Tuesday, July 9, 2024

The house is ready (other than small fixes)! The photographer will come early next week. I can't believe how much we are going to be listing my little cape house for. I hope it sells fast to minimize disruption but also hope I can stay until mid-October after DD's wedding.

I slept well last night but was awake at 4. It is going to be a very long day as we are supposed to meet DH's daughter and son-in-law for dinner an hour away tonight.

Justice has been a crazy man lately, chasing the cat quite a bit which he usually only does on rare occasions. He has also been barking a lot more (DS calls him "Barky Parker"). I have a feeling that all the work in the house has him on edge. But he has also had somewhat abbreviated walks compared to his normal so that may be contributing as well.

So I had to edit when I went back to look at yesterday's post and realized that I started and ended it almost exactly the same way LOL. I am getting old! Also, I wanted to add that my realtor has several dogs including a couple of young goldens they adopted after their older goldens passed on. She feels strongly that most dogs do better with a companion, BUT generally waits about a year or so in between them.

Have a trenchant Tuesday!

Good morning ! I did a long check in yesterday and lost it (my fault). Shorter version today. Checking in here daily is part of my preferred routine. I love trying to stay on top of your wisdom, challenges and successes ! My goal is to be better about contributing.

My Guardian ad Litem cases are keeping me engaged in a meaningful way. I still am helping to coordinate the safety team at my church, ditto. I am taking an unintentional breather at 143 pounds, in my normal range, but really prefer to hang 139-144. My activity level is dramatically higher following my shoulder replacement recovery. Very rarely do I feel a restriction or any discomfort. I may have to pull back a bit on feeling invincible! I found a perfect place to launch my kayak, less than a mile away. High tide, daylight and wind/wave levels determine my timing. I love the meditative/ spiritual synergy of paddling alone. The two things I always recommend is to let someone know where you put in, your anticipated route and what time you plan to be done as well as paddling against the current/wind first & leaving the easier paddling for the end. I have pretty much stopped wearing my "I've fallen and I can't get up" GPS fob and telling people my plan when I go out alone. The inlet where I paddle is full of sand bars, pluff mud (like quicksand) and sandbars, so I like going out 2ish hours before high tide so I can better navigate in the beginning and finish up on an incoming/high tide, where my options are pretty much limitless. Two days ago, I decided to go out two hours AFTER high tide because I really wanted to paddle channels to the mouth of the ocean ( 3ish miles). The paddle out to the ocean was amazing, almost effortless and took less than an hour. I turned around and began the return trip against the wind, against the tide. I have never paddled so hard in my life to make SLOW progress. If I stopped at all, I was pushed backward so I had to find secure hidy holes to tuck into to "rest". I HAD water, my phone and air horn in my dry bag, so could have called for help at any point. Needless to say, it took me three times as long to get back and I had difficulty with passage through some oyster beds and sandbars. If a boater gets grounded coming in, they are pretty much stranded until the next high tide. I made it back by the skin of my teeth, but lesson relearned... put in no less than two hours before high tide, let someone know your plan, put GPS fob and protein bar in dry bag.

That's sounds like an excellent and safe plan. What an ordeal!

Yikes! Glad you made it back safely (though I am sure very tired!)

My son enjoys mountain biking and hiking, and often goes solo. He carries the GPS fob, and that gives me some reassurance that if he gets injured, he can be rescued. Yes, follow your safety plan, because while you are out doing what you love, there are people in other locations waiting for your safe return.

I'm so glad you'll do well on your house sale! I was aghast at how much my little tract house sold for which was 225% more than I paid for it. As astounding as that was, the Zillow price is currently more than 300% more than I originally paid, which was a lot in today's dollars even then! Absolute monopoly money insanity.

I have backed off the idea of another golden right now. We went to the vet yesterday and the vet nicely suggested I should try a trainer. HAHA! He just gets so excited by the presence of people, he can't contain his enthusiasm.

I think the folks are going sailing this afternoon with neighbors. They bought a smaller sailboat, and want to sell the big one as it's a lot of work and so much requires height my dad's wife doesn't possess and doing things my 83 year old dad probably shouldn't be doing. I think they would love it if this family bought the big boat. (Though my dad is in that denial phase where he doesn't want to admit something might be beyond his physical capabilities).

I have chores to do today, but that's all. Getting my hair colored tomorrow, which is a week overdue and it shows. Today is a hat day for sure.

Scale is roughly the same. Grr. No alarms since the one in the wee hours of Monday. Still waiting for input from the people who put it in.

What is it about washing a dog that makes the shedding so much worse for the next week?? I have brushed, raked, combed and still I look like I'm wearing a hair shirt after he sits on me. One chore today is washing one of the new couch covers he already has covered in dog schmutz and a lot of fur.

I think that's all for me. I need to jump in the shower...

Take care all!

Do you have a forced air dryer? Using that to dry him will make a huge difference in the shedding after a bath. When a double coated breed is clean the hair releases from the other hair more easily, so it seems the dog is shedding more. The forced air dryer blows away a lot of what is ready to release. Win, win!

This is basically the same one that I use: Forced Aire Dryer

I do in AZ. Should probably buy one for here too!

Also, Kirby needs to be at least 2 or 3 before you bring in another dog. There is very sound logic and wisdom behind this advice. My guess, given Kirby's personality, you would be best to wait until he is closer to 3 rather than 2.

I am also in denial about my capabilities even though I get reminded every time I have to get low to the floor.