And then there was ONE



Sister, My Jenny and Brother, Big Duke

The litter 3 puppies are now 15 weeks old.  We started with 11 puppies in the litter and they have all sold.  So why is there one left?  Because one family ended up on hard times and we bought the puppy back from them.  The welfare of the puppy and that it ends up with a good family that can afford to care for it is what is most important.  So we are back to one.  The difficult part is that there were several people interested in Big Duke that were turned away.



Big Duke

Can you see the size of those paws?  He is going to be one big boy.  Titan from the first litter had whopper size paws and the last I heard he was 105 pounds.  Mama and sister (15 months old) are between 65-75 pounds. 


Sit Duke - Good Boy!

The family that picked up the puppy today said that their vet cropped the ears only AFTER the puppy was done teething.  Because while they are losing puppy teeth and getting adult teeth that the too much calcium was being lost to allow the ears to stand properly.  That is so different from what we have ever heard from the many vets we have worked with in the past.  Usually 10 weeks is maximum. I am interested in seeing the results.    

Book Update - a bit of HOPE

Upon the encouragement of one of the people editing my book, I will be submitting it to a different publisher. My first publisher allowed anyone to self-publish anything.  They were supposed to help me with marketing but nothing happened.  I looked today and my book isn't listed on their website. I'm not sure if their website is still in progress or not.

This new publisher does not accept everyone.  They publish Christian books. They are a co-publisher.  So much of it would be similar to what I do now.  But after the book is printed, they would market my book to Christian bookstores and have it available for sale on their website.

The hard part is that there is about 10 days left of editing and re-writes. After that I will submit the manuscript and it will take 30 to 90 days to receive an approval or rejection. Then it will take 30 to 90 days for the actual publication process.

For those people counting down the days. I am sorry.  This could be a major puncture in that glass ceiling and I would kick myself if I missed the opportunity. Please join me in praying over the publication process.

A busy day and beautiful evening

Monday's are often long days.  The dogs still need their time to play.  This evening, after supper, Dale and I took the dogs out to a hay field to get some running in before bedtime. 



Puddle!

Dale sat on the edge of the hill where he could have a good view over the many acres as the dogs ran and played.  Big Duke thinks he is a full grown dog.  He goes up and tries to play with Duchess and My Jenny as if he were their size.



Big Duke plays with My Jenny

My Jenny is the sister just a year older than Big Duke. But she protects him and teaches him playtime as if she was the mama.  Dale is leaning towards letting Duchess have one litter because she has such wonderful maternal instincts.  But we still have two males that we need to sell from this winters litter.

My Jenny standing behind Big Duke

Doesn't this look like the three dogs are planning something?  "Hey, let's sneak up on Dale!"  In reality, Duchess and My Jenny were playing roughly and Big Duke tried to join in.  He is growing so fast.



Dobie Playtime

The little guy tried to copy mom and sister and shake the water away after running through the swamp water but his shake just wasn't enough.  So he found a sunny spot and watched the other two big dogs run on the other side of the open field while he dried himself.


Big Duke drying in the sunshine

The pleasure of having dogs takes so much stress away. 

aaaaahhhhhhh!

Sorry, I needed to let it out.  I went shopping yesterday and the city was a zoo!  At one point, I was driving down a long thoroughfare both sides of the 4 lane road and all the turn lanes were full of cars.  The parking lots on both sides were also packed.  And inside the stores I could tell. People dawdling everywhere! 

I may have mentioned it before but I don't like shopping.  I have a list.  I go in with the list and I go directly to the department. The stores that I shop in I pretty well know by heart.  I don't like it when they feel they need to move the sections of the store around.  Then I walk through those crowds of people who don't know what they want only to find out that the store has moved what I wanted.  That was the start of my day shopping. 

I made a bow around the town due to a couple of deadlines that I needed to meet.  I couldn't be at one spot until a specific time and I needed to be to another spot before a specific time.  There was about four and a half hours between the two times but with traffic and people dawdling I didn't want to take the risk.

So I went to the West then looped around and headed to the East/Northeast.  From the stop at the East I headed North and slightly Southwest.  The due South only to turn around and go West again.  Don't worry, it doesn't matter it you need to go five blocks or five miles it still takes fifteen minutes. 

I was so traumatized that I had to take a nap before supper.  Maybe part of the trauma was because I was planning to do indoor spring house cleaning today.  I think I dislike that more than I dislike shopping.  But both are necessities of life.

Airport Entertainment

I have been traveling in and out of Minneapolis St. Paul airport a lot lately.  There is a corner that you turn to go to terminals A,B and C.  At that corner are four large screens on the wall.  I've always wondered about those screens.  They are the largest TV screens I've ever seen but what I've wondered about is why they put four screens right next to each other.  The same thing shows on all four screens.  It is a fairly plain advertisement. 

Sometimes simple is best.  I've noticed it every time that I've walked by it.  But coming back was different.  There were young children interacting with the screens.  There is a censor that as you get between the projection and the screen it changes from a flat screen advertisement to an interactive display.  Watch the children as they try different things to make the screen change.  The red umbrellas turn into hundreds of butterfly that scatter and come back into place as an umbrella.

5 Second Rule

Growing up, if a piece of food dropped on the ground you'd hear "5-second rule" and see a child pick up the piece of food and pop it in their mouth.  Sometimes dusting off some dirt before it was actually eaten. 

I was letting the puppies out and I heard the talk show host interviewing someone.  The conversation seemed to be about over-protection of children from germs.  The 5-second rule should be more like a 10 or 15 second rule.  Instead, parents are picking the food off the ground and throwing it away.  They are washing the floors, counters and walls with heavy anti-bacterial cleansers.  The children's hands are also being washed in anti-bacterial cleansers.

Our bodies need bacteria in order to function properly.  Bacteria is part of our natural digestive system. 

I can't help but wonder if over doing the physical cleanliness has something to do with the human attempt to cover up and clean up the sins of the world?  It seems that minute by minute and hour by hour sins are increasing.  People are walking away from Biblical principles because they are deemed politically incorrect.  But when the Bible gives a direct command and shows an action or behavior as a sin, then it is just that a sin.  There are many Biblical sins that are being fought for as human rights.  For years abortion has been just that and there are other human laws that make sin "legal". 

Are we spending such an excessive amount of time physically making our houses perfectly clean, our hair perfectly colored and cut, our make-up perfect, our clothing the most stylish all because we are trying hard to cover our perfect sins?  The only cleaning that needs to be done is that of repentance.  Acknowledging and turning our back on those sins.  In doing that we must deal with ourselves first and remember to hate the sin and love the sinner. 

Priorities

We all have them whether we acknowledge them or not. My first interaction with homeless people shocked me.  The county and other non profit organizations had helped them get a room in a shared house.  It was a couple and they had two brand new, top of the line lap tops and the best cell phones money could buy. They went regularly to Catholic Charities, Salvation Army and any other organization that helped with food, gas, and heating expenses. They lasted less han six months because rent was not a priority.  That was before Ipads, Kindles, and Nooks.

Knowing that someone is two months behind in rent, chose a low paying job that is now getting 32 or less hours a week and choosing to buy health supplements that the are not regularly taking.  Priorities. 

I guess I have always believed God first, basic life next; food, transport to job, a roof over your head, and basic clothing.  Those are my priorities.  I guess I don't understand people not willing to take care of their basic needs.

But then, there are people that I can't invite into my house because immaculent housekeeping is not a priority of mine.  I would like to de-clutter but it takes me too much space to de clutter.