I'm in the process of writing an introduction for this blog but it's taking me a bit of time so in the meantime, I'd like to share some of Laurel and Hardy's recent activities!
There is one thing we've been doing with our Labs that none of us are enjoying! A couple months ago, our area (northeastern Ohio) broke our all-time record for rain. Normally, we don't have any problem with our yard being overly wet or with flooding ... we live in Highland Heights after all (shale ledges to the east and above Cleveland) and our house is set higher than the others in our neighborhood. Our back yard is shaded by the woods behind it but we have a swale in the back of our yard which generally handles any water runoff during heavy rains. This year, however, by September, we had had so much rain that our backyard was a swampy mess. Eventually, we started taking Laurel and Hardy out to do their business in the front yard since it is in full sun and sloped down to the sidewalk. That worked for several months but the rain has just continued relentlessly and now even the front yard is a wet mess! We've been hoping the temperatures would drop to freezing and stay there but so far, that hasn't happened. This weekend, we're expecting temperatures in the 50s with rain forecast from Sunday through Wednesday! The Labs are not enjoying this weather because they are not getting to go out into the yard to run around and play and my husband, Brent and I are not happy because we have to wash feet every time they come in.
Although Laurel and Hardy are very good about and cooperate with their foot baths (they climb in the pan and wave their paws in the water, then they climb out and hold their feet up for us to dry), washing their feet multiple times a day is still hard for me to manage by myself. I am reminded that I would have trouble caring for my two service dogs without my husband, Brent's help and that it was a good thing we taught our dog's to potty on various surfaces, including cement, so that they can stay off overly-saturated grass prior to going into stores or other public places! And I'm still hoping that it will stop raining and/or get cold and stay cold!
Laurel, Hardy and I are still taking competition rally & obedience classes as well as agility. Brent takes one of my classes with Hardy and of course, we work on things at home daily and at the training hall a couple days a week.
And honestly, other than church and dog-related activities, we really don't go out too much. So, it was a pretty big deal when we decided to go see the Muppets movie Thanksgiving evening. We took Hardy with us and he was really very good. My only complaint would be that he didn't sleep enough. Although he didn't bother us or anyone else; didn't move around or make any noise, I would have preferred if he had slept through the movie. As we left the theater, many people commented that they hadn't known he was there.
The day after Thanksgiving we bundled up and took everyone to a big Craft Show in Medina (about an hour away) called Christmas in the Colonies (or maybe now Christmas Around the World). We've always enjoyed some of the vendors there and have found some lovely gifts for various people over the years. I don't know what was different this year but when we got there a few minutes before it opened Friday morning (our usual time), there was a long line through the parking lot waiting to get in. It looked like it was going to be much more crowded than we're used to and the stalls and aisles are not really wide enough without a throng of people everywhere. We decided to leave the Labs in their crates in the van which worked out beautifully since they had a piper (bagpiper) playing to the people in line and our guys got to enjoy the music too! Once we were inside and saw how congested and crowded it was, I knew we had made the right decision to not bring either of them in with us. We found several wonderful presents for people and were out of there by noon.
Saturday, our friend and dog photographer, Jack Powers brought his portable studio by our house and took some more photos of Laurel & Hardy. The photo at the beginning of this blog is one of his. We took a couple photos of me holding my most uncooperative cat, Maggie, a few of me and Brent, some of each Lab, some of them together and some with me included. Jack commented that it took about twice as long to set everything up as it did to do the shots. It does help to have well-trained dogs but also two Labs who pose when a camera is pointing their way! I'll share some of the photos on this blog as soon as I get them from Jack!
We have most of our shopping done and have been wrapping presents and decorating the house. Yesterday, I needed to run some errands to pick up some things. I have been taking Hardy with me on most of my trips for training purposes and Laurel has been very gracious about it. She'll look at me to ask if she is going and when I tell her she's not, she obligingly heads to her crate, the bed or up to spend time with Brent. This time, however, she looked at me as if to say, "I know I'm not going" and put herself in her crate. Of course, I caved immediately and decided to take her with me! She had such a wonderful time that I added a couple more errands to our list, including a trip to Costco to see all her friends there! We also stopped at a local mall, Beachwood Place, to see when they were planning to have "Pet Photo Night" with Santa. Yes, I am a CDL (crazy dog lady) and would like to take Laurel and Hardy to have their photos taken with Santa (maybe this is the result of not having any grandchildren yet!). It was really great to see how well Laurel did being back out in public after several months respite!
Last night, Brent, Hardy and I headed down to Playhouse Square to see Great Lakes Theater's production of A Christmas Carol. After attending almost annually, we haven't been for probably 10 years (their longtime and fabulous Scrooge retired and our children left home). We sat in one of the boxes at the back of the Ohio Theater and enjoyed a fabulous show! Hardy slept through most of the first and all of the second Act! The General Manager for Great Lakes Theater Company sat in the box next to us and kept leaving his filled wine glass on the floor. At one point, Hardy considered heading to that box for a drink but I realized what was going on and suggested he not. Unfortunately, there were a number of women sitting near us who had slathered themselves with perfume and both Brent and I are allergic. Brent's eyes swelled shut and I started sneezing and had trouble breathing. Apparently I had an asthmatic response which is never good since my diaphragm already doesn't work as well as it should. I'm still struggling with the whole breathing thing and missed a tricks workshop and agility practice today! Since it seems like more and more people are having unpleasant reactions to others' perfume, maybe everyone could consider public events perfume-free! If you're not willing to do that, please don't bath in it or slather it all over yourselves! Seriously, there are plenty of us who are affected by it ... Brent and I almost had to leave the performance!
No comments:
Post a Comment