My Favorite Season - NOT

Crap! It's Spring in the Midwest. One day warm and rainy and next day, cold and rainy. I know that I should smile beatifically and bat my eyes and say, "April showers - May flowers, etc." but I feel like a big old ugly green thing on a soggy, moldy old log. I am reveling in my foul mood. So just shut up.

The dogs are blissfully stupid about the mud in the yard. Zed is going a bit coo-coo about trying to preserve the grass. He sets up strange stick and string barricades in areas where he plants grass seed. The dogs pop over them as if they are fun agility obstacles just put up for their fancy.

Can't wait till the summer to swing the babies on the hammock. I knew that I bought that thing for some reason.

Where have I been?

I thought that I would throw some words in here to let everyone know that I'm still alive.

Winter is fast approaching and, for some reason, I think that it will be a good one.

My sister and I were on the phone expounding on how we have 5 grandchildren all in the same year! We are planning to have grandma camp sometime in the future. (Just for 2 days, though, lol).

Trudy & Grace re. The Twins

You knew that I had to include MY babies in this wonderful event:

The Twins

They are finally here! They are absolutely gorgeous. I went to help my daughter for a week after their arrival. The week flew by. She was doing great by the end of the week and I knew that it was time for me to leave them. (sigh).

Tired Tired and Dreary Dreary

February is my least favorite month. Any tolerance to the cold that I might have developed has been replaced with a dogged dread everytime I must venture outside the door.

Everything is black and gray for too long. I just want to curl up and sleep until the croci sproup - or better yet - the daffodils.

My 3rd Grandbaby!

This little tyke is already dancing - Jazz hands and all.

I'm amazed at the family resemblance to my other two grandbabies! They could be cousins.

Jack and I are thinking ahead. We are going to have t-shirts made up saying "Camp Erwin - Where kids and dogs can be kids and dogs". Jack is remembering all kind of cop stories to tell them (not too violent) and I'll have to build a studio filled with lots of "newsprint" paper, crayons, markers, and finger paints. They will know everything about horses and dogs and, maybe, even learn to handle an agility course. We'll attach the wagon to the lawn tractor and Jack will make a squiggly track through the tall grass in the meadow. Jack will teach them the difference between a white pine and a red pine and an ash from a poplar.

Keep in mind, the grandbabies are just an excuse for us to finally do this! Yeay!

Psychotic Break

I'm usually pretty mild mannered, but...

I lost it on Saturday evening when I tried to accommodate and was confronted with hate . (ahem that rhymes - sort of like "If it doesn't fit, you must equit.")

This has happened about 3 times during the past 12 years. I pretty much have to feel like I have no recourse in order to compress and explode like that .

In retrospect, I could have handled the situation much more gracefully (the whole damn restaurant was staring at me when we finally left-sheeesh!), but when you lose it you lose it!

Sorry for the shock.

God - I'm Old!

These birthdays just keep coming faster and faster. A few more years (minus the pipe, but plus the shotgun and a couple more huntin' dogs) this will be me.

Just have to make sure my grand babies like dogs, apple cider and corn bread.

Simply Grace - Our New Addition.

Yes, everybody, I have yet another dog.

We really weren't looking for another dog yet, but things come up and you wonder whether it is "meant to be". She is Grace. She's very careful and respectful with Socko (Socks totally approves of Grace - still gets ticked off at Trudy for being such a punk. I should have called her Mischief) and she's also young and fit enough to deal with the Trude with out getting aggressive. She is absolutely a sweet, gentle love and has attached herself to me already. I think that she likes that there are rules in the house. It makes her feel comfortable knowing where she fits it. (no beds, no furniture, except the chair and bench on the porch, eating from only your bowl at "foody time", no jumping, no begging.)

Trudy will always be my baby brat, sparkly star, and probably, when Socks passes away, The Boss, but Gracey is an exceptionally sweet dog.

She is only 2 years old. When she was found, she was 10 lbs less than she is in this picture. She had puppies! They don't know what happened to her puppies and she, apparently was very distressed about the loss of them. She has been spayed since and she is UTD on all her shots and worming. They also microchipped her.

She was total Velcro when she first came, but is gaining confidence and happiness every day.

We've discovered that clicker training works well with Grace. We are working on 1. recognizing her name, 2. follow me off lead, 3. come, 4. sit & 5. shake. This is a lot for her to work on, but we keep it at short and fun training sessions with lots of goodies. Trudy is the know-it-all teacher's pet and Socks is the principle.

The only flaw I can find, so far, is that she is not completely housebroken. We are working on that.

New Pix of the Twins!

Here is the latest picture of my grand-babies.

The baby in the Bottom Bunk is already practicing socker moves. The one on the Top Bunk is practicing (ahem) "fouettés".

In a couple of months, I think that my daughter will be bouncing down the street without even trying!

She's finished with her first trimester (yeay!).

Oh, My God! Little Ones!

I'm in shock! It has finally happened. My little one is going to have little ones (plural!) With this news, lots of memories of my prenancies came flooding back. ...and worries about my own baby Dina.

These little ones are very lucky because they will be surrounded by many loving people.

...and Louie will be a wonderful big brother

Parasites!

My blog was trespassed upon by (ewwww) spam.

Parasites and scavengers in the wild are referred to as opportunistic feeders. They should add spammers and phishers under that category too.

It is very much like getting a case of hookworm, a parasite that can be gotten from just stepping in "it" - I guess the "it" in this case would be the WWW. If you don't go in and kill them first, they will polute your blog and kill it.

I activated the comment security thingy (a ha, you naughty little donkeys! Take that and die!) and deleted all the wonderful information about penis enhancement pills. I will continue to check my comments, hoping that they will continue cleanly from all my dear fellow bloggers and not - I'm amazed at the analogy here - spam infected crap.

The Fool on the Hill

Most of the time I feel as though I am the fool on the hill. Even though I have people whom I love in my life, I am separate. I am an "other". I watch. I listen and understand. I'm not really a part of the machine. I really never have been. I've written poetry about this when I was young. I am still there. I wouldn't know how to act if, all of a sudden, I was included. I know that I value my solitude. So, I guess, It is of my own doing.

My husband is definately part of the machine. I watch him moving and shaking things; connecting with people all the time, every day. I'm amazed that he loves me.
He has a gift.

It's funny. Once in a while, when I really want to participate, I try to be part of the picture. But, I'm a wrench. I am weird - a polysided peg in a round hole.

I've learned that I am loved by a few and I am who I am. I guess that there are people who are movers and shakers who are still very alone.

So..I sit on my hill. I appreciate what life has given me and I watch the horizon for what comes next.

Fun At Camp

Trudy and I are home from camp! We are both really tired and sore. If you know Trudy, you know that this is a good thing.

The people at camp ranged from typical people with typical dogs who just wanted to do fun things, to rabid "dog people" who do all sports and competitive things that you can do with a canine (conformation, agility, utility, therapy dog, flyball, lure coursing, frisbee, free style, rally O, shutzhund, tracking, field trials, cart pulling, weight pulling, go-to-ground, pier jumping and I know that I've missed something). I fall somewhere in the middle.

It was fun to sit back and observe everybody. It seems that, for some, the dogs are extensions of their own persona. Either what they would like to be or what they are. You begin to realize that there are as many types of people as there are dogs.

Trudy just loved everybody. Almost (not everybody) that she approached wanted to hug her. She is so soft and....happy. She had several best dog friends, Lucy, a spunky Shiba mix who she would play wrestle with for what seemed like hours in the evening when Mom was drinking wine and lounging by the fire with other Moms, Echo, an absolutely gorgeous brindled greyhound with an elegant tapestry collar an an silver and amber fob hanging from its loop (they played with gentle gusto at craft class and then would rest together with intertwined legs) and Adam the black "rock star" afghan hound who had a big crush on her.

Maybe she is what I wish that I could be.

Dogs, Horses, My New Car.....Life Is Good.

I'm starting to ride again. I found a really gorgeous new stable that is only 7 miles from my house. It is built on the highest point in LaPorte County, IN. The owners are a nice young couple from Chicago. He played polo. She was a pony club girl. They aim to run a friendly, family oriented riding establishment.

Went to a lesson a couple of weeks ago and was told that I could come and ride my lesson horse a couple times a week for free. This is an invitation that is only given when they think that you can fix something that they (a) can't or (b) don't have time to do. Said lesson horse, "Cody", is an old Q horse that was used for a competative event called Mounted Cowboy Pistol Shooting. The competitor rides really fast from "point a" to "point b" and shoots, with a pistol, several targets along the way. It is a speed & accuracy type of contest.

Well....Cody has only two gears: pa-doop, pa-doop, pa-doop, and vaaa-rrooom. He is very unbalanced from being "neck-reined" with a left hand - he actually has a neck like a banana that is bent to the right, - and leans into the left like a motorcycle taking a left turn. He physically can't bend his body to, gracefully with balance, make a left turn.

He's a good boy, though, and really tries hard. Last night we did a beautiful, soft, relaxed trot - doing figure 8s. It took a lot of concentration for him to make that left turn and, physically, he was challenged, but it was definately progress. A big plus - he luffffs peppermints.

We rode from the arena to the stable afterwards. The sunset was a gift from God. As Paula is prone to say "It was dope!"

Trudy was absolutely super at agility class on Tuesday. Next year we are aiming for some trials. .......and next weekend we are going to dog camp :D.

.....I also love my new car....It is also dope!

.....Just so that he is not feeling left out....I love my husband, too.

Two training groups. One friendly....one not.

Last night the woman who runs the dog obedience classes called me about upcoming classes. She was friendly and encouraging. A week ago, the agility instructor made a point of discussing with me how to proceed with Trudy's agility training. I look forward to continuing agility and obedience with this group. They both made me feel as though there is hope for us yet.

After my horses death, I have transformed my horse-training obsession to a dog-training obsession. I started puppy classes with Trudy at a dog club located near my house that seemed, initially, very promising. I quickly noticed that even the beginner classes contained people and their dogs who had been doing this stuff for a while. I though "Oh great! Serious dog people - great place to start!" After a puppy class, an obedience class, an agility class, and half of a handler's class. I got the feeling that I was dealing with folks who were on the inside ... and I was definitely on the outside. My dog was too small to be (in their estimation) a "good" English setter (They refer to the bench type - she comes from a long line of field champions). She was much too distractible. So...mmmmmby by! I think that the exclusive attitude there is fueled by a couple of the officers who take themselves way too seriously.

Hmmmmm...funny..when I started taking the twerp there, I talked to the breeder, a well-respected field trial person, and his reaction was that they were "snobby.....very very snobby" - I said "nooooo - they are really....OK....I think....serious...you know?".

Because I needed a more convenient class time, I found another group, near my work, to continue agility and obedience training. They don't have a big fancy website like the other place, but they do compete as a group. I found the agility class very well structured and the obedience class motivating and progressive. All the instructors are serious, helpful, and encouraging. Even Trudy is more motivated to learn there. We really looked forward to going to class. Trudy was stellar.

I even toyed with the idea of taking classes at both places, keeping some ties open. I took a handler's class at the snotty place. Trudy was distracted and silly - thumbed her little black nose at the instructor every chance she could get (she's wiser than Mom, I think) and the instructor was so exacerbated, that I dropped out of class in utter shame. I never got a return call or a word of encouragement - (which I took as a "good riddance to bad rubbish on their part).

Soo, I will call the breeder and tell him about this other place. I will tell him that he was right and if any of his new clients want to try obedience or agility, they should avoid the first place and try the second with high recommendations.

...and leave the first place behind.......good riddance to bad rubbish.

Wicked, Juice-sucking Spider - Arrogant Fly Wrapped in Silk

People who know the story, know of whom I speak.

Here is the story and riddle:

Once upon a time a magic spider, highly talented in charming ways, came upon an arrogant little fly. She know that he would provide a sumptuous feast because his mind was small and only on himself, so easily lured and trapped in her poisonous clutches.

The fly was never completely happy with the his little piles of crap. He always felt that he, in his irridescent glory, should have more beautiful baby flies, bigger lumps of poop and the adoration of all of the other bugs in the bush.

The spider approached the swaggering fly, batting her many mascaraed eyes and wringing her 8 long legs. "Oh, magnificent fly, I have had a poor miserable life, I've been knocked around from pillar to post. I will carress your lovely wings and provide you with what you need if only you will allow me to take a bit of fly juice now and then!"

The fly was wary but the spider's spun silk and constant dancing mesmerized him and her occasional jab went unnoticed. His baby flies were happy to see him so content, even though they thought that she was a strange and somewhat frightening creature. The other flies in the bush warned him that the spider was dangerous, but her adoration and carresses were just too much for him to resist.

Soon, all the rest of the flies in the bush noticed that the arrogant fly was getting wrapped tighter and tighter in the spider's silk. The spider was also taking more and more jabs between her wrapping and dancing and eye batting. The arrogant fly's family was getting very worried, but every time they came to see that the arrogant fly was OK, the spider would hiss and bare her fangs. The true ugly spider face was now apparent.

There were times when the spider slept, however, and one of the little flies went to rescue her father and attempted to dispatch the wicked spider. The arrogant fly became angry and told the little fly to go away and never, ever, ever try to hurt his lovely spider again, then settled down in the strands of ever tightening silk, smiled and dreamed of his spider's mesmerizing eyes and silken carresses.

Well the little fly fluttered away. Her heart was broken, knowing that her father would be happily sucked dry by the wicked arachnid. He no longer cared for even his own well-being, let alone the bush fly family who watched with horror as he was drained and discarded, all alone, by his beloved spider.

The riddle is:

What can you do for an arrogant little fly who doesn't understand that the little fly's love would set him free and provide him with a long and happy fly life and lots of beautiful little fly grandbabies, all bearing his lovely irridescent color. That the spider's carresses would only leave him a dried up shuck and miserably alone.

Stupid fly.

Wonderful Families! Good Vibrations

We just got home from a family reunion. My nephew, who is hard working, lucky and appreciative, hosted it for the second year at his gorgeous lake house.

Everyone came except for my oldest daughter, dealing with contractors, construction and work, and my stepdaughter tied up with a hectic new job in Calorado. Hope they will make it next year.

Everyone had a loving wonderful time. Even baby boo, the disco princess, felt all of the wonderful vibrations in the air.

If God had a minute and came down, he would be smiling. He might have even had a Corona Light with a lime in it.

The Devil made me do it??

Been reading about how Harry Potter is influencing the world toward Satanism. Now, I happen to really enjoy Harry Potter. It always has been amazing to me, though, how a a series of children's books written by a down-and-out Scottish lady could just sweep everybody. Hmmm.

If you were the Devil, what would you do that would influence the future of the world: A. Push your message among the likes of Ozzie O. and Judas Priest and a bunch of heavy metal burn outs? or B. Plant an idea within the minds of all the sweet, innocent children (and many adults) in the world via an entertaining children's book?

Another weird thing that I've read about lately is the Illuminati, the World Order, and the hand signals that all the politians (not just Bush and the republicans) and "People Who Matter" flash. I think that, when asked, GWB said that the hand signal representated the U of T Long Horns - that should tell you something.

The top of my brain says "Oh for heaven's sake - is that stupid!" then somewhere deep inside a finger taps me and says "We never know the whole truth".

I've been reading too many apocalypse books.

Schadenfreude (he he he)

I really try to be a noble woman, but when I see someone, who has given me so much intentional grief in my young life, go through messy crap at the hand of someone of his own choosing, it just f____g feels good.

In my daughter's words - "There, I said it"

Schadenfreude is a German expression (from Schaden: damage, harm; and Freude: joy) meaning pleasure taken from someone else's misfortune or shameful joy. The word is often capitalized, however since all German nouns (proper or common) are capitalized it should be possible to spell it lower case in English.

It is usually believed to not have a direct English equivalent. For example, Harper Collins German-English Dictionary translates schadenfreude as malicious glee or gloating. An apparent English equivalent, derived from Greek, is epicaricacy. This word does not appear in most modern dictionaries but does appear in Nathaniel Bailey's Universal Etymological English Dictionary (1727) under a slightly different spelling (epicharikaky) and gives its etymology as epi (upon) + chara (joy) + kakon (evil).

Taken in a broader sense, it could apply to the feeling of being “blessed” because there are always people who are worse off than ourselves. Instead of compassion or pity for those less fortunate, we are thankful that it is they instead of us. However, it is never used in that sense in German, where it always carries a negative connotation. German actually draws a distinction between "secret schadenfreude" (a private feeling) and "open schadenfreude" (Hohn) which is outright public derision. Ultimately though, in the english language Schadenfreude is commonly characterized as "sick pleasure".

Some German quotes on Schadenfreude

• Schadenfreude ist die schönste Freude (denn sie kommt von Herzen). Schadenfreude is the most beautiful kind of joy (since it comes directly from the heart).
• Neid zu fühlen ist menschlich, Schadenfreude zu genießen teuflisch. To feel envy is human, to enjoy Schadenfreude is devilish.

Now I will go say a prayer and ask God to forgive me.