Friday, April 25th

[Colliemom]

Good Morning everyone. Cloudy and 45° Rain showers in the forecast today. Temps have been chilly in the mornings and anywhere from mid to upper 50’s, even a couple low to mid 60’s. But Wind has been cool. 50’s is about average for this time of year. Good working outside temps.

Been busy here this past week with having to make a few runs to town, dentist appt., spring cleanup of the yard and getting things fixed. Neighbor came over and fixed what turned out to be two puncture holes in my garage roof. Now just need to get a couple new shingles goes which the roofing company wil be bringing out as thry need to do a minor repair in my ridge vent in the house. He also cleaned my shed off off, finished fixing my storm door, the which of I was working on when he came over to look at the garage roof. Door needed a new closure and Wind chain. Also fixed the fence gate that got knocked askew by the ice storm. So things are back to normal here. I put the hose hanger back in place that got knocked off by the snow being shoveled off the roof in March. Just need to finish cleaning up a bit in the front yard and behind the garage. Then can get in to other things like washing windows, putting out the summer yard decorations, finishing my raised bed bottom and get the flowerbeds ready to plant eventually. Always a busy time of year

O’Sharon, good luck with your surgery. Judy, hope you get to feeling better. Beth, happy to hear you made it to your casita. Tina, glad Thomas found his forever home. Funny how some pups get taken right away and others seem to wait longer with no takers. Same issue with Piper till I came along. Guess she was was destined to be mine. Martha, have fun in your camping trip. Shelia, seems like you are uncovering a treasure trove in your mom’s house. So much of that stuff was worth money years ago, but these days seems like not always so. But you never know. Mom collected plates too, but not excessive. They had value at one time but not now. Went into the donation pile.

Ice Storm cleanup continues. Debris piles everywhere waiting for however people are gong to dispose of it. Tree companies busy taking down trees, chipping brush etc. Will take a long time to get it done. Power companies still working to replace poles and reinforcing lines. Road crews clearing right of ways. Neighbor got last of debris at entrance cut up and piled. Just a little in other side to be picked up and raked, which I might do today if weather is okay. One neighbor swept the road off where the logging/tree company had been chipping, so some of us are getting the neighborhood shaped up. I plan to do Ali g the right of way where I cut and cleaned the debris away from the road edge on Sunday.

So guess I hav better get moving. Want to clean kitchen and bathroom, so house will be done for this week. Have a nice day all.

[OregonLuvr]

Morning Sue. I have been puttering in the yard too. I do not have the clean up and repairs you have but I am definitely getting my raised beds and plant pots ready for some plants and flowers in about 2 weeks. I did buy 3 plants yesterday and have only planted one last night so will see what the weather will be today. Supposed to be getting some rain but you never know.
Temps pretty much the same as yours, high 50's and upper 60's in the afternoon, so far. Could be a bit of a downpour or just a few drops...weird. Trying to figure out what I want for breakfast. So far havent figured it out as I dont feel very hungry so that always makes it harder. I have dinner figured out...Blackened Salmon, cauliflower and a small baked potato. Also want to cook my beets in the Instant Pot today. I love hot beets, with butter and salt. They are so good for you too so glad I like them.

I need to wash my windows inside and out but will wait for some much warmer weather. I did wipe down my blinds so that is a start. I have more blinds to go tho. Garbage day today but I didn't have much so threw away a couple of old pillows just to fill up the container LOL

We have the low flying helicopters checking all the Pacific Power lines right now. They sure do fly low. More of the preparation for fire season. Sharon hope all goes well for your surgery procedure.
Tina hope you had a happy birthday and really glad Thomas found his forever home. Beth, glad you are getting some decent weather. Sheila after my Mom passed I got rid of so much. I am not much of a memorabilia person. Mostly because I dont want to store it!!!! It was fun looking thru it all but that was as far as it went.
Hope you are feeling better Judy. I got my RSV vaccine last year. Right now they are saying "So far, RSV vaccines appear to provide some protection for at least two RSV seasons. Additional evaluation is planned to assess how long the protection lasts and whether additional doses will be needed." So for now I am good. Just those dang allergies but they are here to stay I am sure, winter, summer, spring and fall it doesnt matter.

[Bethers]

Afternoon ladies. I still haven't put together my bookshelf type unit. I can't believe I'm being this lazy. Tomorrow I'll be reading electric meters and my friend Ginger is planning to come over. I wasn't totally useless today as I cleaned up and organized a couple shelves. Should have done more but had an appt for a vaccination. Got that and purchased a few items from Safeway that were on sale, plus I got an extra 10% off for getting my vaccine there. The mail lady brought a big, very heavy box to my site and TY, for the first time, knocked down the barrier to keep him in to get out to her. Luckily he didn't scare her and more lucky when I told him to come back in, he did. I spent time figuring a way that prevents him from doing that again. I want to figure another way but this one works so I'll probably be too lazy to make any modifications.

I didn't sleep well last night so intend to do so tonight lol Boy I'm jealous of TY when it comes to sleeping good all night.

[cnq50b]

HI all,
Just dropping in for a minute. Got a storage unit around the corner from my place so I can de-clutter my condo before putting it on the market. Should have done this a long time ago - it's nice getting all the things I'm saving for the kids (from their childhood) out of my space. We're also having a donation truck at our church this Sunday, so I'm trying to send plenty there also. Definitely need to get rid of some of the stuff I've accumulated since moving here.

Tina, I talked to my daughter (the one in France) the other day, - she hopes she can get a dog when she returns to the US. As we talked she was a little down since the breed she wants is harder to find here while they are all over the place in France. Guess what... She wants an English cocker! We will be contacting you once she gets serious about getting one. Maybe you can let us know which breeders are best. Maybe you'll even have some more pups by the time she is ready. (might be a year or so). Anyway, any advice you can give her will be much appreciated. I'll FB message you so we can exchange contact info. She was so excited when I told her about you & sent her some of the pics that you posted of your pups. You made her day!

Judy, I hope you are feeling better soon. The others are right - probably should get it checked out. Even if it's just to rule out pneumonia. Sue, those pics were devastating. I know the forest will rejuvenate itself, but it will take a while. Beth, I know what you mean about re-organizing. I can barely move for all the boxes & stuff I'm pulling out from every nook & cranny, I'm glad my storage unit really is right around the corner so I can run things over there easily.
Sounds like several of you are getting the RSV vaccine. Maybe I should look into it.

Well, Sadie is bugging me to take her out & then I need to clear some space in my room so I have a place to sleep tonight.
Take care,
Catherine

[snowball]

I really really hate it when the finale show for the season ends in a cliff hanger.... started watching Cal Fire Country I think is the name of it... have gotten into it...
spent time in mom's room again it will be that way probably for the next week... by then we should have it done at least what has to be done that would be clearing off and out two dressers two bed side tables and a bed... there is a not sure what it is called a unit with doors on it I can get one side open (stuff in the way) it looks like it's mostly books and stuff the closets have things on the shelf I need to clean out and on the floor take out the clothes hangers but that doesn't have to be cleared out till after sil family gets the stuff that they are taking... hoping brother will be here when they come.... I am going to get bins for some of the family history items today I put them in a box later got to thinking why did I do that??? other than to get it out of the way I have seen this mini photo album didn't recognize the baby that was in it (it was all this one child) so I take a picture and post it on our chat page on FB (it really comes in handy) saying does anyone know who this little guy is??? turns out to be my niece so put it with my sisters photo's but rather embarrassed... found where all mom's camera's were wonder if they work ... we have found a couple boxes of .38 shells don't know where the rest of it is keep looking so far haven't found it although it might be were the camera's were I didn't get everything out as it's close to the floor and couldn't reach every thing
that was my day did get scriptures read tomorrow off to Idaho taking stuff to thrift store... and to my dd's
sounds like you are settling in Beth... was TY just excited to see someone or protecting you?
Karen what did you plant? there are things that I want not a lot but I also want family to get what they want before we donate them the things I've sent to thrift store is mostly clothes of mom's things that no one has wanted or as I looked at them didn't think they would I think I goofed early on tossed something later found what they were for... oh well that will happen I found a pattern that I've been wanting it's called a magic pillow the it's a pillow/quilt combo that folds up into just a pillow ... really cute and I want to make it for my two greats by youngest grandson might like it as well so I was glad to find it...
Sue you are always so busy
you all have a great day
sheila

[BirdbyBird]

Catherine, it is exciting that your daughter will be returning to the US, though I know that you have enjoyed learning French and exploring their world across the pond. I look forward to hearing from your daughter. As I may have already mentioned. Most of the breeders that I know (but not all) don't even have websites anymore. But because they are known to the world of other responsible English Cocker breeders and or individuals that show or have performance dogs, they usually have and maintain "lists" of potential puppy people. Contacting breeders a year or more out to establish a connection and to be seriously added to a list for a future litter is not unheard of. The responsible breeders are not churning out 5 litters a year to choose from but maybe 1 or 2m if you are lucky. And the ECS litter can run from 1 to 8, but usually averages 4-5 puppies. Someone at my vet's office was amazed that my puppies traveled so far to be with their people (Austin, TX: north of Huntsville, AL: Raleigh, NC: Louisville, KY: Minneapolis, MN, Philadelphia, PA) but 5/6 of the families were referred to me by other responsible breeders that didn't currently have puppies available. Many of the "puppy" available sites on the internet are actually scams or are not the results of well thought out compatible pedigrees, health tested breeding stock, etc. I pointed out to one family when she asked me about a puppies that she had found available online, that the website did not even give the breeder/owners name. I didn't know of any breeders who were not proud to acknowledge their kennel and or their breeding program and their dogs. Anyway, to shorten this long story, maybe let her know not to wait until she actually comes back begin to reach out to breeders and begin the research and interview process for a puppy. Breeders have choices. They shift through their requests to find the best families matches for their puppies. I know that Thomas (now Ellis) had extra adventures and setbacks in finding a family, but I didn't write about the families/individuals that never got beyond the first couple of information exchanges. The other exciting part individuals in search of English Cocker puppies is that most, as your daughter, have met or researched the breed already and are familiar with many the traits and temperaments that are specific to the breed. Few accidently find themselves with an English Cocker. Tina