Delta Test

I haven't posted for a while, life gets crazy at times...but I had to share my news. Most of you know I am a dog lover and very involved with dog school and anything dog related. My Golden, Sundance, I have been working with for a while in visiting nursing homes, schools and anywhere they would allow me to come with her. Last Saturday I was in a class at the hospital for the Delta Association where they test you and your dog as a team to visit patients. This test is not easy to pass and both the dog and trainer are required to pass for a total score. This morning at 10 AM Sundance and I were tested and both passed with the highest scores achievable. I am so happy, proud, overwhelmed and excited at the prospect of bringing a smile to someones face and a distraction to their pain, if only for a short visit. Please share in our excitment and wish us Happy Tails. ~Dee :)

Where did the time go?

Nov 6 already and we are starting to get the house cleaned and ready to decorate for Christmas. I found a pink and silver tree that I decorated yesterday to add to our collection of trees. I'll take a picture and share with you all as soon as the batteries in the camera are recharged. Tammi wants professional camera equipment, I just want a digital that lasts longer then 6 months without going to pot!
I will be going to Dad's house in about an hour to set up his meds and meet the Sears delivery people. His washer broke this week and there is no way I am toting his stinky bedding back and forth in my car to my house to wash them.
Otherwise nothing else new around here. I am playing games on Facebook, lots of farming games, and chatting with Bev who I have missed more then I can say. She is in Florida now which makes me want to go back to Disney World even more. Just to have a reason to see her and Mickey Mouse. :)
More later, with pictures.

Black Bear near by.....

I just read today's newspaper and the headline had a picture of a black bear that was hit by a teenager driving his car about a mile and a half from my house. OMG! When we first moved out here to the country I had to worry about coyotes and raccoons and ground hogs coming near my dogs. I thought a fence would keep them safe from any truly dangers animals. Raccoons can climb a fence, true, but with 5 dogs chasing it I am sure it would climb back out quickly. But now I have to worry about bears climbing the 6 foot fence and no number of dogs are going to scare a bear back over the fence. Anyone have any ideas on what I can do to keep bears away from our property?

TEEN DRIVER HITS BLACK BEAR IN MARLBORO TOWNSHIP

CantonRep.com staff report
Posted Aug 20, 2009 @ 10:58 AM
Last update Aug 20, 2009 @ 02:06 PM

MARLBORO TWP. —
A 250-pound black bear died Wednesday night when it darted onto Beeson Street NE and was struck by a 17-year-old driver.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol investigated the incident that occurred around 9:54 p.m.
The agency said the driver was going east in a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am when it struck the bear. The driver was uninjured. The bear was killed and a officer of the Ohio Division of Wildlife retrieved it.
Marlboro Police Chief Ron Devies said his officers have been getting phone reports of a black bear in the area all week.
The bear, a 3- to 4-year-old male, was sighted Tuesday along Paris Avenue near Harrisburg.
Wildlife officials said there are 50 to 100 black bears in Ohio.
“Black bears are starting to repopulate the area,” Devies said.
“But we want to try and educate .There are no predatory bears. The only time they will attack people is if they feel someone is encroaching or they’re injured or protecting their cubs. They’re like Yogi the Bear. They’re vegan basically, not carnivores. But 250 pounds, that’s a lot of berries.”

Choose the Breed

Been a tough month

This year is just not going to go smoothly. Illness seems to be plaguing our family. Three weeks ago I found my dad laying in his bed, not responding, glassy eyed and scared. We think he had been laying there for at least 24 hours or more. While in the hospital the doctors did a lot of tests. First they thought he had a massive stroke. The also found a sever urinary tract infection. After 5 days they ruled out a stroke and told my sister who then told me Dad had a heart attack. Five days after that diagnosis they ruled that out also. Ten days in the hospital and all the tests showed he had an extremely bad urinary tract infection that mimicked the other illnesses. Dad is in a rehab....we dare never say the words nursing home....and he is slowly regaining his strength. Dad is 91 and all he talks about is going back home as soon as possible.

My sister is coming in next week and together we are going to talk to the social worker at the rehab and dad's nurses and therapists and get a prognosis and hopefully some direction on what will be the best for dad. Please keep us all in your prayers that the decisions we make will be the right ones.

Gerry Builds a Deck

Gerry had two weeks of vacation last month so we had lots of ideas of fun things to do in that time. Things like, clean up the yard of dog poo, spread weed kill on the front yard, get a truck load of mulch for the flower beds, put up another hand rail to the downstairs, do some spring cleaning around the house, and build a deck for his mother. Ger's Mom has a cement stoop at the back door of her house which was deteriorating and unsafe to walk on. After she got a couple estimates to remove and replace this little 4 x 4 with 3 steps that ran anywhere from $600 to $1600 Gerry said, "Hey I can put a wooden deck over top of that old stoop for a lot less then that and the deck will be a nice size, big enough for a rocking chair to view the back yard and it would only take me a couple of days." As we all know Gerry has grand ideas and no concept of time and is also one that needs a stick of dynamite under his butt to get him started.

Five days after the start of his vacation he went to his Mom's to dig the post holes. The next day to set the posts. The next three days consisted of a lot of cussing, building and tearing down what was built and breaking a couple of tools. I stopped over one day after work and he was not in a good mood, but my smiling face and quiet understanding calmed him down and we worked together quietly till the floor on the deck was finished. He gave me the nicest compliment when we got home that night. "Thank you for all the help, both physically and mentally." See why I am still married to this man? :)

Gerry took a few days off from deck building so we could enjoy a few summer movies.
**Star Trek was GREAT! Of course Gerry is a Trekkie and I am a Trekkie by marriage so we are familiar with all the old shows. This movie was so much fun and the actors really got the personality of the former stars done pat.
**Angels and Demons was also good. Tom Hanks fit this movie better in both appearance and acting then in the De Vinci Code. I was glad they didn't show the gory parts in detail like the descriptions in the book.
**Back to the Museum II, Fun movie and it was great to see all the stars from the previous movie back in the sequel. Dick VanDyke and Mickey Rooney were missing but all the other museum characters were there and Gerry really enjoyed the part Amy Adams played in her painted on aviator slacks. LOL
** UP Words can not convey the emotions this movie brought to me. I cried twice and laughed a lot and smiled throughout. It is a heart warming movie that reminds us that life has it's UPs and downs but through it all we can still live out a dream. GO SEE THIS ONE! We even did the 3D version which was fun!

Back to the deck.....Gerry is now back to work and the deck is minus steps. The first 4 days of his return to work had him getting up early and going to his Mom's house to work on the steps. By the end of those 4 days the steps were in with one hand rail. Then on Memorial day I went with Gerry again and we spent another 8 hours there doing the rest of the hand rails and the railings. The deck is finished for now. It has to dry out over the summer and then Ger's brother will put a stain on it and a wood preservative. I am constantly amazed at the things Gerry can do, even when he doesn't have a clue what he is doing. I am a proud wife. :) BTW Gerry's brother Dave is a painter by trade so we know he will do a nice job in the staining work. Take a look at the finished project.

As for what did we get done around the house you ask? Gerry did get the hand rail to the basement cut, stained and installed. The rest of the work will get done in time. :)

Florida sounds like a good idea....

As you have seen from my blog I have not posted much this year. I would like to post something wonderful or interesting or fun, but I have not had a good year so far, healthy wise, so have nothing good to post. I had pneumonia in Jan and Feb. No sooner started to feel better from that then I got a sinus infection. I felt well enough after that to make it to Church for Easter,(first time in church this year) but I was still on antibodies till last Wednesday. Friday came and I started with a sore throat again and was at the doctor today where he tells me I have acute bronchitis. I guess that is better then ugly bronchitis. He gave me more meds and sent me to have another chest x-ray. So I am back on another antibiotic, the 4th this year, and codine cough syrup and an inhaler and a nose spray. Pretty soon I will be able to open my own drug mart.

So, since I have nothing fun to post, please scroll down to the bottom of this page and play with the couple games I have added to my blog. I will return with better news the next time I post. I have chicken soup cooking on the stove so I should be good as new in not time. :)

The dogs are keeping me company, curled up in bed with me and whatever book I am reading at the time. Gerry is trying to stay as far from me as possible cause I am not a nice patient when I feel like crap. Hum...maybe I will make him cook the next batch of soup. :)

See you all soon when I am feeling better. :)