Puppy Power

Yes Puppy Power !!!  when the puppies arrive they control my Life for the 8 weeks, or more they happen to be here with us.

It first starts a week or so before they arrive to make sure the whelping pen is all set up and ready to go.  Then delivery day arrives, so that means up and down the stairs checking on Mama as each bundle of joy arrives safely, also making certain Mama has lots of water at hand while the delivery is going on.  Then there is the posting of the "announcement" of their arrival, the number of pups, colours and sexes.  Next the advertising, endless calls and repeating myself with excited "want to be" puppy owners.  I am very good at explaining all the "cons" of puppy ownership to them as well.

Yes a good part of my days can be swallowed up by the Power of the Puppies !

Today I had been out by 8 am, not to return back home until 11 am.  That was most of my day gone with my bed not getting made until almost the Noon hour.

This afternoon I did up some documents for the Wiarton Chamber, and answered, of course, some puppy fan emails.  Good thing I put a Peameal Roast in the Crock Pot at lunchtime.  I only had to steam some asparagus and reheat the brown rice for our Dinner this evening.

Dinner was more then enjoyable this evening with everything cooked to almost perfection with full flavor & goodness in each morsel.

After Dinner Rob helped me with a bit of long over due Spring Cleaning in our basement.  Really I would more classify it as "picking up the chunks".  With the puppies not even 1 week old we have been getting puppy visitors already, the most recent arriving at 7 pm tonight to see "their puppy".

A little more time went into posting the puppies still available for a Forever Home.  The male Red--Tri has not been included in this photo.

Yes most of my days are empowered by the Power of Puppies, and for the weeks yet to follow.  Once they start getting weaned and I start the cleaning up after them with Puppy papers it will be high gear, so until then I had to take advantage of having a wee bit of time to myself here and there, Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard.

A Stick In The Mud

I had forgot to post the "selfie" that I took of Mom & I when I was up to visit her Friday.  We had a laugh about this too !   Hoping I remember to take one every visit I have with her from here on in.

I actually slept most of the night through, however the Sinus headache I went to bed with was still with me this morning.  Rob and I were both up as we were on a mission, as there was a couple wanting to meet Semah this morning and we were to meet up with them part way.

We were at our appointed destination for 9 am.  Rob had a little one on one time with Semah before the couple arrived.

Unfortunately Semah is a very strong boy and still very much in "puppy mode", so he was a bit too much for the people who thought they would be interested in giving him a Forever Home.  Their hearts were in the right place.  I know what a handful Buddy was when we got him at 15 months old, and two years later he has just started to come around nicely with much consistency and perseverance from me.  Semah is going to require a home with a firm loving hand.  This pup doesn't have a mean bone in his body, and really is just a typical Aussie 1 year old that needed more attention, exercise and training.  He will give someone, hopefully soon, a lot of wonderful years as a companion, this I can almost guarantee.

Once we wrapped up our good-byes with the couple, we left to head on over to Owen Sound.  I had picked up a Paderno Pizza stone for my friend, Sharon, downtown at Rankin River Trading Co., and was dropping it around to her since we had to go pickup Semah some food at Walmart anyway.

Look at the treats Sharon had left for me !!!  They have a Star Fruit Tree at their one place in Florida and she experimented with making a Star Fruit Pickle this past Winter.  Are they not absolutely cool looking.  And I got two bags of Cinnamon Chips !!! they make the best cookies going that my grandchildren LOVE.  Thanks Sharon, very much appreciated.  Looking forward to trying the Star Fruit pickles the next time I have a Ham.

Between Sharon, and my friend, Lynn of Turnips 2 Tangerines, I have been well supplied with Cinnamon Chips.  Can not thank you enough ladies !!!  xx

The end of the day yesterday had not been a very good day for my Rob.  He went to pull our personal Van out from where it had been parked on a strip of grass just past the gravel drive way, and when doing so ... well photos tell all do they not?

Rob was quite the "stick in the mud" literally after the Van sunk up to the front bumper in muck.  This afternoon our Tractor had came to the rescue.  This has had to be the worse Spring for mud & muck in the 10 years we have lived here, since the the first Year we had moved in.  Guess after 11 years it is time to get a few more loads of gravel to put in.

Once we had the Van out, Rob took it down to the car wash to rid it of the mud and muck.  It probably took 2 or 3 washes to get it clean again.

When we had been in Walmart I had broke down and bought some Sinus Medication.  I have never had a good experience with Sinus meds in the past, but was feeling deperate today.

I immediately took the suggested 2 pills when we got back out to our vehicle.  By the time we were headed out of Owen Sound my lips had been tinkling and I felt very ill.  Once back home I got to lay down for about an hour or so, getting up to having the "shakes".  I still can not take Sinus meds as the Sudafed in them obviously still does not agree with me.  Needless to say I still have a Sinus headache that is relentless with this changing weather.

I am thinking this headache is not going to be letting up anytime soon, as there is a Rain Fall Warning in effect for the next couple of days:

Rainfall Warning

Issued at 3:13 p.m. EDT Sunday 13 April 2014

Summary

Rainfall - afternoon to evening Monday. Rain associated with a low pressure area over Kansas will continue across the area tonight and into Monday evening. Latest indications at this time suggest that rainfall amounts will be slightly less previously forecast with 25 to 35 mm likely by Monday evening for most areas. However, a swath from the Bruce Peninsula across Georgian Bay to Parry Sound and Huntsville could see amounts of 30 to 50 mm by Monday evening.

My Sinus Headache is still full blown, not helping it any by looking at a computer screen.  I am hoping it does not get worse by turning into a Migraine on top of it.  Since the Sinus Meds did not barely touch the problem I suppose I will do what I normally do and suffer through it until it passes.  There could always be something worse, however when you are feeling something at the time unfortunately it is hard to see that, especially when you are in "ownership" of the pain you are feeling.

That is all she wrote this day, Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard.

Out Old In New

The Weather decided to do another change about it bringing me a headache that won't quick. Typical and expected, but truly I thought I had skipped it the other day, now realizing it was just leading up to the "big" one today.

This morning I had to get up and get going regardless of a headache or not. Sleep?  I missed out on a whole bunch of that last night as well.

I stopped in to the local Foodland Store this morning on my travels.

I have been collecting stickers for the Thomas Cookware Collection they are promoting at the store until May.  I almost have enough for one pot to add to my new set of Paderno.

If nothing got done, other then the bed made, I took out my old set of Meyer's Cookware, and filled the cupboard with the new Avonlea Paderno set this morning.  "Out Old, In New" it was.

We had a couple drive 4 hours to our place this morning to meet up with us about the purchase of this little Red Merle girl.  They are already the proud owners of one of our puppies from last Year, and will be adding to their Aussie count with this girl in 8 weeks time.  I LOVE when I know our pups are going to such excellent homes.

Since we have had two incidents with water in our basement within a weeks time, I have been searching for a dehumidifier "on sale".  The irony of this was the week before there had been one on sale.  Murphy's Law right?  This morning I was getting the Wood Stove lite, and just happened to look at this week's Canadian Tire Flyer.  Low and behold on the back page was a Dehumidifier "on sale" Saturday ONLY for 35% off.  Rob was on a call in Owen Sound this morning, so I had called the store to make certain they had them in stock (as sometimes one day sales there are only one or two available).

Rob did pick us up one, and we saved $130.00 !!!  Whoohooo !!!  I sure hope it lasts us a couple of years, as they are not cheap even on sale.  I had put away the money from when I had sold our used mattress and a couple of other items.  I pretty much had the cost of this covered from those sales much to my relief.

This afternoon I was busy making a couple of calls on behalf of the Wiarton Chamber, also stopping in with another Chamber Director to go over some Chamber business.  Volunteering is time consuming sometimes, but can be very rewarding at times.

This past week has been National Volunteer Week.  Thank a Volunteer today, as truly they are the backbones of many Communities !!!

I actually got home and settled back in enough to think about getting some Dinner together for Rob and I.

Grilling Steaks, steamed Broccoli and Brown Rice was a most satisfying Dinner for us this evening.

Another busy day behind me with the morning headache still with me, I am praying I get myself some sleep tonight, Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard.

The Saga Continues

The Saga of the Good, Bad & the Ugly continues .....

Check out these little darlings within 2 hours of being born .... the "Extraordinary Eight".  To date there is 1 Black Tri Male, 1 Red Tri Male & 2 Red Tri Females available for Forever Home, all the other four have already been spoken for not even 24 hours in this World.  A healthy beautiful litter of Australian Shepherd puppies from our Bandit & Lexus.  They have once again done themselves proud.

Out & about today I was happy to learn we are not the only ones with a driveway in such a state.  This has to be the worse time of Year once the thaw had made its appearance and the mud took  over.  With the dogs it even seems worse some days more then others.

I had to make a visit that has been on my mind for the past few days.  With bad weather, a 3 week shut-down of facilities, and me being too busy more then naught, I just made up my mind to leave everything & go visit my Mother at the Nursing Home today.  I was happy to see the plant I had dropped off to her 2 weeks ago was still blooming & full of colour.  Mom has her Bears all in order and displayed so nicely.

I even stayed and had a wonderful Lunch with Mom.  When I go back to visit next it was decided by the two of us that it will be for an afternoon they have Bingo so I can join in.  It was great my Mom has invited me to Bingo !!!  we also had some good laughs between us which I enjoyed immensely, as I think she did as well.

Since I had also been in the neighbourhood I had decided to drop in to visit one of our Everything 8 2013 Puppies.  You would not believe "Rusty" went absolutely nuts when he seen me coming up the driveway & the kisses I was bestowed when I went through the door were something else !!!  Rusty's owners can not believe the reception he give me, as he never has given another.  I must have left a great impression with this guy before he left for his Forever Home I would think?  He is such a handsome smart boy, who does our love for our Australian Shepherds proud as well.

This afternoon I had to head over to Sauble Beach for a Chiropractor appt. for 3:30 pm.  Afterwards it was over to the Saugen Gas Bar in Southampton to get the van filled up.  I can not begin to explain the phone calls and messages I had dealt with about puppies throughout the day.  Between puppies and a couple Wiarton Chamber calls I was kept hopping.

My neighbour, Pari, had also gone along to keep me company this afternoon.  When we returned to Wiarton we had decided to call Rob to meet up with us downtown at Red Fish Blue Fish for Dinner.

This was the 2nd time we dined at this little nook, and were far from disappointed with the quality or quantity of the food we received. 

Back home after Dinner I had two more puppy phone calls to make.  I just finished up with the phone calls at 9 pm..  I can not see much break for me in the next upcoming days, and my head is spinning now.  I am happy to report I did manage to make my bed and do a few dishes up at some point today... *sigh*.  At least I got to sleep until 3:30 am this morning instead of 2 am instead the two previous days.

My nice clean washed hallway from two days ago?  PAW prints up and down it first thing this morning when Lexus decided she would have a gander throughout the upstairs of the house after having been out in the muck.

The BAD? all that mucky mud.  The GOOD? everything in between.  The UGLY? me if I don't get some sleep and housework done at some point, Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard.

The Bad, Good & Ugly

The Bad is that I have been awake since 2:30 am, our basement flooded AGAIN, our driveway is a mini-lake, and I just returned home this afternoon to go back out to a meeting 15 minutes later, and returning again less then half an hour ago.

The Good is Lexus has eight absolutely beautiful puppies this morning, 4 boys & 4 girls (pictures hopefully tomorrow), Rob went to a Quit Smoking Program tonight, and I always have wonderful people in my life I can call on almost anytime need be.

The Ugly is going to be me if I do not get myself a good night sleep very shortly, but realizing it is still all Good as I am truly blessed regardless of how Bad & Ugly it gets, Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard.

Got My Paderno Going On !

I do not know about Rob, but I most certainly enjoyed watching The Hobbit last night.  Alas the the ending was left suspended with another Sequel to follow.  The next movie I am hoping to see is the one my neighbour has asked me to go watch with her, which is Heaven Is Real.  It is not released in theatres until Easter Weekend I believe. 

This is the Trailer for the Movie, Heaven is Real.

I did not have a great sleep again last night, but I was bound and determined I was going to get something done in this house today regardless !  

Not only did I get the bedroom dusted & vacuumed, I also washed the hallway and kitchen floors.  Trust me this was barely a dint in what still needs to be done, but hey at least it was a start.

This afternoon I had a Chiropractor appointment over at Sauble Beach with Doug Fryday at the Optimize Healing Centre.  Actually today I had been hurting so bad I had tears in my eyes when the adjustment had been done.  Hopefully it will all pay off sooner then later.  The nice thing is that my headaches are not as many as they had been every day.  BONUS !!!

On the way home I stopped downtown Wiarton, dropping  into Rankin River Trading Co.  Rankin is a dealer for Paderno, and Paderno has a Spring Sale beginning today until the 13th of April, 2014.  I have been wanting a new Cookware set for sometime, and I had the opportunity to purchase a set today.  How could I go wrong on a Paderno Avonlea 11 piece cookware set, Reg. Price $849.00, On Sale for $229.00?  I really could not.  And they are made in Canada as well, down in PEI.

Is this not a gorgeous set of Cookware? so shiny and new.  I even bought  universal pot cover, as I can not deal with my large fry pans not having lids when I could use one.  This lid solved my problem of splatter and draining needs.  I also got some Stainless Steel Cleaner & scouring pads.  I am set for the next 25 years, considering my set of Meyers Cookware has lasted me 20 years.  I got my Paderno going on !

Dinner the past couple of evenings has been Easy Peasy as one-two-three.

One night we had Lasagna, the next Macaroni & Tomatoes (my Fav), and tonight leftover Lasagna.  Love easy meals especially when we are both busy (not that Rob makes dinner much anyhow, but give him a box of Hamburger Helper or Kraft Dinner & he is SMOKIN' ) 

Tomorrow?  I am pumped that hopefully I can get some more housework done to feel I have a handle on it again.  One more thing I have on my mind is to go visit my Mother.  I am sure I will get in to do that as well.

Tonight, since tomorrow is not here until then, I am going to turn on my Electric Blanket on my bed, then head in to try and warm myself up as I am "chilled to the bone", Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard."

The Hobbit

I was very excited to find out the move "The Hobbit" Part two was released on DVD today.  I made sure I went downtown to the Wiarton Video to rent a DVD so Rob & I could watch it this evening.  We had actually went to the Cinema to watch the first one in January 2013, and both LOVED it.

Just the other day a friend had sent me an email with the Subject Line reading The Hobbit.  I was delighted to see what the email held, and this is what I am sharing today as follows:

One Lord of the Rings fan in Chester County, Pennslyvania chose to take his love of the movie one step further and designed a real life Hobbit house. The Hobbit householder, who prefers not to be named, had the house built so that he could store his collection of memorabilia in a fitting place, he has been collecting for more than 30 years.

The cottage with the hobbit theme was designed by architect Peter Archer. He said “We wanted a single structure, a relaxing place that was diminutive in scale, for the owner to come and hang out and just be in solitude with his collection.” Archer went on to say “This isn’t something that you can recreate on a suburban cul-de-sac; it was made for this specific location and it wouldn’t work anywhere else.”

Peter is also a big fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, he wrote the Hobbit stories, including Lord of the Rings.

The real life Hobbit house is set just a short way away from the main house of the collector and in total it measures 600 square feet. It is just a short walk away from the main property, along a short flat stone path that leads through an English styled garden.

The house was designed with the familiar look of the house of the hobbits that is portrayed in the movie and even includes a round hobbit sized door, a pathway made of stone and walls made from small stones. Inside the hobbit house it is packed with Lord of the Rings memorabilia.

The architect and his team made use of stones that were salvaged from a long collapsed section of a wall from the 18th century.

Archer didn’t know much about the background and work of Tolkien but he brought himself bang up to date fast when he took on the project. He said “Upon starting the project I read the book The Hobbit and watched the Lord of the Rings movies, but more importantly, looked at the range of writings by Tolkien, including amazing sketches he had done to illustrate his work,” he says. “I remember at the start saying that we would be happy to design the structure but were not going to do a Hollywood interpretation.”

Another architect from Pennsylvania worked alongside Archer and the pair brought the Hobbit house to life. Archer said “He worked closely with me to interpret Tolkien and create the beautiful details that make this such a special building,” Archer says. “Also, there were a host of builders and landscape people who put their hearts and souls into the making of what has been coined a ‘Hobbit House.’”

Of course the man who commissioned the Hobbit house wishes to remain unknown as he fears that tourists and LOTR fans could bombard his peaceful and tranquil setting if they were to find out the location of the real life Hobbit house.

Archer said that he and his team of architects have now started working on another project to build another Hobbit house, this time in Tasmania.

Should I have a well equipped Kitchen, and a comfy bed, I am certain I would have no problem at all living in a Hobbit House.  Here is a "sneak preview" of what I will be watching on DVD tonight:

I am so excited !  it is only 4:30 pm, and I am off to get Dinner on the table as fast as I can, clean up, take all the Aussies out, have a quick shower & watch The Hobbit, Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard.