photo from
advocacy.britannica.com/.../coyote005-004.jpg

Around 10pm last night a jet flew low near the Buffalo. Within seconds yips could be heard in the distance and at that sound both my dogs sat up, the girl dog began to howl. There are coyotes around where I live. Someone I know asked me recently if I had noticed the coyotes that were watching me as I was using my weed eater. The answer to that question was no; I would not have been weed eating if I had seen them.

There is a lot of wild life up here. I moved to the country in part to experience nature so when I hear about the occasional bear, or the rattle snake, or the coyote, a hint of concern does cross my mind but I don’t stress over it. I make a lot of noise, and if possible take my dogs, when I walk in the woods. The one time I remember getting “scared” in the woods was when a deer growled at me, a deer! I always thought the scene in “the Simpson’s” of Lisa is strolling through an idyllic wood much like the first part of “Bambi” and then suddenly the deer growl at her was someone’s ideal of funny, I did not realize it was real!

Lets face it the dogs let me “feel” safe but Trip the girl dog is 8 and Zeke the boy is 7 so in the next few years I will have to get another dog. I am thinking about the Great Pyrenees, over a 100lb of guard dog, that if well disciplined and allowed to associate with others, can make a good companion. And from what I hear you can use the fur to make sweaters!! This is just a thought; I won’t even start looking for a new dog until Trip is 10 and if she stays active maybe even longer. I do like the large breeds, and I do want something that can hold its own with the local wild life but it has to be able to be acclimated to people and animals and I don’t really want a hunter. The dog will also have to be a companion. My dogs are a part of the family. So what do I want and need, a big dog that will guard the property, get along well with other animals and people, and be my buddy. I have time to look so today it is the Pyrenees, tomorrow who knows.

Pyrenees Rescue

Oy, oy, oy…. On, off, on off. I can’t take this, I’m too old. Working night shift with an on, off schedule will kill ya, literally. There have been studies that show flipping from one shift to the other is not healthy. To me on again, off again is like shift work. I worked last night but I am off tonight so I feel like I cant sleep all day and "waste" a day off so what do I do? I sleep a few hours then get up and accomplish half of what I could have accomplished on a good night sleep. I cant do this any more…… Shoot me and put me out of my misery (just kidding) but I do have to find me a different job. I'm getting too old for night shift.

It’s been a month since I have posted to my blog. The truth is that I have not “felt” like writing. Things have been very busy and I have just felt like I did not have the time. I have also been a bit down in the dumps. I love my home but other parts of my life are not as I had pictured them and I have allowed these less desirable things take over my thoughts. As I sit here looking out at the Buffalo I can only think how lucky I am; Life has been good to me I have all I need and most of what I want. To allow the few things in my life that I don’t like to take over my happiness is not good. Starting tonight, this very minute I am going to make an effort to get my happy self back out there. This year is winding down and I am not going to allow my memories of it to be bad.

In this past month both my #2 and #3 sons have been up to visit. #2 put up my spiral stair and framed in the loft half wall. Of my 3 sons he is the handy man. He can bang nails and fix a car. #3 is the computer/IT geek and he's good when I need some muscle, I had him moving paving stones and working on my computer. #1 has not made it up yet, I still have hope but he does not normally go any where unless he can sail there. He told me he is looking forward to my fall trip to the Outer Banks. He can’t wait to see me. As you can see I put the boys to work when they come up I do feed them well so it evens out.

Things are moving along on the house. I get a little done every chance I get. This week I had the gutters put in. I was going to buy the stuff and put the gutters up myself but the place I was going to buy them from had a hard time getting the gutter in the color I needed. I finally called a company that installs “seamless” gutters and got a price. That price, materials and installation, was just $7 more than the materials alone were going to cost me. I’m telling you someone or something is looking out for me. I have to stop being impatient, when things “go wrong” for me it usually means I’m going down the wrong path.