The dogs and chickens have come to a bit of an understanding. Cordy still likes to take a run st them every once in a while, just to make them flutter around, but mostly, the dogs think this is the best TV show ever.
It's hard to see, but Noodle is pecking at an apple that's in a little cage attached to the door of the run. They're about four inches from each other. Cordy spent most of the afternoon like that, even without chickens providing entertainment.
(Looks a little like a senior year photo, doesn't it?)
Since she has such short fur, she gets cold. I finally found a sweater that fits her (as long as I don't button it up at the neck), and even though she hates it, she really must need it because she didn't argue about having it on. I got her a t-shirt, too, for when it's just chilly. She'll love it, I'm sure!
It must be a DrawMo miracle! I've actually drawn and posted three days in a row now! And even gotten a new t-shirt design out of it, so I count DrawMo as successful so far. Here's today, a brace of dogs:
Both are renditions of well-loved dogs who are no longer with us. The top is a Bedlington terrier, and if you don't believe that's what they look like, here's Thor (AKA Thorpy) with my grandma:
It was, I believe, post-bath for both of them. :) And the bottom dog is meant to be an English coonhound, like our beloved and much-missed Indy:
On both of them I could have made the head a little bigger to improve the proportion, but I think I did OK. I found tutorials for both of the dogs (I know, a Bedlington!) in Draw 50 Dogs that I got from Half-Price Books. I'm still quite pleased with myself, since I really didn't think I could draw at all!
With only a tiny bit of encouragement, Kaylee snuggled with me on my recliner. This is why we don't kill her when she throws up at three in the morning. :)
We rearranged the living room (twice) this weekend, and Kaylee semi-approves of her couch's new location. She preferred it in front of the front window, but being able to be at eye level with the bird is OK, too.
(If you can't see this on a feed, go to the actual blog page. There's a short video. I'm testing video through Flickr. Click the play arrow on the video to play it.)
The weird thumping sound in back is the bread maker kneading pizza dough.
It's been a busy week or so, with the weather being nice and all. Cordy has been helping out by keeping an eye on the squirrels and redistributing the new mulch (into the house) with her tail. But it sure wears her out!
Yes, as you probably noticed yesterday, Cordy's gotten her summer haircut.
After the first year, where she was embarrassed beyond all belief, she has loved getting shaved ever since. She's very bouncy and playful - it must be such a relief after hauling around all that fur!
Somehow, with the TV, books, food, and the internet, we survived 24 hours of snow and wind. My back and legs hurt from all the shoveling, but if we hadn't kept up with it, we would have been shoveling a foot of snow at once rather three to four inches at once.
The photo was taken around ten in the morning on Saturday, so we probably got three or four more inches of snow after this. What you're seeing is Jeff about to ruin all my lovely, clear paths; he got the snow off the fabric of the gazebo, then had to shovel it all off.
Cordy is having a wonderful time in all the snow. Kaylee, on the other hand (or paw, as it may be), is up to her shoulders in snow. Hence all the paths dug into the snow.
The sun's out this afternoon and already melting the snow (where is it going to go? the sewers are completely blocked), and Cordy is having to make do with laying down, half-buried in the snow, in the shade to watch for squirrels.
The two humans in the house went grocery shopping today, and except for the idiots who didn't know how to drive in the snow, it was just fine out. We might be flooded in a day or two, but I'm pretty sure we'll survive the Great Blizzard of 2008.
We are still recovering from the holidays, which were great. We got to see lots of family and got some great loot, including a Wii. I highly recommend a Wii, if you can get your hands on one. Loads of fun, especially playing Rayman Raving Rabbids. I mean, you get to throw a cow!
The dogs also got toys, several each. Here you see them pictured with the presents from their paternal grandparents:
Soon it will be time to take the decorations down. I'm ready. :)
This is the time of year when things are supposed to calm down, right? Then why won't they?
The girls are enjoying themselves at least. The weather is pleasant, if a bit too cold at night for Kaylee. Perfect for Cordy, though. Maybe a bit warm at 50 degrees. :)
Work's still busy. I went in on a Saturday voluntarily for the first time this week, but that was better than going back after a long Friday! And as I was leaving, I saw this:
On their way to an air show at Rickenbacker ... I hope. At least, I didn't notice any bombings ...
I'd meant to be blogging, but life and work and all that stuff got in the way. Until I get my act together, I will leave you to ponder Cordy with a banana on her head.
One of the fun things about my job is that I work in the IT department. That means I get fun software to play with. Of course, that means I have to learn how to use it.
I got Photoshop CS3 recently, and while I've been working with Photoshop for years now, CS3 has some fun new built-in animation capabilities I've just started playing with.
Like this:
Nothing terribly special, I know, but a fun fifteen minutes of playing nonetheless!
Jeff's out of town, so when the sirens went off, and I confirmed it on the radar, I highed myself and the pets down into the basement. Spike had to be carried in his little travel cage, and Kaylee had to be carried because the stairs were scary. We sat away from the windows and watched the clock waiting for the storm to pass.
It did.
There was a possible touchdown less than a half a mile from us, but we got nothing more than rain. Still a little scary, though.
But we're fine. And I learned that we need to clean the basement. That will be Jeff's job when he gets back from his trip. :)
The pets are doing well (knock on wood), though Cordy's coat is growing out and she's getting a little hotter than she'd prefer. Spike is still his usual grouchy self. And Kaylee is not going to starve to death any time soon, as you can see.
I don't know why, but there was a mystery mini-parade down my street today.
I was just coming back from the farmer's market, so I didn't get a chance to see if there was any sort of banner at the front or anything.
We let the dogs out on the front porch to see, and it was apparently the single most exciting thing they've ever seen. And ever since then, Cordy has been inconsolable. She wants a pony. Just like Mommy. :)
Those of you who know Cordy know that she's smart. And mostly, that's a good thing.
For those of you who don't know Cordy, she's a chow-chow German shepherd mix, and she's sharper than a box of tacks. She learns commands/tricks so fast that it's hard to keep up. My good guess would be that she knows 50-60 words/commands, and we could probably teach her as many more as we could come up with.
Sometimes, though, it's not a good thing that Cordy is so smart. Because that means she gets bored. And then she decides to check out the drawers and cupboards within her reach. And destroy stuff.
And when that gets dull, she decides to explore the liquor cabinet. I kid you not. She gnawed the top off a bottle of booze and it was empty when I came home to a very happy dog.
So she gets crated. And she hates that. So she gives herself a lick granuloma, basically a self-imposed open sore. Nasty.
We're an open storage house. We use baskets and such to store stuff. But not now. We went to the vet's and Cordy is now on amitriptyline to give her a chance to let whatever is bothering her to subside. We're also trying a new arthritis medicine to see if pain is the problem causing her misbehavior (she can't have most NSAIDs, so her arthritis is a continuing issue).
So. New storage as part of the behavior modification program. With drawers. And doors. And proper cupboards. And latches.
We bought our first piece today from SoBo - an enamel-topped kitchen cupboard for Spike's cage in the living room. It's white now, but we'll probably paint it in the not too distant future. We're still looking for three more pieces, and we have some ideas, but we're not rushing.
Kaylee loves cats. No, not to eat. Just to love. I knew that, but I wasn’t aware just how much she loved cats until recently.
We walk the girls early in the morning before most people are up. There’s one person who gets up before us, though: the lady down the street who feeds the neighborhood’s stray and feral cats (and, I’m sure, a few with homes cadging a free meal). Cats are usually hanging out in the vicinity of her house when we’re walking, and while the dogs are always interested, apparently cats are allowed to be there, so they don’t over-react as they do when they see cats elsewhere on our walks. The cats usually just ignore us and the dogs. After all, they’re cats.
A few weeks ago, however, a little black & white cat started paying attention to us. More precisely, it started paying attention to Kaylee. For about a week, it would be waiting for us when we went on our walks, either right in front of the cat lady’s house, or across the street. It would meow at Kaylee, rub up against her, and Kaylee just loved it.
And then the cat stopped showing up.
Kaylee didn’t stop looking, but the cat just wasn’t there. Now, Kaylee walks happily down to the cat lady’s house, and when she gets there, looks around for her cat. If it’s not there, no big deal – it could be across the street. So she drags us through the rest of our walk until we get to the point opposite the cat lady’s house.
And she waits.
Kaylee becomes a forty-five pound anchor when she doesn’t want to move. And if she doesn’t see her cat, she doesn’t want to move. She checks under cars, on steps, anywhere she can think to look. And the cat’s not there.
The cat’s still around. Both Jeff and I have seen it at other times … taunting us. But it has proven to be a fickle friend to Kaylee. We've explained that cats are just like that, but Kaylee just doesn't understand.
I’ve suggested to Jeff that we just need to get Kaylee a cat of her very own. He objects, just because he has major allergies to them.* I pointed out that there are now hypoallergenic cats, but Jeff says he doesn’t love Kaylee $6,000 worth (I made sure to tell Kaylee how selfish he is).
So, if anyone has a spare hypoallergenic cat they’d be willing to part with, Kaylee would be very grateful. Until then, she will faithfully wait for her friend to recommence their morning meetings. *No, allergy shots don’t work, and even with prescription meds, he’s miserable around cats.
Sorry for the radio silence this week, but I've been dealing with a medical issue. I am having bladder spasms, which is about as fun as it sounds. I've been in and out of the doctor's office, and will be seeing a specialist soon, hopefully.
Let me just say that this getting older thing sure can suck sometimes.
(Yeah, lots of pics lately. But there's no garden to take photos of, so you get pics of other stuff. :)
Kay is still unsure about the new couch. But she's getting used to it. Especially as it's a good place to cuddle up and get warm. It's hard when you're a horsecoatshar pei and it's under 20° out!
