The temperatures dropped from 10 C down to -15 C overnight and during the night we got another dusting of snow. With that bone-chilling wind, it was in the -30's C and I couldn't bring myself to walking the dogs today, sigh. We are having issues with the "dog catcher" in this area. We've complained a lot about loose dogs, especially the new weekender-neighbour's dogs. Alex finally wrote a complaint to the town and CC'd the dog catcher on it, who is contracted out by the town. She responded very derogatorily, excuse after excuse. What's the point? It turns me off walking my dogs in my own town, knowing that whoever breaks the law can keep breaking it without any kind of recourse. I can't wait to have my own property, FENCED, away from all this foolishness! I hate complaining, I'm usually quite positive...try to make the best of everything etc...but this whole dog situation has me feeling defeated. I WANT to walk my dogs, but it's become a source of stress for me, wondering if a loose dog is going to pop up out of nowhere and cause trouble. I do take precautions, I have my air horn to scare them away, but I'm no superwoman! If there was a dogfight, I wouldn't know how to react besides getting right in there to protect my fur kids. When Alex is with me, I feel better, but we have slightly different schedules and I love walking the dogs in the morning. Not sure what to do now...
This was last October. I barely got any sleep last night, the wind was howling so badly. It was the same type of nasty wind last fall and the result was a tree branch coming right through the window. We were lucky our landlord reacted really quickly but it was a scary event! I guess that was on my mind all night. Lack of sleep is playing with my mood today!
Anyway, this is what's important! My family! Marlene and Oscar hung out together today, which doesn't happen often because Marlene is a little scared of the cats. My office is basically the pet room, I think I have 8 different pillows lying everywhere and a cat tree!
I did it! 54 doggie nails trimmed with my new Dremel! The huskies didn't mind whatsoever and were happily lying down while I did their nails (with lots of treats nearby!). Jack, however, growled the entire time and I had to put his muzzle on. I hold nothing against him, he's 11 years old and came to us already with aggression. We worked so hard with him so he would trust us and 99% of the time he's a sweet gentle dog. I don't think any amount of treats will make him enjoy the nail trimming process, so I just got it over with as quickly as I could. Once it was done, I took his muzzle off, his growling stopped and he kissed me incessantly! :) I also trimmed the huskies' feet fur, cleaned the dogs' ears and trimmed the long hairs on Jack's ears too. The Dremel made it all go so fast and all of that grooming only took under 90 minutes! Done for another month!
Meet Sir Dusty Buttons and Tweety Bird. These are my spring and summer mascots! I'll be repainting them this week to freshen them up and then they will be parked out on the porch to guard the garden!! :)
I found a crochet needle for a nickel at one of the thrift stores a while back and tried it for the first time yesterday. I thought maybe it would be easier on my hands than knitting, which I had to stop because I get pain in all of my knuckles. This is as far as I could go without the pain starting again - really! I think that besides using my sewing machine, my needle craft days are over, sadly! :(
Last night was pasta night :) I made a nice creamy Blue Cheese Sauce, penne for Alex and capellini for me. The only pasta that my esophagus allows these days is the thin angel-hair-like capellini. I also made a nice warm garlic bread to go with it. We finished up the Crackerjacks in bed watching a movie. My sleepless night last night had me napping all day, which I'm not a big fan of so I didn't get a thing done! I guess I'll just chalk it up to hiding from the winter again! :)
Hmmm...the pasta looks so good. Yumm.
ReplyDeleteU know about my experiences with lose dogs and I totally understand your worries. I am more than grateful to have 500 acres now to walk my dogs ... but still i wish I had a big fence around all this...lol i know all the neighbourhood dogs and none of them is mean so that is a good thing.
I need to do some dog spring cleaning. Bath nails etc ... i will wait for a little warmer weather tho.
We had your temps and storm a couole nights ago and I agree...ut was scary. We have lots of big trees around the house that were all bending wildly. I actually thought of your window.
But tomorrow will be +8 and sunshine and I am in spring mode :) we're waiting for our first baby ... :) exciting !!!
Hey Nik :) The pasta was really good, but for me it was really rich, that blue cheese sauce is so good, but I had a wee bit of a tummy ache after! I'm not used to a whole half cup of blue cheese at one sitting lol...the loose dog thing is crazy. It's never been as bad as in this town, and I've lived nearly everywhere in Quebec over the years. We talked about it and we're going to play with them more in the yard to get their energy out, give them more bone-time and tug of war time too. We hate that we are reduced to not being able to walk our dogs, but the danger is too real. Oh well. I can't wait to see pictures of the new fur baby!
ReplyDeleteHi Rain!That is a real shame about loose dogs in your neighborhood! That really makes my blood boil because when my dogs are out they are all leashed. Always. We have a neighbor across the street that is irresponsible. This past Christmas I was on vacation and I was in the bedroom and noticed something out in the front yard. It was the neighbors dog, poking around in one of my front gardens. I watched my neighbor who was standing on the street watching her dog. Then he lifts his leg (the dog, not the neighbor :) ) and pees all over the snow piled on my irises. I was furious!!! So I called our city complaint line and they patched me through to the Animal Control office. They were nice and took all my info and I told them this is not the first time this dog has come on the property and she lets it run around loose. I think they spoke to her because for quite awhile he was leashed when they walked him, but lately he's been running loose again. :( And my elderly neighbor next door found frozen poop all over her sidewalk last weekend. I just get so frustrated!! Irresponsible and not caring about anyone else makes me a tad bit angry.
ReplyDeleteWe are currently snowing but we reached -2 today! That's cause for celebration! Tomorrow we are to get to +5. Incredible! I may put on shorts! :) I wish that you get our weather soon...its coming, you are getting what we got late last week. It always takes awhile to spread across the country. What a wind you had! We had quite some gusts over the past few days...yesterday was ridiculous with the wind. Blew the smell off one for sure!! :)
What a job you had with nail trimming! That us here, all 3 dogs and 2 cats! Karma will not let anyone touch her feet - she growls and will snap. And with a mastiff jaw, we don't take the chance. We try to get one maybe two nails at a time, and with heavy distraction and LOTS of kibble. The rest of the pack is easy peasey! She's a challenge. She has mistrust of strangers so even at the vet she gets muzzled. For everyone's safety. At home she's as loving and cuddly as she can be. I feel so bad for her - she must have had an incredibly terrible start to be so mistrusting. I can't imagine how anyone can be so incredibly mean to an animal.
I am SO GLAD you posted pictures of that pasta! I love blue cheese anything and need to make this!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe! I need to make the Crackerjacks too!! :)
Sorry to hear the crocheting didn't work out...and I am equally as sorry to hear about the pain in your knuckles. I am slowly getting osteoarthritis on my knuckles, little bumps are forming on my knuckles. I had a really strange flu summer of 2015 with a rash, fever and incredibly sore joints. I was out of commission for 8 days. And worse of all I was on vacation! My doctor tested for Lyme and lupus but nothing. So off to a rheumatologist I went and its just arthritis. The virus I had kicked something up in me obviously. I am only 49 but I feel 89 some days when my joints ache. That being said, I still knit as best I can albeit not very well! :)
Well - I am rather chatty tonight, I hope you enjoyed my small novel :)
Have a great evening!
Dianna
Hi Dianna :)) Be chatty! I love it! Your story about that dog and your neighbour...boils my blood too because we know the dog is just doing what it was taught (or not taught) but the arrogance of the owners allowing this to happen...and then leashing the dog for a while, then going back to what she wants to do anyway??? UGH. It makes me angry too. Once we were walking the three dogs along a lake and a man had his dogs on leash, he had 2. He started walking towards us and we said to the guy "maybe that's not a good idea sir, they don't like other dogs". What did he do? He TOOK THE LEASHES OFF and his dogs ran towards ours, all the while with a smirk on his face. There was no violence but a lot of yelling back and forth. Idiot. When we complained, we were told that our complaint was registered, but the next time we were in that town, we saw him again with his dogs loose. It's so frustrating.
DeleteLOL...I can't wait to get my shorts on! Actually most of the summer is spent in my bathing suit with a little beach tunic over it and flip flops! I can't wait for that too.
Oh you're welcome! The blue cheese sauce is RICH, forewarning! I ate too much of it and had a little tummy ache, some Crackerjacks fixed me right up though lol...
That's weird about the virus and your joints reacting that way...it makes me wonder about that kind of thing too. But I did see a doctor who said it was early onset arthritis...but I wonder if that was just a "I don't know what it is, so let's call it arthritis" diagnosis. I have little faith in doctors here. They just don't seem to care.
At least with Jack, he's somewhat manageable, though if he wants to squirm his way out of something he will! The muzzle helps though, it lets him know I'm in control THIS time lol...
I am so ready for warm weather, I think I would come unglued if it got that cold and snowed here. Pasta will fix most problems!
ReplyDeleteHi Gill :) Pasta fixed all my problems lol...but that blue cheese sauce was a little rich for my stomach!! I nearly game unglued when I went out yesterday morning...the cold was a shocker.
DeleteUnfortunately around here we seem to have a lot of lost dogs and cats (judging from the neighborhood groups). A little more of an active concern for the owners, as we also have a pack of coyotes that runs the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteHi Toirdhealbheach :) A pack of coyotes, that's a dangerous thought. The wolves and coyotes stick to the mountains in this area, though sometimes we hear them at dusk when we're fishing on certain lakes. I don't get why people are so irresponsible with their pets...don't they care about their welfare? Bothers me so much.
DeleteThat pasta looks delicious. Hopefully by the time I am reading this, the wind has died down and you can get some rest.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristina :)) Yup, the wind stopped, THANKFULLY. I'm fine with blizzards, thunder, lightning...but strong gusty howling wind plays with my inner peace lol...I guess I've seen the damage it can do first hand so I worry. But everything was fine. A few downed branches was the worst of it!
DeleteMarlene and Oscar look so cute together on that pillow!
ReplyDeleteHi Debra! :) Yeah, they match colours too! :)
DeleteMany of us have stories about dogs running loose and causing real trouble. Our last dog, Zoey, was walking in our woods (we have 11 acres) with my husband when she was attacked by a dog who was long allowed to roam anywhere she pleased. It took two surgeries to put Zoey back in shape and not a good incident for any of us concerned. You are wise to be very mindful of the situation because not only could your dogs be hurt, but you could be, too, trying to keep them from harm. I don't know what the solution is when irresponsible people are involved.
ReplyDeleteWe woke to snow falling here this morning. It was bound to happen sometime in the month of March (sigh), but it's put me in kind of a draggy mood. Must snap out of it!
Your food, as usual, looks wonderful. Glad to hear the dogs' nail trimming went well. Many people won't even attempt that at home. So sorry to hear your handwork has been impacted negatively by achiness in your hands. Have you tried a natural inflammatory? We take AbsorbAid which is primarily for digestion, but also works for inflammation in the body.
Hi Mama Pea! :) It was upsetting a few years back when the hand pain first started. I actually did see a doctor for it, and they said it was early-onset arthritis and prescribed a pain-killing cream, which doesn't work, go figure...I did some research a while back and read about fruits/veggies and olive oil being natural anti-inflammatories, but I'm going to look into the AbsorbAir...the last thing I want is aching hands after a day of gardening and fishing. I'm willing to give up knitting, but not much else!!! I'll work through the pain if I have to! Only problem is that I drop stuff a lot when they hurt.
DeleteOh gosh, I got that draggy mood yesterday when I woke up to the minus thirties...I thought the blizzard was the last bit of real winter here, but I was shown otherwise!! We have sun today thankfully but it's still really cold!
Wow...that's horrible about Zoey...see, that's what worries me. Jack would fight without question, but he's 11 years old and small and the idea of him getting hurt...the huskies would fight too, but they can hold their own, but can they really? I've never been subject to a dog fight and I never want to be. We're opting to keep them safe at this point. I used to carry bear spray when I went hiking on my own, it might not be a bad idea for the future when we have our place and want to walk them in the woods. In this day and age, people can be as irresponsible as they want and the repercussions are so minimal if existent...People suck. ;)
Same here, with the loose dog problem. I live in a very rural area but we still have a leash law. It's for EVERYONE's protection. There are some weekend people who must think it is mandatory that their dogs run free - but they poop all over my yard and drive the dogs crazy. I have asked them nicely to leash their dogs or at the least, clean up after them. Apparently, they think dog ***t is all part of the Nature scene. I am now not as nice when I ask them. I love blue cheese and pasta. And blue cheese and blue cheese. How do you use the Dremel on their nails? I have been trying to find a new way to trim their nails, as none of them cooperate except for Lovey - reluctantly.
ReplyDeleteHi Susan! :) Why has this loose dog problem become such an epidemic??? Frustrating. I had a neighbour who let her dog poop on my lawn and it even pooped right on my front walkway once. I'd asked her so often to not allow her dog to use my property as his toilet...all she'd say is "we're in the country" - weekender mentality. So I scooped and left her bags of poop at her front door. At least I bagged them, I could have been nastier, but I do have a heart lol...
ReplyDeleteHow To Dremel Dog Nails is where I found the most useful information. This lady wrote a post about how to properly use the Dremel and she included a video. For the first few days I got them used to it very slowly, I just left it on near them, then gave treats, then touched them with it on (and off) then treats, then touched their feet and nails with it while it was on and treats. The girls responded very well when it was time to actually trim them, Jack...well, he's another story. But I had to clip the nails first with the clipper then I used the Dremel as a filer. Once you get used to it, you get the hang of it. As long as you don't keep the Dremel on more than a second or so in one spot. I'm hooked!
Oh, btw on the subject of the quick of the nail, Jack's quicks are really long, he has the black nails, so you can't see until you're right there, and I read that if you do the filing once a week at first, you can train the quick to shrink. I'm going to try that out because if I can just give the three of them a fast trim/file each week, it'll be a lot easier than sitting down for over an hour once a month. I'll try to take a video next time I do it!
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