleeding into her abdomen. She could not have lived more than a few hours without surgery. And, the probability of a successful surgery was low due to her overall health, being on the pred for so long, and high likelihood that even if the tumor was successfully removed, she would not live more than a few months.
Click here to see Millenia as we remember her.
Posted under: Dog Stuff • by Rick on 10/22/2006 at 12:51 PM
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Sunday, September 24, 2006
Ticks
We recently found some ticks on dogs. Bode has had two and Sailor has had one. I also found a small one crawling on Daisy’s head last night. This is so strange because we have not had any ticks on dogs throughout the entire summer.
In Colorado, we would watch for ticks in the Spring. But, as soon as Summer came and it got hot and dry, we did not worry anymore. Here, we went the entire Spring and Summer without ticks, but now that Fall is here, we have seen several.
They come off pretty easy. I just grab them between my thumb and finger, apply gentle pressure and pull gently but firmly until they decide to release. I check to make sure I got their head out, then I squeeze the beejezus out of them and throw them away.
We put Frontline on all the dogs a few days ago, I hope that kicks in soon. Meantime, the dogs enjoy the extra “petting” they get when we go over them looking for ticks.
Posted under: Dog Stuff • by Rick on 09/24/2006 at 06:37 AM
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