Stuffs....

Do you remember how little Sven was???

He and Charlie were not that different in size!

Now 10 months later....

Wow!

Sven had an ear infection...I think. Lots of ear gunk for a while. Now he walks with his head tilted and his balance isn't as good as it could be. However his vitals are just fine and he seems normal.
His mom was sickly and his father had the same issues after he was a year old.
I wonder.

I guess I don't care because Sven is such a doll who has NO idea that he is a goat!

Here my hiking cohorts are when I took out the treats. Sven loves dog biscuits. Charlie prefers the bacon flavored ones. Go figure, I rattle the plastic bag and I am both of these guys' best-est pal!

Rich and his psychiatrist have 'new' rules for me. I am not to hover and watch over Rich reminding him to take his meds. I am to let go a bit of my 'mothering'. Rich feels well enough to express that and I have decided to stop being the major worry wort. His mood is much better and his health is tenuous still. But he is holding his own.

So there it is. I signed up for a Master Naturalist Class which starts in March on Monday nights. I am going hiking with my ex neighbor and two of her friends tonight for a candle light hike at Wildcat Mountain State Park. I have a 'date' to go trail running with a CrossFit pal next Tuesday afternoon.

This year feels different for me. New and exciting things are happening quickly.

I donated an Infrared Photo to OneEarthStudios for ArtShare Dare in Ohio. ONEarth Studios is run by my [ex] sister in law and her amazing family.
I had two folks from CrossFit  actually purchase some photos of mine!

Okay, I do not plan on becoming a pro. Phew. Nope, not me.

I've been asked to volunteer instruct kids for cross country skiing too! Smack my forehead! How fun could that be?

Kristi from CrossFit asked it I'd consider doing a trail race/run with her. Um. I am going to be 64 and she is 41. But she sure can be convincing.

I've always loved 'running' or jogging. Trail running? Well, if I had a pal to do it with...mayyybeee!
I looked at the map for the Tromp and Chomp and realized that I know the trails very well.

So watch out. I have 4 months to 'train'.

Yesterday, Charlie...Mr. Short Legs, ran through the hay fields and across country with me. I don't like road running anymore and besides, it was ice.
We did 3/4 of a mile before Charlie pooped out. I was not going to try and make his 3 inch legs go any longer than that so we walked the rest of our 'run'.

A mini doxxie is not really a distance runner. But, the important part is that we had so much fun!

I have not run any races or seriously done distances since I was 30. But yesterday I didn't feel tired, I felt like a kid running for joy.
I'm going to give a huge nod to my CrossFit workouts for the past year for this feeling.
I felt so alive and so free.

I haven't felt that in such a long time.

Stay tuned. I have a good feeling about this coming year.

Donated photo:

Just

This ... today.

Not Farm Clothes!

When I went to the Banquet the other night I guess I shocked my old neighbors as they'd never seen me in anything other than farm clothes or my work uniform.

I used to dress up each day for work when I worked as a Chiropractor's Office 'Manager'.  Really I did!
When I began to wear a uniform every day, I stopped thinking about what it was like to dress up.

I called upon my new neighbor though after this shot was taken and she gave me one of those neat fancy scarves I see women wearing now.  It helped cover up the wrinkly old looking neck of mine.

Now you probably can figure out why I don't like self portraits.  I'm just too critical of what I see in the photo.
I ignore my reflection in the mirror except to see if I need to perhaps comb my hair if I am going somewhere.

Normally with my short hair, it is easy to just toss on a cap instead of trying to do something with my unruly hair.

So.
Ta...da!

I certainly hope I did not break any monitors in this viewing!

Well, off to take care of some critters outside...IN my farm clothes!

She can't do it without me. By Morris

Seriously.
Should the Grumpy ol' Guy really trust HER out in the woods by herself?  I think not.  I'm sure he is secretly glad that I go along and keep an eye on her.

And keep an eye out for Coyotes, Bears, Grizzlies, Pterodactyls, Mountain Lions, Wild 'possum, and the such like.

You think I am kidding?

I am always investigating tracks.

I mean look at the tracks here on the ice.  Made by a 2 toed prehistoric creature.  SHE says it was a deer.  Little does SHE know.
I did find deer and rabbit pellets and secretly took magic smart pills to enhance my awareness of all the dangers one kind find in the forest.

SHE on the other hand, took pictures.

I waited by patiently as possible, guarding her against all nasty forces and creepy things that can be found in this forest.

See my tracks from pacing back and forth watching for monsters and such?  Once the wind blew [that's what SHE said] and made trees moan.  Uh huh.  I saw bushes move and got the hair up on my back .... I growled and backed up right into HER and her tripod camera thing.

When the crisis was over I ate some nasty stuff and enjoyed her hollers of 'Icky Icky!'  I like doing that to her.

We traveled quite a ways down the valley.  SHE found some water falls to take pictures of.  I don't get the big deal over that, but SHE seems to like it a lot.

So I watched carefully.  I was suspicious of what might be happening on the hillside above us.

After much 'shooting' with HER camera, she packed everything up and we started back towards home.  Now I was not concerned in the least with anything but finding the trail home to make sure SHE got there safely and that I got a nice warm cozy place to lay on.

At one point I had to stop and turn around.  SHE looked like she could be lost.  The underbrush is quite thick and sometime the deer trail is hard to find.
I follow the deer pellets.  

IF SHE were my size she wouldn't always have to struggle when things got thick now would SHE?

Come on, this way!  

When we got to the open field I was able to run on top of the ice crust again.  There was a clear path to home from her snow shoes so I decided to take off and run.

When I got home I was pretty tired.  You know my age in dog years is something like 58 yrs old.  Almost the same age as SHE is.  Whoops, probably shouldn't have made that public.

Anyway, I got a nice clean blanket to lay on while SHE went out to do some farm work.
I got sick all over her blanket.
I guess some of that icky stuff wasn't so great after all.

SHE came in and just shook her head at me.
I gave her the innocent look.

Sure would be nice to have another dog, or maybe a house cat to blame THAT on!

Oh yeah.
SHE did get a 'nice' picture of the water falling.  I am fairly sure that she could NOT have done it without my help.
Pterodactyls, Bears, Coyotes, Grizzlies, Cougars and other such wildlife knew to stay away while I was on patrol.