We love when our kids visit, and that includes are niece and nephews. They are just like our own kids and we love them very much. Snickers feels the same way. My nephew was waiting in our driveway to visit and have dinner when we got home from work. We all went into the house together. My nephew went into the family room and so Snickers didn't see him when she came running downstairs from her kennel. I let Snickers out right away and had a hard time getting her to do her business. She had picked up on my nephew's scent and all she wanted to do was play with her new human visitor. I had to chase her back out to "go potty"! Finally, she finished her job and so I let her back in to play. We all had dinner together. Even though Snickers begs for table food, she is restricted to her dog food and a few treats. Here she is trying to beg and the two men playing with her. Can you feel the love?
One of Wisconsin's treasures is the wonderful frozen custard. It is different than what is thought of as custard in other parts of the states or the world. It is similar to ice cream, made with fresh cream and sugar. Other ingredients are added to give various flavors or treats. My favorite is plain vanilla ice cream drowning in fresh berries. Yummy! Snickers likes to lick the bowl when we are done.
Snickers has bonded with her stuffed animals and often treats them as though they are her little babies. She takes them out to go potty, she takes them to the food dish, and she takes them to bed with her at night. She doesn't always run around with them, but she always seems to know where they are. Her little rituals are so fun to watch. When we get home from work, after she and her baby go out, they come and get their tummy rub, then it's time for play. Snickers gives those toys a good shaking to wake them up, then bites on the squeeze noisemaker inside. Now that she knows it is awake, she can go about her business bossing us around.
Snickers has been sleeping quite a bit since her exciting Thanksgiving day. She is keeping her "babies" around her, even bringing them to us and dropping them at our feet, then she will hold her current favorite in her mouth and jump into our laps for a nap. At night, she has quiet howls and rapid foot movement. Isn't it interesting how change affects our pets?
Bob returned home from deer hunting today. Snickers has been running around the house like a little lost soul with him gone. She kept looking for him in all the dark corners and at night insisted on sleeping on top of me.Hooray, today he's home! The group of guys got two deer. One large doe and one four point buck. Wisconsin is working toward keeping the deer herd under control. This year the guys were able to buy extra permits in our area. Tonight, I will get to sleep without playing mattress for Snickers.
Here is a wonderful site that talks about Wisconsin forests and the influence of people on the land. Forest is actually increasing in the state thanks to mother nature herself. There are some places, including our property in northern Wisconsin where you are able to identify a plant over because of the tidy rows of trees. Here is a picture Snickers and I took on our walk. Don't we have beautiful blue skies and green trees during our winter months? I'm looking forward to the fresh snow "frosting".
We are really lucky. We have so many parks nearby that Snickers and I can keep walking as long as we want. I just read that if you walk 10,000 steps a day that you will be able to easily make your ideal weight. I put a podometer on myself early in the day and went about my daily routine. It didn't take long to realize that there is no way in God's green earth that I would reach 10,000 footsteps a day staying at home. Snickers and I went out to the park and did a couple walks around. An hour later, we were up to 2500 steps. Oh my! It is now very clear to me that if you want to reach that goal, there will be NO BUTT SITTING! Unfortunately, I butt sit for a living. So, besides the daily walks for Snickers, we are going to have to invest in some sort of exercise equipment in order to get into shape.
When I am home, Snickers is always by my side. When I work on the computer, she sits in my lap or lays in the sun by my side. Last night, when I woke in the middle of the night, I went into the family room to watch TV. She woke up to find me gone, and came running down the stairs to search for me. Once she found me, she jumped into my lap and curled back up to go to sleep, content in knowing that she had found me and all was well.
My mother-in-law (age 94) gave me this quilt top when she realized that I loved hand made quilts. This was made by my husband's grandmother who passed away before she was able to quilt it. I completed the quilt using buttons to quilt the top to the back. It is a wonderful memory for my husband. He is able to remember his grandmother and think of me whenever he looks at this quilt. Many of the fabrics were used in his grandfather's shirts, his grandmother's dresses and his mother's aprons. This wouldn't be a good quilt for a very young child because of the buttons used for quilting, but it makes a really good finish for this antique top.
It is important to keep your dog socialized. A dog that remains in the house might become fearful or overprotective of its owners. Snickers will be more of a house dog because of her amputation, but we will continue to keep her socialized. She is best friends with the Golden Retriever next door and always watches for him so they can play together. I have a dog because my brother loved his new pet so much, it convinced me that we couldn't live without one. Here is a picture of Snickers with Toby. They sure had a lot of fun playing together. It is funny that when Snickers is around bigger dogs, she has to be the boss. But when there are other dogs her size around, she tends to let them do a little of the bossing. Aren't they cute?
Congratulations to Gerald Ford who today became the oldest living former President. He is known to have said, "The length of one's days matters less than the love of one's family and friends."
We have had an honest to goodness Bigfoot sighting in the area. Most people are very skeptical, some think it must have been a bear. The man that saw it was collecting roadkill carcasses. He said that he put a carcass in his pickup and all of a sudden the truck began to shake. The creature was furry and over seven feet tall. He swears it was not a bear.To top it off, we had very unusual weather today, Thundersnow. This is quite rare and really is quite spooky. Lightening and thunder in the middle of a snowstorm with hail and rain is not the type of weather you might expect. Snickers was nervous, and so was I. We don't like lightening (mostly me). Snickers was busy protecting me and her babies from whatever was trying to break in. Can you see our very own Bigfoot hiding on a shelf?
Dandelions are only weeds if you think so. They are also a vegetable that can be eaten raw or fried. The flower makes a beautiful bouquet, especially for a youngster bringing the flowers to his favorite mom. The fluffy seed head is wonderful for making a wish, blowing it into the wind, then waiting to see if it comes true. Have you ever had old fashioned dandelion wine? This is a pretty little, pesky wildflower that is one of the last to give up in the fall and one of the first you see in the spring. Just have a minute to check out the dandelion, before Snickers needs to try to catch that tail!
