The Dog Who Knew Too Much: Update
“So,” says Admin. “All done?”
“Yup,” says Spence.
“Tired?”
“Why would I be tired? I’ve been sitting in a chair.”
“Hey,” says Admin. “Look who’s the testy one.”
“Pass the coffee.”
“It’s those Timor beans you like,” says Admin. “Anyway, I read it last night.”
“Yeah?”
“You brought home the bacon, in my opinion.”
Yeah? I don’t smell any.
“But there seems to be some misunderstanding among the readership about whether this affects pub date or not,” Admin says. “It doesn’t – pub date stays at September 6. That gives the Atria folks just enough time to do all the things that good publishers do.”
“More coffee,” says Spence.
Welcome to nameless napper and Happy Presidents Day to all!
Tags: The Dog Who Knew Too Much
This entry was posted on Monday, February 21st, 2011 at 9:14 am and is filed under Chet The Dog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
9:27 am on February 21st, 2011
Good morning, y’all! Is is my imagination, or is Admin actually being nice to Spence? Giving him the coffee he likes AND complimenting his book! It must really be good!!!
9:28 am on February 21st, 2011
By the way, did anyone else catch this? Grrrrrrr!!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41609521/ns/us_news-weird_news/?gt1=43001
9:39 am on February 21st, 2011
What are Timor beans?
Good morning Chet, Kirby and everyone.
9:44 am on February 21st, 2011
Morning all! Here’s Timor beans link:
http://www.deansbeans.com/coffee/growers/detail.html?country=TI
9:51 am on February 21st, 2011
I think that Chet should get bacon every time Spence is done with a book, or maybe a chapter, or maybe a page, or maybe a paragraph!
Whew what a night. Loved the stories last night that I read today. There is definitely a time warp on Chet’s blog.
The lights and everything went out in our little village. Since there were no wind, and the storm hadn’t even gotten here, that meant the switch a some large box near the cemetary needed to be switched.
That took a long time. The crews have to drive up here from Northampton.
By the time the power came on, everyone was exhausted. Zoë and I changed the batteries in all the flashlights, lanterns, and found the very important piece of paper that tells us how to get the generator going and what switches to switch.
Dan found out he could read by his iPad, and Zoë and I found out we needed flashlights to read the Kindle.
The Pack was not into reading.
10:01 am on February 21st, 2011
Morning Bee and Melanie! Mom and I don’t drink coffee, so we’ll have to take Spence and Admin’s word that Timor coffee is good stuff! Mom loves the smell of it — when she was in Beaufort she went into a coffee store — to get hot chocolate! — and just loved the smell. But she wants to know why it doesn’t taste as good as it smells!!!
10:13 am on February 21st, 2011
Barb loves her coffee, but has never had Timor beans. Someone gave Barb a little 4″ coffee plant a few years ago. Now it about 20-24″ high and just produced its first cherries. It had little white flowers, then those turned into little green pods, and now they are dark red. There are about 6 of them. We are not quite sure what to do with them. Know the cherries are dried and the seed inside is the coffee bean. Not sure if they are ready to pick or not. Does anyone know?
10:20 am on February 21st, 2011
Mama is with Spence – she loves Dean’s Beans coffees. She’s having one now with unsweetened chocolate almond milk and not-sugar sweetener. Thats why the computer is all ours – she is so happy with her coffee….
But she says September is such a loooonnnngggg time away – sigh..
10:32 am on February 21st, 2011
Kirby T: Meant to say that I have been keeping an eye on that story. That woman actually wanted her postage back and the puppy! rolling eyes here
Cute pup, I’m glad that just like someone’s son (!) a person will take it into a forever home.
10:34 am on February 21st, 2011
Morning Tup: Can you lasso those herbs of yours?
I’m having Decaf English Breakfast tea, 1/2 water, 1/2 2% milk and nutmeg and cinnamon. Very good.
10:42 am on February 21st, 2011
Melanie: Did you watch the video of the woman’s court appearance. She actually looked proud of herself for thinking of such a great way to “surprise” her son — getting a dead puppy in the mail would certainly surprise me!!!
10:47 am on February 21st, 2011
Melanie – herbs are lassoed, hogtied, and blindfolded. Where would you like us to deliver them?
Maybe to Montague???
10:53 am on February 21st, 2011
NOT HERE! Hmm. . . Kats anyone??
11:01 am on February 21st, 2011
Are you kidding??? We already have two here — and that’s two to many!!!
11:05 am on February 21st, 2011
Oop! I meant two too many!!!
11:16 am on February 21st, 2011
Gotta go — Mom’s turning the computer off so she can do some more of those errand things before work. She says it’s going to be a fun day with everybody calling to see if the library is open! It is, or she wouldn’t be there!!!
Oh, and she just finished a book she wants to recommend — not about dogs, although there is a dog in it! It’s called Remarkable Creatures, and she says it has a Jane Austen feel to it — without all the romance. It’s about two amateur fossil hunters — they’re both female, although that’s where the similarities end! Woman, girl, upper class, lower class. It takes place in England in the early 1800s, and she said it really made her think about the restrictions on women back then. She says thank goodness for the suffragettes!!! (Whatever they are!)
11:18 am on February 21st, 2011
We watched that woman too. She was so wrong, but don’t think she was really a mean abusive person, just terribly ignorant. That poor puppy would definitely not have survived the 3 days in the mail. Glad the clerk was on the ball. In court, she still didn’t seem to realize what she had done.
11:26 am on February 21st, 2011
Kirby: Thank you for the book recommendation. I’ll check it out.
I can’t deal with the stupidity of someone trying to mail a puppy right now.
Thanks for the coffee bean info Melanie. I thought you said you had a generator….now you know how to turn it on?
Schools are closed here today. Five inches here, ten in some places. Think I’ll go make some coffee (not Timor blast it!) now.
11:28 am on February 21st, 2011
I’m looking forward to September, but I want a long, slow summer.
That’s one way to get a puppy a good home. Glad he survived.
Doing chores and a bit of painting today…will check in.
11:33 am on February 21st, 2011
Hey, I already have Remarkable Creatures. It’s by Tracy Chevalier who wrote Girl With the Pearl Earring. Cool! It’s a good day to read a book. And this calls for espresso with foamy richness!
Hi Dawson.
11:34 am on February 21st, 2011
Finished!… I can’t believe we didn’t get to see him working on the book, not even once, because of those darn mini-Kams ….grunt!
Kats!….Send all Kats to this address: 555 Black Hole Ave., Tinbucktwo, Canada …snort!
11:52 am on February 21st, 2011
HA! Mama found us tied up and blindfolded and set us free! Now the Corgis are in trouble and are blaming Melanie.
Hey Rio – ppppfffffffftttttttttt!
Kirby – how come your Kats don’t ever contribute to the blog. Alice, Abie, BlueCat and us Herbs would love to have more company…the better to harass a certain pug butt!
11:55 am on February 21st, 2011
Sigh…we had snow but not enough to close the Crazy Lady’s business for the day. So now Mama has to go to work, and we are stuck here at home with those Wrotten Kats.
And for some reason, WE are the ones in trouble….
Its tuff being a Corgi.
12:03 pm on February 21st, 2011
Quacky!… I just put in another B&N order. This time I remembered to get Quacky Baseball…snort!…They are offering free shipping on orders of $25 or more. So that makes over $50 worth of books coming to my doorstep very soon (I hope!)….wheeze!!
12:06 pm on February 21st, 2011
I’ll pay for the postage to ship the kats…just kidding, kats. You kats here on the blog are the only kat friends I can have.
Until I started reading the posts, I thought Timor Beans might be something like Boston Baked Beans.
I have run out of all sympathy for all people who mistreat animals. I don’t care if they are just stupid and misguided…lock them up!
I think Spence deserves some time off since he finished the book.
12:12 pm on February 21st, 2011
Whoa!
A black cat with a loud voice was meowing by the back door. I thought one of ours was stuck in a room somewhere and went looking. But turned out to be an outside cat. I invited him in but he was shy so put a dish of food out and that shut him up for a short time. I nabbed him and brought him in much to the dismay of the 3 cats that already live here. He stayed for a couple hours but decided that the odds were not good and decided to take his chances outside. I’ve seen this cat before in warmer weather so he lives around here somewhere. Unless one of you has already sent a cat up here. If so, stop it!
12:12 pm on February 21st, 2011
Nooo, don’t mail the Kats anywhere. Did someone miss the story about mailing dogs? Our uncle used to work for the USPS and delivered more than one decorated cake in his time, but cakes don’t need food or water.
12:19 pm on February 21st, 2011
Mom wants to know if she can use you guys as job contacts for the week.
Anyone hiring? No? Ok, well we tried, does that count as our 3 attempts for the week, sure hope so, since mom is not into running all over town to get applications for jobs that she doesn’t feel like doing right now. She has downloaded all the cities around here apps, and really likes the ones that have nothing available. Contacted, check. Anything? No? one more down.
I am sure that at some point she will get her
buttself in gear and start looking in earnest, but when thinking about the process causes such anxiety it is not that easy.12:26 pm on February 21st, 2011
I was wondering when we can start the Astrid case again. Perhaps I should put that in all caps.
Hi Rio and Macy.
12:30 pm on February 21st, 2011
Macy, In time your mom will feel like looking for a job. My mom doesn’t know anyone that lost their job, applied for unemployment, and started job hunting right away. It is just a matter of going from one adjustment period to another and that is usually not done overnight. In the meantime, tell your mom to feel free to say she applied for jobs with us.
12:53 pm on February 21st, 2011
Dawson: Did Riö give out your correct address?
We have available: Poop pepperer, Poop retrieval, filler of water buckets. . .
Does that help?
12:58 pm on February 21st, 2011
Good morning…barely,
Still have my cold. This morning it is still lightly snowing and TurtlemanFred is shoveling, shoveling, shoveling the sidewalks and driveway. It looks to me like around 20 inches out there.
He will tell us when he takes a break.
1:16 pm on February 21st, 2011
Staff: sorry about your cold. I’m glad, though, that most of the snow stayed there. They were calling for 7 inches, then 4 inches, we had 1.
1:39 pm on February 21st, 2011
Melanie,
It was just the opposite here. They started with 6-8 and then said last night we had 13 by 10 pm. Now it looks like 18″ for sure.
2:16 pm on February 21st, 2011
Hey Melanie,
A picture of Papi and Rose was just up on friends of Chet. Who is Papi?
2:17 pm on February 21st, 2011
Thanks Mr. Husky for your kind reply to my request for employment. Please keep my resume on file for any future opportunities.
Thank you Ms. Melanie for your kind offer of employment. It sounds like a great opportunity, but unfortunately it is a little farther than I had planned to commute.
Macy’s mom
2:18 pm on February 21st, 2011
Wow!
Staff: Another big snowstorm. Is that why you are not at work?
Macy Min Pin: There are all kinds of jobs here. Are you willing to move 2000 miles North?
2:25 pm on February 21st, 2011
Hey Dawson,
No, I have my first cold since the transplant. I am being very careful and not giving it to my co-workers so they can’t give it back to me. 🙂
2:26 pm on February 21st, 2011
However I am also staying away from Mom and Dad too. I am almost (OMG) out of books!!!!!
2:27 pm on February 21st, 2011
No I am going to NAP. Yum
2:28 pm on February 21st, 2011
This is for Liz. We ‘think’ we figured out how to get an image from the paper to the blog. We shall see. For anyone not following last night we were talking about Uncle Bob’s heraldry and calligraphy skills and his genealogy work. here goes nothing
sorry about the sideways image. I haven’t had the advanced class yet.
I also scanned some old receipts dating back to 1876 including one for DOG Tax. In 1876 3 months of the Dallas Herald cost 2 dollars. For that kind of money I assume it was home delivery.
2:36 pm on February 21st, 2011
Staff: Papi is OTAS’s dog. They also have just gotten a very overweight lab, Emma, no pictures of her yet. Papi is Rosie’s best friend.
Macy: that is cool
Also Macy: those rejections are very well written!
3:15 pm on February 21st, 2011
Thanks Melanie, mom is nothing if not professional. Before the Box she was an executive secretary for a VP at American Eagle airlines. It was quite as switch to go from that job to a warehouse.
3:28 pm on February 21st, 2011
Macy, Tell you Mom to enjoy her time off. No need to rush into anything.
B & S, Thank you for saying we are sagacious. I don’t think we have been called that before but it was very complimentary.
3:38 pm on February 21st, 2011
B.Stover: I’m at the wrong computer for Facebook, but Peter is Peter Abrahams. I figure he’s up in that brain somewhere. It was got to be crowded.
3:47 pm on February 21st, 2011
That’s funny Melanie. How in the world could I have forgotten Peter. I suppose because I always think of him as Spence.
3:50 pm on February 21st, 2011
Got stuck in my driveway leaving for work. Only the 2nd time in 25 years. Not only did we get a snow storm last night but I have been behind in shoveling due to the whole flu/pneumonia thing. Parent/Teacher conferences today. Spent one hour shoveling a one-lane pathway and trying to get the packed snow out from under the gunwales of the car so the tires could move. Snow and wind hampered the process. I thought I was going to have a heart attack!!!! So once I got out of my driveway and to the road I could barely see because of the blowing snow and it was hard to keep the car on the road. Several times I couldn’t see at all due to blowing snow. Got to school and it was worse! Parked the car but had trouble opening the car door because of the high snow. Walked in snow up to my hips to the back door of the school not able to see because of the wind and snow. Ugh. Now I am soaking wet. It is going to be a long day; we work 8-6 today but I didn’t make it to school until 9.
I was sitting here thinking that any parent who comes to school for conferences would have to be insane or stupid. Then I thought “hmmm, where does that leave me?” Within 10 minutes I had a parent in my doorway.
3:52 pm on February 21st, 2011
Mr.Tibbs!….Does anyone know where Mr. Tibbs has been?…snort!… Last we heard he was going to NYC to be close to the big Westminster show…sniff!… It doesn’t seem like we’ve heard from him in ages, or am I just skipping posts again?….grunt!
3:58 pm on February 21st, 2011
Riö: I don’t remember TYB commenting either.
Generator: we have a generator that is hard wired to parts of the house. Zoë and I don’t turn it on except when we have to which is about once a year. It is outside the house. Jesse, our go to guy, starts and runs it once a month, just to make sure it’s working.
We did NOT want to go outside at 11 degrees and wind to start it if we didn’t have to. Luckily, the power came back on.
I am so tired today . . . slept great for the first part of the night and then woke up with the wind figuring the power would go out again. Got back to sleep around 3. Now I’m just trying to stay awake so I can go to sleep.
that just doesn’t seem to make sense.
4:00 pm on February 21st, 2011
Whoops! C.Harris: as a favorite person of mine would say, “You are a queen among women.” To battle the storm, the snow, the digging, the wading with the pneumonia. You are amazing.
4:19 pm on February 21st, 2011
Wha? …I’m trying to figure out what Melanie is talking about regarding Facebook and the Charming Mr. Abrahams….snort!….Seems I can’t , so I gave up…grunt!
4:26 pm on February 21st, 2011
Aw, shucks, Melanie. A lot of us have tales to tell from this winter, I was just adding mine. And some of us just have tails which is ok too.
Is this what is meant by “now is the winter of our discontent?”
4:28 pm on February 21st, 2011
CHarris: I hope you are at least feeling better and not still sick.
Melanie: Who said “You are a queen among women”? It’s so familiar.
Rio: On Chet Appreciation page on Facebook Melanie mentioned Peter and I just didn’t connect it when I read it so I asked who Peter was.
We have not heard from Tyb since before Westminster.
4:44 pm on February 21st, 2011
Oh. I see.
I didn’t get the Facebook reference either, so went looking. I had missed a couple posts earlier…like Staff’s saying she had a cold and Melanie’s asking if Rio posted my correct address. (No! He didn’t.)
C.Harris: If you ever want a job with the Post Office, it’s yours! (Neither snow, nor rain, nor blah blah blah)
It’s beautiful outside today and yet I am unmotivated to take a walk. Get thine ass up and out! I am being dragged out, however. Thankful for those who love me. 🙂
4:47 pm on February 21st, 2011
Well I just got Sam off to a nap. This family is running me down.
Tyb has had a death in his family. I was hoping he would check in by now.
4:51 pm on February 21st, 2011
Mom just got back from Tai Chi at the SENIOR CENTER. Mom wants them to name it something a little trendier like “Boomer Barn” or just about anything else. Bottom line, mom’s arm muscles seem to have gone missing. She is easily the youngest person in the class and also the most out of shape. Dad is going to have to show her how to turn on the WII Fit that she has had for over a year. It doesn’t help matters that when you step on the exercise pad it also weighs you and compares that to the last time you “played”. Then it editorializes, in her case saying, “That’s obese!” Our girl Angie was so excited when she finally heard “that’s overweight”. Our Niki heard “that’s great”. Mom and Angie were happy for her but….
5:03 pm on February 21st, 2011
Macy
That Wii is funny! Can’t you turn off the sound on it? I love tai chi. At least I did. I haven’t done it for years. so many years. 8 maybe. For me it was hard on the knees. Probably not the type of exercise that Melanie should be doing. Or, hmmm, maybe it is.
5:05 pm on February 21st, 2011
B. Stover: I had been feeling well enough to not want to take my last 6 pills due to side effects. However, now my lungs are raw from my morning “exercise” and I am coughing. Can’t wait to go home and soak in a hot tub and snuggle under blankets. I called someone to plow my driveway (and my neighbor’s who had a heart attack last year shoveling her driveway) and his plow is broken–but he is working on it and may be able to plow for us this evening.
5:08 pm on February 21st, 2011
Well, B.Stover, I’ll have to look that up later. For me, it was a family friend who was an Episcopal Priest. Yikes, he’s retired now. He’s not that much older than me!
A request of those of you with THAT on Kindle. OTAS is positive there are two detectives named Pedroia and Mirabelli. Will some one check that? Having a discussion on that with Spence on FB.
Thanks
BBL time for Lie To Me
5:24 pm on February 21st, 2011
Melanie, I think we could turn down the sound on the WII, but that is not enough. The skinny little avatar fluffs up to match your level. I think sadists came up with this. Our Angie told her Avatar that she was looking great..humans*head shake*
Tai Chi is recommended by the Rheumatology Association for joint pain. Melanie’s goes a little beyond “joint pain”, but you never know.
5:54 pm on February 21st, 2011
Melanie: I looked up Pedroia. It’s in all three books and it’s a place: South Pedroia.
Mirabelli is referred to in THAT by Winkleman, the man who hired Bernie to follow his wife. (Leda’s boyfriend is having an affair with her.) He tells Bernie that if B won’t do what he’s asking (find out if the guy is married or has a girlfriend) he’ll hire the Mirabelli brothers who are apparently both detectives in Sunshine City. Chet says, “Who said they were any good? What about the time when both the brothers got themselves stuck in the same chimney and we had to rescue them, me and Bernie?”
5:56 pm on February 21st, 2011
Detectives!…. Now why can’t I remember two detectives in THAT?….sniff!….There is a Dustin Pedroia on the Red Sox team, and there was a Mirabelli who used to be on the Sox team….grunt! …I can’t remember guys with these names in the book for some reason….snuff!
5:57 pm on February 21st, 2011
CHarris: I think that perhaps you should take the last six pills.
6:00 pm on February 21st, 2011
Stover!…Thanks! Whew! That had me going for a few minutes…heh!
6:03 pm on February 21st, 2011
Melanie – what’s a poop pepperer?
Macy – thank you for showing Uncle Bob’s heraldry, it’s lovely! Also, everyone’s right, don’t rush job hunting, especially if you’re still feeling like you’re down the rabbit hole. Make sure you go through the grieving properly before you move forward or you won’t project the bright confident new person that they want to employ. And the tai chi is a great idea, get the endorphins flowing…
CHarris, you went there?? through that????
Rio – Black Hole AVenue, that’s funny!
People Who Send Animals in the Post – move to another planet. I’ve got no time for them either.
6:15 pm on February 21st, 2011
C.Harris, Let me repeat what Stover said. Take the last 6 pills and, oh yeah, leave the snow till the plow gets fixed. We want you to get 100% well.
Macy, I think your mom will find the right job when the time comes. Someone is going to want her talent and experience.
6:19 pm on February 21st, 2011
Rio: You’re welcome. Spence calls it a “bad-ass section of the Valley” on Facebook and that it’s a possible connection to the Red Sox.
6:38 pm on February 21st, 2011
Macy’s Mom – your talent was wasted at that stupid orange box. You have such a bright lively mind.
6:46 pm on February 21st, 2011
Well, there’s “A King among men” and that is in a lot of things. Shakespeare, Confucius, Titles of books. So I’m not sure where my friend got it. But to men who had impressed him it was “A king among men” and to women “A Queen among women”.
He was a real Southern Gentleman if that makes a difference.
6:48 pm on February 21st, 2011
LizF: A poop pepperer is a person who puts a lot of pepper on dog poop. It discourages those dogs who like to eat “poopsicles”. Yes, we have One. But I will not tell anyone who it is!
And the HERBS better not!
7:06 pm on February 21st, 2011
Melanie, is it black pepper you are talking about? No, not me, but some of the two-leggeds at the dog park have that problem with their dogs. If you have found something that works, mom will pass the info on.
7:15 pm on February 21st, 2011
I do not see the need to find out any more about poop pepperers. Kats do not eat poop. Ever.
Yuck.
7:15 pm on February 21st, 2011
Red pepper works great too. Sort of festive, but it’s expensive and we have nine dogs. Black pepper is what we are using. And it’s working.
7:16 pm on February 21st, 2011
Sorry Abbie!
7:18 pm on February 21st, 2011
Thanks, Melanie We will pass the info on. It is a more common problem than what some people think it is. We have seen some dog parents that are totally upset about it.
7:24 pm on February 21st, 2011
Time to check in and thank you for missing me. My last post indicated that I would be going to New York, but the trip was canceled three days before departure due to a stroke suffered by the 90 year old mother of the friend with whom I was going.
She spend 10 days in the hospital before she expired on Saturday last week. While she was hospitalized, my dad and I did what we could for her and her family so we really haven’t had time for much else. We did try to read the blog, but some days we didn’t even manage that. One day I did have a wonderful experience at the hospital. I was permitted to go into her hospice room to visit. She had been unresponsive for three days and the nurse told me to jump up on the bed. I jumped up and lay down next to my friend. Her son put her hand on my paw. Nothing. Then he moved her hand back and forth over my paw and she tried to smile. My dad then put a treat in her hand. I took the treat and licked her fingers. She actually smiled and tried to talk. Everyone in the room was crying. On another visit I jumped up on the bed and my friend’s daughter said that Tyb had come to visit. That time we got a smile and a wink. It was the last time she reacted to anything before she died. I’m glad I was able to bring a bit of pleasure to the family at that difficult time. It’s amazing the reactions I got from patients and personnel at the hospital. Everyone looked forward to my visits. I haven’t passed that test yet, but I’d say I was an effective therapy dog
last week. We’ll still be busy for a few days with arrangements and vacating her appartment, but I’ll try to keep in better contace.
By the way, I’ve decided that the groundhog is a liar. He promised an early spring and this morning when we left the house we were greeted by 14 inches of snow that arrived between 10 o’clock last night when we got home and 4:30 this morning.
7:25 pm on February 21st, 2011
TYB that is beautiful.
7:51 pm on February 21st, 2011
Mr. Tibbs!…. You are the best! Therapy guys Rule! ….snort!… I wish I could be one, but I am too
selfish, no grumpy, er stubborn and gassyIndependent to be effective at something noble like that….snuffle!…All the same I am glad you are safe and sound and back with us on the blog….wheeze!7:55 pm on February 21st, 2011
TYB, I’d say that you are a very good therapy dog. You don’t need to take a test, but you will ace it.
7:56 pm on February 21st, 2011
Congratulations TYB. Blou is very proud of you! I am glad your friend found you.
7:57 pm on February 21st, 2011
Melanie!… Your poop pepperer should use Cholula sauce…gasp!…Hot as all get out!…snort!….Someone here loves it but she found out it is intensely salty, so no more for her until her problem is sorted out….heh!
8:01 pm on February 21st, 2011
Actually, Rio, I think you as well as any one of us could do what I did. There is just something about us that makes people smile when they see us anywhere. But being seen in a hospital or anyplace else where we would be unexpected seems to give us a magical power. Normally I go to work everyday with my dad and can’t believe the reactions I provoke by just sleeping in the middle of the floor where I surprise people who see me. In fairness to all, I’ll tell you that we have two resident kats in the store also. People just love coming in to see them too.
8:02 pm on February 21st, 2011
Hey Rio,
How is the low salt diet working for your friend?
It is working for Staff. She has found out how careful she has to be in order to keep the blood pressure down. It takes a while to get that figured out.
8:09 pm on February 21st, 2011
It’s good to hear from you Tyb.
8:10 pm on February 21st, 2011
AbbieTheKat!… My friend is miserable…snuff!…Totally, downright miserable. Not only can she not eat anything that she likes, but her legs are still killing her everyday and she is grumpy as hell by the time she gets home to me…huffle!…Tonight she said she needs solid food and is going to pan fry a steak!!!!!!!!!…heh!…Although she will use her fickle friend Mrs. Dash instead of the lovely Worcestershire sauce she loves so much….snort!… She thinks ½ tonight and ½ tomorrow night because she gets full real fast when she eats more than fruit or vegetable juice, or fruit and cereal or potatoes with no salt…gah!… Or spinach or peas or broccoli with no seasoning besides her new pal…grump! ….Tonight will be a big treat, maybe her fowl, dark mood will improve a little…wheeze!
8:12 pm on February 21st, 2011
I had to remind Dan that he is on a low salt diet. Zoë bought him the no-salt that someone suggested the other day. I can’t take that. Our kitchen is divided into armed camps. Gluten vs Non, now No-salt vs Mrs. Dash. Yikes.
Patsy just left. I had an empty peanut butter jar for her, but she has to lick it up here so she doesn’t make the rest of the Pack jealous. The first thing she does? Gets the whole thing in her mouth and asks to go downstairs where she can make everyone jealous. I wish I had my camera.
TYB, when Ellie goes to the Children’s floor at the hospital she is so loved . . . Therapy Dogs Rule (and drool).
8:14 pm on February 21st, 2011
Rio: How about sauteed onions with steak?
8:25 pm on February 21st, 2011
We are watching programs tonight on the NatGeo Wild Channel about therapy, service, and assistance dogs. I don’t think I will see any of my tribe on tv tonight, but thank dog for the dogs that can do all these things.
8:33 pm on February 21st, 2011
Siber-H: I can see you assisting people lost in the snow by digging a hole for them,
pushingleading them in and keeping them warm.I can see you as doing service for those who wish to
get you in the houseplay tag.And I can see you doing therapy for those people
who don’t want to get showered with snow or rainwho need a shower.Yes, you are
a perfect therapy, assistance, serviceperfectly you!8:34 pm on February 21st, 2011
Stover!…She would do mushrooms and steak (if she had any) but never Onions and Steak….snort!…Onion powder did go down on the steak that is now cooking….sniff!sniff!…I’ll be in the kitchen for awhile waiting and watching…heh!
8:35 pm on February 21st, 2011
TYB, Glad you are back and that you were such a comfort.
8:42 pm on February 21st, 2011
Tyb – we honor you for your good work and the guidance you gave to someone trying to find the beginning path to the Rainbow Bridge.
It is amazing how Dogs suddenly do become magical when seen “out of place”. Tupper (and her predecessor) as a Medic Alert dog goes into restaurants, onto airplanes and into stores just as a matter of course. People act like they haven’t seen a dog in twenty years and are suffering from some sort of fur addiction that requires the petting of a four legged being. Granted Tupper is awfully cute, but surely these people have seen cute doggies before.
8:46 pm on February 21st, 2011
Aww Gee, laughing, Melanie has me figured out.
8:49 pm on February 21st, 2011
Why is anyone surprised that people come into Tyb’s store to see the Wonderous and Marvelous Kats that live there? Anyone with any sense at all LOVES Kats. Ok, well, if they are allergic like Rio’s friend, they can admire from afar, but admire, they must.
Did you all hear about the people in Northampton England who have a cat that purrs so loud, they have to find a new home for it. It drowns out the tv, makes it impossible to hear the telephone and wakes them from a deep sleep.
Now that’s the power of purr!
8:49 pm on February 21st, 2011
Magical!… I wouldn’t call it a magical experience at all…grunt!…When I went to see Grandma in the nursing home she would carry me and everyone would try and pet me as we went by….grump!…I would just keep licking my nose and try as hard as I could to get through it till we got to Grandma’s room…snort!…Then I could relax and sit on the bed with her…sniffle!… I miss my Grandma so much….sob!…But I don’t miss all those other old hands and yellow finger nails that wanted to touch me…gah!
8:59 pm on February 21st, 2011
Laughing at myself. Just figured out another reason, besides not getting any sleep, for my being so tired. I forgot my thyroid this morning! Jeez Louise.
So I’m off to slumber and I won’t even read if I wake up, because my Kindle’s screen is frozen and MagPie’s book she gave me is downstairs.
Me, myknee and I are going to bed!
TTFN
9:09 pm on February 21st, 2011
G’Night!…Melanie!…heh!…Life really sucks sometimes, doesn’t it?…grunt!…The steak is done, but it is resting and get this! She is debating on whether she will eat some of it tonight or not…gruuuuummmp!…What the hell!…wheeze!
9:17 pm on February 21st, 2011
Hey y’all! I’m back! I just wanted to say hey real quick before we go to the dark side. We’re waiting for Dad to get home from duty, then we’ll eat supper. Monday nights sure are late around here!
Welcome back, TYB, and good job!
Oops! There’s Dad’s car. It’s a 1985 Jeep, and we can hear it coming from a block away!!! BBL!
9:21 pm on February 21st, 2011
The day ends. Made it home but my car didn’t. Everyone was helping each other out of the parking lot but my car kept getting stuck. My new Toyota is too low to the ground. So I left my car and climbed into a high truck and made it home. The roads have been plowed but it is still snowing and drifting so they may be in bad shape again by morning.
My driveway has been plowed but I am now car less. The district is going to start plowing school parking lots tonight but my school is one of the furtherest out so I am not sure they will get to us. My poor car!
9:24 pm on February 21st, 2011
TYB you are a sweetheart.
9:35 pm on February 21st, 2011
Kudos, TYB! 🙂
9:36 pm on February 21st, 2011
Rio – Your friend’s leg swelling may have been caused by too much salt and carbohydrates. Of course, she still needs the test results to rule out other things. She’s lowered the salt but now you mentioned high carbs other than the steak. how’s her blood sugar?
9:39 pm on February 21st, 2011
Gasp!…Charris! I am going to tell my friend that she is the biggest wimp ever when it comes to winter driving compared to you!…grunt!…You and your poor abandoned car are going through HELL this winter…snuffle!… I actually feel really bad for you and wish I could bring you here and have someone else take care of you and feed you hot soup and put warm blankets on you….snort!
9:42 pm on February 21st, 2011
Hi Liz.
Hope things are better tomorrow CHarris.
I’ve never had a Kindle freeze. Wonder what’s wrong with Melanie’s…..
Good night all.
9:45 pm on February 21st, 2011
Molly!…I have no idea what you are talking about…snort!… She was told not to eat any processed or fast food, which we do not eat fast food or pop. To eat fruit and veg instead. NO Pickles! Now if this is high carb, it has to be good carb, right?…grunt!… We are flummoxed and I am now flopping on the couch after some of that delish steak!….yuuuummmm!
9:52 pm on February 21st, 2011
Protein!…She actually has been eating protein mainly at night after a day of juice, fruit and veg….sniff!…We both thought that would be a good way to go….sniff!… Now she is confused and I am very content with my share of lovely steak tonight…ahhhh! Burp!
10:11 pm on February 21st, 2011
Scenario!… I think my friend has heart failure and is going to die and leave me all alone….sob!…That’s what I think….sniff!…Just like Grandma did…snuff!cough!sob!
10:13 pm on February 21st, 2011
Steak is very good for a low salt/low carb diet. It is one of the few things I can get at a restaurant that they haven’t put extra salt on. Of course you do have to mention/request no added salt. When I first started the low salt diet it was horrible. Then when I added the diabetic diet to it…It was 20 times more horrible. And yes, you do feel like there isn’t anything at all left in the world that you can eat.
I never heard Rio’s friend say she had to do low carb. That is more a diabetic diet than just a low salt diet.
Of course, fruits and veggies and protein is a good diet. Sigh.
I cheat and put salted butter on my veggies, but no extra salt. And I have gotten used to eggs without salt although sometimes I put a little shredded cheddar cheese on scrambled eggs. There is enough salt in that to taste.
I was really depressed about it for a while and didn’t want to eat anything at all. I started losing weight and my hair started to fall out. I am now taking a daily multivitamin and it has stopped falling out.
It is a lot more work when you can’t use processed foods let me tell you. Unless you are just going to eat raw veggies (and NO dip) And salads without dressing. And just forget all the really good stuff like BACON!!!
Mr Husky could I have a little howling here?
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Care to join in Rio?
10:17 pm on February 21st, 2011
Rio I think your friend is going to have to live a long time in order to die like grandma did. How old was grandma? She looked to be in her late 80’s to us. She has a way to go still.
And we love her too much to let her go. We would send TYB over for an intervention.
Hugs,
Alice
10:18 pm on February 21st, 2011
The protein and fruit and veg combo is probably something I should be following too, just as a lifestyle choice. But… I can’t imagine ever getting used to an egg without salt!
And speaking of no salt, last night I made a bunch of dog biscuits for ARF (they have a stall at the Canberra Show this weekend, translation = like a fair I guess) with lots of herbs and cornmeal and wheat and garlic powder. Cricket and I both tried them and they were blandorama! No wonder she wasn’t in the kitchen whimpering for a taste.
10:19 pm on February 21st, 2011
Or maybe we could send PC from Fire Mountain Gems. We like to read his stories. Read “Can I borrow your dog?”
http://www.firemountaingems.com/pcs-corner/default.asp
10:27 pm on February 21st, 2011
WOOOooooWOOOOooooHowwwlHowwwl
How’s that?
Rio, C.Harris can correct me if I am wrong, but she doesn’t have to drive on the interstate in rush hour traffic like your friend does when the roads are slick. I don’t think you can compare C.Harris’s commute and your friend’s commute. That said, I hope the Toyota will be okay…mom is telling me that she is sure it will be. C.Harris is just dealing with deep snow, not crazed 18- wheelers whizzing by at 70 miles an hour.
Mom and I love to drive around in the snow…out in the desert on the dirt roads…NOT on the interstate or city streets.
10:34 pm on February 21st, 2011
Staff!…You really aren’t being any help tonight…. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!….sob!snort!gurgle!….Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!…sniff!… I just want her to feel better so she is nicer to me at night and in the mornings…grump!…Her days are very torturous lately(for the last month!)….sigh….I cannot relate. I feel tip-top!…heh!
10:41 pm on February 21st, 2011
Dear Rio – please tell your friend to wait for a while before she starts worrying. When Mama works for the Crazy Lady, she sees all kinds of ladies and a lot of them have pretty serious health issues. But so many of them have had weirdosity (Mama and Melanie snicker over that one themselves) that has been resolved and solved by docs and tests. There are just so many food allergies and sensitivities and with prepackaged foods, humans are subjected to all kinds of chemicals and preservatives.
Now, here’s the good news – most of the ladies have been put on special diets, or had “eliminate this” food regimines and they have not only gotten better, they mostly loose weight too – good amounts of weight, down to healthy weight. If your friend has had any medical blood work, we are sure that her doc included an a1C, or blood glucose test, which would have immediatly shown a diabetes problem.
Here’s the other good news – it sucks to change eating habits (ok, the good part is coming up), but after a very short time, the body adjusts and starts to prefer the new diet. After a while a person on salt free starts to lose the taste or desire for salt – it doesn’t taste good to them.
Really and truly Rio – it will happen for your friend – it happened for our Mama. She’s had her issues, and she is doing really well just by eating the way she should and being aware.
And here’s the other good news – your friend has a wonderful, albeit grumbly, fur friend to snuggle with her and snuffle with her and stick his puggy little face in hers. She will be around for a long, long time, especially if she needs to care for you, cuz YOU are going to be around for a long, long time. How do we know….cuz only the good die young. tee hee
10:45 pm on February 21st, 2011
Siber-H: give me wilderness roads any day over an interstate. I was driving my 83-year-old Dad on the interstate in Illinois last summer and *he* was telling me I had to go faster (I was going 70 mph and was white-knuckling the steering wheel). People were passing me like I was standing still. It is pretty bad when your 83-year-old Dad tells you to speed up or get run over. Huge big wheelers were passing me! I got up to 75 mph and that didn’t help; eventually I went to 80 but was a nervous wreck.
10:51 pm on February 21st, 2011
Rio, Your friend is going to be fine. It can just take awhile to work out things like why she isn’t feeling tip-top physically. She is not going to die and leave you all alone. Everything will look brighter come spring and baseball season. This has been a hard and a long winter, and your friend is going through her own grief and having to deal with her mom at the same time. Husky Hugs to you and your friend.
Alice, I like that website…read that story but will go back and read more.
10:54 pm on February 21st, 2011
Siber, Thanks for the info about the shows on NATGO Wild. We are going to watch a little bit and then go to bed. Night all.
10:56 pm on February 21st, 2011
C Harris, Sorry about your poor car!
10:58 pm on February 21st, 2011
Charris! And SiberH!…. Thats it!! I actually think it is the stress of having to drive on a truly horrific highway twice a day, each and every day that is stressing her out and making her legs sick…grunt!… Me and her have been fine for ages now, all of a sudden this new scary commute and she is sick sick sick!…dammit!…She will go see the doctor again this Wednesday morning and see if there is anything new and improved…grump!
11:16 pm on February 21st, 2011
Rio, I’m glad your friend is going to the doctor again. Sometimes you just have to keep plugging away at the doctor visits until they get it figured out.
Mom hates the interstates even when the roads are dry and the weather is beautiful. Mom is another lover of wilderness roads.
Staff, I hope you feel better and your cold goes away soon.
Night Everyone!
12:01 am on February 22nd, 2011
Katz? Did someone say they was sending Katz? I think I might want one! Whatta bout possum? Can I order a possum?
12:06 am on February 22nd, 2011
KaYa – probably no possum, but you can probably check with Melanie tomorrow about beaver….
12:19 am on February 22nd, 2011
Possum — did you say you want a Possum, Kaia? That’s the name of one of my kats, and you’re more than welcome to have her! The only one she’ll have anything to do with is my boy. Whenever she sees Mom coming she heads for the hills, which hurts Mom’s feelings. Other kats like her, just not Possum. Mom says when — or maybe I should say if! — my boy moves out, he has to take Possum with him! Or else we can send her to you!!!
12:20 am on February 22nd, 2011
OK, it’s late here on the coast, so Mom is turning off the computer. I’ll see y’all tomorrow!
6:51 pm on February 22nd, 2011
uh oh, Mom made me go to bed and it looks like I missed out on the Kats and the possum! Thank you Kirby T. Penworthy though. The thought was a nice one. I really do like to shake the possum off the fence. I always hope they fall in MY yard.