Saturday Dog Blogging

Gertie
Originally uploaded by KenCalvino

Things got pushed off a day because of spotty internet connections here yesterday - and the weather wasn't even that bad!

Gertie had a pretty good week this last week. More and more she's getting into the routine of things. I've been working on keeping her in bed until 6:30 in the morning. Even if we have to get up so she can go out, it's right back to bed - no breakfast, no playtime. Thankfully she's getting much better.

We did have a bit of a scare mid-week when she took a free tea sample that I had received in the mail. It had fallen off the table and I didn't realize it until it was too late. It was an herbal tea - thank goodness. Caffeine can kill a dog quickly. I was in the kitchen making breakfast and when I found her she was finishing the wrapper that the tea bag had come in. Gertie was one sick puppy the following morning. Her tummy wailed in protest. About 4 in the afternoon everything passed, if you know what I mean, and she was back to her old self - a little wiser, I hope.

Since the weather was a bit better the last couple of days I thought we'd go outside and take some shots of her running around the yard - which is exactly what she did. It's tough trying to photograph a moving object! I thought this picture turned out the best. The grass was just mowed and you can see how far it comes up on her legs. We've got another two weeks before the lawn guy comes again. Gertie will not be a happy camper at all by then!

Is it really morning already?

I think the nights are getting shorter. I went to bed last night a bit early - shortly after 10 since my favorite late night shows are all in repeats this week. For the most part I slept right through too - so I was surprised when I was so tired this morning. It was all I could do to swing the legs over the side of the bed and get upright. The continued rainy weather hasn't helped any - day after day of muggy, dreary, overcast - we need a nice run of warm and sunny days (of course you know I'll then be bitching about how hot it is!).

I have quite a list for the grocery store. I've been doing little trips, just getting a few things, but I really need to do a big shop - I'm out of almost everything. Except meat - I have a freezer full. But it would be nice to have something to go with it and I'm not the biggest meat eater to start with. In fact, if we had a decent Asian grocery store within reasonable driving distance, I'd easily go back to all vegetarian meals.

Gertie has finally decided it's time to take a nap, which means to answer my own question - nope, it's not morning yet. I'm off to get some beauty sleep.......

A Quick Answer

To the question of the plant has already arrived in my inbox. It is a hardy geranium, most likely of the cranesbill variety. I ran a check on the internet and I say I'd have to agree. Thanks for the quick answer to a question I've had since I moved here.

The Day After A Long Weekend

flowers
Originally uploaded by KenCalvino

And all I want to do is crawl back in bed and say just one more day! Gertie was up at 5 this morning but after taking her out I told her it was way to early and marshalled her right back into the bedroom. I figure even if she spent the time being annoying, I want to get her into the habit of sleeping until at least 6. To my surprise she flopped down and took a nice long nap. We ended up getting back up at 6:15. She went back and I grabbed my camera because there was a mourning dove sleeping on my windshield - funny as hell. Anyway, from the door it was too far away (I really need to get a telephoto lens) so I moved a bit closer which was about the time Gertie saw it and made a mad dash.

So today I have a nice picture of some of the flowers along my ramp. The first year here had just been planted and was so small. This year it's about 2 feet tall and quite the little bush. It is covered with these flowers. If anyone knows what kind of plant it is I'd appreciate it if you let me know. I guess I really should get this day started.......

Enjoying the long weekend

It's been a pretty warm and humid couple of days. I went looking for my pruning shears and couldn't find them. You'd think that after 4 years I'd have all the boxes unpacked. So I'm not sure where they are at the moment. Tomorrow I'm going to go down to Ace Hardware - they're having a sale and I can pick up a new set for about 5 bucks. In the meantime Gertie and I have been making up for some lost sleep. She still gets up about 5:30 a.m. but she's willing to go back to bed for a bit. I think she might be going through another growth spurt with all the sleep she's doing. She has grown quite a bit taller since she first arrived. The lawn guy was here mid-week and he was shocked how much she had grown in just the last two weeks. She may have gained 3 pounds over the last month - I think most of it in her legs which seem to grow longer nearly every day!

Well, since Gertie is taking this opportunity for yet another nap, I think I'll take one too. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and don't forget to stop for a moment of silence tomorrow at 3 p.m. in honor of all our service members.

Friday Dog Blogging

Gertie and her toys
Originally uploaded by KenCalvino

Gertie was up early this morning so thought I'd post this as it's a getaway weekend. Not that I'm going anywhere mind you - I'm enjoying a staycation. More like a workcation as I plan on getting outside and doing some weeding in the flower beds and pruning back some of the overgrowth. I'm sure Gertie will be a big help.

Gertie has had a pretty good week this week. She finally has access to the whole has during the day, the gates I had up between the front half of the house and the back half are gone. The first day she would go right to were the gate was and stop and look and then look back at me but wouldn't go any further. By the third day she was disappearing for 10 or 15 minutes at a time - she was laying on the bed just hanging out. I still put up a gate at night so she can't get out of the bedroom, but if I go in to take a nap I'm feeling more comfortable with leaving the gate open.

This picture I took this morning and this is a morning ritual of hers. Every evening we have clean up time where all her toys get put away for the night. Usually she's tired and doesn't really care - they all get put in a pile right next to her bed in the living room. After she goes out in the morning Gertie runs to her toy pile and begins spreading them out around her and she rolls around playing for a bit with each one. She's like a little kid that cannot decide between which toy to play with first. This morning she even dragged out one of her pieces of rawhide to chew on before hiding back in a safe place for later.

Change in Weather

I bitched about it being cold and someone must have heard me because today we're back into the 80's here at Frog Central. The neighbors have all been out in droves mowing their lawns. My guy should be here sometime this week, although Gertie has made it her own mission to personally chow down on as much of the lawn as possible. I'm surprised she hasn't been throwing up with all the grass she's been eating - Shadow always did. Today I spent catching up on some much needed cleaning chores - and I think I better spend tomorrow doing some too.....

No New Frogs Lately

It's been a while since I've had any new frogs come into the collection. This holiday weekend I plan on stopping by some of the local shops to see if anything new has come in. I'm also looking forward to stopping by a frog festival soon, so hopefully new things will pop up soon.

It has been cold here the last couple of days. Gertie has been hiding her nose under the covers to keep warm. I haven't wanted to get up and 5 minutes after I'm out of bed I want to crawl right back in. So after all the morning activities I've covered up with my afghan and Gertie curls up on one corner and we take a little nap. Little has gotten done - small jobs here and there.

Very Early in the Morning

Gertie decided that the sliver of light coming through the bedroom window shortly after 5 this morning was the signal to get up and start playing. Fetch and tug of war have been on the schedule this morning. Also leaf collecting. Gertie is on her 4th trip outside - sorry, we interrupt this post for another trip outside - ok, I'm back, and with another leaf. I hope this little gift giving doesn't last past today.

I can't believe the strange weather here in Southern Illinois. Two days this last week I actually had the air conditioner on - temps soared into the 80's. Yesterday the temps were in the high 60's and I had the windows open, enjoying the cool breezes airing the house out. Things started to get a little bit cool early in the evening so I closed up the windows and by the time I went to bed I had the heat on. Temps were in the 40's last night and will dip into the 30's tonight.

Things seem to have finally calmed down here at Frog Central - the puppy energy has been calmed for the moment, which means I'm going to take full advantage and go back to bed.......

Friday Dog Blogging

Gertie and her new toy
Originally uploaded by KenCalvino

Gertie has had quite a week. The greatest thing for me is that I can walk out of the house without having to worry about her being in a cage or flipping out and tearing the inside of the house apart. She just happily sits in the chair and waits for me to come back. After Gertie went to the vet's office I gave her a new plush toy to play with and here she is with it - she hardly let's it out of her sight!

Thunderstorms

Thunderstorms started here in Southern Illinois yesterday afternoon. By bedtime, I decided that I better leave the radio on so that if alerts come on I'd hear them. About 2:15 a.m. this morning the sirens started wailing and the radio is blasting emergency tones that a tornado was on the ground nearby. I hate when they happen at night time because nobody can see them and they're harder to track. So I turned on the television and Gertie and I went into the cellar stairway (then only place with no windows nearby). We waited for about a half hour and it sounded like things were moving a little further south, so back to bed we went. The sounds of thunder and lightning were still sounding early this morning. Things have cleared up for now, but tonight appears to be another bumpy night - so much for my beauty sleep......

A Trip to the Vet's Office

Gertie had to go to the vet's this afternoon for the last of her puppy shots and her rabies shot. She's now set for another couple weeks when she'll go in to be spayed. Gertie did not take to the vet's well at all. Last time she just got a shot and out we went with a treat. Today she got the full examination, including a close look at the inside of her ears (just a tiny amount of wax, nothing to worry about). Then the dreaded clipping of the toe nails - gone are the little points that gave you puncture wounds at every turn.

Gertie did have a couple high points in her vet's trip - mostly in meeting a 120 pound loveable Marmaduke. The guy that owned it and I both said the same thing - we wish we had a camera because those two made goo-goo eyes at each other the whole time we were waiting.

Once we got home Gertie received a special treat - a brand new toy. It's called a chubby chews and it's about half the size of Gertie. It is too funny watching her try to drag it around the house. It has quickly become her favorite - even having a coveted place at the end of the bed where she fell asleep on top of it.

It's been a tough day and she definately needed a nap. To tell you the truth I could use one too, but it's a bit late so I'll hold off until bed time. In the meantime I guess I need to cook some supper.....

Late Day Post

Today has been about the most hectic day I've had in a while. I tackled the dreaded cellar steps today to get some much needed washing done. Three times up and down the steps and then my knee gave out. Thankfully I got quite a bit of laundry done and a closet full of clean clothes in those trips. I then had to make a trip to the post office and grocery store. I was so annoyed with this 2 cent raise in the letter price. I ordered some 2 cent stamps but they haven't come in yet, so I had to use two 42 cent stamps. Then I swung by IGA to pick up a few odds and ends and most importantly a couple bags of puppy chow. All that's left to do today is to get the trash out to the curb.

I need to get out and take some pictures of some of the flowers that are up - I have some beautiful flowering plants that just keep getting bigger year after year. I'm not sure what they are called, maybe someone here will know and clue me in. Of course tomorrow it is supposed to rain again.

The area is finally getting back together after last week's storms. SIU, which is where my local NPR station comes out of, was back on the air today. Apparently a lot of trees are down on campus and they think it will be several months before they get all of them cleaned up. I had to call the city today to come blow out the city drainage lines - the basement was starting to get damp from all the rain we've been having. I'll have to make a trip down cellar the next time it rains to be sure everything is ok.

Guess for now I'm going to go put my feet up and wait for the evening news to come on. Hope you've had a good day too.....

Happy Mother's Day

Just a quick post to say Happy Mother's Day to my mom and to anyone who is celebrating today.

Today is a beautiful day here at Frog Central. It's a little bit cool - not quite 60 degrees, but I haven't felt the need to put on the heat. I just throw a blanket over me when I get too cool - or else have Gertie crawl in my lap, she's a regular heat factory for such a small dog. The hibiscus is all covered with leaves, effectively cutting off the view of the neighbors. It also provides cover for the baby cardinals - I've seen two this year.

I haven't been feeling all that well for the last couple of weeks. I have been exhausted from the time I get up in the morning until the time I go to bed in the evening. Quite a few days I spent sleeping in my chair - much to Gertie's dismay. Today is the first time I've felt a bit better. I'm still tired but not all out exhausted. Hopefully it's a trend that will continue.....

Friday Dog Blogging

Gertie
Originally uploaded by KenCalvino

Gertie has had a pretty good week. She was supposed to go to the vet's today, but with thunder and lightning all around, I rescheduled for next week. Gertie has had some new experiences this week - mainly other baby animals. A very small mourning dove was walking up and down the railing the other day and Gertie, thought she finally had a bird she could catch. But lo and behold, even the small ones know how to fly. Just in case I brought her up short so she couldn't have gotten to it anyway. Her other encounter was a little less pleasant - it was with a bee that had flown into the house. It was walking across the floor and Gertie kept trying to eat it - bad move, they bite back.

So today we've been under tornado and severe thunder storm warnings - quite a bit of damage done just to the south of here. I got to see first hand how Gertie would handle thunder. Thankfully, just a little skittish when the booms were loud enough to rattle the windows and shake the house. She moved to sit near my feet, just to be sure everything would be ok. At one point she jumped into my lap, but I took her mind off things by playing withe her. All in all she did really well - nobody had instilled that fear in her.

I received another plush today - a horse - and Gertie thought sure it was for her. Or at least, if it wasn't, it should be. I put it up on the table and I had to laugh as she stood there on her hind legs, giving a little whine - as if to say how could you! I've really got to start carrying my camera around with me. Last Friday she sat in front of the television watching Dogtown and again all I could do was laugh as she gave a bark to certain dogs on the screen.

Sun's Gone - More Rain

I couldn't believe it when I heard the rain falling again during the night. We're in another 4 or 5 day run of daily rain showers. It certainly is tough on the joints. On top of that I ate something yesterday that didn't agree with me, so since last night I've been holding my stomach and bellowing like the farmer's cow - much to Gertie's delight.

I haven't received any new frogs in a while, so I'm putting out a request for you to send me photos of your favorite frogs - or a picture of your whole collection. I look forward to seeing what you have in your collection and sharing it here with everyone.

I took a 3-day weekend

And slept most of it! LOL The weather has been nasty here and I haven't wanted to get out to do anything. Gertie and I caught up on a lot of rest. Finally Sunday, things started to clear, but the temps turned colder. Yesterday I planned on staying in all day doing some cleaning. I put the mail out for the mailman to take. I saw him drive by and realized I wasn't getting any mail so I quickly got changed and went out to the post office and decided to do some much needed shopping at Walmart while I was out. I came home and found my mailbox stuffed with mail - apparently we had a substitute mailman for the day who did the route differently than the regular guy. Gertie was up about 5 this morning and we've been going strong ever since - I think it's time to go back to bed and get another hour or two of sleep - then this day can get started......

Friday Dog Blogging

Gertie
Originally uploaded by KenCalvino

Gertie and I have spent the majority of the day sleeping. This rainy weather really wears on you and you just feel like doing nothing. I wanted to venture out a bit today but there are flood warnings up which means a lot of roads will be impassible. So Gertie and I decided it was a better idea to stay at home and nap.

Gertie's had a pretty good week. We're still working on a regular schedule for going out to do her business. It's getting better but she still wants to go out sometimes just to see what's going on. She got a new toy this week and she knows the name of all her toys and will get the one you ask for. She really is smart as a whip in picking up commands, which is nice. She really has pretty much mastered the sit command.

So the other day I started taking a number of pictures of her and I thought this one turned out pretty good. I love those half droopy ears of hers. She also got a new collar this week - her old one was feeling just a bit tight. They say you should be able to slip a couple fingers underneath the collar easily and I didn't feel I could do that. I like the new collar better because it has an easier clasp for getting it off and on plus a larger ring for clicking her on a leash.