Blog Archives
Almost toothless Chicken Dog
Posted by doggonedmysteries
No, I’m kidding. Although Gavin did have three teeth removed, he is far from toothless. Our vet was surprised since he only expected to remove one. He removed the one we knew was bad and another next to it. Then while he was cleaning the rest, he discovered a bad cavity on the other side and removed that tooth too.
First thing Patty wanted to do was jump all over him. It’s a good thing he was in his crate before we let her see he was home. She drove him crazy for a while bowing and barking at him through the crate door. However, he soon began to snore content to be home and in his own little den.
Tonight I’ve been alternating between cuddling a still whiny dog (the sissy), taking him out, and putting him in his crate to continue to sleep off the anesthesia. .
Since I rarely go to bed before four in the morning, I stayed up to take him over at eight. We made it in the door and easily weighed him. Then the tech came out with the hospital lead to take him to the back. I offered to do it but she said she could handle it and I could leave. I know my Chicken Dog, so I chuckled as I walked outside. I didn’t leave instead I stood where he couldn’t see me and peered in the window.
A couple of minutes passed and I didn’t see the tech hauling him across the slippery floor. Next thing I know another tech came to the door and asked me to come back in. There was Chicken Dog Gavin backed under a chair and not coming out, no sirree not him, not for anyone. He’d managed to back under the entire row of chairs like a rocket in reverse. The techs were giggling about that.
As soon as my hand touched the lead, he obediently followed to the back room and the waiting cage. I had him in the cage and locked down in mere seconds. Oh, yeah that one is a Momma’s boy for sure.
Posted in Dog related
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
The death of a theater?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I finally had a chance to see the new Harry Potter movie. The time went quickly G and I quite enjoyed it and can’t wait for the final one.
Our favorite theater will likely close one of these days. We practically had the place to ourselves. We were two of six people at the show. The attendance is bad enough that they canceled the early matinee, which we had arrived to see, and we had to go kill some time before the next show.
That also meant we didn’t get home until after seven tonight so DH had a late dinner. However, he did feed the dogs so Gavin got a meal before his seven p.m. no-food-after instructions for his tooth extraction kicked in. The poor boy will shrivel up and die without his breakfast in the morning. I wouldn’t want to be the techs at the vet’s when he wakes up hungry. He will let them know all about it.
Posted in Dog related, Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Pets, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Windy and cold
Posted by doggonedmysteries
It’s been the most blustery year we’ve ever had here. We had wind all summer and now more wind to drop the already cold temperatures into the cellar, so to speak. Baby, it’s cold outside is no joke around here.
Gavin and Patty are choosing to stay inside until they absolutely MUST go out. No, I’m not complaining one bit about that. I prefer staying warm. The Jacket I bought a few weeks ago has helped a lot I didn’t realize how much cold my old jacket let through.
We’ve not had any real snow other than the one storm we had come through several weeks ago. That snow was gone by evening. We have had light snow showers that don’t seem to make it to the ground. I’m good with that.
With wind chills in the low twenties, I’m cooking more stick to the ribs type meals too. This makes DH very happy.
Cold weather to me means soup weather. I am the soup lover in the house but he’s beginning to enjoy them more as long as they’re home made. He actually asked when I was going to make my scallop bisque again.
Posted in Weather related
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Wind chill, Writer, Writing
No, I’m not a holly jolly person
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I haven’t been reading lately. I have three books sitting here with bookmarks in them at various stages. There’s another stack sitting on an end table waiting too. You would think with the cold weather settling in that I could find some time to curl up in my comfy chair and read.
However, this is not the case. The same goes for the writing, it’s not moving forward as fast as I’d like it to. Nope, it’s stalled. The mind boggles or rather, is boggled, bogged down, over worked, over stressed, and over tired.
I’ve tried all my usual jump-start techniques to no avail. My muse needs her ass kicked or something.
Then again, it could be the holidays. They always fill me with a Bah Humbug attitude. They have for many years. This is NOT my favorite time of the year. No sirree, when you are feeling all holly jolly I’d rather ignore the whole month.
Posted in Holidays, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Tree rat invasion
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Squirrels are invading the yard and trying to take over the suet feeders. It’s driving the birds crazy especially the wrens that have only recently discovered them.
I was sitting at my desk today and heard the pair of wrens raising quite a ruckus outside so I went to the window to see why. Sitting on a branch above one of the feeders was a very fat squirrel. I grabbed my coat and went outside. The wrens continued to scold and gave me a chance to sneak up underneath him.
I hollered and clapped my hands. Have you ever seen a squirrel look as though he was having a heart attack? I swear he clutched his chest. He shot up the tree, dashed across a branch, leapt onto our roof, and disappeared. As I walked back into the house, I could hear the wrens and this time they sounded happy.
I spent the rest of the day checking on the feeders to keep the furry invaders away.
Posted in my garden
Tags: Author, birdfeeder, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Squirrel, Wren, Writer, Writing
Meanwhile, back at the vet’s office…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Chicken Dog willingly hopped into the car to go for a ride. Getting him out when we got to the vet’s office was not as easy. I went in to tell them Gavin was there.
“We’re ready for him, come to the side door.”
I went back to the car to get him.
Paws braced against the crate bars and head down Gavin as good as said, “Nope, not gonna come out of the crate. I know where we are.”
“Come on let’s go.” A few tugs on the leash and he relented.
He had to stop and pee on a bush. As soon as his nose passed the doorway, he tried to back up. “Oh, no you don’t.” I kept him moving. Once we got into the exam room, he began to tremble and look for an exit.
I decided to make a dash for the car and get the back massager. Back in the exam room with Chicken Dog, I plugged the machine in and began to run it up and down his back. He didn’t melt as usually does but he did stop shaking.
Dr. O came in laughed and said, “I wondered what that noise was coming from this room.”
“Back massager. I was hoping to relax him enough for you to get a good look at his tooth. DH can’t run this on his own back without giving Gavin some time under it.”
I’m here to tell you that even though Gavin was not in melt mode, he did allow Dr. O to check his tooth and take a blood sample without a fuss. Tuesday it’s back to the vet’s office at eight in the morning for a tooth extraction and he’s having the rest cleaned.
Posted in Dog related
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Recaps and updates
Posted by doggonedmysteries
DH’s mother isn’t doing well. Most days she doesn’t recognize him. The stress has caused some problems with his MS. The other day when he woke he had trouble getting out of bed and walking. The same thing happened today.
DH has new neurologist and she’s sending him to a rehab center for aqua-therapy. I think he might benefit greatly from it.
Since I’m writing this at two a.m. Gavin hasn’t been to the vet yet. He goes at three in the afternoon. I’ll probably post about his visit there tomorrow.
All that heavy rain and strong winds not only caused me problems with my server but our roof leak came back. It only leaks when it rains and the winds are over 25 mph. The wind hit gusts of over 45 mph. The leak was very small this time, thank goodness. Our roofer has tried to stop the leak for years. His offices are two doors down from us and since he did the main repair work years ago, he’s been trying to stop the leak free of charge for years.
Posted in Dog related, Misc, MS related, Weather related
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Dang it!
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Last night we had wind and rain like you wouldn’t believe. I was ticked off but not because of the weather. My server wouldn’t recognize me.
I was online and then suddenly was not. When I tried to get back on–for HOURS, I couldn’t.
I had a blog post to do and E-mails to send…grrr.
I went through all the steps given to get back in their ‘good graces’ to no avail. I even called their toll free help line where I was told all the techs were busy call back tomorrow. Double grr! Around four this morning I gave up in frustration. Thanks for nothing, AOL.
Wouldn’t you know it, when I got up today and tried to get online the danged thing worked.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Another vet visit with Chicken Dog
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Gavin has a vet appointment on Thursday. Oh, fun. I get to take chicken dog in to the place he likes the least. This time I have a plan on how to keep him relaxed. I’m going to take the back massager along.
It will crack the staff up to see Gavin melt. He’s normally so tense at the office that he loses enough hair to knit another dog. He’ll still lose hair but he might not be his normal basket case self.
He’s not going to be thrilled because I’m pretty sure they will keep him over night, remove a tooth, and clean the rest. He hates sleepovers. He’ll be even less happy when I tell them that while he’s out for the tooth I want them to trim back his claws.
Maybe I should leave the back massager with him…
Posted in Dog related
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Chicken Dog, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Dog, Dog humor, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Veterinarian, Writer, Writing
Pull up your big girl panties and quit complaining
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I’ve heard many complaints about the security measures taken by TSA. Personally, they don’t bother me. Walking through a scanner is the least invasive way to ensure our safety. I’d rather get to my destination alive, wouldn’t you? Walk through the damned scanner instead of whining and holding up the lines.
How short term is your memory. There are people out there who want to kill us. They don’t care if we’re young, old, male, or female. They want us dead.
I want to live long enough to whack a few caregivers with my cane. They can scan me, search my luggage, and pat me down all they want if it stops one person from blowing up a plane.
Now pull up your big girl panties and quit complaining. Go ahead, walk through the scanners, and thank your lucky stars that you ARE ALIVE.
Maybe it is because, as a retired cop’s wife, I see the point of heightened security. There’s a lot you can do to be more security conscious.
It’s common sense, people. Use it or lose it. If you don’t have it, learn it.
Let us not be victims in the air or on the ground. Start at home.
Lock your doors at night. Heck, we lock ours in the daytime too. Many thefts happen during the day when the homeowner is out in his/her back yard and they leave the doors unlocked.
Ladies, when you are in the grocery store, do not leave your purse in the cart and walk away from it. You are begging to have someone steal it or, at the very least, take your cash and credit cards. You keep it in your hand or on your shoulder any other time, don’t you?
Always be aware of your surroundings—look up from your fancy damned phones and pay attention.
Posted in Misc
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Security, Transportation Security Administration, Writer, Writing
There are no leaves in the yard
Posted by doggonedmysteries
AJ of AJ Wildflowers cleaned our yard today. She did an outstanding job and I highly recommend her. The pups had to go out twice while she worked and she was very sweet to them. After a good butt and ear scratching from AJ, Patty has decided AJ is a friend for life and even showed off her stick ‘em up trick multiple times without a cookie reward. Gavin too has nominated her for good friend award. He enjoyed having his neck scratched and back rubbed.
With all the leaves are gone I can pull the netting off the pond, clean the filters, and get it ready for winter. The Koi will be pleased.
I can’t tell you what a relief it is to see the yard cleared. With all that is going on here, I didn’t have the heart or energy to do it this year.
The next time the pups will see AJ is when there’s snow to clear from the walks. We’ve already hired her for both our walks and the MIL’s.
Posted in my garden
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Water garden, Writer, Writing
I keep my Dad in my heart
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I could list all that my father achieved in his life and the many people he knew but that would take a book.
Dad served in WWII and for a while afterwards was a missionary in the Philippines.
They reactivated and stationed him in Japan in the early 1950’s. He stayed in the military for twenty-six years and we moved to many bases throughout his career as a chaplain. Dad had a chest full of medals (called salad.) Sadly, I’m denied access to them so I can’t list them here.
Upon retiring from the military, he began a ‘new’ career as an Episcopal priest. We moved a couple more times.
I have very few pictures of him and those that I have I treasure.
Although you are gone for fifteen years now, I always keep you in my heart, Pop.
Posted in In memory of...
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Father, Fiction, Home, Japan, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Philippines, World War II, Writer, Writing



