My Week

Last Monday, I started Nosework class with my dog.  After class was over, our instructor broke her ankle and is in a cast with surgery expected.  This class has been postponed till end of August.  Once again, calendar has been lightened up. 

I got a refund check in the mail for a reenactor seminar that was canceled.

Shortly after the practice and loading of the props, I got a weather warning of a tornado.  There was a confirmed tornado about 6 miles away. 

Tuesday afternoon, Amber and I did a dry run for the AKC Trick Dog Elite performer title.  I wrote a story called Amber's Christmas Story.  We have performed all these tricks separately but never all together and it also needed to be timed under 6 minutes.   I think we got the time down but not the performance.

One project that I had was to redo the waistband on this 1950s style dress.  I got it at the Salvation Army and it still had the tags on it.  However, sizes have changed.  A simple move of the button wasn't going to cut it.  I had to take it apart to expand the waistband and pleats.

My VFW mask is a little large so I made an ear brace that says "American" as cut out from a newborn baby shirt I found at Goodwill.

Sunday morning I went to Mass and we still have some social distancing restrictions.  I did notice one change that was rolled back:  no alter servers.  Father had to retrieve the book, chalice, and finger bowl himself. If the service was short of help, then both the in-person Mass I went to at 8AM would not have also been short staffed at 10:30 online Mass also. 

I had spoken with the activity director at Regency Care call about a Therapy Dog International's window visit with Amber. Last time it was a hot afternoon and Amber tuckered out under a cool bush outside the viewing window. I have a morning visit scheduled for Aug 26 which is national dog day and this time in the morning. It's a good opportunity for a Christmas practice. I hope to video "Amber's Christmas Story" for AKC Trick Dog Elite Performer title.  Hope the weather holds outside that window. I know residents like holding Sophie but she would break their hearts through a window because they could not be able to hold her.  This is where Amber could shine with a window performance. Super excited.  Below is a shot from the video right after jumping through the Christmas Wreath and about to weave through the Christmas tree forest.

My Week

I left on Tuesday and drove a long way to my sister's house in Mountain, WI.  I dropped off my dogs at my son's house so I think they had a little mini-vacation stay over also.  So fun to see them play.

This was a much needed get away with all the cancellations and celebration of my sister's birthday. 

There was a lot of road construction along the way.  Patty's camper was all set up when I arrived.  Apparently the road construction affected her drive more than mine.  She was prepared for margaritas in cups.

Sisters went ATV riding on her property and she showed us all the interesting hunting shelters.  We saw a bunch of turkeys on the ride.  I wanted to go down to the creek but the rain the night before made it too muddy of a walk.  I see we both wore yellow.

They added a recent addition of adjacent property.  It proved to be a former dumping ground.

Here's the new deer hunting tower in progress.

The bear hunting shack had a doll attached to the inside with a screw through the head.

On the way back to the house, I posed with the warning sign that there was a bigfoot in the area.

I had been warned....I am still in shock after meeting Bigfoot.

I went up the historic lookout tower all the way to the top.  My thighs were sore the next day.

My sisters did NOT to all the way up to the top.

We walked a small hiking trail at Cathedral Woods.  This was a good timing because after that it rained.

We did the tree pose with the trees while balancing on a log.

Balancing is difficult and challenging on a log while trying to hold the pose for a 10 second timer.  I did have my foot up on my calf but not long enough for the timer.

Then we saw the Gingerbread house in Lakewood, WI was completed in the early 1950s  .

I found a little history of this house here:  http://franklygreenbay.com/article/view/id/387/Gingerbread%20Houses%20A%20Magical%20Fall%20Retreat

We visited a cute little coffee shop that was more of a souvenir shop.  I picked up some insect deterring socks for me and my sons.  Sean rejected the pair I gave him.

We went to the beach at Bass Lake on Thursday for her birthday. 

My sister getting ready to go out and show us what a pro she is on the SUP, short for Stand Up Paddleboard.  We all had a chance at it. Takes a moment to get your "sea legs" going and used to the steering.  My sisters went outside the ropes but I stayed inside going in circles.

This is not the typical position but I was obviously happy to get that far.

Eventually I caught on and stood on it most of the time.  I must say I conquered a new milestone in life.

We had a real nice picnic lunch. Afterward we stopped by the candy shop.  We had some nice walks and I saw this weird figure at a driveway entry and I had to get close enough to ready the sign. "In this hole so deep so cold lies the body of a nosy soul"

She had a four flavor cake.  Very rich but then I couldn't remember the last time I ate cake. 

Ginny trimmed my long hair.  It was pretty uneven in the back.  I'm glad she did this because I'm afraid a salon would hack it and I plan on harvesting this for a hair donation to wigs for kids.

On the way back I stopped in Beloit for a much needed break.  At least the highway sign boasted of clean rest rooms.  There was gas, food and souvenirs.  Nobody was there when I pulled in but others came after while I had a much needed walk about.  One lady must have driven off with the gas pump attached the the car because I saw her holding a loose nozzel with the car pulled half way out.  It's the funny stuff you see only on social media.

The toll roads were closed to a pass only lanes.  The cash lanes were blocked off and signs indicated that drivers should pay the toll online.   The website was NOT USER FRIENDLY.  They refer me to an instructional video that doesn't match the actual website.  Even though I left the tollway at Rockford, I had to pay toll through the next plaza, DeKalb.  Very confusing since I never went to DeKalb.  Oh how bad that stop and go traffic was to get off.  Two lanes merged into one lane to exit and it must have taken forever.

I stopped by Peoria and got a tour of the new Vet Center by my son before picking up my dogs.  I got home in time to walk them and take Amber to ring ready obedience practice.

My sister downsized her stock of wine to us. She had a wine rack almost 3 times the size of mine.  Here's my wine rack before. 

after loading the re-gifted wine.

My Nissan Rouge had it's first long trip so the best miles per gallon average was 29.8 between a fill up in Appleton, WI and Chatham, IL.  This shot was taken right after a fill up because the low fuel light was on.

I must thank my sister Patty for the morning coffee.

I must thank my sister Ginny for all the hospitality and good eats.  I accused her of serving celery at every meal.

 My hummingbird can be aggressive and bold. I refilled the feeder when I got back. I no longer have ants in it.  I did spray but I also used double sided scotch tape around the pole.  There's no ants on the tape so maybe the spray worked.  This time the front door was open and my dog was staring at the bird. The hummingbird fluttered around the door. I'm sure if my dog was outside the glass, things would be different because I've already seen this hummingbird hover over a squirrel and a robin like that.  I've been looking for a nest. I only see a solo bird. There is a nest in my fir tree but it is a little big. I believe the nest is another bird that was run off by my aggressive hummingbird. That little bugger doesn't let size stop him. LOL.  I have had cardinals nesting in the fir tree in the past so it could have been a cardinal nest. That hummingbird may have chased the cardinals away.

Sunday's Gospel parable explains our outlook in a flawed world or even a flawed religious institution.   It's so bad that ministers need fingerprinted and trained for sharing the Word of God. Some of the good and obedient Catholics feel insulted because they did nothing wrong.  The parable of the wheat tells us to let two grow together.
"if you pull up the weeds
you might uproot the wheat along with them.
Let them grow together until harvest;
then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters,
“First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning;
but gather the wheat into my barn"

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/071920.cfm

We had sacraments today at mass that are normally at Easter.
Sidney was Baptized and Mary Ann brought into full communion with the Catholic Church.

Lighting Mary Ann's candle seemed a little more difficult so Father John pulled it out of the stand and lowered it for the lighting. 

I made tortilla tacos for Sean and myself on Sunday. I mixed it with black bean salsa. In the evening I went to rally practice with both Amber and Sophie.

Monday evening, I took Amber to her first class in Nosework.  I'm told not to bring crunchy type treats.

No homework this time for a while.  Not all boxes were being used but some had some attractive food odors.  Amber should  be good at this because you can hear her sniff sniff sniff.

My Week

I gave the girls their summer flea pill on Monday but when I took Sophie with me to a meeting at Capitol Canine Club, she seemed to be scratching.  I doubt the pill would take affect in 24 hours so she had a bath on Wednesday.  No fleas were found so it might be just regular itching.  It's easy to see fleas on a white dog.  I think that's why I don't care to have a black dog.    I entered this photo in a fundraiser

I got a new piano by Melissa & Doug that's the same same brand as my mail box. It was on sale at Marshals because there was no song book with it anymore. Amber doesn't need a song book. Some toy pianos will tip over so this is dog tested.

This will be good for her Christmas recital. 
Every morning we play “leave it “ and “get it “. They will remind me it’s time. The girls are not perfect at this game. Sophie jumps the gun more because she's slower than Amber and Amber might take both after I say "get it".  Sometimes I play this game standing with a foot nearby the treat before I say "get it".

They like this game.

My Star Lilly is in bloom but so heavy that it needed a stake to hold it up.  It is lovely however and there is a row of them along the garage and most are white.

Thursday evening I watched a Zoom meeting about the new display on historic women's dresses at the Illinois State Military Museum.

Friday night I took Amber and Sophie to the Capitol Canine Club for members-only training.  I usually just take Amber but Sophie was so insistent. When it was Amber's turn in the ring to do a recall, she ran right past me to the kennel where Sophie was.  Our guide for the evening suggested we try the recall with the kennel to her back.   I put Sophie in a kennel while I worked with Amber.  Eventually Sophie made a ruckus in the kennel and I gave her a chance at healing.  She didn't do too bad.

I saw a hummingbird in my front yard picking and swooping on a robin.  Later I saw this hummingbird picking on a squirrel.  There is a nest in my fir tree but I assumed the nest was for cardinals that frequent the tree in past years.  I haven't seen a pair of hummingbirds either unless I'm just seeing one at a time.

Saturday morning I watched virtual yoga.  My hummingbird was also there.  He's telling me to refill the feeder.

I don't like the tree pose.  Our instructor does hold it longer than I like and my tree tips over.

Sunday I made lunch for Sean and myself.  Afterward we walked the dogs around the block together and Amber got in Mo's pissing stream and needed a bath.   In the evening I took Amber to rally practice and it was good quality time because there were only 2 of us there. 
We wore masks and used gloves to pick up the cards and cones.

So now Amber and I will be in a Nosework class for 7 weeks.  Hopefully she'll be rewarded for sniffing out anise, clove and birch instead of sniffing out other dog's piss and drool at  the club.

My Week

Tuesday I got to take advantage of my membership at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.  There was a pre-opening day for members only.  On of the displays was this Andrew Jackson Smith's Medal of Honor.

I have this fan that was made of cheap mesh and recovered it.  I wasn't sure it would be possible because of the folds. It's an OK job.  Here is the before photo of the fan:

Here is the after photo of the fan:

I have been working with Amber for the next level of trick dog and that is AKC Elite Trick Performer which is usually done before an audience but lately videos can be approvals.   Then I learned that AKC is have a contest so that makes me want to speed things up.  I have been working on "Amber's First Christmas" with tricks.

I was part of the color guard for the Chatham reading of the Declaration of Independence.

Afterward I stopped at the VFW for a historian's talk called "Pints and Parchments".  Topic expanded from the Declaration and all history afterward to today.  I fixed a dog shirt from baby outfit that I found at the Goodwill. I'm not sure I got the cut just right.  Besides, it's too hot to dress up a dog 

They found a safe place on the Fourth of July

I tried to fix a baby's outfit to my dog.

I was faced with the difficult choice of riding my bike down closer to the park to see fireworks or stay with my scared pups.  I went.  The McCoy's drive is where I go every year.  He's a former marine.  While there, some asked to sit on his lawn.  Of course he obliged.  Then before the show, the girls got up and sang the Star Spangled Banner in the dark.  We got up and sang along.  I saw a man with a back pack and a big flag hike by as if in a ruck march.

A few posts earlier I complained about a polyester dress. This vintage cotton dress arrived today (on a Sunday through the Post Office) and fits wonderfully. Good old Hollywood classiness. Oh and pockets!

Sheltering in place you don't need shoes. Besides, hair is damp since I got out of the pool and figured it was good time to try it on after taking off my swim suit. So there!

Early Monday morning there was a power outage on my block. I believe it was between 3 and 4 AM but not totally sure without power to my bedroom clock. A truck came out to fix it but I couldn't sleep.  I tried to go back to sleep but by 5 AM the sky was getting lighter. I tried to take the dogs for a walk since we didn't get one the night before due to residual use of firecrackers in the evening.

I'd been working hard on writing poetry to go along with an AKC Elite Trick Performance.  It's titled "Amber's Christmas Story".