Grooming report

First Sophie didn't want to get out of the car.

Then she didn't want to get back in.

The latter reluctance is because she now expects me to lift her in. I oblige her because of her arthritis. Luckily she's only about 42 pounds. The bulk you see is all hair.

Back at home she gave me the stink-eye when I asked her to pose for a photo.
But a marrow bone made everything better.

Every good dog ...

... deserves a bone.
Sophie had just enough time for a quick gnaw before I left for work. She looks good, all clean, brushed out and fluffy. The groomer didn't clip her body, just face and feet, with a little tidying of ears and tail. She's building up a good winter coat to keep her old bones warm.

Well-stocked

One problem I ran into last week with the new camera was filling up the memory card faster than I was used to. With more megapixels, each photo is a larger file size at the highest resolution. I knew I had a couple more 1 GB memory cards somewhere. It was just a matter of finding the right box.

Yes, there are still boxes. But all of them are in the garage or the office closet, awaiting some day of reckoning. Probably not this week.

Meanwhile, I'll be making some cheese soon. Several big bags of goat milk had to come out of the freezer to make room for 50 pounds of marrow bones. I also ordered an 800-count bottle of glucosamine capsules on eBay. I tell Sophie she has to live at least long enough to use up all these things I buy for her.

Freshly groomed poodle deserves a bone

Stop! Thief! (Plus another surprise)

	I heard a rustling in the birch tree: a squirrel with something in its mouth. One of Sophie's bones! By the time I grabbed my camera, he was making his escape over the fence and across the street.

Now I know why I haven't had so many to pick up.

So I'm standing out at the corner in my PJs, and I hear a familiar sound.
That is not dust on my lens. Click the photo to make it larger.

And this one:
Notice the "not dust" on the right, in front of the house. You can guess what that arrow is pointing to.
Yes, I now have bees for sure. This was not a beginning swarm, but one that came from somewhere else. I was all excited to think I could get this one captured, too, but within 20 minutes, most of the bees had disappeared inside the tree.

Dang. That's going to be problematic for the tree trimmers. The guy I usually use climbs the tree by himself, but this may call for a cherry picker so no workers of either species get hurt.

That's swarm No. 5 for me! To see the others, click here

Flicker set

The flickers have been busy drumming on metal roof vents to broadcast their presence and excavating holes in trees to make nests. They also continue to excavate Sophie's cast-off bones in my yard.
There are still molecules of protein in there, and maybe some ants, too, with our warming weather.
Tomorrow we're supposed to get 5-6 inches of snow in town. I always say we get our last big storm around April 10, and this one's coming in right on schedule.

But it'll be 60 again by Saturday.

So much for crocuses

We're back to monochrome outside. Thank goodness for a little bit of color in!

Sophie doesn't mind the snow. She's probably relieved that her big shaggy coat is seasonally appropriate again. Besides, what's a little snow when there's a bone still containing some molecules of marrow?

Here's the view from the window seat. The snow must be coming up from the south for a change, to plaster the glass this way.
Originally 1-3 inches were forecast. Now they're saying 3-6, and it's a bit on the windy side. Sophie will enjoy her walk. Me, not so much.

Forensic footprints

My backyard is full of bones. And every single one has a spray of little footprints around it. Not from the dog, who has removed every molecule of marrow-y goodness she can, but from flickers. Those long pointy beaks are good bone-cleaners.

I wonder why, as birds who get most of their sustenance from bugs, they don't fly south. How many bugs can there be when it's 10 degrees out?

It's interesting that they will seek out the bones in the yard, but I never see them working on road kill. Why is a cow bone OK but dead squirrel not?

Conversely, why do I not have crows mobbing my yard? (And thank goodness I don't.)

Ham bone recipe: Red beans and rice

I've had a ham bone in the freezer with some extra chunks of ham since Thanksgiving. I wanted to make something other than split pea soup, so I googled around and found this recipe for red beans and rice for the crockpot.
It's very simple: Just throw in the split bone, some onions, garlic and a pound of soaked red beans and cover with water. Cook on high for a couple of hours, then reduce to low and cook another 10 to 12 hours. My timing isn't great, as this will be ready about when I go to bed, but I'll have it for dinner tomorrow and report back on how it it tastes.

P.S. The finished product is here.

Good things come to those who wait

Sophie stands patiently outside the door as we pick up sandwiches. Then we took her to the dog park (no pics, sorry) for a long walk in the melting snow and now she's out back with a bone. Sophie has learned that patience can be well-rewarded.

Bone tired

It took me a while to bag up 60 pounds! Sophie offered to help.

Shaggy dog no more

"Get me out of here!"
"OK, just one posed photo, you hear me? And I'm not going to smile."
"I am so deserving this bone."

Shaggy dog day

Sophie doesn't like the car. To her, the car represents treachery. Treachery! A car took her away from her mom and littermates, hauled her halfway across the country and deposited her in South Dakota. There, the car meant trips to the vet (nooooo!) or to obedience school (noooo!). Then the car brought her to Colorado, where things got a little better, with trips to friends' houses (yay!) or to the dog park (yay!). But still, treachery lurks:
Yes, there are still Bad Trips. Today, it was to the groomer's (noooo!).
Arkady is very nice, and he will make Sophie feel much better in the heat by removing all that excess shag. I broke down and made an appointment because the new house doesn't have a handheld shower nozzle (yet) so I can bathe her myself, and frankly, I just don't have the time right now to clip her. It takes me days, in several stages. Arkady can do it in 3 to 4 hours, and much better than my usual hack job with the weed whacker (Hold still, Sophie!).
Unbeknownst to Sophie (yet), this is also a really Good Day for her. Her bones came in!

I used to get bones cut to order at Safeway, until they told me too many employees were losing fingers. Then I got bones cut to order at Wild Oats, until they told me too many employees were losing fingers.

It's so hard to get good help these days.
Well, the problem was that the distributors would send 6-inch bones and then the workers were trying to cut those down to my 1-inch order. No wonder they were losing fingers! Better to go to a smaller butcher shop that can special order from the distributor, whose employees are presumably more dextrous with a bone saw. Minimum order: 40 pounds. This turned out to be 46 pounds' worth.

Good thing I have a big freezer!

Ants marching

Before mowing the lawn, I picked up the bones Sophie had cleaned out, not realizing that an entire colony of ants under the nearby sidewalk had claimed the bones as its own. A short time later I discovered them all milling about the entrance in utter dismay and confusion. Oh cruel, cruel fate, to be left marrowless!

Nothing is wasted

"Look, dear, someone left out a lovely bone for us!"

What molecules of meaty goodness that Sophie doesn't extract, the flickers do. And the foxes. Last fall while cleaning the gutters, I found bones on the roof of my garage, well-gnawed.

Bad day, good day

Uh-oh.
What evil, terrible torture is in store?You. You brought me here.That sweet talk won't work on me. Nuh-unh.
Now you're talkin'! Sweet!

The checkup went fine, and the toenails got clipped without too much fuss. After the vet, the park. That's the deal, even when the weather's not so nice. If you're bundled up enough, it's not too bad. And Sophie gets plenty warm running after her toy. She's a good retriever.

Not many other folks at the park, but Ozzie the poodle was among them. He outweighs Sophie by 30 pounds and is a former Seeing Eye dog. He really wanted Sophie's toy, but reportedly is not so good about the "letting go" part of fetching, so he had to be content with skritches instead.

At home, Sophie got a honkin' big bone from Safeway, since we ran out of the smaller ones. Safeway won't cut bones to order anymore. "Too many people losing fingers," the butcher told me. Now Wild Oats cuts them for me instead, and my order will be ready later today. Better quality bones, too, I think. No reports of lost digits yet.

P.S. Now I can hear Sophie snoring from two rooms away.

Dog day

Can we pleeeeeease go for a walk?

Hooray! We're going for a walk!

There are smells! Under the snow!

That was good walk! (Now can I pleeeeease have a bone?)