I’ve been reading a lot of books and blogs about dogs lately…we can learn a lot from them, and from the people who love them. The little girl in this video (thanks, bikehikebabe!) could have saved herself some trouble if she had paid more attention. 😀
Whom have you been learning from lately?
John and Greg started working on the second solar array Friday. Andy didn’t get home until around 6:30 and was concerned I might be worried about him. No problem. I was in bed finishing a two-hour nap.
It had been a gorgeous day and I hadn’t been to the Y for over a month and decided it would lift my spirits to get out for a bit. I used very light weights and did few repetitions…it took only about 10 minutes total…and I probably should have gone straight home afterwards. Instead I mailed something at the post office and picked up a book at the library—way too much. So I when I got home I piled into bed and slept for two hours.
Hmm. It’s becoming more and more clear that I won’t be back to “normal” soon. Assuming my present state isn’t the new normal. 🙂
No sense whining about it. In fact, I’m grateful I have a hero and role model–Wilf the Pon. Wilf is a blind, arthritic, (and diabetic as I recall) Polish Lowland Sheepdog who has also been diagnosed with cancer. He keeps soldiering on and mostly manages to enjoy his life.
Used with permission.
Used with permission.
Used with permission.
Wilf still enjoys exploring his world, when his energy is up to it, and he has sense enough to rest and sleep when he needs to. When that happens on a walk he trusts Angus to bring him safely home.
Thank you, Angus, for sharing your family fellow with us. Your posts are making a big difference in my life.
They came up last Monday to start wiring the solar panels. But for some reason they haven’t come back since :):
So it’s been a quiet peaceful week. I’ve just about recovered healthwise now, so I’m not complaining at all. What was your week like?
The quality of our lives depends on how we focus our energy and our attention.
Hmm. Either that bug that laid me low last Saturday came back in a milder form, or I just have a bad cold with some minor aches and pains. Whatever it is I’ve been fighting it since Wednesday. So I’ve been taking good care of myself and trying to get something constructive done…something that doesn’t take a lot of energy.
I decided it would be a good time to go through all of my unorganized files and pictures on the computer. I’d been putting that off for a long time, and it turns out it was a good choice. The pictures brought back all sorts of warm fuzzy memories, especially of dogs from the local shelter. For a while I used to go over almost every day, and I truly loved some of the dogs. The above two pictures are of Samantha, an elderly dog who had no problem getting adopted because she was the mellowest, most cheerful dog I’ve ever known. She’s still lifting my spirits after all of these years.
Some people think oxytocin and warm fuzzy feelings rev up the immune system. I don’t know about that, but it certainly makes recuperating more pleasant. 🙂
I’ve also been listening to a lot of good audio books, which also helps. What about you? What do you do when you’re feeling under the weather?
At some point earlier this evening there were four fire trucks outside in the driveway. We have no idea why they were there. The local newspaper may or may not tell us Tuesday (there is no Monday or Saturday paper).
It was a little hard sleeping last night because the wind was rattling our windows, and Andy plowed today because of the drifting snow. We only received about 2″ of snow, which wouldn’t be enough to cause problems if it hadn’t been for the wind.
We were supposed to meet with our kitchen designer yesterday, but I suddenly got very sick Friday evening and spent most of Saturday in bed. Andy checked to see if it made sense for him to keep the appointment, and the designer was happy to postpone it. For some reason she is having trouble with utilities to her house and needed to deal with that.
The most interesting thing for me was that after being so sick and spending 14 hours in bed, I was almost back to normal last night. Who knows what was going on? Another mystery of the universe.
Has anything unusual been going on where you are?
For the past 35 years our tradition was to go up to our land and cut down our tree shortly before Christmas. We clearly couldn’t do that this year, so I bought some lights, garlands and a little artificial tree:
That works too…it pays to be flexible. How have your traditions changed over the years?
I hope you all had a great day. 🙂
It pays to be paranoid. We thought we had the final approval for the shed so Joe could start insulating it and hook up the propane heater. Andy checked just in case.
I’ll spare you the details, but it turns out that idea was too good to be true. Someone has to go up to do one more inspection. Besides the fact it’s a long trip that no one wants to make, the county doesn’t have a key to the Forest Service lock, and it’s almost Christmas and more snow is expected. What do you think the chances are that this will be resolved before Spring?
It pays to have patience and a sense of humor.
They uncovered the house slab Friday and it had only one small crack. Steve hasn’t looked at it yet, but he already warned us that hairline cracks are almost possible to avoid and they’re no problem. He says if there’s no flaking (there isn’t) then things should probably fine. He’s planning to go up to look at it sometime this week.
I went up with Andy this afternoon and started marking off the thickness of the walls, where the various rooms are, etc. As you can see from the first picture, it was a glorious day. (A camera can’t capture the feeling of spaciousness, but it’s better than nothing.) We still have a lot more details to decide before the plans are complete, so we’ll be going back to Santa Fe this week to look at kitchen and bathroom sinks and fixtures, etc. We’re also doing a lot of research on the internet and have found the propane refrigerator we’ll probably get. It’s just one step after another, and doing our best to enjoy the process.
What about you? Have you had to deal with any big projects lately? If not, are you glad? If so, are you enjoying the process?
Joe was originally going up tomorrow to do more work, but they’re predicting more snow with highs around 20° F. for the next two days. Not exactly building weather. We’re hoping this unusually early cold snap won’t hurt the new concrete. Time will tell.
Andy practiced plowing the road yesterday and will probably plow again tomorrow because it will need it. Winter has come!
What about where you are? Cathy and Evan will be dealing with summer instead of winter, of course.
We were lucky this week. Thursday the inspectors gave us the go ahead to pour the slab for the shed and the footings for the house. And in spite of Veteran’s Day, four concrete trucks and about a dozen men came up Friday to do the pouring. 🙂
If all goes well this coming week they may put up the stem walls for the house and install the propane tank. Andy will phone tomorrow to schedule a build date for the shed. That could take some time depending on Tuff Shed’s queue, and, of course, the weather.
It’s only been four months since we’ve been able to get up there, and in spite of some delays we are doing very well. Again, we will keep you posted.
(Andy took 39 pictures of the process Friday, starting here. That’s a lot more pictures than most people will want to see. I am not one of them!)
