This is the 'weather bug' from my desktop. I saw the symbol for tomorrow and actually thought 'what the heck IS that?!' - I guess that tells you what kind of Spring we've been having!
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The weather is bugging me!
This is the 'weather bug' from my desktop. I saw the symbol for tomorrow and actually thought 'what the heck IS that?!' - I guess that tells you what kind of Spring we've been having!
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Lost Dog
Yesterday afternoon I was in the kitchen, and I glanced out the window and saw a black dog coming up from the neighbor's driveway (this is down across the street, about 300 ft away). I knew that neighbor has yellow labs, so it wasn't his dog. As I watched the dog got up on the street and started zig-zagging around, and as cars drove by he'd hopefully run towards them. Clearly this dog was lost and didn't know what to do. Sometimes you see dogs that confidently go exploring, and their owners seem to have no problem with that (country folks!) but this wasn't one of those.
I grabbed a coat and shoes and hurried down to the road as he was heading towards where the main road for our neighborhood meets the busy street at the bottom of the hill (where he was). I called and clapped and whistled, and the dog looked at me and kept going with a determined look. I hurried down there but by the time I got to the road he was gone. I called Dave and told him about it. I went online and looked for lost dog reports but couldn't find any.
A couple hours later Dave and I were heading into town, and about a mile from the house I saw a black speck on the road far ahead, so we went that way and sure enough, it was the dog. Now I got a better look, she was a black/blue heeler. She had two collars, but no visible tags. I got out of the car and tried to go to her, but she was scared. Her tail was between her legs, and she looked at me like she wanted to come, but it was just too scary. I couldn't get within 15 feet of her and she'd turn and run. We spent a bit of time trying to get closer to her. Unfortunately we had no food with us, and no leash to put her on if we did get close, and we were far enough from home that if we'd gone back to get food and a leash I doubt we'd be lucky enough to find her again. Finally we had to give up and continue on. She continued trotting down the street, a black dog heading off into the black, rainy night.
I hope she spent the night safe in someone's yard. Unless she decided to trust someone, I don't think anyone is going to catch her unless she corners herself in a fenced area or get's too tired to run. Poor dog. I thought about her all night. I would be devastated if I lost one of my dogs. I think they are all friendly enough they would go to a stranger if one tried to help them. I sure hope so. I would hate to know someone was so close to rescuing them, but just couldn't get near.
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I grabbed a coat and shoes and hurried down to the road as he was heading towards where the main road for our neighborhood meets the busy street at the bottom of the hill (where he was). I called and clapped and whistled, and the dog looked at me and kept going with a determined look. I hurried down there but by the time I got to the road he was gone. I called Dave and told him about it. I went online and looked for lost dog reports but couldn't find any.
A couple hours later Dave and I were heading into town, and about a mile from the house I saw a black speck on the road far ahead, so we went that way and sure enough, it was the dog. Now I got a better look, she was a black/blue heeler. She had two collars, but no visible tags. I got out of the car and tried to go to her, but she was scared. Her tail was between her legs, and she looked at me like she wanted to come, but it was just too scary. I couldn't get within 15 feet of her and she'd turn and run. We spent a bit of time trying to get closer to her. Unfortunately we had no food with us, and no leash to put her on if we did get close, and we were far enough from home that if we'd gone back to get food and a leash I doubt we'd be lucky enough to find her again. Finally we had to give up and continue on. She continued trotting down the street, a black dog heading off into the black, rainy night.
I hope she spent the night safe in someone's yard. Unless she decided to trust someone, I don't think anyone is going to catch her unless she corners herself in a fenced area or get's too tired to run. Poor dog. I thought about her all night. I would be devastated if I lost one of my dogs. I think they are all friendly enough they would go to a stranger if one tried to help them. I sure hope so. I would hate to know someone was so close to rescuing them, but just couldn't get near.
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New Years Thoughts
This has been a weird year. I wouldn't call it bad, because any year you make it out of healthy and kickin' is a good year! But it did start out with losing our dear Airstream camping friend Darol to cancer. That sucked, I still miss him whenever I think about my Airstream. A couple months later Alki took a sudden turn and we had to let her go. We knew it was coming, and we were grateful she had managed to survive almost three years since her cancer diagnosis, but it was still pretty sad. We still had Barclay and Jack, both young and healthy.
It was a penny-pinching year, with slow sales at the store and online. We kept our belts tight and tried to be as frugal as possible. That's not much fun, but what can you do? I got better at using cheap cuts of meat I found in the bargain section at the market, learned to make my own beef and chicken stock, and cooked a lot of meals at home. We cut our eating out down until it become a rare occasion, which actually made it more special when we did decide to go out.
My only resolution last year was to get to the top of Silver Star Mountain, but we couldn't even afford the gas to drive up to the trailhead - so maybe next year!
We had sheep visiting in the spring, but they didn't stay too long because of the rain. I made a little money at the beginning of the year selling chickens, and raised quite a few more through the year, yet I ended up buying eggs this winter because my old chickens were slowing down laying, and my young chickens weren't ready to start yet. I got to see the first of the buff/blue chicks feather out and was amazed by their colors, and so I am focusing on making more of those. I also brought home a GIANT incubator I picked up for free on CL. Still haven't decided what to do with that.
Later in the year we were convinced to adopt another little dog who needed a home, and Navi joined our family. Her mom had been trying to talk me into taking her, but it was Navi herself who clinched the deal, sitting next to me in the grass at the dog park and rolling her head backwards to look at me, upside down - what a crazy ball of fun! I knew she was meant to be, despite my reluctance.
I made my best effort yet to have a successful garden, but the weather didn't cooperate, and everyone in the area agreed it was a lousy year. No tomatoes for us! Lots of lettuce though. Even though it turned out to be a bummer year for the garden, I did take a canning and food preservation class. I not only learned to can and dehydrate foods, but I got to help teach classes and answer the county food safety line to help other people with their food preservation questions. At home I canned pickles and green tomato salsa (yum) and fresh peaches and pears in season.
Dave did a number of theater shows, and starred in two shows back to back, one of which I was assistant director for. It was fun to get involved in theater again, but it was nice to end the commitment and get back to a normal life too - just in time for the Christmas toy rush!
Here is hoping for a better year to come, and a happy New Year to all!
It was a penny-pinching year, with slow sales at the store and online. We kept our belts tight and tried to be as frugal as possible. That's not much fun, but what can you do? I got better at using cheap cuts of meat I found in the bargain section at the market, learned to make my own beef and chicken stock, and cooked a lot of meals at home. We cut our eating out down until it become a rare occasion, which actually made it more special when we did decide to go out.
My only resolution last year was to get to the top of Silver Star Mountain, but we couldn't even afford the gas to drive up to the trailhead - so maybe next year!
We had sheep visiting in the spring, but they didn't stay too long because of the rain. I made a little money at the beginning of the year selling chickens, and raised quite a few more through the year, yet I ended up buying eggs this winter because my old chickens were slowing down laying, and my young chickens weren't ready to start yet. I got to see the first of the buff/blue chicks feather out and was amazed by their colors, and so I am focusing on making more of those. I also brought home a GIANT incubator I picked up for free on CL. Still haven't decided what to do with that.
Later in the year we were convinced to adopt another little dog who needed a home, and Navi joined our family. Her mom had been trying to talk me into taking her, but it was Navi herself who clinched the deal, sitting next to me in the grass at the dog park and rolling her head backwards to look at me, upside down - what a crazy ball of fun! I knew she was meant to be, despite my reluctance.
I made my best effort yet to have a successful garden, but the weather didn't cooperate, and everyone in the area agreed it was a lousy year. No tomatoes for us! Lots of lettuce though. Even though it turned out to be a bummer year for the garden, I did take a canning and food preservation class. I not only learned to can and dehydrate foods, but I got to help teach classes and answer the county food safety line to help other people with their food preservation questions. At home I canned pickles and green tomato salsa (yum) and fresh peaches and pears in season.
Dave did a number of theater shows, and starred in two shows back to back, one of which I was assistant director for. It was fun to get involved in theater again, but it was nice to end the commitment and get back to a normal life too - just in time for the Christmas toy rush!
Here is hoping for a better year to come, and a happy New Year to all!
Limbo
Our present to ourselves this year was a new Xbox 360 - something we have been waiting to get for a long time! It was well past time to retire the old xbox, and we are both videogame junkies given the opportunity - after all, we both grew up with Atari 2600 joysticks in our hands.
The new Xbox has some interesting twists though - the whole 'Xbox Live' thing is a new way of thinking about videogames. Being hooked up to the internet all the time, just like the other computers, makes for some interesting abilities old consoles didn't have. We can watch streaming video over Netflix, or play games against other people far away. Those parts only work so-so, because our rural internet connection is not quite up to spec for intense gaming and streaming, but it works well enough. I decided to jump right in and check out some game demos, and found one I fell in love with immediately and had to download. Limbo.
The game is entirely in black and white. It's not like any platform game I've ever played. It can be described as run, jump, push, pull, with occasional climbing and button pushing. Doesn't sound very exciting, but the puzzles are incredible - real mind benders. None of the puzzles are the Mario type, where you have to memorize complex maneuvers and practice running the same thing over and over again until you get all your timing right - it's not nearly as tedious as that! Things happen slower, and most of the time you have time to think before something kills you. Your little runner dies - a lot - and comes back ready for more. It's just great fun. I was challenged by every puzzle, and delighted when I got through them.
I can't get over what an incredible little game this is. It only cost $15 and I got more entertainment value out of it than some games I've paid much more for, and that's pretty unusual.
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The new Xbox has some interesting twists though - the whole 'Xbox Live' thing is a new way of thinking about videogames. Being hooked up to the internet all the time, just like the other computers, makes for some interesting abilities old consoles didn't have. We can watch streaming video over Netflix, or play games against other people far away. Those parts only work so-so, because our rural internet connection is not quite up to spec for intense gaming and streaming, but it works well enough. I decided to jump right in and check out some game demos, and found one I fell in love with immediately and had to download. Limbo.
The game is entirely in black and white. It's not like any platform game I've ever played. It can be described as run, jump, push, pull, with occasional climbing and button pushing. Doesn't sound very exciting, but the puzzles are incredible - real mind benders. None of the puzzles are the Mario type, where you have to memorize complex maneuvers and practice running the same thing over and over again until you get all your timing right - it's not nearly as tedious as that! Things happen slower, and most of the time you have time to think before something kills you. Your little runner dies - a lot - and comes back ready for more. It's just great fun. I was challenged by every puzzle, and delighted when I got through them.
I can't get over what an incredible little game this is. It only cost $15 and I got more entertainment value out of it than some games I've paid much more for, and that's pretty unusual.
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