Sick Call

I remember when I was working, hating getting the call from my kids school office saying one of them was sick and could you pick them up.  Got a little flashback this morning.  Vicky, the groomer, called and said she got done with Beau early but he was throwing up and had bad gas.  She thought maybe he ate something bad.  So I went to pick up my little baby and before I let him lay down to rest.  I still needed to take an after picture before he messed his hair up.

Everytime I take a before picture, he never smiles.  As I have said before, LL laughs because he says Beau take the best before and after pictures.

In the summer, I have Vicky cut Beau a little shorter so he stays a bit cleaner for camping.

Week 28, 2011

Well, LL is back to work this week.  I enjoyed his company last week so much that I wasn't looking forward to getting back to my hermit existence this week.  But boring is not what I would call my morning so far.

Today, Monday-LL off to work, and I decided to get moving and catch up on cleaning kitchen and doing laundry.  As I was loading the wash, I look out the window, and there is Hannah, Henrietta and Harriet running around the driveway.  Sh!T. Dang, Son of a B!ct# !!!   I clipped there wings, the gates were closed, so they are getting out underneath the fence somewhere.  Well this isn't my first walk in the park, this is not my first rodeo.  I know scratch, bread or vegetables won't entice them to follow me into their small coop, so I brought out the big guns.  I opened the fridge and grabbed my gluten free, unprocessed, off the bone ham I had intended eating for my lunches this week.  6.99 a pound, I might add.  I also yelled to Bailey "The chickens are out, I need your help".  Well she was still in bed because she had friends over to swim last night, and for some reason I still think is nuts, they all went to Salem at 1:00 this morning to get something to eat.  Oh well, the price sleeping beauty has to pay is to get up and help this coop keeper wrangle these freedom seeking poultry.  So my neighbors have quite the sight seeing me with my ham, playing pied piper, and Bailey from behind them, in her robe, shewing them into the yard and then coop.  I called LL and told him, do not come home with out something to fix the fence. 

Well after that, I dropped Beau off at the groomers, Yes, photo's to follow, went to the bank and back to figure out where I was before the chicken detour.

Tuesday-I am having coffee with a friend.  Hope to spend the rest of the day with Mom.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday-No appointments, no sibling having tests or a hospital stay (I HOPE). 

This next weekend is the Purdy Picnic.  It is one Sunday and I am looking forward to it.

Smarter Than The Average Bear!

I am thinking, either Beau is not as bright as I would like to think, or Rufus is much smarter than I thought.  I prefer to think that Beau is a gentleman and has good manners.  Rufus on the other hand is a evil genius.

I feed the boys with two different bowls, Beau has a small ceramic and Rufus, a large plastic.  Beau will only eat out of his small bowl.  I carefully measure out his, because we are working on his weight.  I then fill up Rufus's much larger bowl. 

But every day lately, Rufus runs to Beau's bowl, lays down, puts his paws around the bowl so Beau can't get to it, then eats all of Beau's food and then goes to his own bowl.  Beau always looks up at me like "What Happened?" 

I need to either coach Beau to eat out of Rufus's bowl or I am going to have to start feeding them separately.

Yes, I think Rufus is smarter than he looks:)

ANIMAL

Haven't been able to blog and post pictures for a few days.  Luckily, Bailey's boyfriend Rett could fix the problem for me:)

Friday, I took Beau for his grooming.  Vicky groomed him shorter at my request and put a cute bandanna on him.
Mid afternoon, my sis Kris invited LL and I to spend the weekend in Central Oregon.  So after making sure Kane and Bailey would be around for Max, LL and I threw clothes in a bag and away we went.  What a blessing.  We had such a lovely time and I took lots of pictures.  I decided to post just living breathing beings in this post.  Hopefully other pictures to follow.

Beau spiffied up

Deer on the golf course

Two swans, one sitting in the nest, the other very protective

Bird on a cat tail

My new friend Bandy who entertained me by herding his owners  Caterpillar

This snake made me a little nervous, but at least it's tail had no rattle on it:)

While heading home we saw many deer all around.

Strangest animals of all LL, Steve and Kris

Week 17, 2011

Had a nice Easter.  Not a lot to say about this week.  Again, at the mercy of the weather.  But the plan so far is............

Monday, LL has today off and if the weather is dry (wishing) yard work is in order.  My house should look like a home, but is more of a trash can.  So I will get it back in shape.

Tuesday, if "digestion" allows, I am going to see my sister Kathy.

Wednesday, Max is getting his hair cut.  His choice, and I am trying to just go with it.  A Mohawk. I am sure pictures will be following:)

Friday, my sister-in-law, Debby is on Price Is Right.  So if digestion allows, I am going to her house to watch the show.  Watch it if you can.  Debby has one of those personalities that is made for that show and it should be fun.

The weekend, well it is too soon to say because of the weather.  I think from now to Memorial Day weekend, if the weather looks great, on the weekends, we will go to the camping spot.  If the weather is rainy or showery, we will stay home and either work inside or outside between showers.

But, if you want to know what I really will be doing during my days if it is not raining..........
I will be sitting here,

Watching my boys,

And my girls,

My boys watching my girls.........Rufus is eyeing Harriet..........

And Harriet not caring......

Watching the lilacs starting to bloom,

Watching my strawberries growing,

Going into my green house to...........

Watch my snow peas.

My lettuce,

And praying for my spinach

How could anyone be as busy as that:)  Sitting and watching nature happen:) :) :)

Blowfish and Meat Loaf

When I had my first surgery for cancer, my first surgeon, who was not a cancer specialist advised me to stay as thin as possible for further early detection because I carry my weight in the middle.  Not by choice, but I did lose weight, got really thin and felt weak.  After all my surgeries, radiation and chemo, reversals of ostomies and lots of intestines cut out, I started gaining.......and gaining.  Was not eating much more, but it did not make a difference.  Fast forward to my last appointment with my Cancer surgeon.  He kept saying how good I looked.  I finally said, "are you kidding, I have gained so much weight".  He said I scared him how thin I got and that the closer I am to my precancer weight, the better.  Well, I wanted to tell him "If you wanted me to look like a BLOW FISH, why didn't you say so".  Actually, I told him what the other surgeon said and Doctor L., who specializes in cancer said, "No, with my type of cancer and treatment, it is best to have reserves, because the surgeries and treatments are too hard on the body".  And he said in my case especially, with my history, I tend to drop weight too fast and need the reserve.  So if I have a recurrance, I will be able to handle what lies ahead.  So my pride has to be set aside, but really do need to stop gaining and just maintain where I am at.

Me and Beau

But enough about me.  This story is about my Beau.  When I got him, his past owner said he tends to gain weight.  I was mindful of that and he maintained for quite some time.  But over the last few months, as I have gained, my sweet Beau has gained big time.  My sister Kris mentioned it a few weeks ago.  I got a little defensive.  She could of said, "Konnie, you are getting fat", I wouldn't have liked it but I would have taken it better than her saying what she said, "Konnie, Beau is getting fat".  Fat? FAT?  Not my baby.  Well, Bailey had been saying for a while that Beau was a cute fatty.  Still, I do not want to hear anything bad about my baby.  Although I have noticed it.  And I know it is not healthy for him.

Friday night, LL, Beau and I watched Seabiscuit.  Can you imagine I have never watched it?  So as the end was coming and Seabiscuit was winning the race, I cuddled up to my beau and said, "Oh Beau, that is just like you, you are my own Thorough bred".  LL looked over at us and said, "he is not a Thorough bred, he is a Loaf of Bread".  Ha Ha, it was funny at the time, but then we came home and LL relayed the story to Kane.  And of course Kane had to add to it.  "Beau is not a Loaf of Bread.........He is a Meat Loaf."  Curse them all!!! 

Blow fish and Meat loaf:(

Well I must say, Beau and I took three long walks at the camping park, and this afternoon, we took another long walk.  But lay off my little doggy.  Call me pudgy but my Beau is perfect.  Just a little MORE perfect than usual.

Beau-delicious

Well my faithful companion once again is dapper.  Ready for me to take him everywhere I go to show him off.  Too bad I did not go anywhere after he came home.

I am sitting here, waiting for the weather to come on the TV this morning.  It sure is cold, but I am hoping for a somewhat dry day........Mostly Cloudy, but sunny this morning, showers later...............OK. Well now I know I need to get myself moving and do everything outside first.  Wash and hang sheets on the line, clean up the side flower bed, take scooter to store to pick up a couple things, Oregon Gardens for a few snapshots and the Library.  Actually I will go to the Garden first since it does not matter if it rains while scootering to the library or store.

I hope to do a mini marathon cooking to get several gluten free meals in the freezer for the next week or two.

Mom wont be home from eye appointment until around 3:30.  She says she will not need help, but she often mistakes herself for Superman, so I will still go over just in case.

Peace and no stress

Peace and no stress.  What a beautiful concept.  I have been thinking, since I don't work outside the home and try to make day to day life stress free.  I was doing pretty good.  But here is how my morning has gone.

Max went to the bank and called me.  "Orelia and I need to shop for groceries and not much in the account".  Dang!  Forgot to transfer funds......"Get right on that honey". 

Went down stairs and because the chickens were out yesterday, and the dogs were not outside as much, found a couple accidents.  Like to say it was Rufus.  But it was Beau. 

Got a call from County about Kathy and I talked about it on previous post.  But she asked for questions the lawyer e-mailed me.  Couldn't find them, called had the attorney ree-mail me.  Tried to print them to take to meeting, and the printer does not work.  Transcribed them in my handwriting but halfway through decided this was going to take ages and tried printing again.  Yes!  It printed.

By this time, my stomach is turning, "Yes doctor, I understand stress and what it does to my bowels"  and finding myself having "issues".  I know it is definitely not what I ate, so it is the stress factor.  Looking at my morning, I know it could be so much worse.  But feeling what this little bit does to my body........GEESH!

Again???

You might be asking yourself......."Is she going to post pictures of Beau every time she gets him groomed?"  Well............Yes!  Yes I am.  Cuz he is cute.

As usual, I have to post a before picture.  He always looks so sad.  I then walked him just down the street to his new groomer.

Rover's Makeover

This is where Rufus will sit and be sad till his beauyfriend gets back.

Vicky is Beau's new groomer.   I have taken Beau there for 4 or 5 times now.  She is a local groomer who is experienced, fast and thorough.  I love finding local business to give my dollars to and promote.

As Beau and I started walking up the driveway, there is Rufus, keeping watch for his great love.

And here is the happy boy.  Ready to be on the couch, on any one's lap, visit grandma, and sleep on the bed.  He is clean and dehaired after all.....and he knows it.

So what did LL and I do while Beau was getting prettyfied?  Well stay tuned.  It isn't pretty.

Oh, by the way, today is the one year anniversary of my blog. 

How Berry Sweet He Is

After a very long and painful bout with my "issues", I decided I better get outside before snow, ice, or rain came down.  Of course I took my buddy Beau with me, and after his grooming and his cute bandanna, he has a little spring in his step.

So we walk to the post office and then the park.  He loves the park.

He likes all the trees to use to take care of business.

I was bundled up but boy was it getting cold.

So far, my favorite type of photography is closeup nature.  I, for some reason get great satisfaction zooming in on something small and unique with a blurred background.

As I am writing this the snow is starting to come down.  Oh boy Oh boy.  Why I get excited I do not know.  It rarely accumulates around here.  If it does though, you can bet I will be posting some pictures.

Week 2, 2011

Last week was a mixed bag of happenings.  I had a wonderful birthday lunch with my mom, siblings, and Kane.
                                   
We went to a restaurant named Wooden Nickel.  Of course we made fun of each other and caught up on what each other was doing.

That evening, I was able to open my gift from my kids.  What a surprise and treat.  My kids pulled their money together, ordered my gift and picked it up that morning.  It was something I was going to save for and hoped to buy for myself in a couple months.  They bought me a KOBO.  It is a e-book.  It came with over 100 classic books already on it, and I will be able to download new books when ever I want.

Saturday, I spent quite a bit of the day with my mom.  LL was at a church retreat, and everyone else was busy.  It was nice not spending the whole day alone.  On the way home, I heard about the shootings in Arizona.  Don't want to talk more about it on this post.  I just can't:(

Sunday, I went with Kris, Karen and Bailey to my sister Kathy's.  She needed a haircut.

She was so excited to see Bailey.  She pretty much could care less that the rest of us were there.

Eventually, Karen and Kris were a tag team cutting Kathy's hair.

After the haircut, Kathy still wanted to be only with Bailey.  Bailey enjoyed her time with her Aunt and was talking about how cute Aunt Kathy was all the rest of the day.

 
Kathy had to show Bailey her favorite stuffed animal.  Her doggy dog.

Later, Bailey, Max and I went to Mom's and we along with Kara played Scrabble.

Today Beau gets groomed, I am hoping do a lot of cleaning, and tonight is the big Oregon Duck's game.  We will probably all be downstairs eating and watching the game. 

Not sure what Tuesday and Wednesday holds.  Thursday afternoon, LL, Mom, Dave, Aunt Leone and I are going out of town over night and be home late afternoon Friday.

My heart is hurting right now for the victims and families from the shooting in Arizona.  I have lots of thoughts on this, but don't know if I will blog about it later.  I hope you all have a safe and peaceful day.

M.I.A.

Over the last few days, I have been missing in action when it comes to my blog.  It isn't that I didn't want to blog, it's that I didn't want to be on the computer at all.  Over the last few days, I put away most of the Christmas decorations, dealt with "digestion" problems, researched my "issues" and diet further, and had a fun day on Monday.  Monday, LL, Max, Bailey, Rett, and I went to Portland.  We went to Pittock Mansion, Powell's Book Store and out to eat.  I have truly found heaven on earth.  It is amazing how all my life, I have never been to the downtown Powell's Book Store.  At one time, I don't know if it still is, it was the worlds largest book store.  It is the size of a city block and several stories high.  You need a map when browsing the store.  Max and I felt like it was the most magical place.  We love book stores, and this is the grand daddy of them all.  I ended up buying two normally very expensive vegetarian cookbooks.  They were used but like new and I got them for $13.00 total.  SCORED!!! 

To rewind back to Christmas day.  I took a lot of pictures before dinner, not so much after because..........well you know.  So I have chose some pictures randomly of the family. 

This is Kris's kids.  Kara, Kyle, and Kelli

I took some single pictures of the three of them.  Here's Kara

Bailey and Grandma Evelyn

Max and his Godparents, Karen and David

Bailey and Rett

Here we are waiting to do the gift exchange.  Notice I brought Beau to my sis's house and he wore the antlers most of the day.  What a good boy.  Todie also wore her dress all day.  Strange dogs aren't they?  After that, well I really had "issues" so my celebrating was done.

Today, I am going to Mom's to help put some decorations away.  I am going to try a new recipe from my new cookbook for dinner.  Lentil Roast.  It's like a vegetarian meatloaf.  It looks good.  We'll see.  If not, the chickens will love it I am sure.