STAYCATION DAY 5 – SATURDAY, MAY 13, 2017

It was 36 (felt like 32) when I arose at 5:45. (Remember, just three days ago the high was 93.) I had a quiet couple of hours to myself before I got the dogs up. “Surely the dogs are no problem,” say you. “Hah!” say I. “They have their opinions and don’t hesitate to express them.”

Mike brushes the dogs’ teeth every night after supper, especially Bess’. While he’s away, it becomes one of my duties, but I’m not good at it. I mean, I try, but they look at me with something like distrust. Perhaps I pinch them a little in the process. So, when I was at the store last week, I bought a package of dental chewies in hopes of rewarding them for tolerating my efforts and perhaps compensating a bit for the brushing that doesn’t happen. I undertook it as an experiment.

The first night (Tuesday), I gave each dog a chewie after brushing her teeth. I noticed that though the chewies aren’t large, they seemed to struggle with them, so the next night, I broke the chewie in two, giving each dog half. After all, we aren’t exactly depending on the chewie to clean the dogs teeth. And so I continued to give half a chewie each evening after the brushing. It seemed to be going well, but I didn’t realize how well until tonight.

At teeth-brushing time, the dogs were in the living room, so I called, “Bess, it’s time to brush your teeth," and when I turned around, brush at the ready, there was Nellie, too! (And we think she doesn’t hear!!) As I brushed Bess’ teeth, Nellie took real interest, watching closely. She was obviously awaiting her turn, so I prepared a brush for her, too, and though she wasn’t eager, she didn’t resist. Each dog was rewarded with half a chewie. Apparently those chewies make good treats!

I had made up my mind that there would have to be light housekeeping today. I ran the dishwasher, washed dishes in the sink, wiped kitchen surfaces, changed the bed and washed clothes, and generally tidied up. Not interesting but necessary.

The temp actually got into the 60s today – just briefly – and then dropped back to 48 when another storm went through this afternoon. Mike called tonight from someplace where it’s 100 degrees. He said it was too hot for Sam to geocache with him, so he rode ahead to the motel. Mike couldn’t believe it’s cool here and encouraged me to light a fire in the little stove. “Nah,” I said, “we’re warm enough.”

 

Concrete was poured at the neighbor’s building site today. I stayed out of the way. “What’s going on with that mountain of dirt?” asked Ken. And then he asked, “How do you feel about this?” Yes, it changes things quite a lot, but it isn’t over yet. We’ll see.

Was there a staycation gift today? Yes, two fancy t-shirts from Coldwater Creek, ordered with next week's P.E.O. convention in mind.

I did sew today, though again I’m indecisive in my direction, and nothing seems to go right. It has nothing to do with age, I tell myself. I don’t know what it has to do with but certainly not age! KW