Looking For The Positives

[mfh]

Anne, my blinds are also now in place...he is just finishing the last one and did not want to charge me but I paid him anyway as construction workers are not getting business like they need to due to the weather and economy. He is the best sub we have ever had. Actually comes when he says he will and calls if he will be late and does a great job. Now I have another refuge when I want to shut the world out...or just the sun. I ruined one painting because of the lack of blinds in the studio. The sun melted the masking so that I could not get it off and I had to throw the painting away. I did two masks, one on top of the other but to the side; one happy and one grieving with tears and on both masks were ancient symbols of joy and grief...but the sun destroyed it and I have not started that one again. But I will. I have to

As for spring...it is cold here. Poor Bentley is restless with this weather. With all of that, my grass has, indeed, grown and I get to mow this weekend. I have had someone mow since before Bill died but was sick but decided this year it will be a source of exercise for me...large yard..back and forth...my temporary labyrinth

Thanks for your message. Having the 'Tribal Leader' give me permission to close the chapter = fun

[enna]

Here is my positive for the day because it just made me feel so good. A FB friend, Dr. Joanne Cacciatore, posted it this morning.

I have seen it before but today it really lifted my spirits.

The Recycled Orchestra - enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=UJrSUHK9Luw

[feralfae]

Oh, Anne, that is lovely.

As I m sorting things, I am remembering that my trash may be someone else's treasure, so I am not "tossing" anything. And I needed some hope, delivered from slum serenaded by recycled instruments as I sort and pack things this morning, but had to stop after 4 cartons. Just too many memories of Doug and me, building, playing, forest and garden work. Bird feeders he made. The steps he rebuilt to suit His exact standards. Oh my.

Thank you so much for a reminder that hope and beauty can come from places we would not expect, and that life, no matter how difficult at the moment, still holds promise and joy.

{{{hugs}}}

*<twinkles>*

fae

[MartyT]

Oh Anne, how humbling is THAT?! We (and our children) are so, so spoiled in this country. Thank you for sharing this ♥

[mfh]

Anne, thanks for posting this. I saw it a while back and was so touched by what these folks were doing for these kids...with garbage mind you...music comes alive and so do the kids.

[mfh]

Well it was a "too busy" day...but all good stuff. Blinds up, valences up, house is in good to decent order, painter gone. Bedrooms need attention but no big deal. Tonight I went with a friend to the Taste of Spring Green. It is a nasty night, rainy and cold. NO snow, however

In Taste of Spring Green (tonight and all day tomorrow) the shops open their doors so that people in the surrounding countryside can show off their food products; everything from freshly roasted coffee, cheeses that have won international awards, grains/products grown and produced locally, sausage from grass fed beef, baklava to die for,chocolates that are too expensive to buy but free tonight, etc. It served as my dinner. It felt good to support our producers and merchants and there was a good turn out in spite of what feels like a November night. Tomorrow I will stay put and enjoy my "new" house. The positive is that I have absolutely nothing scheduled until noon Monday when Bentley gets his shots. So I will meditate, read, organize, write columns, sleep,sleep, relax, sleep some more, paint, play on the web and enjoy a quiet time in an orderly and clean house.

Thanks to all of you who carried me through chaos.

This is a photo that folks in northern Wisconsin created to show what May 1 looked like. They got 16 inches of you know what. Another one showed a row boat in the snow for opening day of fishing season. I like the lawn mower in the snow the best...and speaking of that, if it stops raining...I will be mowing.

Peace to all,

Mary

[kayc]

Hurrah! I am so glad you have your house back! Now you can relax for a bit tonight and Bentley too.

I spent this morning picking up limbs in the yard and cleaning out the car (a lot of fur removal, not easy). A friend invited me to lunch and we spent three hours talking over lunch! I was afraid the restaurant would charge us overtime!

so many things on my to do list today and got most of them done. Tomorrow I go to my son's house.

[mfh]

Yes, I can relax until noon Monday. I just remembered kids are coming at 9am to clean up my flower beds and take a stone barbeque apart so I can use the stones for borders. The barbeque was built in 1952 and is falling apart so hope they can get most of the stones loose. It is on the outside of the fence and I tend to forget it is there...but great stones that match the house.

Your 3 hour lunch sounds sacred. Good for you. And I do know cleaning fur out of the car. When it got warm this week, I opened all the windows and the sun roof and drove around watching fur fly out of the car...a start to getting rid of it. I just had it vacuumed at the car wash about two weeks ago (I tip them big to do extra vacuuming as my back can not take it) but Bentley is shedding right now...lots of fur. I bet Arlie sheds a lot also. I am still wondering why he went behind the sofa...something scared him...

Enjoy your visit to your son's. I think this is the one that got postponed when Arlie was sick. have a GREAT visit and a good weekend.

Peace to your heart,

Mary

[kayc]

Arlie absolutely adores my neighbor above anyone else in the world, I actually feel a tad bit jealous sometimes...I think when he saw the neighbor at the door and then he left without seeing him, it upset him. He'll be over it, my neighbor is going with me to my son's as I don't want to do the driving so I said if he drove, I'd buy the gas. Arlie will have a great time in the back of the truck and then he'll get to go to the dog park at my son's. It'll be "Arlie's big adventure" tomorrow!

Yep he's shedding right now and does not like me brushing him but every now and then I have to corner him and brush him. With that thick long coat he needs it. It must be a huge adjustment to dogs, getting this warm weather all of a sudden!

I've found that a damp washcloth gets the fur off the cloth upholstery way better than my vacuum cleaner does...I always vacuum and then take a damp cloth to it.

[mfh]

Thanks for the tip on removing the fur. I can not stand at the angle needed to vacuum so I get it done when the car gets washed but that is not often enough. I will try the wet cloth next time I get it vacuumed because even this great car wash does not get it all. I keep the back seat covered with a dog thing but when he is shedding..the fur is everywhere. The last time I drove a group I had to go to Madison the day before and get the car washed and vacuumed before I would allow anyone to ride back there. But these critters are worth it all.

If Arlie is as easily spooked as Bentley that is all it would take to send Bentley hiding. I love him to pieces but he is truly a wimp.

Peace

Mary

[feralfae]

I am smiling so.

Fur.

Our neighbor St. Bernard used to follow Doug and me home from walks, and we would vacuum him and brush him for hours, dear Dog. Just really big with lots of fur, and an older owner. So we had fun grooming the dog, but afterwards, we would be dusting up fur in the garage for days.

Opening the sun roof to let the fur fly? Very creative!

Kay, I just want to know how you are feeling? We will be checking on you for a while to make sure you did not get any injury.

Fur flying out the sunroof. I am laughing.

fae

[kayc]

I know, huh?! (fur out the roof) Maybe Arlie's ride in the truck for hours tomorrow will help with that. A St. Bernard, huh? You DO know fur! A friend of mine had one 190 lbs. When he sat on the couch, he took up the whole thing! But he was just a big giant lovable baby!

I'm feeling fine except now my back is wore out from yard work.

[feralfae]

Yes, I know dog fur!!!

Doug and I actually talked about saving all the fur and spinning it into yarn at one time, but I was not at all enthusiastic, although I think Doug hoped for a St. Bernard ski hat. My cousin spins dog fur and other furs. She loves making things from it. I am not so inclined. But I did paint four more dragonflies today, and I WILL take photos when the tent fly is done. And I may put one on the tent door, too. Very much fun.

I packed some today. Then had to stop, but still, progress. I it is beautiful and above freezing here this evening. I had a lovely walk and did a few yards things, too. But not enough to have an aching back. Just watch it, please.

All the snow is gone here, but we are all hoping for more precipitation, as I am watering the trees against the drought already. Doug was very ready to move from this place of cactus, but it was fun for a while. We leave it far, far better than we found it, too, which is always a good thing. This has been a very good home for us and we had tremendous fun here. We were very blessed to have this place, with its beautiful mountain and lake views.

Now I am taking it apart, bit by bit. But the pace is fine.

Remember to rest, Kay. Don't And be mindful with your body for a while, please. Tara Brach has a good meditation on body, just a sec ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmHTmYKr5JM. This is Part 2, but there are a couple of good body meditations. I think you will like her talk about varieties of awareness during meditation, too.

*<twinkles>*

fae

[enna]

My Positive

My Shipperke/Poodle, Benji, does not shed. Very little fur flys. I'm really not bragging because I brush Benji anyway. He loves it and I feel so relaxed doing it.

He absolutely loves the car. He can get all of his head and neck out the window as he travels to the circle for his meet and greet day with his fur friends! I have not taken him to a dog park nor do I think I will - never know what's there. I pull into the parking area and he starts whimpering. We must keep our babies leashed which makes it hard for them to be free to play. I love my dog. He has indeed helped me in my healing. Anne

[mfh]

fae, A friend took a pile of Bentley's fur a couple of years ago...and she spun it into yarn and then made me a scarf for winter. I love it but as soft as Bentley is, the yard is pretty scratchy. Bentley smells it and seems curious. I can not smell it anymore...no Bentley aroma left.

It sounds like you are in high desert, fae. In Ouray, CO we were at 8500 to 8900 feet and we had pine trees and cactus in our yard....an a few mountain lions, black bears, moose, mule deer and other wild life.

Kay, I do agree with fae that you might seriously consider taking it easy for a while. When I was rear ended, it was a week or so before I knew I had whip lash. I went to the DC the same day as the accident but it took awhile before I realized I had been injured. Not seriously but enough to need treatment for a while. I was warned not to sign releases for a few months.

[mfh]

Anne, so glad you are refraining from dog parks. I may have told you I had two friends who los their dogs at dog parks...both attacked by dogs who were not being monitored by owners. One of the owners put her dog in her car and drove off after it attacked my friend's dog. These were both in Madison. We have a new dog park in Spring Green but I have yet to take Bentley there. I never know who will show up even if it is empty when I get there. I am an over protective mother....I guess.

[kayc]

I don't have a fenced yard and Arlie doesn't get to run except in the house. He's very social and loves other dogs but seldom gets to play with them. Not having a dog park in our town, it's a rare treat for him that he thoroughly enjoys. I think I would feel way more leery if he was a small dog. There will be four of us adults there to watch our dogs...Skye will be on the sidelines as he's not able to run and play, but enjoys watching. People are not supposed to leave their dogs unattended or bring vicious dogs and I've never witnessed that although I suppose there's always a first. Ideally, I wish I had a fenced yard and another dog for Arlie to play with.

I suppose you're right and I shouldn't have done so much today but I've been waiting for nice weather for so long! Will take Ibuprofen tonight, even though I take my gin & golden raisins religiously. (helps inflammation)

[mfh]

Kay, I would not worry about a big dog like Arlie. These dogs were small dogs that were attacked. I am still protective of Bentley because he is timid and even though he weighs in at 74 pounds...he is not assertive. He runs to me when the slightest thing frightens him. My trainer friend said she sees this more and more with Goldens as they do some much inbreeding. Bentley comes from show dog background and I found out AFTER we had him (thinking we had done our homework) that this breeder uses males from a place that many breeders use. So the next Golden will be better researched. In spite of that, I have the most loving dog I could ever ever ever want.

[kayc]

Arlie is not aggressive either. Is is just a big goofball that most dogs don't take seriously so they don't feel the need to flaunt the alpha issue. One exception: the German Shepherd across the street...he burst out of his enclosure and attacked Arlie one time and Arlie did not bite him back...he looked like he didn't know what to do. It was compounded because I was there and he was on a leash...not equal footing. Had I cut him loose...I don't know what would have happened.

[mfh]

Not much positive about this video that was in my morning weather forecast today. But it IS funny.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1547844911001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAAAAQxtuk~,N9g8AOtC12fyVDCHyxnTA9ZDGPnDWtDc&bclid=0&bctid=2351685378001

[mfh]

My positive for the day...I came across this on line today and thought of every person here:

[kayc]

Mary, thank you, that is so sweet! Ditto!

I had a wonderful day yesterday but was much too exhausted to come here last night.

I took Arlie to my son & DIL's house, about 2 1/2 hours away from here and Arlie went nuts! We had to put him and Mozzy out in the yard to get some energy out and then we took all of the dogs to the dog park. Arlie had a great time, he's so social and does well with other dogs. He doesn't have Mozzy's stamina though, she kept running the entire time we were there (about 2 1/2 hours). Skye has gone downhill since the last time I saw him, I didn't get a greeting from him like I usually do, he just lays there, but I laid on the floor with him and rubbed his ears and told him grandma loves him. Amazingly enough, though when we went to the dog park, he hobbled along in slow motion for quite some time before laying down and resting, the ground is soft and covered with chips so easier on his paws, which often drag or cave under. I brought him his homemade dog treats and he loves them.

So Arlie had his big day out, a ride in the truck, getting to see his favorite people and favorite dogs AND a trip to the dog park. It was in the low 80s and gorgeous all day.

[HAP]

Dear friends,

I did the 20 miles of the Boston Walk for Hunger today in 6.5 hours--including a half hour for lunch. No blisters, but I am exhausted and my legs are not 100 percent happy with me.

Our pasta supper Thursday night raised $1784. With a fundraising match from another local group we will get almost $2300 when all is said and done.

Friday i gave two presentations at a big regional student journalism conference and got to spend some time with some folks who do not eat, sleep, and breathe cancer work.

A former student found copies of our school newspaper from 1985 and posted them to a bunch of former students and teachers. We've been having a mini-reunion online all weekend.

Other than blood work for me tomorrow I am taking some time away from the madness the next few days.

None of this can compete with the dog stories. I wish I had one but the way my life is it would not be fair to the animal right now.

Peace,

Harry

[kayc]

Wow, I have never walked that far at once! I did walk 17 miles in one day once but rested inbetween and it wasn't timed. I am impressed, that is great time for that distance!

[mfh]

I have biked 50 in a day but not walked. I have hiked 10 miles zig zagging from 8,000 feet to 11,500 and back but walking 20 is a lot.