Monday, July 30, 2012

Kate's new sibling

We have a girl!!! She is just one pound and about 8 weeks old. Due to having a case of round worms (ahem) she is a skinny thing and that will be resolved in a couple weeks. The pink eye should be better by then too. Hopefully we aren't in that diagnosis as well....!
While we were setting up her quarters, Kate took the opportunity to shred our our first and only cat manual. (see photo below)

We caused quite a stir at our vet as we are well known for our dog household. In fact both vets teased us as did the two tech assistants that were there. Enchanted with her rescue by the library staff they thought this kitty hit the jackpot for family. We don't intend to start the introduction of the pups until all is well. And we will have to watch the poodles carefully. Also, with Ron allergic to cats, we think Benidryl is in his future.

Since this is my first ever cat, and Ron has only had outdoor cats growing up, we know we have a big learning curve. Any and all advice is welcome. We think she is a "short haired Tortie" and we don't even know what that means. We just know she is a lovely creature and we are eager to welcome her into our lives.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Kate's guest

This little kitty is Kate's houseguest today and tonight. She (?) was discovered on the front steps of the Library on Friday morning and brought into us. She spent Friday night with Lindsey and Sam and is spending the day/night with us tonight. Being totally clueless about kitties, we headed to the pet store for KRM (kitty replacement milk) and kitty litter, scoop and one dangle feather toy.

Before we could try that out, Ron and the kitty got acquainted.This included a cat nap, if you will.

We're hoping that tomorrow she'll be adopted by one of the Library staffers. I haven't posted any photos with Kate as we concluded this little kitty is too tiny to be surrounded by the mob in our house! She's going to watch the Olympics with us, safely relaxing in her kitty carrier.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Alter Ego

Few people know how close Ron and I came to being "horse people" instead of " dog people."  After about 4 years of marriage, we looked for something we could do together and decided horse life would be something we would both enjoy. I envisioned some sort of " Big Valley"image of riding horses, cowhands nearby to take the horses from us after a nice ride... so, we investigated a nearby stable and learned that stable cleaning was a prerequistite to learning to ride. Nope. That was the end of that, and we decided to focus on dog ownership and to dog obedience competitions for a number of years. Our first love, really, has been the horse world.

We even agreed that, if we had any children, we would do whatever it took to be sure they could become horse people. It seems so magical to watch small children majestically handling huge horses wtih confidence. We used to talk about how much financial sacrifice it would take to keep the kids in the horse world, knowing that their future would be financially and in every other way well ahead with the ability to work with horses, such a majestic animals.

In the 18 years that we have attended the Hunter Jump Classic in Chagrin Valley, we have still harbored the desire to be part of the horse world. We love knowing that BFF Paulette's daughter, Jennifer, is deeply entrenched in the horse industry and still love to watch young girls leading around big horses at the local Erie County Fair.

Of course, we can't image our life with our our years of dog competitions in which we met such stellar people as Jo Ann and Jean and others that spent time with us at the Cleveland Classic and other competition events. Horse, dogs, great creatures making us humble and happy.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Dog days

Kate was seeing double the other morning.Louie was in the backyard (see photo above) Sam came over for a visit to see his half brother. (see photo below)
I was actually trying to distract Louie who seemed to be sniffing the parameter of the yard and house in search of something and never settling down. I thought  maybe a distraction would be good. It really didn't deter him for long before he resumed his pacing. I remembered I promised the vet that
 I would film such behavior and time it to see if it is some sort of seizure activity.
That was on Thursday and he repeated the strange activity again on Friday which Paulette observed also. No further episodes have occurred this weekend.
Kate wasn't perturbed by the additional activity at all, she quickly identified Louie (on the left)

Guarding two bones, one on each side of her, was a bigger priority, it seems!  Jack was also a much better host than I anticipated. He can be a bit, well, aggressive among other dogs, and I was really happy that he shared the yard so graciously.
This is Jack's favorite porch perch and sometimes he lets me share it with him. The hot weather lately has made outdoor lounging on the porch rather rare this summer. In fact, as I write this, all three dogs are sprawled on the kitchen floor, the one of two rooms with a/c. Ah, old house living!
I've switched to a knitting project with cotton rather than continue with other fibers and I've not taken any spinning projects around either. Exciting news, though, my Pocket Wheel is in the finishing booth and should ship from Washington soon! In the meantime, I've been reading quite a lot lately. Here are the books I'm currently finishing:
The Book Whisperer; Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child, by Donalyn Miller
Killer Stuff and Tons of Money; an insider's look at the world of flea markets, antiques, and collecting ,by Maureen Stanton
Jackie After O; one remarkable year when Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis defied expectations & rediscovered her dreams, by Tina Cassidy
The Intentional Spinner; a holistic approach to making yarn, by Judith MacKenzie McCuin.



















































Friday, July 6, 2012





What a day. Paulie and I arrived at the local office at 10 am for a briefing for our volunteer assignments for the day. The secret service and local officers were already sweeping a 6 block area and while I was in a conference, the local police scanner reported that my car was in the sweep area and needed to be moved. On the radio, someone suggested they contact the Library! One of the Sandusky Register reporters teased me about that broadcast! Terri rushed over to get my keys and took my car to a safe zone.

Paulie and I were assigned to check in the press-Local and national. There were 200 press at the event and we had to verify their names and affiations from a list, give them their press badges and lead them to the security gates. Later, we took box lunches to the Obama bus for the white house staff when they arrived. When all of our assignments were completed, we had full access to the area for guests and press to hear the speech and get autographs. After the event, we helped round up press that wanted to interview Orlando Pace, the Sandusky NFL star that introduced Obama.
In the photo above, Cynthia, our local field organizer, is working in the national press room, set up in the cafeteria of the school near the park where the speech was held.

It was hard to remember that for them, this is a job, they were not there as supporters. Paulie and I were interviewed by one AP reporter about Sandusky and the economy and so forth.

It was HOT, and we were on our feet until 5pm, but, it was an exciting day for us. Thanks to Eric and Kevin, who got us started in 2008. You trained us well!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

The 4th of July in Sandusky starts
 out with a community celebration
in the center of the City. Even though
it was an especially hot morning, it was
worth the stroll. Kids and dogs were decked
out for the day.

The Sandusky High School Band performed at center stage at noon.

The crowded watched and cheered while eating hot dogs, sloppy joes, ribs and more. I found a perch sandwich and mango smoothie fit the vegan diet pretty well. Yum. Mom opted for a root beer float and Ron managed to eat a sloppy joe just fine. Sam and Lindsey got veggie gyros, so, we'll all set until the picnic in our backyard at 6:30 this evening.


In a city of this size (29,000) you can always find lots of people you know. Even Sam and Lindsey new some of the Library patrons. In fact, Samantha made a Book a Librarian appointment with one of the them for next week!

I stopped by to say hello to Cynthia, the organizer for the local office for Obama's campaign. Tomorrow, Paulette and I are working downtown at an Ice Cream Social with President Obama and I am so excited to finally be able to meet him. I first heard him speak in July 2005 at the American Library Association conference in Chicago. His speech was about the importance of instilling the love of reading in young children. Of course, his audience of 20,000 librarians were primed for that!


After the band's performance, we headed back to rest up for tonight's festivities. Oh, I almost forgot, I've got to get busy an make chocolate chip cookies. The best fireworks in the area are at Cedar Point Amusement Park and you don't have to be in the park to get a great view. We'll be down at the Jackson Street Pier to watch and applaud. I love the sound of everyone going ooooh, awwwwww, Have a great 4th of July!!!