Beds, Coffee & a Bad Day
Kelly is having a bad day. Back end weakness strikes again. The temps outside are climbing 74 degrees yesterday and today is close to that. Panting takes a lot of energy for old dogs.
Rimidyl every day now.
He’s not crazy about the Acti-Flex 4000 but it gets results. 2x a day. Thanks to Linda for recommending it.
Damn dogs. Why do they wear out so soon?
Rarely do I submit to “retail therapy”… But guilt/stress/sadness about my dogs creates exceptions.
So I bought three 54” round Victoria Peak dog beds. I would have purchased just one (for Kelly) but if I bought one, and they are as good as all the talk is, the other Greyhounds would steal it from him. So I bought one for each. Stay tuned for a review– beds are supposed to arrive in 3-6 days.
I’m considering buying a new coffee maker — anybody have a Keurig Ultra B60? The idea of pods seems overly indulgent (extra packaging wise). I just want a new toy.
Also on the list of stuff I want:
Nikon D80 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-135mm AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens
A 12 month subscription to the Connoisseurs Club on igourmet.com
Deborah Butterfield sculpture
Maybe a new chandelier for above the dining room table.
I think I’ll just stick with the beds for today. Wouldn’t it be great if Kelly loves his new bed?
Update: Kelly is much better today. Life with an old dog — good days and bad days. And Jack at Victoria Peak mentioned that the 48″ beds will be plenty big for Greyhounds. So the order was revised to four 48″ beds. Should arrive sometime next week. Stay tuned.
To Miles City
Off to Miles City today. Had a bit of weather. I don’t normally enjoy writing about the weather, mostly because this is North Dakota and the only thing people seem to associate with North Dakota is cold weather. It feels like we’ve been abnormally warm this year. Sure there has been that one cold week in late January/early February, but nothing much as far as snow goes or any other cold.
Granted the cold is hard on Kelly. He has always been susceptible to the drops in temperatures– has been wearing his Montana Dogware housecoat since mid-September when the temps dropped below 60 degrees consistently– as he has aged this propensity has become more severe. Kelly isn’t thrilled with the stairs up the deck in the best circumstances. Combine them with his cold feet and weak rear end and the stair become very, very difficult for the old hound. So even though I enjoy winter — “YEAH! All the bugs are dead!” — I worry about my old hound. His progressive back end weakness is troubling…
Ah, but back to the trip today. Miles City is about 125 miles from Bowman and probably most famous for the Bucking Horse Sale held every May. And they have a sporting goods store which sells gunpowder for the Significant Other.
Snow today. Photos below.
Dreaming of books
I didn’t run the dogs today. That was a mistake.
But I got quite a bit done today– and tomorrow the “vacation” will be over and work will start calling. Library/Studio/Library/Studio/Studio/Studio/Library.
Haven’t had a dream about library books since last week. Delightful. I’m serious. I’m delighted.
You’d think that Library book dreams wouldn’t be so bad. Monsters = bad. Death = bad. Bill Cosby sweaters from the 80’s = bad. Well let me tell you, library book dreams can be bad too. Lots of reselving of books. Not finding the book your patron needs/wants. Not good. And they are boring to boot.
But I do like the library job. Just not the dreams.
Exercise helps. I sleep better because the Greyhounds are sleeping better (They don’t ask to go out multiple times every night– and while we’re on that subject — why do they “tag team” this asking to go out business? Every two-three hours a different hound asks to go out! I swear they are conspiring against me…).
We’ll just have to see how it goes. Nighty, night.
Borzoi weather
…Or maybe not. Maybe it’s Malamute weather?
Either way it’s cold here. Now you must be thinking, “But she lives in one of those Dakota states? Aren’t they cold all the time?”
Nope. We just say that they are. Actually the weather can get cold here, but it rarely lasts for long. But it sucks when it’s cold. Tonight its cold. Weather.com says that, right now, it’s -9 degrees F and if you figure in the wind chill the temperature feels like -31 degrees F. Not fit for man or beast. Needless to say, the Greyhounds are hunkered down in their beds, unwilling to brave the temps for “optional” bathroom breaks.
North Dakota
Julie has been writing about perceptions of North Dakota again. She’s an entertaining and passionate writer. Thought I’d post a photo that might just drive her crazy– more fodder for the rumors– found today while driving south of Marmarth, North Dakota.
Ice sucks.
The snow is hard and partially ice from the freeze-thaw days we’ve been having for the last two weeks. Makes it impossible to run the Greyhounds.
Kelly, the twelve year old Greyhound is handling this just fine. A ride in the car satisfies him.
Apollo, the nine year old Greyhound is doing okay. He’s getting antsy.
But Winchester, the two year old Greyhound has handled it the best. He’s just turned my living room into a racetrack and about five times a day he gets the “zoomies”, sends dog beds flying onto the walls, carpets askew.
And so I wait. For the snow to melt in the dog run. For the big order of Macho sticks to arrive. For the ice to melt from the streets so at least I could safely walk them.
I don’t care about the house, but I wish I could run them. Greyhounds need to run.
Living in the boonies
I live in the country. Well, actually I live “in town” as the locals would say, but the town in small and out in the middle of nowhere so it is rather like living in the country. But with neighbors close by.
Bowman, the town that I live in, is nearly 80 miles from the nearest McDonald’s. I call living in Bowman “Island Living”– you can get a lot of things here, essentials mostly, but if you want something else you’ve got to go “Off the Island.”
We are planning on going off the Island sometime this week. Usually that means a trip that is 1 and a half hours one way, but to really get off the island you have to drive 3+ hours. To make this worth the time, one makes a list so one doesn’t forget items one thinks one needs. I’ve been making a list.
What happens more often than not is that I’ll come home after being off the island and buy most of the list’s contents off the internet. Oh well…
Espresso
It was a mistake. I can see that now.
About six months ago I quit drinking coffee and unhinged myself from my caffeine addiction. A difficult but good thing to do. I’ve had a few relapses– traveling to the Greyhounds in Gettysburg event, a couple difficult mornings, once where I mixed the decaf with real– but I’m doing well.
Today I ordered a “fancy” coffee at the new coffee shop in the neighboring town, Scranton. Caffeinated. Didn’t think it would affect me too much. It was a mistake…
And now I’m jittery and overstimulated, unable to keep my mind on the task at hand. I am already bored with this post and want to jump to something else. Maybe I’ll drink a bottle of water…
Maybe now is the time to attempt to clean the studio? All this extra energy and all…
First Post
Okay. Let’s see how this works….
I have decided to start a blog as a way to document the daily (or semi-daily) goings on here in the studio. Hopefully that will include a good amount of Art making– and a probably a lot about the Greyhounds who live here.
Who am I? Sarah Regan Snavely, maker of sculptures and prints inspired, mostly, by my Greyhounds: Apollo, Sterling, Kelly and Winchester. Thirty two years old, living in a small town in southwestern North Dakota and trying to eek out a living making the artwork that I want. I’m not sure that my life is interesting to others. I like it though.
We’ll just have to see how this goes…