No Movie Today and Happy Birthday

Because of the snow we decided to stay home today.

Today is Betty's birthday. Happy Birthdayt, Cuz!

Snow!

Here are some photos from yesterday's and today's snow. We still went on our morning walk despite the weather. It was snowing here until around 9 a.m.

Friday, 2-24-12

Dennis has been skiing at Mammoth since Wednesday; Flash misses him. No running along with Dad's bike. But I've been trying to keep him busy.

Mom is sick with a bad cold and so is Gary, so Angie and I went grocery shopping today, then had dinner together at my house, a germ-free zone. We had stuffed artichokes and they were great!

Movie Tuesday

We all went to the movies today...me, Dennis, Mom, Angie & Gary. We saw Safe House with Denzel Washington. It was pretty good, engrossing at least with some surprises. In any case, we got to see Denzel's walk. Nobody walks like Denzel.

Sunday at the Ranch

In the morning after our walk with Flash, we watched our favorite Sunday morning news shows and rested for awhile. Then I picked up my knitting and Dennis and Flash did some outside chores. Geno came over for tacos in the evening.

Bead Class

Dennis and I went to a bead making class at Blue Dolphin Stained Glass on Saturday. The teacher was Heather Trimlett (www.heathertrimlett.com). We had a great time, even though our finished product was pretty lame. Dennis is thinking of putting in a flame station in the glass shop at home so we can make beads. Sounds like fun. (As though we don't have enough to do.)

While we were gone, Amanda (Angie's granddaughter and our great niece) came over to play with Flash. Angie said Flash was tired out after a half hour with Amanda. He took his ball and plopped down at the wall on the far end of the yard with his tongue hanging out. Good job, Amanda.

Pizza Night

Angie and Gary are back on the ranch for awhile, so we splurged and had homemade pizza night at Mom's on Friday.

Spike Look-alike

I just watched the 2nd half of the Westminster Dog Show (3 hrs.!) In a commercial by Purina Pro Plan (On the inside of every good dog is a great dog) featuring a number of dogs, I saw a picture of a Yorky that was the spitting image of Spike. Boy, do I miss that dog.

Turkeys are waterproof

Snow! No T.R.O.T

It snowed here on Tuesday and now it's snowing again. This means no trail ride today.

Power Out

Where is our generator?!!! The power went out around 4 or 5 last night and, when I called, they gave an estimate of 6 a.m. for its return. Dennis was just landing at the airport, so it was just me, Geno, and Mom at the ranch. Geno picked up some of the solar-powered lamps lining the road and distributed them to us to use for light. I also had a fire and some candles and I gave some candles to Geno. We were all set for a long, boring night, but the lights came back on at 7:30, just before Dennis got home. He missed the whole thing. Too bad, I'm still going to nag him about the generator.

Cold

I have been down for about a week with one...a cold. Going to the doctor today...no movies. Dennis is out of town, so not a great Valentine's Day in many ways. I do feel better today, finally, so things are looking up.

It snowed overnight, but it's melting already and it's only 7 a.m. I put some pictures of Flash on his blog: http://flashthebordercollie.blogspot.com.

Movie Tuesday

We saw a pretty good movie today. We let Mom decide and she picked Man on a Ledge. It was pretty exciting.

News Flash

I made a new blog called Flashthebordercollie@blogspot.com. From now on, I'll post progress with Flash in the new blog instead of here at the Sandy Creek Ranch blog.

I spent most of the day paying bills, cleaning the office and overseeing Vivian's work in the kitchen. She's doing a spring cleaning job on the pantry.

Mom came over for dinner. She made cauliflower and Dennis made a vegetarian stir fry and asparagus. It was a total veggie meal, but it was very good.

Of course, for dessert Dennis brought eclairs and turnovers. Bad, bad, bad.

T.R.O.T.

Joyce and I  rode the Pine Valley Noble Canyon Trail this morning. It only took an hour and a half, but it was a nice trail. There were a lot of rocks to climb over but then the trail evened out and was pretty good most of the way. We crossed one stream.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Flash rode alongside Dennis on his bicycle going to and from the office, took a ride in the car, ran along with Homero on the trail, and got plenty of toy play time and a few training lessons. Oh, yeah, we also took our morning walk at 7 a.m. with the temperature at 37 degrees. It was frosty.

Bill installed Flash's new dog door and we're training him to use it. It unlocks with his magnet and then relocks. I don't think he has the hang of it yet.

Dennis had to go to a community meeting tonight so Flash, 50-50, and I are holding down the fort.

We're Keeping the Dog

First, Doc was really good in his arena lesson this morning. He's picking up the correct cantor lead every time.

In the afternoon, a dog trainer from The Maverick Way Dog Training Center came to the house to evaluate Flash and get us started on his training. She agreed with us that he needed basic obedience and said that he seemed less insecure since the last time she'd seen him. He is doing very well here and settling in nicely. She showed us how to do some of the initial training, which Flash picked up easily. Dennis and I, on the other hand, had to write everything down so we would remember what to do and how to do it.

This morning we took our regular walk around the ranch with Mom and Honey; then there was the training session in the back yard; and later we took a walk to the gate and back, about a half mile, and played tug with Flash's favorite toy when we got back to the house. Flash was done in for the night, lying at our feet at first, then moving to his indoor crate.

Breakthrough! Tonight when we put Flash out for the night, he didn't whine or scratch at the door once! I think he knows he will have another fun day tomorrow. Another breakthrough: Dennis bought a $199 dog door and I heard him say to the dog, "This will probably be the last night you spend outdoors," or something like that. Things are working out and it looks like we're keeping the dog.