For real

Life can be such a tug of war

The first new leg is due for delivery on Friday. I found out today. It must be paid for on delivery. The money has to come from Hawaii. Somehow I don't think this will happen that quickly, yet I am thinking they want this on the books in April. Ah the games we play. So the plan, at this point, is to try to get the running leg through insurance so I just have the co-pay to worry about. The bad news is that the insurance company is totally clueless. They say "no need for pre-approval," but aren't understanding that there are TWO legs we are talking about. I, of course, say that we should take them at their word and go for it. However, I would not be the one burned if they suddenly put two and two together and come up with a "wait just a minute here." So for now we are finishing up the one. The second will be easy as we will use the same mold and just add the special foot. Once approval is real it will only take a few days to get it all together and built. The rotten thing is that I will then have to go back to Dad's estate and recollect, and I was hoping to grovel only once. I hate money stuff.

So I will soon have a leg to stand on. I can still run on this one enough to take the classes I need for the Danskin. And I will be back to work out mode as soon as the blister behind my knee is completely healed up. All things are falling into place, just not quite the way I had hoped. Then again, nothing is ever as easy as it seems it should be.

My straw bales are cooking and I should be planting my salad bar in them the end of next week. My apple trees are in bloom and my Asian Pear is done blooming. The raspberries look like it will be a bumper crop as do the blueberries. I need to get at least two of the garden boxes cleaned and planted with the things I don't want in the straw bales. I also need to get my new strawberries into the ground, which needs some new mulch added first.

There is much to do, and mostly I sit around staring at the puppy and dreaming of things to come. It's all good; it's my life.

G2

Which way did they go?

I'm gone for three hours. Instead of crating Nugget I decide to put him in the kitchen with Kate. They all have bones to chew on while I am gone, and I know that Kate will be fine as long as she is with the puppy.

Fast forward three hours.

I am greeted by Henry as I walk in the door. Then I notice that my X-pen barrier has been moved and the other two dogs are not in the kitchen. They have not run to greet me. My heart begins to race. The doors and windows are all closed and intact. I call frantically and there is no answer. Henry is following me from room to room with a stupid look on his face. There are no cardis anywhere. With my heart in my throat I look out to the pool. (Of course they can't get out there, but it was my reaction, OK?) Nothing. I'm calling frantically. Not a sound. I know that the doors were both deadbolt locked. Where can they be? Near tears I call again, this time for Nugget. I hear the faintest sound of a whimper. I run back to the kitchen and all the cabinets are closed, the drawers as well. The fridge? Thank goodness it is also fine. Then I hear it again. I notice that Henry did not follow me to the kitchen. He is standing at my closet door. Yes indeed, a Cardigan does belong in the closet...if it is a sweater!! They had escaped the kitchen and gone into the closet where they managed to close the door behind them. There they were, stuck in a dark cave for who knows how long. Tomorrow they will both be in crates when I go for my appointment. I haven't a clue which one figured out the way out, but it just might have been cleaver coaching by Henry...you see he had possession of all three bones.

I love my dogs, I love my dogs, I love my dogs...

G2

I need

a new camera so that I don't have the lag time thing going on and I can actually get both dogs in full without having to worry that the baby might take a dive. I know when I set up this picture they were both framed. After numerous attempts at getting Nugget to look at me with ears up the above is the closest I came.

I'm trying to decide if the crown needs to go back on. Some times the ears look good, other times pretty droopy.

And I need new toes

Yes, these are the ones that have nerves! Yeow. Sharp puppy teeth.

G2

The awwww factor

Thanks to Kim Kiefer for the picture; and for the great afternoon.

G2

Last night and tonight

I have to be incredibly careful and remember there is a baby in the house. Why? This picture was taken as I sat on the chair at my desk. I had to hold the camera upside down and backwards to get the picture.

Nugget is such a sweet, sweet boy, and incredibly easy. I just need to be aware of where he is at all times as it is likely under my feet if he is sleeping.

We had our first handling class tonight and he had a blast but was exhausted by the time we headed home. He has "stand" pretty well down, but "stay" is not in his repertoire as of yet. We will get there, and at this point it is all about the food and fun.

Tonight he looks like this:

Nugget is back in his crown. He is fine about it, but Kate is not pleased. She rather liked cleaning his ears several times a day and now has no access to them for a few days. She immediately went over to the ugly stool and started licking it again. Something she has not done since Saturday night. I decided that I would prefer that over her trying to remove Nugget's crown. All three are asleep and that is my clue that it is bedtime. So I will be off to bed, with my Cardigan Mountain Dog, or is it Bernese Welsh Corgi, in tow. I sure love those freckles. and those eyes. And the beautiful markings. And his kisses. and. and.and...

G2

Still perfect

As I await the fall. OK, not exactly perfect, as my shoelace is being tugged upon and chewed as I type. I am sure there will be more signs of "puppy at the house" as dear Nugget settles in, but at this point it has been surprisingly easy. He does talk as he plays. I'm talking whining at the bone, ball, stuffie. It is a bit unnerving to Kate, who thinks it is a distress call for a total body bath and check. We have had a total of two accidents in the house. All that means at this point is that he has me well trained to run him outside at very regular intervals. Not a huge deal. This little guy takes everything in stride. Nothing seems to rattle him.

Yesterday we had a field trip to Auntie Kim's and Uncle Mark's. He got a chance to play with his sister, Shea, who promptly grabbed him by the masking tape crown. She is quite the pistol, but I think he managed to get her back a few times by the end of the afternoon. Nugget didn't open his eyes at all on the way home, and was in bed after chores and a quick re-meet and tussle with Henry and Kate. I can't tell if he knows this is now home, as he is so unflappable.

I read all the time about people who are counting the days until their puppies are ready to go into the ring, and now I really understand it. I can't wait. We are doing a fun match next month, just because we can. Kate will be alongside as a stable point. (He for her, not the other way around.) I was given some things to work on; I have never raised a puppy for the show ring. It is very different. I worry more about silly things. It is hard to just let him be a puppy and rough house and roll in horse poo. Will this eventually go away? (The worry, not the poo.) Right now the two long tails are playing and the crown is soaking wet. ALL of the toys are spread across the living room. Henry wants what the others have, which is nothing, so he just sits and barks at them. Just like a big brother.

I guess there really are signs of a puppy in the house. I take it all back.

Oh, and I hope that Momma Kim doesn't mind a slight dietary change. Nugget loves what Windy leaves behind...

Pictures tomorrow after crown removal.

G2

The day behind

Road trip! Yes indeedy, the two grannies were at it yesterday. Dear S2 offered to chauffeur me down to Happy Valley to pick up the Nugget pup. I was delighted beyond words since I hadn't slept more than a couple of hours a night for three nights. I was more delighted when we encountered the crazy storm cells all the way home. Sadly, there were no tomatoes, but those will come later. We are a bit early in the season yet.

We arrived shortly after the breeder's. Carbon, Nugget's sire, was laid to rest yesterday. Perhaps the reason the heaven's had opened and shed tears for the Cardigan world. It was difficult to feel the excitement on picking up the pup to its fullest. I really hated taking one more off that property. She insisted. I couldn't say no. I was glad that S2 was there to help me balance my emotions. It was a very good thing.

The papers sit addressed in front of me. I will drop them in the mail this afternoon as I leave. Coedwig's Alchemist. My dog. To anyone else he is just a cute puppy with a masking tape crown. To me he is more than I can explain. More than I care to explain. There is such sadness that I know will become pride and joy. I can't explain all the feelings I am experiencing right now. I am not sure I have ever been so impacted by the passing of someone else's dog. It is quite strange. In an odd way I am glad it is over and behind us all. He deserved to go with dignity and without any more deterioration. At almost 15, and with 90 champion offspring he more than deserved that. So now the healing begins for all, and the work begins for me.

Little Nugget, I love you. Just remember that, OK?

G2

Now that it is official and truly real

I can take a moment to slow down and breathe. Yet I still cannot believe it. My two nights of sleeplessness can now be explained.

My time in the show ring will be doubled beginning in July. Kate and Henry are welcoming another Cardigan to the house. Windy will be happy to add another baby to her clan, as was evidenced by her reaction to MY (wow, I can really say that!) pup's litter mate sister, who came to deliver the news today. However the news is tinged in great sadness as the sire is passing on to the Rainbow Bridge. Champion Coedwig's Carbon Blue was just a week shy of his 15th birthday. (Godspeed, Carbon.) I only hope we can do him, and his people proud.

MANY thanks to Kim and Leo for allowing me to bring Nuggett home. Many also to Kim, Casper, and Shea, for helping facilitate this. In a couple of weeks I hope that Shea can join her brother for a week or two of doggy camp here.

Our newest addition:

G2

If

yes, just "if."

I am in awe of my own life right now. I have been crying a lot lately. Not because I am sad. Because of all that is good in it. The things that I have been able to do. The people that have come into my strange, and oft times bizarre, life.

I was looking through some pictures and sharing stories with a dear friend yesterday. Many of the things she talked of, were things that I did not remember, due to health issues. I lost eleven years. ELEVEN FRICKIN' YEARS. My kids' growing years. Gone. As if they never existed. In and out of hospitals as many of you are in and out of the grocery store. Angry. Heck yeah, I am angry. And sad. But all those years lost have taught me so very much. I appreciate. I appreciate and welcome, with open arms, each opportunity. Each person that comes into my world. Each animal that shares my arms. Shares my tears. I am an emotional wreck.

The bad has made a shift in the past couple of years. It is as if the stars are aligning for me. My need to give of my heart has led down so many interesting paths. So many new amputees between the war, disease, and natural disasters. It breaks my heart. It also forces me out of hiding in an effort to reassure the "newbies" that all will be well. I reap the benefits in technology. I reap the benefits in terms of reclaiming my own body. I cannot give of myself enough. But I will continue to try. I will continue to push this old body as if I can truly reclaim those lost eleven years.

I can only be me. Because of that, I must be the best me I can be. I don't try to sugar coat anything. What you see is what you get. There is no time for "games." There is no time to sit around and throw pity parties. My life is not all laughter and fun, but focus on the laughter and fun makes the rough edges a bit easier to handle. Some days it is a struggle to get out of bed and put on the leg. Then I look at my smiling dogs.

Corgis. Not a breed for everyone, but a breed that has saved, no given me, my life. I have always had dogs. But it took me 56 years to find my breed. It is an odd thing; what these little dwarf dogs have done for me. Destiny? Perhaps. They have taught me so much, because they have given me so much. A new world has opened. It will be interesting to see what is down this path. I feel like such a baby. So much to see, so much to learn.

I have been awake all night. My brain won't shut up. I am going to put in a couple of miles on the treadmill and try to sort through all of this...

You rock!! (And you know who you are.)

G2

A new week to begin

The sun is shining and the news coming down the line from Centrailia is awesome. (Huge congrats on Ana the wonder dog with the question mark on her side.) The Cardigan National Specialty is going on back east and I really am hoping to attend next year as it comes west to Texas. However, I want another dog to show. A puppy. Arghhh!! Of course Kate will be shown, but I dream of another. It has been in the plans for a couple of years, but the idea of having another at the specialty is hard to get around. I will work through this. I must work through this. Kate, however, simply thinks "Puppies? Did someone say puppies?"

Tomorrow I pick up the first test leg. That is a very good thing as I am not sure that this one will even get to the shop intact. I may use duct tape in the morning to hold it on. I have made the decision on the tattoo for the running leg, but only one person knows about it, and she had better keep quiet or I may have to debark her along with Henry. It will be soooo me. A bit twisted. (Nope, not a skull with flaming eyes, but every bit as good.) The rest of the week is full, with something on the calendar each day. There will still be plenty of time for the treadmill and the hiking trails; I will MAKE the time. I feel like twenty pounds have jumped on my body in the past week. I really don't do idle, and have been forced into it. I am angry, and I am sad. The inability to be active only exacerbated the depression I was feeling over the past week. It is past now, and I look forward to the next step. snicker

I will, however, miss this. It will serve another purpose, which will also be disclosed at another time.

Until then, my friends and family, have a great week.

G2

Tuesday sunshine

It is the day after.

Yesterday was spent fretting. Fretting about Kate. Fretting about grooming equipment. Fretting about kids. And finally, fretting about money.

Kate had stopped eating. She is not your typical food driven corgi. She will not eat unless I sit beside her and coax her along. It matters not what I put into her food to tempt her. If Henry wants it, she will gladly step back and let him eat it. So the first meal off was not a big deal. However, the next she also refused, then the next, and the next...Then she exploded. At almost three I am still having issues with her housebreaking. Let me say that she is indeed "breaking" the house...or the rugs at least. I so look forward to the day I can rid myself of these carpets and put in laminate. Anyway, not to be too graphic, this was the gagging kind of explosion. After a couple of hours it was time to call the vet and get her in. I got an appointment for later in the afternoon and then set to work cleaning.

I also got to work cleaning and testing some of the grooming equipment left over from son's business venture. We are talking expensive equipment. Equipment that Mom doesn't want to just give away. However, son, or his employees, did not take the best of care of said expensive equipment and since Mom doesn't want to give it away, Mom needs to do some cleaning and painting and testing to ensure that the person who pays a reasonable price, which is a great deal for them, gets aforementioned great deal. So the putty knife began scraping at rust bubbles. New gaskets. Rustoleum paint. I had pieces in my oven, softening up the glue on the old gasket. My house now smelled like wet dog, and Kate's digestive woes...and enamel paint. Fans were going. Doors and windows were open. The furnace was running full steam so that the paint would dry. Sunshine! A top plate is wire brushed and painted outside on a saw horse. Twenty minutes later I hear the dreaded sound of rain on the skylight. DRAT! So much for the smooth paint job. Mutter under my breath at oldest child for not teaching employees how to care for expensive equipment. Then wonder why I am going to all this trouble...as I drive to the local hardware store with list in hand. It all made the hours disappear as I waited to get Kate in. So that was good. In three hours someone is coming to see some of the grooming items. They look great and well worth the price I am asking. Time will tell if they agree, but I have a nook in the garage and will NOT give the stuff away.

As the last layer of paint began to dry I jumped into the truck with my sad girl beside me in her seat belt. My fears were many, so I was armed with questions. As a result Kate was subjected to poking and prodding ("Mom, what the heck is she doing back there?"), Xrays, and blood work. Ultra sound. I came home with meds and with special food. And with $300 less in my bank account. (Hey, Mr. Prez...she was born and raised here...oh yea, she was..., right, sigh) The good news, and what made me feel OK about the sharp decline in my savings account, is that she has no infection of her female anatomy. She has no foreign body or impaction. She now has a baseline blood panel. We also spent an hour talking herding dogs with a vet at the clinic that I had not yet met. Kate loved her and I did too. Nice to have two that I feel really good about at that clinic. She even takes herding classes at Sue and George's. I WILL get to the trials this year so perhaps we will meet up at some point outside the clinic setting. Vets that understand; truly get where I am coming from, are priceless.

My latest "can't miss" is a show on the RFD channel called "Come Bye." Herding dog trials from the British Isles. I am so hooked. Those Border Collies are simply incredible. Sadly there are very few handlers that are under fifty. I sure hope that the sport doesn't die out. :-( ...

So, as the sun shines through my stained glass windows, I realize that I must get going. I have equipment to set up and a horse that is likely dragging her grain bucket around the field in a fit of rage over my tardiness. Whilst my bank account won't see any improvement for another ten days, I hope to pad my son's account a tad. ***update: successful transaction. Now I need to get over before all this cash gets buried. I also need to get my grooming table, which weighs at least 10,000 pounds, out of his garage, into my truck, back out of my truck, and into the trailer; I sold the one that was in the trailer, and it took a strong man and myself to move the bloody thing...wait NOT bloody, hairy; it was a hairy thing. I just keep making more work for myself...***

The day has officially begun.

Tomorrow the new leg...at least one of them...I think...I hope...

G2

Rainy day Friday

The dogs were bored. It is raining like crazy. So crazy that my little horse is hanging in the barn. She hates the barn and I have only, until today, seen her in there when she is eating. The dogs NEED something to do. So it was time.

Walmart plastic Easter Eggs (with holes already drilled!) $3 for 42

Walmart junk food for dogs (no chocolate content, but ingredients pretty disgusting none the less) $1 per bag

Trying to pretend that the dogs haven't a clue what I am about to do...

Wandering around the yard repeating "find" over

and over

and over

Priceless!!

G2
Final tally was about 10:1 for the (Henry) Chow Hound. Had I flled them with toys it might have been different...or puppies!